Welcome back all,

After a week at the all inclusive complex of The Occidental Lanzarote Mar I am ready for a week on a deserted island somewhere that not as, errr, peopley

Don’t get me wrong I’m grateful for the holiday we had and the fact that Spencer’s ARC Daddy works hard so that we can afford to have holidays at all. While others are less fortunate.

However. Having now tried the all inclusive resort I now know it’s not somewhere I feel comfortable.

Pros and cons of All Inclusive

Pros

• No cooking. As a family of 7 cooking on holiday can take up quite a bit of time unless throwing a BBQ.

• Beds made and fresh towels every day if needed. Enough said! When kids are taking 3 showers a day there’s never enough towels clean if we stay at a villa. But with the resort if you have too many wet or dirty towels you can just throw them in the shower and the maids will replace them with fresh fluffy towels.

• Loads of activities to do without leaving the resort. – the kids have been rock climbing, swimming, attended the mini disco, played on the park, I tried to De stress with a bit of yoga, and we watch loads of pool games like pool football, aqua aerobics etc.

• Night time entertainment. – as I said the kids attended the mini disco where they did party dances and then had cake afterwards. The children then get their own little seating area to watch the main show. There is a kids club rep with them so are well looked after while adults watch the show.

• Unlimited ice-cream & Drinks – when we are away we can spend quite a bit on ice-creams and drinks at various cafes and bars. At the all inclusive it’s all ready been paid for! The kids can help themselves which doesn’t half make life a bit easier.

• There are reps handy for any queries regarding flights or issues with the room.

• Jet2 offer resort Check In of luggage so you simply check in your luggage on departure day and then when you arrive at the airport you can just head straight to the security area.

Cons

• The very nature of all inclusive means food is available at any point during the day. Though meal times are set for the main dinning areas. So if you want lunch say at 12 you have to just have something from the snack area like chips or a burger. If you want more of the buffet style lunch it’s not served until 1pm. With dinner starting at 7pm. When you have 4 tired hungry children 7 can be a little late.

• Once in the buffet you just help yourselves. The biggest twins have been loving it. However it has made them even more wasteful of food. Filling their plates with more than they can eat. I also wonder what happens to all the uneaten food from the buffet. I saw lots of food going back to the kitchen on numerous occasions.

• You could be anywhere in the world. – I like to explore when we go away. Find new places, and get in the car for our infamous Spencer’s Mystery Tour (On a Spencer’s Mystery Tour we get in the car and look at our map pick a village or town that looks interesting normally with a café or play-park or both or even check if there is a geocache nearby and head out looking at any sights on our way! When your in a resort there are so many activities that it leaves little time for exploring.

• It’s very peoply. – I’m happy in little groups of people. Resort life can be very busy. – when you are trying to get around with a double buggy and baggage of 7 people you can seem to be forever apologising and getting snotty looks from people if you ask them to let you through.

• No personal space. – we had a family suite which is an amazing size but the big twins seem to be falling out with each other a lot recently. Jake is very tidy and likes things just so. Melody is not so bothered about tidyness and is I hate to say a lot like me and uses a floordrobe. – so putting them in a bunk bed in a small space was never going to be plain sailing. Part time resident teen came this time too and he slept on the sofa bed which ment he had us walking through in a morning to get to the bathroom or to make the littlest twins bottles.

Our holiday did get off to a rocky start with my anxiety and depression hitting me. However once we had found our daily routine and made plans for each day we made some amazing memories.

The kids had such a blast in the pool, and we did get out and visit some of our favourite places in Lanzarote.

Jake loved being able to eat as much ice-cream as he could!

Melody enjoyed meeting new furry friends.

Mason & Jessica enjoyed trying new foods

Cameron enjoyed the Free WiFi!

Mummy and daddy Are going to enjoy their adult only break in the next couple of months!

I know going away with two sets of twins was never going to be easy but boy are we ready for a break!

So if you can suggest anywhere for me and Spencer’s ARC Daddy to go on our own leave your ideas in the comments!

Thanks

Nina x