Feria del Nino, San Pedro

This weekend ( 26th, 27th and 28th of Feb ) there is a children's fair in San Pedro!

Attractions include stands, bouncy castles, fairground rides, workshops, crafts, bar and cafe area, performances, puppets, magic, clowns, storytelling, dance and a cinema!

The fun kicks off every day at 11 and the fair closes at 8pm. Enterance is just 4 euros per person.

The event takes place at the Recinto Ferial de San Pedro / Main San Pedro Feria ground!

Sounds like fun!

Fisher Price Recall Toys Worldwide

I just heard on the radio that toy giant Fisher Price have issued a worldwide recall for more than 10 million of their products due to manufacturing flaws which have resulted to injury in at least 7 children.

This is very scary. As parents we spend most of our time 'keeping an eye' on our children whilst they are playing. Playtime should be fun but quite frankly it's anything but fun for anyone other than the child.

If your child is playing outside possible hazards range from falling, tripping, banging heads, being knocked over, being sunburnt, catching cold, being bitten by an insect ... and so on. I used to work in TV where we were never allowed to do anything without a risk assessment. If as parents we had to do a risk assessment for our local parks or even going to the supermarket we would never allow our children to leave the house.
Inside play is not much safer. Inside hazards include falling over, falling down stairs, falling up stairs, falling into stairs, kitchen hazards ( too many to list! ) table corners, doors and windows, slippery floors and finally toys.

Now toys should be safe. We spend a lot of money on toys and as part of the deal we expect that our toys have undergone the safety standards expected. We also expect that the age specified on the box is correct. Sadly this is not the case. Whilst most toy manufacturers do a great job in insuring their toys are as safe as can be, they ( and we ) cannot discount the genius of children and their desire to explore. And so toys go in mouths, in ears and in eyes. They are pulled apart, dissected and tasted. As a parent you have to keep a constant eye on your child when they are playing with their toys and you have to accept that however safe a toy may appear, in your childs hands you just cannot take any chances. We do however have to put a level of trust in the manufactures that assumes that basic accidents should not happen.

According to recent news articles, the Fisher Price products recalled 'span furniture to infant and children’s toys and hazards include choking and scarily, “genital bleeding.” A list of recalled items includes:
About 7 million Fisher Price Trikes and Tough Trikes toddler tricycles
About 950,000 Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs
About 100,000 Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway
About 2.8 million Baby Playzone Crawl & Cruise Playground, Baby Playzone Crawl & Slide Arcade, Baby Gymnastics Play Wall, Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl Aquarium (C3068 and H8094), 1-2-3 Tetherball, Bat & Score Goal.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was aware of 46 incidents where pieces of some of the recalled toys came loose, and in three of those incidents, a child had started to choke on the toy’s parts.'

The recall began earlier this week in the US and Canada, but according to the radio report today has now spread to Europe and Spain.

Little Cheerleaders ...

My friend Vanessa has come up with a great new idea which will leap into action this Saturday on the Costa del Sol.

A trained cheerleader herself, this autumn Vanessa is bringing The Costa All Stars Cheerleaders to the coast. Designed for children aged from 3 - 13 years her classes will combine dance with gymnastics alongside chants, cheers and team games! Perfect for energetic little one's who need to burn off some steam!

Cherrios is for 3 -5 year olds, Sparlers for 6- 9 year olds and Costa All Stars for 10 - 13 year olds. All as well as the fun of learning to cheer, older children will show off their skills at sporting events up and down the coast during the autumn and winter.

Classes start in Sept in Benalmadena and Calahonda. To find out more email costaallstarcheerleading@gmail.com or call 677 493 280

Aqua Park - Mijas Costa

Yesterday we went to the Mijas Costa Aqua Park for the first time. Our three year old had a great time and I have to say it was a really good day out!








At 18 euros per adult it's not cheap and that's before food and drinks but children under 4 can go in free which takes the edge off! We arrived at 11.30 and only had to queue for about 5 minutes which wasn't too bad although I'd imagine that July and August are a lot busier. We then secured beds ( which cost 3 euros for two ) right by the chidren's pool, so the perfect spot to watch the kids and sunbathe at the same time ... bliss!

The children's area is very nice. A large pool divided into two by a bridge houses a number of different slides and water type attractions such as elephants with water coming out of their noses and walkways under showers etc ... there are smaller slides for the really little ones and the water is thigh deep on adults so you do need to keep a close eye on toddlers but overall there was certainly enough to keep our energetic tot entertained for a good six hours. I woudn't necessarily recommend it for children under 3 but for 3 and over it's great ....

We had lunch at the restaurant which was clean and quick and chicken and chip type meals cost approx 4 euros per person so not too bad. There are numerous smoothie, ice cream and waffle stands dotted around the place too ....

For the adults there are number of different slides, a couple of swimming pools ( for kids too ) the wave pool ( which didn't have any waves while we were there ) ... grass areas and picnic areas. There is also an indoor games room, mini golf, trampolines and shows. The highlight of the day for my daughter was face painting in the water ... a rather odd concept but one that certainly pleased her!

The toilets were very clean and well maintained and you can rent lockers for your valuables for the day. The park was actually very well run with good queue management and a nice atmosphere ... but I couldn't say how it would be in high tourist season!

My main and only gripe has to be that the water was COLD ! I really thought the water would be slightly heated and more pleasurable but it was pretty cold and it was a hot day so it shouldn't have been that cold. I'm sure it must be heated when they open in April and even in September. Aside from that we all had a great day out and I'd def recommend it for anyone on holiday in the Fuengirola, Marbella, Malaga area or if you live here with little one's!

The Mijas Costa Aqua Park is situated just off the N340 in Fuengirola. ( Marbella to Malaga direction ) Take the first exit after passing the Miramar center on your left .....

Ballet at the ITS in Fuengirola

A few months ago now my 3 year old started ballet at the ITS in Fuengirola ... The ITS is actually the International Theatre School and is run by Nicola Jones.

My little girl does a half an hour class on a Saturday morning and absolutely loves it ... they do a mixture of ballet style moves, jumps and dance. Parents can watch through a glass window and it def seems like a lot of fun with games like musical statues incorporated into the ballet to add to the fun.

Aside from letting off steam on a Saturday morning, my little girl is definintly becoming a more delicate dancer which is an improvement on her previous 'breakdancing' style! At 4.50 euros a class I think it's a bit of a bargain and well worth getting up early on a Saturday for! The dance school is housed in Centro Nordico on the Mijas Road, just up from Lidl, around the corner from the Mijas Costa Cortes Ingles and next to Puegoet.

Not sure what we will do over the summer as the school breaks until the autumn!

To find out more about autumn classes check the ITS out here

Family Fun Day in Calahonda for LIVE

We went to this event last Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it .... it was a really well organised event in a great venue where the children could roam around relatively safely without the risk of running into a road or leaving the park. There were plenty of attractions for kids including a bouncy castle, face painting and fairground games. The stalls were nicely laid out and good quality and the atmosphere was lovely.

We were really impressed by how well organised and well publicised the event was. I hope they made HUGE amounts of money for LIVE and look forward to the next family fun day .....

Battery Park in Torremolinos

Last week we finally made it to Battery Park in Torremolinos .... I say finally because we tried once before but got completely lost ( it's not the easiest park to find ) and then when we finally got there we couldn't go in as we had our dog with us and it's one of those parks which don't allow dogs .... ( not happy about that ! )

Anyway on Friday we followed a friend ( without dog ) and finally got to embark at the park. And it was def worth the wait. The children's play area is fantastic. Divided into 3 sections, there are areas for really little one's, toddlers and older children.... Each area is really nicely set out on fake grass ( did get a bit hot, must be really really hot in the summer ) with a number of 'different' attractions including huge slides, big bowl type swings for several children, large and small trampolines and climbing frames.

A small walk away is an ornate man made lake where you can purchase rowing boats ...

There are toilet facilities at the park ( but only two toilets so be prepared to queue ) and vending machines with drinks and snacks ....

I'm glad we finally got there and think I could now just about find it again ... def a good one for wearing out the kids!

Family Fun Day Out in Calahonda

We were recently contacted about this family day out in Calahonda ... it sounds fab and all the proceeds go to the L.I.V.E charity which supports the children's Orphanage in Malaga ...

Here are the details ... we'll defnitly be going!

Family fun day in Calahonda
Saturday May 15^th
Location - shaded ‘Parque Infantil’, Avenida de España, Calahonda.

There will be lots going on for all the family to enjoy including a bouncy castle, face painting, games and activities, great prizes to win, entertainers and live music throughout the day as well as food and drink.

There will also be a variety of stalls of children-related products to browse as well as a jumble sale and second hand toy stall.

Entrance to the Fayre is free of charge.

If you have prize you would like to donate, jumble or second hand toys to sell or are interested in taking a stand, please contact Nicola Erlich on 616399382 or email info@live-spain.org

All proceeds go to the charity L.I.V.E (www.live-spain.org) which is a local registered charity working with the local Children’s Home in Malaga.

Reiny Season

It must be reiny season ...!

I say this because toddler harnesses and reins suddenly seem to be the 'hot' baby product in Spain of the moment!

I used reins with my toddler and found them to be really useful. There is a period when excitable toddlers find out they can just about walk ( or stumble ) and start to really explore the world. This is great fun for them but when you are out and about it can be a worry for parents ... you need to be able to keep a strong hold on your toddler especially in busy places such as supermarkets, parks and markets ... This is where the simple baby harness comes into it's own. It allows you to keep a hold of your toddler while also giving them freedom to explore their surroundings safely.

In Spain there is quite a negative attitude to reins from the more traditional parents. I think they see them as unneccesary and uncomfortable. Yet while they might have been right in more innocent times, the truth is that in this day and age, as a parent, I want to be able to really keep a hold of my child. It's another interesting culteral difference between Spanish and British parents. That said we are selling reins to the Spanish too, so attitudes are starting to change ...

For parents who don't want to restrict their children too obviously we have recently found a brilliant invention. It's called My First Back Pack and is a toddler backpack which also functions as a harness for parents to hold onto .... toddlers love wearing them and hardly realise they attached to their parents! They also look really cute ....

To buy our Sure Steps conventional toddler reins or My First Backpack here in Spain check out http://www.indybel.com/

Paloma Park Benalmadena

Yesterday we spent a really nice few hours at Paloma Park in Benalmadena. I've always loved this park as it reminds me slightly of when I used to live in London round the corner from Hyde Park.

Paloma Park is great for the kids, there is a big pond where you can feed the ducks and swans ( although these creatures are so massively spoilt for choice that they now tend to turn their noses up at anything but the very best bread! ) chickens and rabbits wonder freely around and are tame enough to feed. There are also other animals in enclosures, a cactus park, another pond where you can remote control steer little boats, and most recently you can hire multi person bikes and little cars for the kids. There is also a massive play area which has recently been added to and improved upon, esp the bit for toddlers ... before it was okay, now it is really nice with new slides, a little house, a sand pit and climbing frames ...
There are cafes in the park and area's for picnic's as well as toilets. So it really is a great park for a day out.

I'm also a fan of Paloma Park because you can take dog's there ( on a lead ) We recently went to Battery Park in Torremolinos with our dog and were a bit cross ( to put it politely ) when we got there and found big signs barring dogs. As any dog lover and dog owner will tell you, a walk in the park with your beloved dog is one of life's pleasures and so it annoys me that a park doesn't allow dogs ... As long as owners keep their pets on a lead and clear up the mess then what's the problem?

Luckily there is no such silliness at Paloma where dog's are welcomed, even by the chickens and rabbits! Which really does make it my number one park for both children and animals ...

Magic Flowerpot Hairbrush

I always thought that like in the movies my daughter and I would share wonderful moments when I would lovingly brush her hair and she'd exclaim in delight about her gorgeous curls and we'd all be happy ....

I have since found out that real life is not like the movies. My daughter, now 3, has never liked having her hair brushed. She also doesn't like having her hair washed, dried or in fact touched. This is a bit of a shame as she has ( like me ) naturally curly and rather unruly hair .... the type that is prone to looking messy and windswept, even if you've actually done nothing but sit in front of the TV. On lazy days I'm content not to go through the 3 hour fight to brush her hair, but even one day of not brushing means ( due to her hair type ) endless tangles and even matting.

Last summer we discovered a miracle ... the Tangle Teezer. You may remember this from Dragon's Den. It's a detangling hairbrush ... it doesn't actually look like it does much, but one run through even the most tangled hair and you really notice the difference. It's a great invention. We bought a bright pink one and although my daughter still doesn't like it much, on the occassions when I can get it through her hair it really makes a difference.

I was listening to the radio the other day and the interviewer happened to be interviewing the guy who invented the Tangle Teezer. I was intrigued to hear him say he'd invented a special Tangle Teezer for little girls, one that they'd love using .... ( suddenly this seems like the most obvious invention in the world, can't believe I didn't do it myself! ) and so was just browsing his site to look at it. It's called Magic Flowerpot and looks really sweet. I'm thinking I might make the £12.99 ( plus postage to Spain! ) investment .... but only if my daughter promises faithfully to brush her hair by herself or let me brush her hair and then we can all live happily ever after ....

Hmmm .... maybe real life's not like that either!

Paramount to build their biggest themepark in Murcia!

Considering that my daughter asks at every opportunity when we will be visiting Disney World ( or land, Paris or America is all the same to her, and the awnser incidentially is not yet! ) I know she ( and I ) will be very excited to hear that Paramount Studios have decided to build their biggest ever theme park right here in Spain.

The chosen destination is Murcia which is not that far at from where we live on the Costa del Sol. Hopefully this is an announcement that really will become a reality over the next few years as it would be a fantastic place to take kids and also be a great boost for the Spanish tourist and leisure industries. I remember hearing talk of an Alice in Wonderland world for the Costa del Sol a couple of years ago that never came to anything ... so fingers crossed for this one!

Here's the article in full ....

Paramount Pictures have chosen the region of Murcia for the construction of the biggest theme park in Spain, which aims to compete directly with Disneyland in Paris.

The project will have the added value of some cinematographic studios which will be the centre of all Paramount’s productions in Europe, according to the Murcian Councillor for Culture, Pedro Alberto Cruz.

Cruz has just got back from a trip to Dubai with a letter from the executive president of Paramount, Michael Bartok, who wants to start the ball rolling just as soon as it has been proven to be economically viable.

Cruz has said that the region of Murcia will become the “Leisure Centre of Spain, with a 2.5km² complex with 15,000 beds in hotels, creating 20,000 jobs, and attracting 3 million tourists to Spain. The amount of money to be invested will be decided next month, and private investors will be offered the possibility of putting their capital into the project.

The project is estimated to be completed within 2 years.

From www.theleader.info

The Best Mother's Day Gifts ...

My 3 year old made me a gorgeous card yesterday and a tissue paper flower arrangement in her art class. She also insisted on buying me flowers while we were out shopping the other day ... of course I had to pay for them, but the thought was there ... all her gifts were so sweet and special because she made and choose them herself .... and it seems it's not just me, according to a recent survey us mums don't want expensive gifts on Mother's day ... we just want hugs from those we love the most ....

"You may have bought an extravagant gift for your mother today, but all she really wants is a big cuddle.

According to a poll, nine in ten say a simple hug will make their Mother’s Day. Second favourite to keep her sweet is a card – with those home-made by young children being the best.

The survey of 2,000 people found that, overall, sons are more generous than daughters when it comes to gifts.

Men spend more on their mothers than they do on their lovers for Valentine’s Day.!!!

They are also twice as likely to take their mother out to lunch than women.

Flowers were the top gift to mothers, with 42 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women giving bouquets.

The average amount spent on presents was £14.85.

Glaswegians were the least extravagant, while Essex mothers were the most spoilt with an average of £22.35 spent on them.

Those polled by mystery shopping firm Retail Active named actress Joanna Lumley as Britain’s most ideal mother – other than their own.

Retail Active managing director Julian Chamberlain said the poll results were ‘heart-warming’, adding: ‘From the mums’ point of view, a demonstration of affection and family unity are the most important things.’"

From http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Dry Nights .... Toilet training at night ...

Well at 3 years a bit, my little one has been potty trained during the day for nearly a year now and is a seasoned and expert toilet and potty user! We've continued to use nappies at night as quite frankly after going through daytime toilet training the last thing you feel like doing is the nighttime equivalent and anyway I reasoned that she wasn't ready yet as she still wakes up every morning with a full nappy ....

I'm a great believer in letting your toddler lead the way. I have friends who do everything by the baby book ... at xxx months your child must be doing this, that and a million other things and I've witnessed time and again harrassed parents trying to get their child to do what the book says as the time the book says it. Whilst I think these books work well as a guide for babies and young children, once your child hits toddler age and is vocal about their needs I think it's healthy to listen to what they want, when they want it too ....

We did this with formula. Rather than trying to wean my little girl off her beloved nightime bottle, I waited until she was ready and asked to try my 'big girl milk' instead ... the transision was instant and easy because it was what she and not I wanted ....

And so we decided to do the same with nighttime nappies, I decided that when she was ready she'd tell me and this weekend that time came! At only 3 I was quite surprised as I've read that often children are not really ready to stay dry all night until between 4 and 6, but we were prepared to give it a go ...

I must admit I was not expecting results. I thought I'd humour my little girl. Let her try without nappies and then when she wet the bed, explain that perhaps she was not ready yet. However she surprised me ... night one she got up twice and wee'd on the potty I left in her room and i had no need for the emergency sheet, pyjama bottoms and duvet cover I'd left ready for a quick middle of the night change!! Last night she didn't wee on the bed and didn't wee on the potty. Which just goes to show that when your child tells you they are ready, it really is so much easier than when you decide they are ready .... basically ... your child knows best!!!

We are only two nights in, and I know there will be wet beds, accidents and a bit of trauma along the way, but I'm immensly proud of my determined little one and will resolve to listen to her needs a lot more carefully in the future!!!

School Registration ....

I always find March very stressful ... why? Because it's school registration month ...

Here in Spain, parents must choose a school and fill out the enrolement forms for their children during March. Later in the summer they find out what school their child has got into ...

Infant education is non compulsary and is from ages 3-6
Primary education is compulsary and starts at age 6 ...

From what I understand you need to enrole to ensure your childs place every year ....

I learn't a new Spanish word today ... matricula / enrolement or registration!!

Disney on Ice - Review

Well, as I promised last week here is a review of Disney on Ice which we saw on Saturday in Malaga ...

Well firstly I need to comment on the directions ( or lack of them ).... The event was held at Palacio de Deportes in Malaga. Now according to google maps that was at junction 235. The show started at 4 and we went to a nearby shopping center for lunch first aiming to leave at approx 3. Unforuntatly the restaurant we picked for lunch was the slowest in the world and so by the time me and my friend got our two excited toddlers back in the car it was 3.30 ... still the Palacio was only 5 mins down the road, so we should be okay ...right?

Wrong!!

Off we went looking out of exit 235. We actually saw the building on our right and the next exit was 234 ... after a quick debate in the car we decided we are both sticklers for written directions and therefore we should carry onto 235. We realised the error of this when passing 234 and seeing a sign for the palacio. Urrrggghhh .... why, why, why can't google give us correct directions ...

Oh well, we though, we'll just get off at 235 which will prob be correct as well ... right?

Wrong!!

Because, 235 didn't exist. Hmmmm ... thanks Google! 236 existed and we got off there, but it took us all the way into Malaga and then out again in the opposite direction. At this point it was 3.45 and our two toddlers were getting a bit upset that the building with the princesses was now whizzing away from us in the opposite direction! Suddenly we saw a sign for the Palacio and veered off the main motorway onto another ... after 5 mins there were no more signs for the Palacio and we were still heading in the wrong directino. Fantastic signage ...well done Malaga!

With no other option, we headed back to the shopping center where we started, turned around and back to exit 234. Now remember at exit 234 there was a sign for the palacio. Well there were actually two lanes, one signed and one not. Yet our written directions told us specifically to follow the one not signed... we did and arrived. Again, well done Malaga ... great signing! Once we arrived at 4pm parking was an issue .... in the end we chucked the car on the pavement and ran in, arriving at our seats as the first skater hit the ice!

So, with all the getting there drama over, how was the show? Well it was lovely. Obviously the skating was lovely and due to my crash course in skating over 4 years of watching Dancing on Ice, I could appreciate and recognise many of the techniques including when Cinderella did a headbanger!

Basically the show was split into small stories, each one introduced by Mickey, Minnie and Tinkerbell. First up was Aladdin and we saw him dance his way around the market, meet the Genie and finally Princess Jasmine. Next came Snow White who danced around her wishing well, met the 7 dwarfts and had a dance with her Prince .. ... and so on ... you get the idea. Ariel was colourful and my daughter was delighted to see Flounder the fish on ice. There were also thousands of bubbles .... Mulan was striking and Cinderella very funny as the two ugly sisters crashed and bumped their way across the ice and into the audience. The highlight was definitly sleeping beauty and a huge fire breathing dragon who was defeated on ice by the handsome prince. The show ended with all the princesses dancing round Cinderella's carriage which was alight with fireworks.

Each segment was short enough to hold attention, and although it was 6 when we left the stadium the show didn't feel like it had lasted as long as it did.

An absolute delight for both parents and little ones .... a definite 9 / 10 .... one mark deducted for the rubbish signposts!!!

Disney on Ice is still on in Malaga, then in Barcelona from 25th - 28th Feburary, Madrid from the 4th - 7th of March and Seville from the 18th of March ....

Vaccinations in Spain ....

Well yesterday I took my 3 year old for her booster MMR jab which you have to have at 3 years old in Spain. I wasn't really looking forward to it as my daughter has recently started to enjoy going to the doctors and whereas when she was a baby she'd kick and scream, she now giggles and plays and is happy to be examined if necessary. So I was thinking that having a needle jabbed into her would not be a positive experience and would put us back to square 1 in terms of co-operating at the dr's!

I couldn't have been more wrong and I'd like to say that the whole experience was fantastic. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that this was our first foray into the Spanish social security healthy system. As we also have private health care I've always taken my daughter to private paediatricans finding it easier to get a quick appointment and being able to choose when and where to take her. Yet on top of the cost of private insurance every vaccination also costs around 70 euros. Between birth and now she had around 16 vaccinations, so that's a lot of money!!!

As I now work and pay into the social system I decided that this time round I'd make the most of it and take my daughter for her jab at our local health care centre. Our appointment yesterday was at five pm and we went armed with books and food expecting a long wait. We arrived at ten to five and were the only people there and so went straight in. The paediatrican was lovely, very smiley and funny ... chatted to my daughter and gave her some toys to play with. He was encouraging with my pidgeon Spanish and we made ourselves understood.

When it was time for the jab I couldn't have been prouder of my daugther. Expecting to 'drink' the medicine she was intrigued that it was going in her arm. Before she'd had time to see the needle it was in and out and her only comment was a slighly cross 'Oww that hurt!' before the doctor made her giggle again.

We were out by five pm and the whole experience was positive and dare I say it ... fun! I shall certainly be making more use of my local health service and feel ashamed for having been anything less than enthusiastic about the Spanish health care services in the past....

The Princess and the Frog

As I have mentioned before, my 3 year old is currently at the age where she is obsessed by the Disney Princessses ... she has all the costumes and shoes and countless books and princessy toys. Actually regarding the costumes I find it incredible how the price differs between the UK and Spain. On a recent trip to the UK I was surprised to find very nice Snow White, Cinderella, Tinkerbell etc costumes in all the supermarkets and they were very reasonably priced from as little as 10 pounds a costume.

Here they only seem to be avaliable in the high end toy shops and the pricing certainly reflects that. I bought my daughter a box set containing a Snow White and Tinkerbell costume at Toys R Us and that cost around 25 - 30 euros. The costumes are not that well made considering the price. For Xmas, my daughter wanted a Cinderella dress. We eventually found one in El Cortes Ingles which was in the sale for nearly 40 euros. Quite frankly we were loathe to part with that amount of money for a 3 year old's dressing up dress but it was her Christmas present and it is a very well made dress ... however compared to what you can get online or in the UK it is ridiculous.

I recently saw boxsets of a characters dress and shoes in the Hipercor for nearly 50 euros!!!!! Incredible. My friend recently started selling fancy dress costumes on a little stall ... I think she'll do really well!!!

Anyway back to my original point ... The Princess and the Frog is the latest Disney movie to hit the screens and my daughter has seen the trailers on TV and is desperate to go and see it. Now I know we live in Spain and we do embrace the language, but I feel that for her first cinema trip it would be nice to see the movie in English. There are a lot of VOS ( orginal sound version ) films on in this area so I presumed that The Princess and the The Frog would be showing somewhere in it's original version, esp as it's half term. But no, it's been out for 3 weeks now and I'm searching and searching all the local cinema's and it's not on ... what annoys me is that they have been showing VOS versions of Avatar for about a month now .... come on ... change the movie!!! If nothing else the cinema's are missing a trick as there are a huge amount of foreign children living here on the coast who would go to see a VOS version of Tiana y el Sapo.

If anyone knows where we can see the movie in VOS in the Malaga to Marbella area ... please do let me know .... otherwise we are going to bite the bullet and see it in Spanish next week, which I know is probably better for us anyway!!!

It's Carnival Time!

One of the things I love about living in Spain is the constant celebration of all things fun ... here life is often one long fiesta ... with street parades, parties in squares and processions being an important part of local life.

This month it's all about Carnival, and being English and bought up in a country where Carnival is not really celebrated, I do find the whole thing very exciting and colourful.

Nowhere is Carnival more excitedly celebrated than the local nurseries! Last year my daughter went as a fairy, this was more my doing as being only 2 she didn't really know what was going on anyway. This year she's very excited and has decided she wants to go as Cinderella ( with a nod to Dorothy by wearing her red ruby slippers! ) Her little boyfriend is going to be Spiderman and the pair of them are very very excited!


All this talk about Carnival made me wonder about it's orgins. I don't want to post essays on the subject but did find some trivia that I thought might make interesting reading ...

Where did the word “carnival” come from?

Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale — which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival.

In many parts of the world, where Catholic Europeans set up colonies and entered into the slave trade, carnival took root. Brazil, once a Portuguese colony, is famous for its carnival, as is Mardi Gras in Louisiana (where African-Americans mixed with French settlers and Native Americans). Carnival celebrations are now found throughout the Caribbean in Barbados, Jamaica, Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, St. Thomas, St. Marten; in Central and South America in Belize, Panama, Brazil; and in large cities in Canada and the U.S. where Caribbean people have settled, including Brooklyn, Miami, and Toronto. Even San Francisco has a carnival!

If you want to read more about Carnival take a look at this site! And if you've got a little one heading off for their first carnival ... enjoy!

Disney On Ice comes to Spain ...

We are going to see Disney on Ice on Saturday in Malaga and I don't know who is more excited ... my little girl or me!!!

All little girls love princesses so it's great that this particular show is called Princess Wishes and features all the favourites including Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, Ariel, Tinkerbell, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Mulan ... and of course no Disney spectacular would be complete without appearances from Mickey and Minnie!

My little girl has probably only 'got into' the whole princess thing in the last 6 months or so, but she has all the outfits and loves all the stories so I think she is going to love this. We saw a Snow White panto at Christmas in the UK and she loved that ...




As for me, well I was happy to go along with the whole outing, but having seen the Disney on Ice Spanish website complete with video, I have to admit I'm rather excited. The whole extravaganza looks stunning with great music, fireworks, special fx and acrobatics and being a fan of 'Dancing on Ice' I can appreciate that the skating itself looks spectacular too ...

So, one rather excited mummy and daughter! I'll provide a full review next week, but in the meantime check out the Disney on Ice Spanish site and take a look at the video for yourself ... the show starts in Malaga this week and then continues throughout Spain with shows in Madrid and Barcelona as well as selected Spanish cities ... Not to be missed!!!