• Waking up as Jesse climbed into bed with me just before 6am.
• Lingering beneath the duvet, cuddling my boy and listening to him chatter away.
• Missing Carl. A lot.
• Finally heading downstairs for a cup of tea.
• Curling up on the sofa to watch The Little Mermaid.
• Letting Izzy sleep in.
• Making scrambled egg on toast for breakfast.
• Throwing open the French doors to let the warm sunshine pour in as we sat at the table. I pictured us sharing meals like this the very first time I viewed our house last year.
• Cleaning the bathrooms, tidying the kitchen and catching up on laundry.
• Ducking into the shower while the children played.
• Relishing 10 minutes alone.
• Pulling on my new red dress.
• Giving myself a speedy pedicure.
• Applying makeup and twisting my damp hair into a bun to create lazy waves as it dried.
• Watching Jesse play happily in the yarden.
• Letting him ride his bike to the supermarket so I could pick up some sun cream and a light lunch.
• Eating tortellini and salad before preparing a bowl of summer fruit for us to enjoy outside.
• Welcoming my aunt and uncle with huge hugs and lots of excitement.
• Sipping tea and catching up.
• Taking a long walk to Troopers Hill and through the woods before finally ending up in the park for ice creams.
• Loving every second of the sunshine. I swear I’m solar powered.
• Heading home to make spaghetti bolognaise for dinner.
• Polishing off a glass of wine as I cooked.
• Eating a huge plate of pasta followed by an enormous slice of cheesecake.
• Coaxing two very tired children into bed.
• Talking the night away with my aunt and uncle.
• Missing Carl some more.
• Collapsing into bed and sleeping soundly till morning.
• Snuggling with Jesse until it was time to go downstairs.
• Making everyone tea.
• Somehow managing not to shout at the children despite their incessant bickering.
• Craving some peace and quiet.
• Whipping up a batch of pancakes for breakfast.
• Waving off our guests at the door.
• Nipping into the bathroom for a quick shower.
• Embracing the opportunity to wear another summery outfit.
• Helping the children into their clothes and overseeing sun cream application.
• Making sandwiches for lunch.
• Gathering up our belongings and heading into town on the bus.
• Popping into Monsoon to buy a pretty sun hat.
• Delivering Izzy to her drama class.
• Treating Jesse to ice cream at Carluccios.
• Picking out a cute dinosaur t-shirt for him in Joules.
• Letting him slip it on straight away.
• Buying Izzy a new frock because I can’t treat one and not the other.
• Walking to Castle Park.
• Basking in the sun while Jesse played.
• Watching him pick daisies and frolic among the buttercups.
• Picking Izzy up and making a mad dash for the bus.
• Arriving to find there was a 35 minute wait.
• Deciding I deserved a stress-free taxi ride home.
• Cooking up a quick supper.
• Depositing the children in the bath.
• Somehow finding the energy for the final moments of the bedtime routine.
• Listening to Jesse read and kissing him goodnight.
• Clearing away the supper things and opening up my laptop to write this post.
• Helping Izzy learn her lines. She’s playing Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s quite surreal hearing your 9 year old recite Shakespeare.
• Craving an early night.
• Missing Carl. Again.

Love Audrey xxx