Eating Chinese food like a Mallorcan

The first thing Jemima said when she woke up was, "when is Grandpa picking me up?". We'd agreed she would spend the morning with them at their hotel, and she was keen for this to start as soon as possible. So when Grandpa arrived at 8.30am, she was raring to go.

I left Kevin sleeping peacefully, and walked with them through the apartment complex to show dad the beach and marina - he loves sailing boats. The sun was out again, and it was all looking lovely. Jemima demonstrated her favourite scooting spots, then we walked back up the hill to their hotel to see Granny.

It was lucky it was a beautiful morning, because I had to do a bit more walking - I'd forgotten Jemima's swimming stuff (the hotel has an indoor pool). So back to the flat, collecting some freshly squeezed orange juice for a slightly hungover Kevin on my way, before returning to the hotel a second time.

Kevin wanted to stay in bed to recover, but the day was too beautiful; so he then suggested I go off to enjoy myself. So I did. Poached eggs and avocado in the sunshine at Wellies, followed by a browse in the Puerto Portals shops, which so far I've only walked past when with Kevin and Jemima, while looking longingly in the windows. (I did find a jacket I liked, but it was €1,400, even after a 40% discount, so decided against it...) Then back to the flat before we met up with the others for lunch.

On a previous Sunday afternoon visit to the marina, I'd noticed the Chinese restaurant was packed with Mallorcan families. So I'd booked us in for 2pm. When we got there, the place was still half-empty, but it soon started filling up, until it was jam-packed with large multi-generational tables all having fun. The grown-ups ate good food and chatted while Jemima flitted in and out - the square outside was full of kids on various types of wheeled contraption, racing up and down (including what looked like electric scooters, which must be cheating). She finally managed to make friends with a little boy on a bike, and did various circuits with him, giggling away. It felt like we were part of a fun Mallorcan family tradition.

Then it was back home for a quiet afternoon. Granny went for a nap (she'd had a busy morning of playing); Grandpa made use of our wifi to watch the rugby; and Jemima did arts and crafts, then played with Daddy, before an early night - she'd had an exciting weekend. (And we were pretty tired too.) Back to school tomorrow.

Swimming!

Resting