Spain, day 6

Even though its been only 17 hours I’m pretty sure it’s actually been three different days…I’m zonked. Bug was up after only two hours of sleep and didn’t settle for another 90min (if you can call sleep wiggles and jabs settling) and Mouse woke everyone at 630, the equivalent of 330 (based on bedtime). Derek and I began the morning fighting about, well, I don’t even know, but I’m pretty sure it involved someone’s tone and someone else’s face. The kids were in a comparable headspace, and by that I mean punch-drunk with lack of sleep, literally couldn’t stop hitting…each other, us, the walls, toys. Screaming was also a big part of the morning.Our plans for the day were sidetracked because we figured we couldn’t kill the necessary 2.5 hours we’d need to until the amusement park opened so we opted to do another beach morning because we had to do something, right? Derek offered to take the kids, but I said no because this is a family vacation, god damn it! But he certainly scored some marriage points with that one. I did not reciprocate.The beach was actually wonderful. We went to a “surf” beach with much rougher waves and planned to just play in the sand to avoid Bug freezing again. Once I got past my delirium and engaged the kiddos it was a blast. Mouse kept wanting me to build so he could play God of Destruction and Bug was happy pouring pails of water all over the beach. Kid’s a sweet little weirdo.But Derek was the most fun to watch. He took building his sandcastle and moat incredibly seriously and was devastated when Mouse reigned down terror upon it while his back was turned. As I was laughing and making fun of him he says, “Isn’t this why we had kids? To act like children at the beach without people being concerned for our wellbeing?” Touché Larson, Touché. What was the most amusing about it was that as I watched other dads, they were all involved in the same devastatingly serious sand building when no one else in their families visibly gave a shit.We buried people, played in the surf, no one froze, there was no saltwater in the eyes…pretty damn idyllic.Went to grab lunch at another restaurant that prided itself on the ambiance created from waiting 45 minutes between seeing your server each time. I get it. Truly. But our littles are actively destroying your place of business. You’d think they’d be motivated to get us the fuck out. But nope. It’s just dawning on me that maybe they’re laughing at us from behind the bar, punishing us for bringing said littles into the establishment in the first place. Hmm. Well played.Naps/quiet (tv) time finished we load up again to go on a gigantic ferris wheel where we can see the entire bay. Well, mostly the millions of bodies laying on the beach, but still, pretty cool.Next up we go for a carousel ride and are treated to the eldest throwing a massive fit over not getting to the airplane and having to ride a dolphin instead. After a good pout we pay for another ride and mommy stalks the airplane to ensure he gets the ride of his dreams. It’s kinda worth it. The kids looks like someone just shot him full of happy juice.We follow it up with popsicles that amazingly come five to a pack and are tiny so when they’re inevitably dropped I have spares. Someone was really using their brains with that one.We hop on a boat to cruise the bay and both kids are pretty excited. However the highlight of the trip for Mouse is spitting on the banister and playing in it. I have no energy left at this point so I agree that it is a good and appropriate game. We’re on the boat for exactly seven minutes too long and it’s getting difficult to wrangle the overtired beasts on our laps. Finally we’re on dry land and the kids are strapped into their wheeled containment chambers.Dinner is another exercise in, “where the fuck is our food?” but it’s full of carbs and no protein so the kids are happy. Well, me too. We’re way past bedtime so, of course, they’re determined to walk back to the hotel and a 15 minute jaunt is now a 40 minute meandering stroll. But they’re so excited to be out and about with everyone that we just roll with it. Bug is amazed that there’s a second sunrise (ha! the kid is never up late enough to see the sunset) and even though bedtime will be a herculean task due to the adventure it’s well worth it to see the happy faces.