Little blue eyes

Sun, sea and sickness

Well, we got back from Spain lunch time on Saturday. It was a good week. But since it was our first time away as a family, not like any holiday I have ever had before. I don't know where to start really. We learnt a lot. Here's some of the things:

1. If you need an hour and a half to check in when it's just the two of you, add at least another hour on top if you have a baby with you. Checking in a car seat and taking a pushchair through customs is a whole new experience. Potential Faulty Towers moments await as you strip off your belt and shoes with one hand whilst holding a baby who wants to crawl inside the x-ray machine in the other.
2. Go with some really good mates who have kids of similar ages so you can share the hilarity / pain. (We did, thank goodness).
3. Even better if the kids are all very similar in age. Weirdly when they are this young the difference in routine from a two year old to Sam's age (10months) is quite big. The older kids eat, bath and play together and it can feel a bit like the younger one is left out sometimes.
4. Having said that, older kids provide tonnes of stimulation and end up being idolised by the younger ones. Sam couldn't take his eyes off what the two two year olds were doing.
5. You need a huge villa if you don't want to sleep in the same room as your baby (trust me, on holiday you don't). We were 3 couples and 4 kids. The villa had 7 bedrooms so everyone had their own space. Crucial I think.
6. The days of lying in until midday and drifting off to sleep by the pool after a semi-alcoholic lunch are over. At least if you ever go away with your baby. We knew that would be the case but it was still a bit of a shock. I wholeheartedly believe you should make sure you get at least a week away every year, just as a couple. It will keep you sane and you might just come back relaxed not exhausted.
7. Pray you don't all get a hardcore vomiting bug at the same time. OK, not really a learning this but something that happened and will stick long in the memory for all the wrong reasons. At one point in the middle of the night last Thursday, we had Sam throwing up in our bed, whilst mum and dad blew chunks in the his and hers bathrooms down the corridor. We're still not 100% better yet either. Nasty.