Malaga

(City-side view from our home in Malaga)

Mama Haynie came back from her trip with an unbelievable thank you gift--a trip to Spain of our very own! She said she had loved it so much she wanted us to be able to experience it as well; and to say I was excited is the understatement of the century. She purchased our airline tickets, a friend of ours from Cambridge offered us their sweet condo in the center of Malaga and we were off! Spain has always been my dream location...and it did not disappoint!

I took this video of our homebase in Malaga on our last day in Spain, and unfortunately the batteries died halfway through the video (your virtual tour). Hopefully you get the idea that this place was beyond beautiful!

When we arrived at the Robles' home, their housekeeper Ana was waiting to meet us. She took us on a tour of the home, and then prepared this beautiful meal of Spanish tortilla, salad, meat and cheese, smoked salmon and fresh strawberries for us. We felt so spoiled and the food was so delicious!

As soon as we hit the ground, I was ready to hit the beach! We started out at the Robles' fancy beach club. There was a gorgeous pool with a waterfall of fresh sea water and Talmage was so cute playing in the water. He liked it...but pretty much had a death grip on me the whole time!

The beach on the Mediterranean Sea was amazing. Talmage loved playing in the water, running from the waves, and bringing Mommy and Daddy shells...

...and mostly he loved eating the sand. Lots of sand. Handfulls of it. And FYI, it all ended up in his diaper the next day. Gross.

After a few hours at the beach T was beat. After a 4 am wake-up call to catch the plane and a full day of fun in Spain he fell asleep before we buckled him up in his seat. Look at that naked little baby in the stroller--ahhhh!

We wasted no time after leaving the beach to explore the city of Malaga. We went to the local Alcazaba, which is a Spanish fortress originally built by the Moors. The landscape, the architecture, the views...breathtaking.

James was kind enough to smile for the paparazzi. Talmage, on the other hand, was awed by the gorgeous views and dreaming of beach water (or tasty sand!)

Pretty pictures of the Alcazar. It's amazing to think that this palace dates back to the eleventh century, with the most extensive amount of work done from 1040 to 1065. Does anyone else think that that that is so hecka long ago? These pictures don't even come close to giving Malaga the justice it deserves.

This picture is called PERFECT timing. Jim was trying to capture Talmage with the landscape and instead he got T trying to throw his cup off of a 50 foot balcony! That little terror!

Our Mr. T and this pretty lady (whom we randomly met on a street corner) experienced love at first sight. Seriously, the funniest thing I've ever seen. Talmage and Mrs. Pretty ran to each other and he couldn't take his eyes off of her...

...and then one thing led to another, he grabbed her hand and they started walking down the street together. So this is love, duh duh duh duh, so this is love! (I'm surprised that the "I still live with my parents" shirt wasn't a turn off for the girl! Ha.)

Malaga was perfect. So perfect, in fact, that we decided to spend our first and last full day in Spain close to home. It's not very touristy so you really get the feel of a Spanish city, and the beauty is astounding. I knew there was a good reason why Spain was my dream place!