The cousins

Eye on the ball

It was Easter this weekend and we were treated to a visit from Simon, Clare & co.  It took them 6 hours to get up here - due mainly to bank holiday hold-ups on the motorway, but they were in good spirits when they arrived and apparently the kids were very well behaved.

After a drink we took them for a walk around the village including a session at the park so they could stretch their legs.  The children got on straight away, no shyness, no violence, it was as if they see each other all the time (last time they saw each other was Jake's birthday a year ago!)  It was great to see them so relaxed and playing so nicely with each other.

After bumping into Rachael, we headed into a pub for a drink before heading home for dinner.

3 cousins

We had decided that this time Tom and Jake could sleep in the same room.  Tom has slept with visitors before, so we knew he could do it and we were amazed again at how easy it was - they only needed one talking too and before we knew it, they were asleep.

Two loonies in a puddle during the Ribblehead walk

They did wake up at 6.30 the following morning, way earlier than we are used to, but then we are very lucky to have a boy who likes his bed and is content to lie in it until we get him up.  Tom and Jake were both bursting with energy at 6.30 so we let them run around.  Amber joined in the fun, so before we new it we started the day.

Clare was wanting to see a lake whilst she was up, so we headed up to the Lake District and Fell Foot Park - just about the only place on the Lake that is easy to access.

We got stuck in playing football, cricket, tennis and then a good play in the adventure play area, followed by the christening of one of Tom's new kites.

I had bought picnic food, but it was a little too cold unfortunately, I think this Easter was recorded as the coldest Easter since records began.  It was ok in the sun and out of the wind, but as soon as you lost one of those it was very cold - as you can see everyone was wrapped up warm.  So we ended up in the cafe instead eating soup and sausage sandwiches, trying to warm up.

Baaaaa

Boy and a bridge

By now Amber was getting a little tetchy - she was clearly tired, so we decided to go back to the car to give her a chance to fall asleep.  the boys were playing so well with each other now, that we put them in the same car with Matt and Simon, whilst Amber travelled with us.  She was a sleep in no time.  She was still asleep when we arrived at our next point - Ribblehead.  The plan was to do the 2 mile walk around the bridge, but Amber wasn't up for walking, and even when she was in her buggy she wasn't too happy, so she, Clare & I called it a day and went to sit in the pub whilst the boys did the walk.  Sounds like they had a good time, and Amber was pretty well behaved in the pub with me and Clare.

We all returned home, we had make your own pizzas for dinner.  I thought this would be a good idea in that everyone gets to choose what goes on their pizza and therefore will eat it without any trouble.  It didn't quite work out like that - Jake after being on the go all day and eating a rubbish lunch then decided that he didn't like his pizza - it lead to a stressful dinner.  We all felt sorry - it is so difficult when your child is playing up in someone else's house - it is so hard to discipline them - Jake just wasn't having it - I don't know where he gets his energy from.

Jake

Sunday we decided to do the egg hunt in Ingleton - the one I've been helping with.  I was a little nervous that it wouldn't work, considering it was done so quickly, but we had a great time.  Jake got into it very quickly and was very excited each time he found an egg, shouting out the letter on it.  Tom soon cottoned on which meant we then had two excited boys (Amber wasn't that interested).  It was in fact very educational for Tom as he learnt more capital letters throughout the morning.  Tom and Jake were soon looking everywhere for eggs, (Jake was disappointed that there wasn't one stuck inside the helter skelter slide - one to think of next year!)  There were eggs literally everywhere in the village and the hunt worked really well.  The boys could quite happily have gone on doing it for hours and hours and we got to see bits of the village that we haven't yet visited.  We rounded off the morning with a visit to Neptis.  Tom and Jake had hot chocolates (I'm in trouble with Simon and co as I introduced Jake to hot chocolate and he likes it) and then they all played with toys or did some drawing.


We then headed home and had roast for dinner before saying goodbye.

Amber

I was quite surprised at how well the children got on.  There weren't any tears from them because of each other (only from falling over etc etc).  Tom and Jake were like old friends.  Amber has some spirit to her (she needs it with an older brother!) but she was good fun and even favoured me from time to time for helping her do things.  She's definitely a Daddy's girl, she cries and cries

if he's in the room and she's not allowed to be with him - I remember Tom doing the same to me!  She's talking really well too - whole sentences (I always find it strange when 1 or 2 year olds speak as Tom didn't).  Anyway, it was a good weekend.  Let's hope they remain friends now.