easter in spain

We decided that since we were a long way from family we would do something exciting for Easter this year, so we took a trip to the Spanish island of Majorca (pronounced may-york-a) in the Mediterranean Sea (map) for 7 days!

The island was beautiful and the water was nice and clear.

It was the first time the kids got to swim and play in the ocean! (it's really the sea, but the kids get more excited about the "ocean" so we went with it)

For the first hour Carter giggled uncontrollably as he ran away from the waves, it was really really really cute!

The sand was soft just like in the Caribbean.  

We dug a big hole and the kids took turns sitting in it....simple pleasures on the beach.

Of course, we had some ice cream on a patio.

There was a playground near the resort and Averie fell in love with this toy.  Given her love of "baa baa's" (sheep) Averie got quite upset when other kids used it in her presence!

On the resort grounds they had a small go-cart track for the kids (and Jenn).  Carter caught on really quickly and even schooled Jenn and Averie in a race.  I was proud.

There is also a Marineland on the island; so we took the kids.  In addition to seeing stingrays, penguins (from South America, didn't know there were penguins in South America), exotic birds and sea lions, we also got to see the seals being fed.

and dolphin show.

Averie was squealing with excitement at this point.

Much to Carter's relief the Easter Bunny found us in Majorca.

We were woke up that morning by the kids scurrying around on the floor collecting chocolate. Averie didn't fully understand and when I woke up she walked up with a bunch of chocolates in her hands and exclaimed in a semi-concerned, semi-excited voice, "look it!".

On the second to last day it was cloudy and the wind was blowing which caused some really cool and large waves at the beach.  We went down and played in the waves along the shore.

Averie was a bit timid of the waves but she liked them tickling her feet from the safety of Daddy's arms.

On the last day we took the bus to the capital city of Palma.  We didn't think the city would be much to look at but it turned out to be a very nice european city with cool narrow streets, squares and shopping.

Busy shopping.

The fam.

Plaza Mayor de Palma full of buskers and patios.

We left the busy roads and headed down one of the quieter streets.  We found the gated entry.

Inside the gate was a beautify courtyard with a well, stone stairs and a bridge.  The gate and court were the private entrance for three residences.  Amazing!

The big attraction in Palma is the seaside Palma Cathedral and Royal Palace (on the left).

The Cathedral has some huge rose windows.  The lighting inside the cathedral was kept very low and the rose windows glowed so bright the camera had trouble focusing.

At a steeper angle I was able to catch the colours a bit better and the huge vaulted ceiling.

Pretty girl in an old courtyard outside the Royal Palace.

On our way out of Spain the highlight of the day was this little machine at Palma Airport.  For 2 euros this machine pops you a bunch of fresh air popped popcorn while blaring a goofy tune (sorry, no audio).  It was yummy!

Mike