Tenerife Part 2-Whales & Volcanoes!!

We had a fun last couple of days on our warm weather vacay!  We got to go on a fun Pirate ship to find whales and dolphins, then we got to travel way up the mountain to see the third largest volcano in the world, El Teide.  The volcanic eruptions from millions of years ago are what formed Tenerife, the 10th highest island in the world and the highest point in Spain.  We had a lot of ear popping driving on this island! We stayed in the Los Gigantes (the giants) area and had an amazing view (per previous post) of some of the formations from the eruptions.  Acantilados de Los Gigantes (Cliffs of the Giants) was the backdrop for many of our pics and the view from our house.  Not bad to wake up to that everyday!

PIRATE SHIP ADVENTURE

Preslee was chosen to help us set sail!

It was a little tough getting that sail up, so the pirate had to help out.

That is our house sitting on the mountain side.  Mike is in there somewhere with Emerson.  He opted out of the boat ride because he had to work and easily gets sea sick.

Paps, Preslee, and Grammy

Watching for whales!

We spotted them!  This day we saw the smaller pilot whales.  There were a lot of them.

We even saw a sea turtle.  He was super cute!

They fed us paella!  I'm pretty sure it was from a box, but it was ok.  The excursion was super cheap and included the food and all you can drink! 

We got to dock for a bit beside the giant cliffs and everyone could swing off the ship.  Preslee did it a few times and Kade only once.  The water was pretty cold!

Drake and the Pirate are looking down below.....

It's cold mom!!!

But I'm gonna do it again!

Awesome backdrop, huh??

Kade's turn!

It was such a fun time!!!

So we saw "Justin Beiber" while we were eating breakfast on the marina...and then he ended up on our boat!  Preslee was so embarrassed! (no, it's really not him if your sitting there trying to decide if it is...:))

Back to the Beach!

This is a pic I took of the kids while they were at the beach and I was in our house.

Drake half black from rolling in the sand!

Valentine's Day and Volcanoes

Mount Teide...pretty darn beautiful!  Another UNESCO world heritage site.

Wearing her Vday outfit from Aunt Britt!

This is actual hardened (obviously) lava.  You can kind of see where the stream of lava flowed.

Mike, Preslee, and Kade took the cable car up to the top of the volcano.  It was -2 at the top and we all pretty much had summer clothes on!!  So, I volunteered to stay behind with the two little ones.  Drake didn't want to go, and with the pressure changes I didn't want to take the baby up.

Views from the top!

Above the clouds!

I wander if their teeth are chattering??

Back down below, we stopped at another area in the park to walk around and see the awesome creations that the volcano made.

Our favorite breakfast place.  It was on the marina and served great food!  I think we were there about 4 times!

One night this is what the moon looked like.  It was very strange, I don't think I've ever seen the crescent at the bottom. Looks like the Cheshire cat!

Last day in the pool goofing off!

There's those giant cliffs again!

Sadly, during our vacation, we lost our Popaw.  Grammy & Paps left for the states the day we went to the volcano and then we left the next day so Mike could make it back for his grandfather's funeral.  This is the hardest thing about living so far from family, when someone is sick we can't just drive a bit and be with them before they pass.  And for the kids and I, we had to miss the funeral which was very tough.  Popaw was one of the few great men that God put on this Earth and he will be truly missed.  

We couldn't be at the funeral for Grammy and Momaw, so we made them cards and this is the pic that I had put on it.  Preslee made all the letters and helped put it together.