- Waking up at my in-laws’ house near Derby.
- Racing downstairs to see the children properly after a week apart. Mr L.A. and I arrived very late on Friday night when the children really should have been asleep, but weren’t, so our initial greeting had been one of mixed emotions!
- Sipping tea and snuggling beneath a blanket on the sofa.
- Tucking into poached eggs and a hot, buttery toasted bagel.
- Grabbing a quick shower, pulling on some clothes and applying my makeup.
- Persuading the children to get dressed.
- Willing the rain to stay away.
- Heading to my sister-in-law’s house for a BBQ.
- Marvelling at the size of their garden. To give you some sense of its enormity, there was room for a gazebo, four quad bikes, a climbing frame, a bouncy castle, a shooting range, a trampoline and an enormous tree.
- Watching the children race off to play with their cousins.
- Sipping beer in the sunshine.
- Enjoying an array of delicious food.
- Dashing inside when the rain came.
- Singing Happy Birthday to my niece who will be six on Tuesday.
- Eating cake and chatting away while the kids played happily upstairs.
- Wishing we all lived a little closer.
- Jumping in a taxi.
- Packing the kids off to bed.
- Collapsing on the sofa.
- Munching on crisps and dip while my mother-in-law watched X-Factor.
- Retreating upstairs to bed.
- Sleeping in.
- Dragging myself downstairs for a cup of tea.
- Despairing at Jesse’s bad behaviour.
- Taking him to the park to let off steam and calm down.
- Slowly wandering back to the house.
- Resting on the sofa with a huge mug of tea.
- Nattering with my mother-in-law while the men popped to the shops.
- Relaxing in the garden.
- Watching my father-in-law fire up the BBQ.
- Sipping pink wine and feeling content.
- Eating too much.
- Whiling away the afternoon.
- Enjoying the warm sun on my skin.
- Dealing with another of Jesse’s meltdowns.
- Mentally making a list of all the possible causes.
- Finally getting the children into bed.
- Settling down on the sofa with another {well deserved} glass of wine.
- Ordering pizza.
- Eating too much.
- Saying goodnight and heading to bed.
- Waking up and jumping in the shower.
- Grabbing breakfast and packing our bags.
- Wearing, and loving, my new white tee from Delores Daywear.
- Piling into my father-in-law’s car and waving goodbye.
- Driving back to Bristol.
- Feeling glad to be home.
- Enjoying a cup of tea outside in the yarden.
- Eating pasta with red pepper pesto for lunch.
- Sorting through the suitcase and making a start on the laundry.
- Sending Mr L.A. out for groceries.
- Keeping half an eye on the kids while they made Snickerdoodles.
- Letting them eat their biscuits as they sat down to watch Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride.
- Slowly roasting carrots and garlic with toasted cumin seeds and olive oil.
- Coating cooked brown rice in a dressing made from the roasted garlic, a little olive oil and some lemon juice.
- Frying halloumi, plating everything up and sitting down to eat.
- Plunging the children into the bath.
- Kissing Jesse goodnight.
- Tapping away at my laptop while Izzy watches Once Upon a Time.
- Trying not to think about her starting secondary school on Friday.
- Wondering where the summer holidays have gone.
- Not wanting to accept that Autumn will soon be here.
Love Audrey xxx
