something to look forward to

Infinity pool overlooking the private beach

After I had Max, unfortunately I was diagnosed with Post Natal Depression.  This is an unbelievably debilitating condition.  I have always been known for always seeing things in a positive light, always seeing the glass as half full, so to all of a sudden not want to get out of bed, not put on make up (unHEARD of for me), and not leave the house for days on end was completely alien to me.

Luckily my mum and James identified it straight away, I hadn't even thought that is what it could be, I had a beautiful healthy baby boy, who was eating well, sleeping fantastically, we were ok financially, just had got a new 'family' car, so there was no reason as to why I should feel down.  Luckily my extremely lovely Doctor diagnosed me fairly quickly, and also explained to me that I could be the richest person in the world, living the most wonderful life, and still be depressed.  It was nothing to do with me, it is simply a chemical imbalance in the brain.  She gave me some tablets which she assured me were non addictive, and within a week I could feel the old Abby returning.

Soon after, James told me I deserved a holiday, so we found the stunning Daios Cove (see here) and booked a half board holiday for when Max would be 4 months old.  I was nervous about how we would cope with a 4 month old on a 4 hour flight, how we'd heat bottles up etc, but all that worry was totally unnecessary.

There was nothing to worry about on the 4 hour flight!

Whether you have children or not, this place is stunning, it has its own private beach, you can have your own pool (we did, but unfortunately when we went - october - the sun wasn't in the right position to heat the pool so we never used it!), and there is fantastic food, activities and more importantly, you don't ever need to leave, which is what we needed, just to do nothing.  If you do have a little one, I cannot commend Daios Cove highly enough, they provided the travel cot, covers, a bottle warmer, an electric steriliser and anything else you could possibly need.  You ask the question when booking, and then they keep in touch with you until you arrive, just to check whether you may have remembered something else you could do without lugging abroad.

Our room with private plunge pool and AMAZING view

We haven't had a holiday since then (that was October 2011) which I know isn't a big deal for some people, but we were used to having 2 or 3 holidays a year pre-Max, as James' dad used to live in Spain, so we'd get cheap flights out there, and obviously not have to pay for accommodation, so we are literally on our knees needing to relax, and just to get away, get some sun and have a change of scenery.  The last 20 months have been incredible, but bloody hell it's hard work, especially when you are a workaholic too!  We are also desperate to see Max build sandcastles on a safe private beach, watch him run screaming with excitement into the sea, and just create another wonderful memory!

So after relentless searches for villas with private pools, that were safe for children - the only ones we can find fyi are in France, Corsica and some in Mallorca, where if someone falls into pool, a massive alarm goes off (it is the law in France to have this alarm).  We then decided, god, he is hard enough to entertain here with all his toys with his 3 second attention span, what we will do with very few toys in a villa?  So after searching for a holiday similar to Daios Cove, we decided, do you know what, it was so perfect, why aren't we just going there again?
So we've done it, we've booked it!  Due to us both working now, we have treated ourselves to an upgrade, again with a private pool but have asked for a south facing one so we don't waste money on not being able to use it again!

If you are stuck for somewhere to go, you should really check it out, they also have great deals on at the moment until the end of February.  May 10th cannot come quick enough!  Actually, I'm 35 on the 18th, so it's a bit of a double edged sword as I'd like that to be as far away as possible!

Sun tent that a wonderful friend lent us

First dunk in the sea

Family session

Any other child friendly holiday suggestions?