Pris Adventures: Calista Luxury Resort, Belek Turkey

It's been a week since we came back from our summer vacation.

Has it only been a week??! Oh boy! It feels longer!

Our holiday was FANTASTIC! We went to Calista Luxury Hotel in Belek, Turkey. Honestly, most people gave us the "Oh no! You're going to Turkey" worried look whenever we mentioned that we were going to Turkey. Most Germans frown upon Turkey these days due to the political situation there.

However, I must say that in Belek, it was perfectly normal! Everything was calm, no increased presence of police or whatever.

It was HEAVEN! I didn't have to cook nor clean AND I had the hubby around for one whole week! That to me, is holiday! We had a ratio of 2 adults to 3 children.

The second we stepped out of the airport and felt the warm breeze on our faces, I knew that we had picked the right place for our holiday! Our hotel happens to be the top hotel in Belek on TripAdvisor too!

Our daily schedule was -

- Wake up at 10.30am. Go for breakfast.

- Go back to hotel room. Change to swimwear

- Hang out at the hotel pool / beach for the entire day

- Grab lunch at the beach restaurant

- Go back to hotel. Bathe. Have dinner.

- Hang out at beach pier for cocktails / catch some evening entertainment

- Crash around midnight.

Our 16 month old napped either in the stroller or on the sofa next to the pool. He was so easygoing. It helped that he was so knackered from swimming too. I believe that I'm also more experienced as a Mom now. Back when we had only one kid, we would be so worried about how to allow baby to nap when we just want to be outdoors.

Now with 3 kids, things have gotten easier with naps somehow. Samuel doesn't nap anymore. Gabriel napped on some days and Liam still naps everyday anywhere.

I'm so thankful that my 2 older boys can swim now. It made our holiday so much easier! They spent days just sliding down the water slides into a 1.4-metre deep pool. Usually we would have to be at the bottom to catch them. But this time, they could simply swim to the side on their own and climb up the stairs to the slides again!

The first few times I was watching Gabriel like a hawk. But after a couple of attempts, he gained confidence and became much faster and stronger at swimming, so it became a breeze!!!

Funnily enough, people in Turkey thought that I was from Kazakhstan and started talking to me in Russian! It was quite amusing actually!

Service of the staff was fantastic! Most of them didn't speak much English but it was still quite easy to explain what I needed. It's seriously a top-notch hotel with very experienced service staff. Food was great too. I had barbecued fish and shrimps with salad every night. I was seriously underdressed for dinner because most of the Russian women massively dolled themselves up!

We celebrated Sam's 6th birthday over complimentary cake at sunset on the beach pier! It was such a simple affair. We were happy that we managed to lit the candle for a few seconds before the wind blew it away! Sam had a meaningful birthday celebration and he kept saying, "I'm 6 now right?"

There was kids' club all day for children aged 4 and above but our kids preferred to stay with us. The only day we sent them to the kids' club was when we decided to indulge in a Turkish Haman and massage at the beach! We checked TripAdvisor and went for a "Haman by the beach" which provided free transport to-and-fro the hotel, a Haman, foam scrub and bath and an hour-massage at only 49€! It was quite an experience!

Truth be told, the husband of a close friend of mine passed away recently. He was barely 50! I found out about the sad news when I was on holiday. It was so hard to process the news. On one hand, I had the luxury of having my hubby around us 24/7 for 7 days. And on the other, I knew that my friend just lost her partner of over 28 years.

I think somehow this terrible news made me realise what's important too. My husband and I didn't fight a single time during the 7 days. I really REALLY treasured every single day with my family. You never know how life can throw you a foul ball!

Increasingly I know in my heart that it's a prudent thing to have a home business! I would never compromise my life as a stay-home Mom to be there for my kids now but it's always good to have a rainy weather plan! I personally know 2 women whose husbands died suddenly and both of them are / were stay-home Moms. I know that God will provide no matter what, but I also know that God gives us opportunities! And what better time to build up a legacy for ourselves than NOW?

I'm so thankful for my work-at-home job which also helped to pay off 50% of our hotel stay! It was such a wonderful 5-star hotel that I'm so very sure we'll be back very soon!

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