Holiday at El Pueblito De Alfaix, Spain

                                           Come on in says Chloe

                                                                      Hello

                                                                     Welcome

Our journey from Murcia Airport to Alfaix took approximately one and a half hours and was a doddle with virtually no other cars on the new motorway which took us almost to our front door - with a toll of only 14.04 Euros to pay.

El Pueblito de Alfaix has been designed to resemble an authentic Andalucian  village and we loved
our Moorish style whitewashed villa.

There was such a relaxed 'rural' feel with it's beautifully landscaped grounds.

We dined in the shade of the terrace

then slipped into the oasis-like pool

 

in desert-hot Almeiria, with impressive views of the Cabrera mountain backdrop.

 

 

 

It was so lovely we just chilled out around the pool by day and then gazed on star-bright skies by night whilst enjoying Phil's wonderful barbeques.

The Clubhouse also has a magnificent swimming pool with a toddler pool which Chloe really enjoyed.

 

Chloe also enjoyed the children's play area

                                              Can you spot her?  And it had a lovely view for Nanna to enjoy..

                                          and also allowed Grandad some peace.

 

Whilst Jamie enjoyed practising standing with the railings.

Crazy golf was also a favourite with Mike and Chloe and Jamie enjoyed watching.  No doubt a future
golfer!

We were just 20 minutes from the sand beaches and Mediterranean at Mojacar.

We also did our shopping in Mojacar at the Mercadona Supermarket.  (Drive down the hill from Mojacar Pueblo to the beach and turn left at the Roundabout, then it  is second on the left).
The Cabre and Sabate Cava is 1.65 euros and the Rioja Comportillo Reserva was 2.50 euros a bottle.  Soooo cheap and soooo good.

Whilst in Mojacar we whiled away a few hours at El Cid beach bar.  (Turn right this time at the  roundabout by the beach and continue along the beach road, going past some pretty uninteresting-looking establishments and various chiringuitos (beach bars) until you come to El Cid.  We arrived at 11 am, parked outside, walked through - booking our table right at the front with lovely views - and hired mattresses for the wooden sunbeds for 4 euros each.  The 3 course set menu for lunch was 10 euros.  See blackboard outside.  The guys were particularly impressed when the beer arrived in iced mugs.

What a wonderful Spanish holiday with the grandchildren.

A Golden Wedding Celebration

Our good friends Sylvia and Ron recently celebrated fifty years of marriage.  A milestone that few couples can achieve.  Spending half a century in love with one person is wonderful.

They celebrated by inviting some close friends to a delicious Italian meal at Rossinis in Wokingham.

John had us guessing.  What pop song was top of the charts 50 years ago.  Clue.  The Beatles.

 
And Julia made the beautiful flower arrangement for the centre of the table.

Afterwards it was back to Ron and Sylvia's beautiful home for coffee and cake, embellished with a golden butterfly.

    
We also presented the Happy Couple with a Golden Wedding Celebration Rose.

   
  We hope it will give years of pleasure.

Congratulations.  What a great day and  we all enjoyed flipping through the original wedding album. 

Wimborne Minister's Famous Model Town

During August we took Emmie and Chloe to explore the miniature model  town at Wimborne Minister.

They peered into the Butchers, the Ironmongers, the Bakery and the Fishmongers....

not forgetting the stunning interior of the Minister Church, where Caroline married Mike, and Chloe and James were Christened.

The historic market town of Wimborne Minister has been re-created exactly as it was during the 1950s and built well over 50 years ago, the magnificent 1/10th scale models are amazing.

You can just see the full size Minister in the distance.

Next was the fantastic working model Railway with Thomas the Tank Engine.

Emmie and Chloe also enjoyed playing in Wendy Street, a designated safe play area for younger visitors  with four Wendy Houses next to a Marquee where you can eat your lunch.  Unfortunately, it
was pouring with rain so I forgot to take a photo!

After lunch there  was a fun family craft workshop, where for a £1 donation, the girls made Dinosaurs.

Then when the sun came out again we enjoyed a game of "golf"!!!

Wimborne itself is delightful, but don't tell everyone - it's a well kept secret!

Celebrating the Christening of our Grandson

At 12.30 p.m. on Sunday, 20th July, 2014 we celebrated the Christening of James William Rees at Wimborne Minster.

The Christening of a child is a very special occasion and the role of Godfathers was given to Alun and Chris and Godmother to Emily.

Alun read Mark 10: 13 - 16

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.  When Jesus saw this, he was indignant.  He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."  And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. 

James is now six months old and is a well behaved baby.  He seemed to really enjoy the ceremony.

To our special grandson on your Christening Day.  May your christening blessing today be the first of a lifetime blessed with much love and happiness.

Afterwards we went back to Caroline and Mike's for a delicious Barbeque lunch with a sumptuous spread of salads and desserts.  Thank you Tina for your excellent salads and Gemma and Emily for the yummy desserts.

Mike and Phil did a wonderful job on the barbeque cooking sausages, pork ribs and chicken kebabs.

The garden looked very attractive too and even had a bouncy castle for the children.

We were so lucky with the sunny weather and were able to sit outside all afternoon.

Once again Gemma produced a masterpiece.  The Christening Cake.

James was so well behaved all day in spite of the ohhh's and ahhh's of the guests who wanted a cuddle and a closer look.

Again, I say that the best part of grand-parenting is enjoying the grandchildren with no responsibilities whatsoever.  Grandparenting is the best!!!!

Another excellent day with the family.  Thank you everyone for making it so special.

 

Pepper Pig World

Our granddaughters love Peppa Pig so we treated them both to a visit on 11th July.

They got to meet  Peppa and George:-

Chloe loved them both and shook hands with them but Emmie thought they were a little large and wasn't too sure.

The whole Peppa area at Paultons is excellent - really well themed with good rides for toddlers and everything seems really high quality.

  

Being a sunny day the queues were quite long for toddlers,  about 30 mins each ride, but Emmie and
Chloe were so well behaved.

Children under a metre high get in free and there is a slightly cheaper  rate for Senior Citizens.
One tip - book online on their website in advance.  We did it one day in advance so we knew the weather forecast.  Then take your ticket with you - you can either print it or store it in your iphone.
(If you can't go for any reason on that day - don't worry - I understand the ticket is valid for about six months.  Just check dates.)  Booking on line saves about £1.50 per person and you get to fast track the queue to go in.  Peppa Pig World is a day in itself.  There isn't really time to see anything else despite there being loads of other interesting looking rides to do.  We did, however, enjoy the  new double decker Victorian   Carousel.

Downsides:-  The queue for Mrs. Rabbit's Helicopter Ride.

                       The sun was also quite hot whilst queuing and there is no shade so suggest you carry a large umbrella.  Also useful if  it rains.

                        The food is expensive and not much choice.  We packed a picnic that the little ones munched on whilst queuing - stopped them getting bored.  Plenty of seats available so we took it in turns to queue with them and eat our picnic whilst not on duty!!!!!

Tip:-  If it's a sunny day take the children's swimwear and towels as they have an outdoor water park area called muddy puddles.

The 4 o'clock reward for being good girls.  Then home before the rush to leave the car park when the Park closes.

The girls loved their visit to Peppa Pig's World and so did Nanna.