next day. These provided a wide range of activities, both indoor and outdoor, that varied from day to day: swimming at the indoor pool, ‘ice-cream’ trips, boat rides at the beach, sandcastle-building, games like mini-tennis and the usual arts and crafts, singing and stories.
Afterwards we strolled over to the Millennium restaurant for dinner. The Mark Warner resorts the others had visited before had been quite compact. The apartments and facilities in Praia da Luz were spread out around the village, which meant some of them were ten minutes’ walk away. The restaurant turned out to be nearly half a mile from our base – a bit too far, really, certainly for a gaggle of weary toddlers. As we were only going to be away for a week, we’d decided not to bring Sean and Amelie’s double buggy with us, preferring to travel light and thinking we wouldn’t be doing much walking, given that everything we needed was on-site. So there were many stops and negotiations about whose turn it was to be carried by whom. At the restaurant the staff were very kind and obliging, pushing up several tables so that we could all sit together.
Once we’d eaten everyone was feeling pretty tired, and by the time we got back to the apartment the children’s night-time routine – bath, pyjamas, milk, stories and bed – was an hour behind the normal schedule. Madeleine was very taken with the novelty of sharing a room with Sean and Amelie – at home she has her own – and it was nice to have them all together. She had the bed nearest the door, leaving the one by the window empty. On our arrival we had lowered the blind-style shutters on the outside of the windows, which were controlled from the inside, and closed the curtains. We left them that way all week. This early in the season, the nights were not that warm, there was no need to open a window and we reasoned that having the shutters down and the curtains drawn would keep it cool during the day. Although it meant the room was very dark, the children weren’t going to be in there in the daytime, and at night we always left the door ajar to let in a little light.
With Madeleine and the twins settled, Gerry and I chatted and read for a while before going to sleep ourselves. The holiday had got off to a good start, and we felt mellow and content.
Everyone had a good night’s sleep and the next morning, Sunday 29 April, we woke up bright and early and feeling refreshed. After a quick wash, we returned to the Millennium restaurant, where we joined our friends for breakfast, and then took the children to their kids’ clubs. While our three were having fun elsewhere with their buddies, there would be a rare chance for Gerry and me to spend time together playing tennis, going for a run or just relaxing. It seemed to us an ideal way for everyone to get the most out of the holiday.
We wanted to balance these activities with enjoying our break as a family, and we made it clear to Madeleine that she didn’t have to go to the club if she didn’t feel like it. We wouldn’t have minded if she’d asked to stay with us as we loved her company, but she was far less concerned about being apart from Gerry and me than the other way round. The main thing was that everyone was happy.
Sean and Amelie were enrolled in the Toddler Club for two-year-olds in a building adjacent to a bar and the open-air Tapas restaurant, just across from our apartment on the other side of the main pool. The nanny who was to take care of them there seemed very pleasant and capable. Amelie, true to form, was completely unfazed; sensitive Sean, when it came to it, was initially a bit upset, all of which was situation normal with the twins. The staff had our telephone numbers and we left details of our whereabouts, as we would do for the rest of the week, in case there were any problems or in the unlikely event that Sean failed to settle.
Madeleine’s group, the Mini Club for three-to-fives, was based in a light, airy room
Afterwards we strolled over to the Millennium restaurant for dinner. The Mark Warner resorts the others had visited before had been quite compact. The apartments and facilities in Praia da Luz were spread out around the village, which meant some of them were ten minutes’ walk away. The restaurant turned out to be nearly half a mile from our base – a bit too far, really, certainly for a gaggle of weary toddlers. As we were only going to be away for a week, we’d decided not to bring Sean and Amelie’s double buggy with us, preferring to travel light and thinking we wouldn’t be doing much walking, given that everything we needed was on-site. So there were many stops and negotiations about whose turn it was to be carried by whom. At the restaurant the staff were very kind and obliging, pushing up several tables so that we could all sit together.
Once we’d eaten everyone was feeling pretty tired, and by the time we got back to the apartment the children’s night-time routine – bath, pyjamas, milk, stories and bed – was an hour behind the normal schedule. Madeleine was very taken with the novelty of sharing a room with Sean and Amelie – at home she has her own – and it was nice to have them all together. She had the bed nearest the door, leaving the one by the window empty. On our arrival we had lowered the blind-style shutters on the outside of the windows, which were controlled from the inside, and closed the curtains. We left them that way all week. This early in the season, the nights were not that warm, there was no need to open a window and we reasoned that having the shutters down and the curtains drawn would keep it cool during the day. Although it meant the room was very dark, the children weren’t going to be in there in the daytime, and at night we always left the door ajar to let in a little light.
With Madeleine and the twins settled, Gerry and I chatted and read for a while before going to sleep ourselves. The holiday had got off to a good start, and we felt mellow and content.
Everyone had a good night’s sleep and the next morning, Sunday 29 April, we woke up bright and early and feeling refreshed. After a quick wash, we returned to the Millennium restaurant, where we joined our friends for breakfast, and then took the children to their kids’ clubs. While our three were having fun elsewhere with their buddies, there would be a rare chance for Gerry and me to spend time together playing tennis, going for a run or just relaxing. It seemed to us an ideal way for everyone to get the most out of the holiday.
We wanted to balance these activities with enjoying our break as a family, and we made it clear to Madeleine that she didn’t have to go to the club if she didn’t feel like it. We wouldn’t have minded if she’d asked to stay with us as we loved her company, but she was far less concerned about being apart from Gerry and me than the other way round. The main thing was that everyone was happy.
Sean and Amelie were enrolled in the Toddler Club for two-year-olds in a building adjacent to a bar and the open-air Tapas restaurant, just across from our apartment on the other side of the main pool. The nanny who was to take care of them there seemed very pleasant and capable. Amelie, true to form, was completely unfazed; sensitive Sean, when it came to it, was initially a bit upset, all of which was situation normal with the twins. The staff had our telephone numbers and we left details of our whereabouts, as we would do for the rest of the week, in case there were any problems or in the unlikely event that Sean failed to settle.
Madeleine’s group, the Mini Club for three-to-fives, was based in a light, airy room
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