Our first holiday abroad – Costa Teguise, Lanzarote

This time a week ago we were planning on where to have breakfast whilst trying to organise our packing to come home from an amazing two weeks in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote.

Whilst we were there we had little internet access and it was lovely! Just to be able to sit back and enjoy each other and watch life passing by without a care in the world. I did however keep a note each day of what we did as I wanted to keep it as a lovely reminder for Kayleigh and Ethan on their first trip abroad.

Here is our little diary of our adventures:

Saturday 9th March : Both Daddyvswork and I woke with excitement this morning. At 2.40 pm we would be flying out from Luton to the lovely Lanzarote in what would be our first flight for a long time but Kayleigh and Ethan’s first ever flight, yet they had absolutely no idea! Since booking last September we had managed to keep it a secret from them. When their Nanny and Grandad came to pick them up we told them we were popping out for some lunch at the airport, they seemed to buy into that even when we got the suitcases out of the boot. When we eventually told them both their faces lit up, they could not wait to get on the plane. Then our adventure started!

Our flight out was on time and smooth, both Kayleigh and Ethan loved being on the plane and were so well-behaved. They sat colouring and watching movies on the iPad. When we got off an old lady mentioned how well-behaved they have been.

By 8pm we had arrived in the gorgeous Sands Beach Resort so start our holiday, finishing the evening with pizza ready to start the holiday!

Sunday 10th March : Up bright and early with two toddlers excited to discover where we were, we headed off after breakfast to find our bearings. Costa Teguise has such a lovely relaxing atmosphere and we took a walk along the beach about 9.30 to find what was in our little town.

It really was beautiful to have the sun shining and the waves gently rolling in along the sand.

After discovering the many shops, bars and restaurants on offer we headed back to our resort and to the lagoon with its private beach for the kids to play. The sun was shining and the kids spent the whole afternoon playing with the sand covered in factor 50. Daddy and I put nothing on….

Monday 11th March : Ouch! Not putting suncream on was not a good idea, it may not have been roasting but it most certainly was warm enough to burn.

With us both recovering we opted to stay in the shade today. Just a trip to the park today and lunch out at the Mia Tia bar on paradise island in the resort lagoon followed by dinner out at the Sunshine Sports Bar – You have to eat here if you come over (More on that on another post!)

Tuesday 12th March : It was Daddyvswork 30th birthday today! I was in a very excited mood as I had managed to plan a little selection of surprises (with the help of Rosemary from Sand’s Beach – if you head there and want any advice, suggestions or to book excursions she’s the lady in the know!).

It started with Ethan kindly waking me at 6am! This however allowed me enough time to start decorating our apartment. We put balloons and banners up before waking daddy up to open his cards(His present is a trip to watch Manchester United play in May!).

At 9 we headed out to catch our bus to our first excursion of the holiday, a trip on the submarine safari to the bottom of the sea. It was amazing especially when this happened:

 

 

The kids loved every second of it (I will have a full review with more pictures coming up shortly!)

We headed home for lunch out and just spent the day relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, with a little help from the cakes left in our apartment by the hotel!

In the evening we had a table booked at a little Italian restaurant called Portobello’s. It was amazing food in here and they had set up our table (with the help of Rosemary) to have confetti and a 30th Birthday balloon. Made it feel like a real party atmosphere yet so homely. We were very well looked after but the highlight had to be the cake that Rosemary had arranged for me. It was a gorgeous chocolate moouse and biscuit creation with chocolates and meringues all over it.

I think Daddyvswork was very surprised throughout the day but had an amazing birthday in the end.

Wednesday 13th March : The weather today was a little cloudy at times but still warm.

With such a busy day yesterday we took it easy today. We just played in the park and then took a trip along to the main promenade of shops for some dinner.

We ate in an all you can eat chinese buffet and I have to say it was rather yummy. Even more so when it only cost us €25 for the four of us including drinks and puddings!

Love lazy days like this!

Thursday 14th March : This morning started a little cloudy and on the chilly side so we decided to take the kids along to the aquarium in Costa Teguise. It was only about 15 minutes walk from us so was ideal.

The kids really enjoyed this however it was a little pricey with it costing almost €35 and that was Ethan going free however we enjoyed it.

For dinner we decided to have dinner in as we couldn’t really be bothered to go out so got another takeaway pizza from the resort restaurant (which was about 1 minute from our apartment)

Friday 15th March : The sun was really shining today so we decided to have breakfast out before starting our day.

Since we had arrived we had been walking around a lot so had spotted lots of places to eat. We took a walk to the little local shopping centre to have breakfast at a small cafe there. With 2 full english, pot of tea, 2 cereal and 2 orange juice €15 we could not believe how yummy it was yet so cheap!

We then spent the whole day on the beach making sand castles and enjoying the free kayaks that the resort supply to use on the lagoon. Going round the lagoon you can see all the fish close up and just really enjoy the moment of peace. The kids adored doing this and did it several times throughout the holiday.

The only real dampener on this day was the fact I was served raw chicken & pork on a kebab from one of the biggest restaurants in Costa Teguise. Luckily I spotted it before tucking in as god knows how ill I would have been, so I had to wait whilst they recooked it as everyone else tucked in, then still had to pay full price. Needless to say we didn’t return to them or any of their other 2 restaurants during the stay!

Saturday 16th March : Today we just did what we had done most of the week (and I could have done it for many more weeks!). The kids requested a trip to the park and the beach and that is all we did.

We popped over to the sports bar for some lunch and whilst there we picked up a spit roast chicken for dinner. That and the salad on top only cost us €20 for dinner, plus it was yummy !

Sunday 17th March : This is one of the days I had most been looking forward to.

We had planned to take a trip to Teguise Market. A huge market set in the old capital Teguise, with its old-fashioned buildings and cobbled streets it was gorgeous. On a busy day it can host up to 20,000 visitors.

It was here we picked up most of our gifts for family and friends plus some treats for ourselves. This is well worth a visit if your ever in Lanzarote as it gives you a real sense of the traditions and culture. Our bus tour guide was amazing too as we learnt so much about the island as we drove to the market and back again.

We then just spent the rest of the day playing (mainly football as this is Ethan’s favourite hobby now!) and heading out for an early dinner.

Monday 18th March : Again just another lazy day on the beach, enjoying the time we had here!

Tuesday 19th March : We took our last excursion to Rancho Texas, picked up again by the tour bus the kids were looking forward to seeing the animals but I don’t think they were expecting what we saw.

I am going to do a full review on this trip but lets just say our day involved parrots riding bikes and photo’s with sea lions resting on their head!

It really was a great place to visit and having spent the whole day there I would recommend anyone visiting Lanzarote to make this one of their trips!

Wednesday – Saturday – Apart from a trip to Arrecife on the bus (less that €5 for a return ticket for us all as the kids go free!) we spent the last of our holiday at the park, beach or pool just enjoying each others company in such gorgeous setting and weather.

We had such an amazing time and over the next few days I will be sharing our thoughts on our hotel, our excursions and our places to visit! Before then there will be a post of our holiday in pictures, however there is just far to many to share!