YABBA DABBA DOOOOO

I knew He would her my prayers eventually. After a marathon 9 weeks - yes, that's N-I-N-E - vacation, los ninos have finally gone back to skool Seriously, the authorities need to do something about it. I thought 6 weeks was an eon in Australia, but it pales compared to this. It got to a stage where the kids were busting to get back to King's College (never happened in my school days I confess!). But we've had a great summer holiday nonetheless, and the past few weeks have had their highs as well as squabbling lows.

We had a visit from our dear friend Miss Lizzie and her mum Theresa. They visit their mother country every year and it was such a treat to be able to see them in our 'home town' Madrid, especially given their Spanish heritage. Miss Lizzie is one of Buzzy's 4 godparents (he needs as much help as he can get!!), so that made it even more special, and naturally we took them into the city for Michelin tapas at Estado Puro - neither Lizzie nor Theresa had been before, so it was nice to be able to take them to somewhere different, and the patatas ali-oli, croquet de jamon, mejillones tigre, essparagos en tempura con romescu, boquerones en vinagre, and tosta de brie cebolleta tierna y olivada all went down a treat.

Miss Lizzie, the godson, Theresa....

.....and the Aimster

 

Night out at Estado Puro

 

That's one handsome hombre on the right!

With Dulcinea back in the salt mine, los ninos and I spent so much time in the pool that we are waterlogged. We managed to squeeze in a few movies; Madrid has a small network of VO (version originale) cinemas, and so we saw Gru 2, Monsters University, and Epic....are you getting 'the picture' yet!! I'm convinced that no matter how good or bad a film is, kids love it regardless - it's a nice attitude to have.

Madrid has some awesome theme parks, including 2 monumental water parks (we're 350km from the sea so there's no beaches). We did both of the Aquapolis parks and, quite frankly, you have to be a little insane to voluntarily go down some of the slides. Needless to say, Don L was up for the challenge, especially as some of the rides required an adult to accompany children due to either height or weight restrictions (you need to have a minimum 60kg on board to achieve the maximum ' scare the crap outta me' effect!). And so we sped down the Kamikaze (where water went involuntarily up every known orifice) rode the Boomerang, groped around in the Black Hole, and nearly had my freckle ripped off on the Turbulence tube! Jeez I love my kids!!!!

The Buzzy Aqua Bullet

Wave pool - surf's up!

The Boomerang

Splash



Buzz can't jump - too short!!

Kamikaze

Turbulence

this is more my style

And the holiday wouldn't have been complete without a visit to the Parques de Atracionnes, where we got saturated on the Rapids, Fjords and Sawmill rides, and defied the desire to vomit on rollercoaster rides such as the Abyss, Tornado, Tarantula, the Shuttle (a 65 metre vertical free fall at 80kph!), and the Star Flyer (a carousel 80 metres high - that's 25 storeys - that apparently has spectacular views of Madrid, not that I'd know 'cos my eyes were closed for the duration!!) that turned you inside out and upside down at terrifying speeds. I know that having kids keeps you young, but there should be a rule that exonerates father's who suffer from vertigo.

The Sawmill

Star Flyer

The Tornado

Too tall to ride - SHAME!!

...up they go......

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You'll never get me up in one of those!

The start of the Abyss

So this morning, the kids were up and rarin' to go. It's a very exciting time for them - Aimee starts high skool today and Buzzy has his first day in Junior Skool. Dulcinea is doing her business plans for 2014 (phew, it's coming around quickly), and Don L can settle back into my daily routine again - the coffe shoppe is open again (it shuts for the holidays!), there's music to be reviewed for Rhythms, there's several blog updates to provide, and there's planning for the imminent arrival of Grandad and Nana - I hope they remember that minimum entry requirements into La Hacienda Del LegsyBoys is a box of Twinings Irish Breakfast tea!!

 

Junior Nino

Senior Nina