12 Grays in Portugal for 7 Days...

I have mentioned a few times since the start of the year how much I had been looking forward to our family holiday to Portugal over Easter. And by family, I don't mean Simon, Isabelle and I. No no, I mean the WHOLE family. All 12 of us....
The whole thing was my sister-in-law's idea way back in October, and she found us a great villa in Portugal, about 10 miles from Faro, which was big enough to accommodate all of us. We booked the flights, booked the cars, and bought all the suncream we could get our sensitive-skinned hands on, and planned and replanned how 12 of us would manage to get to the airport.
On Good Friday my mum, dad, brother, sister-in-law, 2 nephews, sister, brother-in-law, cousin, Simon, Isabelle and I set off at the horrific time of 4.30am to the airport, ready for the sun.
Isabelle is pretty used to flying by now - we fly over to England roughly every 2 months, so she is well used to it. She was perfect on the flight out, had two naps and a little awake time in the middle. It was only Jacob's second time flying, and he was fantastic, and Isaac's very first time, and he was fantastic too!
Our villa was a great size, but pretty poorly laid out which meant that the sleeping situation for some wasn't ideal. That said, there was loads of space, and plenty of bathrooms, so we weren't tripping over each other all week. There was a great big garden too, with a lovely patio complete with table and chairs for al fresco munching, and a sheltered patio area to keep us out of the sun when it got too hot. Even better, there was a lovely big, heated pool complete with a pool fence to keep our tinies safe, and loads of sunloungers to spend our days sunbathing on.
The kids adored the pool, and Jacob and my cousin Lydia spent most of their day in there. Isabelle LOVES swimming, so she had a great time splashing about whenever she fancied too. There was more than one incident of a tiny person 'having a paddle' which ended up in soaked clothing, and a full on swim - which Jacob thought was absolutely hilarious "I went swimming in my clothes!".
Apart from plenty of lounging by the pool, we ventured out on a few day trips to local towns. I had never been to Portugal before, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it is really lovely. The town of Villamoura had a beautiful marina, with some lovely places to eat and a gorgeous sandy beach, where we spent my dad's birthday. It was lovely for a stroll, a meal and an ice cream to get us out of the villa. We also ventured a bit further to Albufeira, which was much more touristy and not quite as lovely, but we had a little play on the beach and another ice cream to keep us happy.
The kids were absolutely super the whole time. Luckily it wasn't too hot - around 20-25C which is perfect for getting away with such tiny people, and for my heat intolerant family! The little people seemed to adjust well, and enjoyed having so many people around to play with and cuddle with. That said, Isabelle didn't sleep very well at all when we were away. The travel cot in the villa wasn't the best we have ever encountered (in that it collapsed!) and I think she found it very uncomfortable. That, combined with being away from her normal room, meant that she spent 90% of her sleeping time wedged firmly between her daddy and I. Luckily, our bed was more than big enough! I was worried that when we got home she would be a nightmare to get back to normal, but she has been sleeping better than ever which is wonderful!
Of course, when you have 12 people together for 7 days, it is a LOT - and we thought it was such an impressive feat that we created our own hashtag '#12Graysfor7days' which we used on Instagram to keep all our holiday photos together. Overall, it all went smoothly though, but we were more than happy to say goodbye to one another at the airport, and it was a whole 24hours until I saw my sister-in-law again, and 48hrs until I saw everyone else, bar my sister and brother-in-law.
So, all in all, we had an absolutely great time away. It was so lovely to get some concentrated 'family time' - especially for Simon and my brother who don't usually get to spend such long stretches with the kids. I'm not sure everyone would be rushing back straight away, but the Jays are definitely up for another trip if anyone else is brave enough! Oh wait...9 of us are heading to our new holiday home on the north coast of Northern Ireland next weekend. Turns out, we can't get enough of one another!