Tenerife, Canary Islands

August 14-21: We finally made it to our holiday. We had a wonderful time in the Canary Islands. Tenerife is the largest of the seven Canary Islands, which are part of Spain, but very close to the west coast of Africa. The resort where we stayed was very nice, with a large swimming pool. Adam got very into ping pong while we were there too. Bill and I enjoyed the many restaurants and a grocery store within walking distance. We signed up for two day trips - one to Siam Park, a water park, and one to Loro Parque, an animal park. The kids loved all the water slides and seeing the dolphins, sea lions, parrots, and lots of other animals. Both trips were booked from the resort and the bus very conveniently picked us up and dropped us off. We spent lots of the week doing some much needed relaxing by the pool and playing games in our room. On the last day we hired a taxi to explore the island. We went to Parque Nacional de Teide, a national park that contains a dormant volcano that is the highest point in Spain at 3700 meters. The terrain heading up there was fascinating - very dry and desert-like - lots of cactus and not many trees. It reminded me of the Old West. Once you get to the base there is a cable car that takes you up close to the top. It was VERY cold and windy, which Jason did not appreciate at all. We stayed huddled together while Bill trekked a bit further. After the volcano, we hit the beach - Playa de las Americas, to be exact. It was packed with tourists - nearly all European - we did not run into one other American on this trip. The boys enjoyed splashing around and collecting some shells. You may be asking why I have not posted any photos of this trip. Well, you see, we left our camera in that taxi on the last day :( But thanks to the wonderful resort workers and taxi drivers of Tenerife, it was found and is being sent back to us :) I'll post the photos when I get the camera back. Now we are back in Madrid and ready to start taking care of some business, like getting us out of this hotel and getting the boys ready for school on September 3.