Easter Break in the Canary Islands

It's been awhile, sorry for the lack of posts and updates from Billund. We've been dealing with a lot of sickness, busy schedules and to be honest I've been lazy in terms of keeping up on the blog. As more time passed, the less inclined I was to write a post. Hopefully I can be more consistent again in the coming months!

Since Christmas, Evelynn has come down with the flu, strep throat and various colds which eventually spread to the rest of the house. We just surpassed her officially being in school for 6 months and she has been getting sick much less and I'm crossing my fingers her immune system has strengthened to handle all the new germs that come with her first year in school. She has really started blossoming in school and I am so glad we have her at the international school. She has made some really sweet friends, is learning to deal with new relationship dynamics, is gaining more confidence and her favorite - lots of time put towards being creative.

Daphne is patiently waiting for her turn to join Evelynn at school. She will start in October and the girls talk about this at least once a week. Evelynn explains to her she will be big enough for K1 when she turns 3 and that they'll get to play together in after school care. Daphne's vocabulary has skyrocketed the past several  months and now I have a conversationalist to hang out with during the day. She makes hilarious facial expressions and loves to "tell jokes" and be silly. When it's quiet, she is either causing some sort of mischief or reading books on her own. The former is usually the case :) She keeps her momma on her toes! We are looking forward to the weather changing so we can spend more time outside of the house at the local parks, Legoland and in our backyard.

Joel is keeping busy with top secret projects at work - sorry no updates on that front ;) He is still enjoying his job, feeling challenged and enjoys using the girls as test subjects for some of his ideas. He has joined a weekly basketball club and gets together with his buddies to play SmashBros a couple times a month.

I am doing my best to continue to adjust to our lives here, although not always very smoothly. It has been a challenge for me to stay positive and embrace so much change in my daily life. I miss our families, wish I could be closer to my sister (and brother in law) as they are having their first baby (can't wait to meet you Landon!) and miss the community of ladies I was a part of in Oceanside. I think as Daphne starts school in the fall, I will have more opportunities to invest in the community here, start language courses and pursue some of my own interests. Still figuring out what those interests will be, but having high hopes for the fall. Looking forward to more sunshine and Vitamin D for an energy boost. Joel and I are trying to overhaul our lives with healthier food, exercise and sleeping habits, which I'm sure will help too once we get in a groove on those changes. And now that I've posted it on our blog, that's more accountability...right? :)

So now that you are all generally updated, I'll start fresh with a post about our recent "cacation" (vacation a la Daphne) to the Canary Islands with Grandpa and Grandma. We spent a week on the island of Tenerife during Evelynn's Easter break from school, enjoying warmer temperatures and Grandpa/Grandma's company. The girls have once again proved they are becoming professional travel buddies after spending 7 hours in the Stansted/London airport overnight. They stayed mostly positive and were more patient then their parents at times. We met up with Grandpa and Grandma a few hours after we landed at a nice apartment rental. We eventually settled into our rooms and the girls enjoy playing in the backyard - lots of new terrain to explore in a desert climate. We had our first tastes of Spanish Tapas, visited the beach and swimming pool on the property, fed monkeys and guinea pigs at the Monkey Park and went on a yellow submarine ride. There are lots of photos to share below!

Late night bus ride to the airport. One plus, it only takes 12 minutes!

Ev created "a set" from the Duplo building area at the airport

Easter coloring pages

Mommy's shift to stay awake during our long layover

The girls were so sweet and cuddly in the wagon

Pretty views of the volcano and Tenerife island from the sky.

We made it and didn't have to check any bags!

Afternoon melon snack

Off to dinner our first night in Tenerife.

The adults attempted a game of Parcheesi.

Beautiful blue skies!

Tough life for a 2.5 year old :)

Morning visit to the Monkey Park - first off holding some parrots for a photo.

One of the girls' favorite activities - feeding the guinea pigs.

Feeding a very friendly monkey.

We were able to feed this guy some oranges - he even spit out the seeds.

Taking a break with Daddy and Grandma.

The "move it move it" monkeys (thanks to Madagascar)

Ev's favorite - the "fuzzy monkey" 

Sweet little baby monkey.

Lots of lizards to watch at our apartment - can you spot it?

Time for a ride on a yellow submarine...

Very excited to be on a yellow submarine...

Happy sisters

Lots of fish - mostly sardines I think.

HUGE manta ray.

Happy girl

Grandma brought supplies to make Easter bags.

Hunting for their Easter donut 

Yummy breakfast treat

Ev colored each of us a special Easter egg and hid them in the apartment to find.

Grandpa found his!

Grandma and E with their eggs.

Grandpa and Grandma accidentally locked themselves out of their room...we sent D in to retrieve the key!

Enjoying the pretty view...

A fun park near the beach.

One round of the many tapas we tried on our trip.

Wiki stick fun with Grandpa.

Checking out the tapas menu, so many choices.

Beach day with my love.

Rocking her new ice cream swim suit and enjoy the "chocolate" sand.

I think Ev was the most excited to be at the beach.

Trying to warm up E in a little sand bed.

Post beach day bath. The bath tub was quite the treat for these two since we don't have one in Billund.

Cruising to the pool.

Sunbathing in Grandma's hat.

Enjoying clear skies and warm sunshine.

Off to the airport again...

Lots of walks on the tarmac this trip.

Thumbs up from everyone for the first flight (D uses her index finger :))

We are tired and almost home after our second flight from London. On this trip we discovered D loves to listen to music with headphones and busted out a few notes for the back half of the airplane)