The Andersons Come to Visit

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of the Andersons for a visit.  Millie is now 5 and still a whirlwind.  A very precocious child - of which the parents are aware.  She is full of energy and opinion and a blur of red hair.  Great fun, but it would be exhausting to be her parents!

Bolton Abbey stepping stones

We were blessed with the most beautiful Friday and Saturday for their visit.  Matt went to collect them whilst I was with Tom over on the cricket field whilst he got some training ready for his trials.  John came for an hour and stayed until we couldn't see the balls anymore.  You could see that Tom was a bit rusty, so it was good to have such an intensive session with him.

Millie arrived about 5 minutes after we got in.  She was full of it and could remember every detail of her last visit which was a year ago - pretty impressive!  We gave them an hour before bedtime.  Surprisingly both went to bed well and we were able to relax with some cheese and wine.

Saturday was an amazing, proper summer's day.  Tom had a footie tournament in Skipton.  He went with a friend, we followed after, arriving just as it finished: great timing!  We then headed to Billy Bobs so the kids could have a good play.  As it was such a wonderful day, we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine whilst the kids played.  Tom took on the role of 'big brother' and enjoyed it - preferring to hang out with Millie than go to the bigger kids area. After lunch, an ice cream and another play, we headed to Bolton Abbey where both kids went across the stepping stones, had a play on the beach area and then went on the welly walk.

Tom and Millie

It was hot and we were all running out of water, so Sarah and I headed quickly to a cafe before it closed to get provisions in.  Oh, Sarah...we have a lot in common.  We were born in the same hospital, both lived in the same area of Berkshire and we discovered another coincidence: she has relatives in Backwell!!

Anyway, we had a much needed drink and then split up: Matt and I to the car park and the kids and Michael and Sarah back to welly walk to do all the activities they missed on the rush for drinks.  We had complicated logistics for the day: 6 of us altogether, only 5 fit in the car, so Matt was on his bike.  However, he was wearing sunglasses as it was so bright, but time was getting on.  He was worried about getting home in the light.  All his biking gear was in the car!  Anyway, we worked it all out and we had a fab day.  The kids got on fine, and us adults were very happy and comfortable chatting about nothing much.

Tom and Millie. Again.

Sunday, the weather broke! Typical.  We decided to head to Sizergh Castle to do the Wild Trail and have lunch before dropping Michael and Sarah off at the train station.  This we did.  The trail was super muddy and slippery but we all managed it.  Tom helped Millie on the bits she wasn't sure of.  As I said she is a whirlwind.  Everything is interesting to her and she is super enthusiastic, she is a fun person to hang around with.  One thing though, as it was raining we gave her one of Tom's waterproof coats to wear.  She wasn't happy!  She called it a 'RIDICULOUS COAT'.  She did try to refuse to wear it, and was left in the car by herself until she wore it.  She did eventually wear it - but she wasn't happy.  The memory of the weekend is of Millie shouting 'this is a RIDICULOUS COAT' over and over again.  I dropped them off at Oxenholme and didn't fancy their chances keeping her suitably engaged for the train trip home.

It was fun though and Tom really enjoyed her company.  The wooden train set came out, and they had a ball playing with it together.  Certainly glad we have held on to it.