Camping with Grandad...

We've spent a night in Grandad's caravan, and here's how he's feeling...


This is after one night...imagine what he'll be like at the end of the week?!

Of course, out door living is all about being at one with nature. So the kids were THRILLED to find this big hairy catapillar waiting for them this morning - I'm afraid it was a harrassed caterpillar by the time they'd all had a hold!I've had a quick Google for "Hairy caterpillars" but haven't been able to identify it yet! Can any one help? I like posts to be complete with titles!

Although I like hairy caterpillars, I was more distracted with the view - different colours at different times of the day...

Its nice having your own private camp site, but with this view...beautiful. The grass was long and really Leah needed waders to keep her little legs dry! There was so much lovely space to run around. I loved having no TV, PS2 or DS (this is an age test - if you don't know what those abreviations mean, you're officially old!). The kids either read comics or drew pictures and coloured. ...


...or played outside...

I loved the peace...well, during the breaks from the kids bickering!

...and Grandad was on hand to show them round his patch!

Dublin Zoo

We made it to Ireland!

Even though I was sure I would forget one of the little bits of paper you need to go on holiday - tickets, insurance, car hire, passports, parking reference, etc, etc, etc - we managed to get to Dublin, into the hire car and out to the city with out a hitch. The only thing we did forget was money! Well Euros - we had pounds, but they don't go down too well in Ireland.

Luckily our first stop was Dublin zoo - we get in free with our Colchester zoo passes so having no money wasn't a problem!

Liam loved it from the second we walked in - the grounds are so well cultivated, I think he would have been happy to walk round all day without even seeing any animals! Its obviously an old zoo and you can tell that the plants are really well established.

I loved the hippos - two were hiding in a pond, only sticking their noses out for air every few minutes I loved that we could play spot the hippo...

...especially when we saw the one on the side and realised how HUGE they are! How could we not spot them in the water!?

The other animals that particularly caught our eye were the rhinos. How can anyone not go "Aaahhhhhhwwwwwww" when they see a baby rhino! He was a real crowd puller!
Although his mum didn't do too bad at causing a few gasps herself when she did a HUGE wee...
...and then another rhino came and drank it! Can you imagine the children's (and the grownups) reaction?!
We also liked the laid back Irish Elephants! I know you thought there were only African and Asian Elephants elephants, but this one is so laid back it must be Irish!
We could easily have stayed all day at the zoo if it wasn't for a few problems - we had no money and we were all getting hungry! But the biggest reason to leave early was that Megan, Sam and Leah were all desperate to go and see Grandad and his caravan! Even a weeing rhino couldn't distract them for long and that's saying something! I wonder if he'll be as excited for us to invade his little caravan?!

Auntie Barbara

We love seeing Auntie Barbara - especially as Leah calls her Auntie Brabra! And usually when we see her, she's bearing gifts (although I must point out that its nice to see her without gifts too!). Today was my turn - a lovely bath pillow and luxurious Jasper Conran candle for a night of pampering!

Her spanish tan was a BIG reminder of what a washed out summer we've had though! Maybe next year it'll be better weather (although I seem to remember saying that last year too!)...

Rock Hopping!

This is my friend Hilary!She's a very clever lady. Todays cleverness came in the form of suggesting a day out to the heathery hills near toads mouth on the way to Hathersage.

How better to tire out 6 kids (without spending money!) than to march them up a big mountain! And they were all so pleased to see each other that was much less moaning than expected!

I LOVE the hills at this time of year - you're surrounded by a sea of purple......but there's much more for the kids to do up there than just admire the views - there's a few rocks for them to climb......and being intrepid explorers, they HAD to climb them all!

As you can see from this picture, there's so much to...erm...point at! I'm not sure what they're pointing at, but I'm thinking it maybe a rock?! There were a lot of them.

The rocks they climbed started out low...

...and got a bit higher...

...and higher!

I'm really not sure Hilary should have allowed this - she's the responsible teacher after all. I'm not sure she carried out a risk assessment on this rock. Her responsiblity was, after all, rock safety on that day (well thats what I've decided now I've seen the pictures). Mine was more about heather appreciation...

Its always amazing what wildlife you can find lurking in the heather...

A Day at the Temple

Today we planned a family day out to the Preston temple - I had asked Hilary if she'd have my kids, but she had a better idea - to come with us - perfect. Or it would have been perfect except that my mum hurt her neck and so couldn't go. So just Dad and Grandma, me and my kids and the Bradbury's. Hilary was there to do temple work for the family she's found since our trip to London in May so that made it extra nice.

Dad, Grandma and I went into the temple first and it was lovely spending time with them there. Then we swapped and Hilary and Alan went in with my Dad.

I loved seeing all the kids together at the temple. I always associate the London temple with my Grandparents because they lived and worked there while I was growing up. I love the idea of my kids having nice memories of trips the temple with their friends.

I hope they're always running to the temple together!Grandma came out and helped me look after them too - I hope I have her energy when I'm 87!Hilary's a primary school teacher and when she has a group of kids round her, she goes into this fanastic teacher mode - games and authority and education......my methods are a bit simpler - I give them sweets!August 1908: Samuel and Louisa Gratton join the LDS church...August 2008: their grandaughter, great grandson, great great grandaughter and great great great grandchildren visit the temple together...

... a nice way to remember.

Best Friends Forever

What a shame that we've moved and Megan can't spend as much time as she'd like with these lovely girls! She had a sleep over at Lucy's with Maisie and I was supposed to pick her up at 11. But Sue texted and said they having such a good time that could I leave it until 2 - this was great for me, more time for me and Leah at Laura's...then she texted again and asked if I could pick her up at Weston Park Museum at 4. I knew Megan would want to stay as long as she could, and it was nice to spend an hour with Susan an Liz
They had our own HSM moment!
...again!