wet & wild

The end of our holiday. It rained every mile of the 320 miles back home - and we missed a crash on the M6 which would have caused serious delay by a matter of seconds. 6 hrs in the car with 3 small children surprisingly went much better than you'd think.

It's good to be home - I no longer need to duck every time I go through a door.....

stratford

We had a fairly quiet day today. I took Joseph into Stratford to pay for the house in Welford and we also went to M&S to get some food for this evening. Managed to get a salmon for 4 people..ooops. Joseph was grumpy as soon as he got into any shop and we got an absolute soaking from the shop to the car (like you wouldn't believe). Tourists must hate this country.

In the evening, I went with Joseph and Grace to drop stuff of at Q&L's that we'd borrowed (stair gate etc.). Grace now in the front of the car seems very grown up......

National Trust bonanza

Kenilworth Castle (ok so it's English Heritage), Baddesley Clinton & Packwood House up near Warwick. The weather was actually pretty good....

Chippenham

Visited the Matthews family down in Chippenham - a place that I've lived very close by but never actually stopped.

sunday lunch at the Thomas'

Sunday lunch at Quentin & Lynne's. Grandpa & Grandma joined us. Grace enjoyed playing with Charlotte & Henry (although feigning to be shy to start with).

the long drive to Welford

317 mile drive to Welford on Avon in the Cotswolds. Made good time with a stop for an hour. 6 hrs door to door.

Arrived to discover no hot water and it's been raining (a lot). Kids grumpy. Joseph managed to fall down the stairs twice in the first couple of hours that we got there. This could be a very long week.....Wondering why we bothered coming in the first place. Finally got the kids off to bed - but it wasn't looking like being the best night's sleep for anyone.....

nanny interview

This evening we interviewed a potential nany (we are not even sure we want one). This was quite a terrifying ordeal as she clearly knows more about kids than we do. Intimidated? Oh yes. She was very good, competent, but a bit too Norland nanny for our likings, so we'll be re-thinking. It was (I think) a good exercise as it has helped to clarify our thoughts (or should I say Catrin's).