All good things must come to an end.

Sunday we were up and decided to go back to the market. We bought shoes and a pair of trousers for Hope. I bought a pair of trousers for myself as well. Grandma and Grandpa had stayed at home, so we were in charge of buying the veg and roasted chicken for dinner. After wandering about for a bit, we headed back to the house for a swim. 

Chris and Sheila came over for dinner. These are Karen and Barry’s besties. Karen and Sheila have been friends for well over 40 years, I believe. We had a lovely dinner of chicken, pork and vegetables. 

Monday morning we puttered around the house until about 10:30 am. Then we took the kids and headed to the lake. The wind was pretty strong. We managed to put the tent up and the kids got in the lake. I wasn’t keen on the coolness of the water, so just sat in the tent. Around 12:30 we got an ice cream from the stand on the beach. Grandma and Grandpa showed up around 1:15 pm. The kids were still in the water having a great time. We packed up our stuff just before 2 pm, and went to the restaurant to eat lunch. 

We were home by 4:30 and back in the pool. We had an evening of leftovers, which are our favorite. Millie didn’t go to sleep until nearly 11 pm. She was a positive beast. I think she gets so wound up and then can’t shut it off. Once she was asleep we broke out the Mexican Train and played a few rounds. 

Tuesday was another semi lazy morning. We decided to go to a natural spring up the road an hour or so. We sat and had coffee while the kids swam in the natural spring, which was very cold according to the kids. Auntie Sheila and Uncle Chris joined us just before noon. At about 1 pm, we headed to the tapas bar that they had been bragging about. It was delightful. There was plenty of food and it was relatively cheap. We tried a Russian salad that we are sure we can make, and most likely will, for lunches. 

We drove home and stopped in Olula to buy Jack an iPad cover. His has been wrecked for months, but completely broke at Grandma’s. Stuart said if we didn’t get something to protect it, we would have to put it away permanently. When we finally arrived home, the kids chilled. They went swimming around 6 pm, then were out, showered and fed by 7:30 pm. They were asked to read for a bit and then it was witching hour for Millie. She claimed she wasn’t tired. She finally relented and went to sleep in our room at 10 pm. 

We were all up before 8 am and in the kitchen for breakfast. The kids sat around for a while and then went in the pool at 11 am. They hadn’t been in that early before so it was rather chilly. They didn’t last long and then no one wanted to get the noodles out of the pool. There was a bit of an exchange of words from Jack to me, which resulted in him not speaking to me most of the day. His cutting words, he has yet to realize, can’t be taken back. I’m not sure I’ve learned that either, sadly. I guess we pass our bad qualities down to our kids, don’t we?  I hung clothes on the line and then, before we had lunch, I had a conversation with Jack about his words and his anger. I told him how it was always best to calm down before you said words that you couldn’t take back. It was a good conversation, in the end, and I think maybe he understood that when I instruct or discipline him, it’s not always to make him mad. Sometimes I correct him to keep him safe, and the harsh reality is, I am the adult and do actually know better for him sometimes. 

We finished the day on a high note, going down to Espiranza’s for a birthday party. 

We ended up at home just before 9 pm, when the kids showered and headed to bed. Millie, you ask? She has lost the plot and is beyond ready to go back to a routine. Hopefully, it won’t take long for her to get back into her routine once we are home and settled back in. The adults decided we needed to play a few rounds of Mexican Train before retiring to bed. It’s a great game and we have enjoyed playing it all summer long. 

We decided to go to a market on Thursday in Olula. We had some churros, as you do at a market, and stopped for a beverage so the kids could eat the churros. Once we had our pit stop, we headed down the hill to Terra Cafe for tapas. Millie had some difficulties following directions in the restaurant, resulting in her having no ice cream. For some reason, she has difficulty understanding cause and effect relationships. It may be her age, I realize, but it’s none the less quite frustrating. 

A quick trip into the Mercadana to get some treats for our journey to Madrid on Friday, and then we were on our way back to the villa. We had just arrived at the house when a storm brewed up. The thunder, lightning, and rain continued on for over a half of an hour. Once the rain had stopped, we could still see the lightning and hear the thunder. Stuart and I sat on the terrace and watched it all. We don’t see many thundershowers, so it was a nice change for us. It did mean, however, that the kids didn’t get to swim one last time, but they enjoyed playing Mexican Train with Grandma. The electricity went out a couple of times and the kids were terribly excited. But we all made it through. 

Sheila and Chris came over with their dogs to say their ‘goodbyes’. They stayed until the next storm rolled in, but decided to go before it got too bad. There was no real dinner for the adults, and the kids had fish finger sandwiches, except for Millie. She’s really opposed to any sandwich except a grilled cheese sandwich. So she simply had fish fingers. 

The kids were in bed a bit earlier than previous nights as we had an early start the following morning. We let Millie have her electronic devise in bed for 10 minutes and then she went to bed. It was the first night since being in Spain that she didn’t fuss about going to bed. 

The alarm went off way too early on Friday morning. Grandma and Grandpa were up to day their ‘goodbyes’ and Grandma made us sandwiches for the road. Our drive to Madrid was quite uninteresting. We arrived just after 11 am and then turned in the rental car. We headed through security after checking our bags and then waited for boarding. 

The kids were especially nuts on the plane. I can only assume they knew it was just a few hours before Hope would not be with them. They all have really enjoyed their time together. 

Once we landed in London, Jack, Millie and I got a cab to the hotel, while Stuart and Hope headed to the rental car. Stuart drove her back to Birmingham, which ended up being a little over a 2 hour journey there because it was during rush hour and the beginning of a bank holiday. He said the traffic was unbelievable. 

Once the kids and I got settled into the hotel, we went to have dinner. Both kids were so well behaved and I made sure to compliment them on their behavior. Sometimes I forget to do that. We went back to the room, showered, and laid in bed watching television. Stuart got back to the hotel around 10:30 pm and I was asleep. I think he was thankful I heard his pitiful knock on the door and let him in. 

We got up around 7:30 am and headed to breakfast at the hotel. Once we were checked out, we drove to the airport and returned the rental car. We checked in and went through security. We decided to go to the Aspire lounge and have some coffee. 

Our last flight of the summer was almost 7 hours from London to Abu Dhabi. Again, it was pretty uneventful. We did, as was disappointing to the kids, have to sit in economy this time. Poor us! 

So, 8 flights, 3 countries, 3 currencies, 4 rental cars, 7 bag (we started with 4), family and friends, many adventures, and 7 weeks later, we arrived home. The kids have another week before they go to school, but Stuart and I start back to work tomorrow, well, actually by the time we got home it was the day we had to go to work. 

All good summers must come to an end, I suppose. We had a wonderful one for sure. 

The rain is Spain does not fall mainly in the plain!

Sunday we got up and went to the market around 10:30 am. I bought a swim cover up, the kids each got an item of clothing, and we bought a roasted chicken for dinner. We also had churros and stopped for a cold drink at a cafe. 

The rest of the day was spent in the pool. Around 5 pm, Auntie Sheila and Uncle Chris showed up for a late afternoon beverage and some snacky bits! They brought their dogs which thrilled the kids to death. Before Chris and Sheila left a man came by and told us the water would need to go off as there was a leak somewhere up the road. This presented a problem as we wouldn’t have water until the following morning. Fortunately, I had already had a shower. You know, you must look out for number one after all. Hope had a shower as well, but no one else had. Oops!

We had dinner outside and then Millie started to get punchy. She hasn’t been to bed at her normal bed time for the entire holiday, so she has usually gotten a bit out of sorts in the evenings. 

I attempted to put her to bed. Since Hope was also sleeping in the same room, Millie usually didn’t want to go to bed until Hope did. And Sunday night was especially difficult because we lost power. When the power went out, the back bedrooms didn’t lose power. Millie woke up in spite of that fact. Jack jumped out of bed and then Millie felt she should be able to get up as well. Ugh! There was a storm. It was raining. And instead of enjoying the rainy weather, I was laying down with Millie. Truth be told, that was sweet as well. Millie finally settled around 10 pm and the light issue was resolved. 

Monday we got up and stayed at the house. The water went out for the entire town for a few hours. There was  another leak in the pipes at the house so Stuart fixed it. 

We swam for about three hours in the afternoon. Before we swam, Stuart and I went up to the shops to get some snacks. After swimming we showered and went down to Espiranza’s bar. We had some time down there and then came back for chicken pie. Millie fussed again at bedtime, which was fun. 

The adults sat up for a bit longer, looking at the starry sky. Because my in laws live in the middle of relatively undeveloped land, the sky is unbelievable. We were able to see Jupiter, Venus, and Mars, as well as numerous constellations. Of course, the planets were simply brighter spots in the sky, but it was clear they were not stars. Since my husband is a closet nerd, he has a constellation app that he pulled out and was able to tell us which planets we were seeing. It was quite beautiful. 

Tuesday morning I didn’t wake up until after 9 am. It’s amazing how much I actually sleep when I’m not at my own house, having jobs looming over me. I love not having to bow to an alarm. Sadly, those days will be over soon and we will all have to get back to a routine. 

Josephina, the cleaner, showed up at 10 am to do some cleaning. The kids were in the garden, writing in their journals, and listening to music, each on their separate phones. It was a bit maddening. We finally convinced them to sit apart from one another so the music wasn’t so muddled. 

We left for Abox around 11 am. The plan was to go to the Lidl, then on to Mercadana in another town, the Chinese shop, and then to have tapas at our favorite tapas bar in Spain.  Strangely, I found a wooly hat at the Chinese shop. Since they were going out of business it was the equivalent of $3. My plan is to go with Gina to Switzerland in December, and since I only have one wooly hat, I saw the need to buy another one. Millie bought some temporary tattoos and I bought Jack a little finger basketball game. It was useless tat we did not need. 

After the Chinese shop we went to Terra Cafe and had a drink, stalling until 1:30 pm when they would start serving tapas. Hope and Jack had burgers, while Millie had calamari. Don’t ask! I can figure out a kid who eats calamari, yet won’t eat spaghetti bolognese. 

Karen, Stuart and I shared some tapas of pork, chicken, chips, and salad. It was delicious. We also had Tinto Verano, which is similar to Sangria. This cafe makes the best Tinto Verano in southern Spain, if you ask me. 

After we were stuffed and the kids had their ice cream, we went to Mercadana to finish our food shop for the fiesta at Sheila and Chris’s on Wednesday. 

We got home just after 4 pm. While Stuart, Karen and I unloaded the car, put things away, and hung the latest load of laundry, the kids got their swimmers on and went upstairs to see what Grandpa had been up to while we were away. He was on his second day of his last three days of work until he retired for good. 

Around 5:15 pm the kids came down to the pool to play for a while. They have learned to play games and entertain themselves quite well in the pool. They swam for a couple of hours and then were in for showers. We served them dinner and then let them chill for a bit before going to bed. The adults ate a bit later than the kids as we were having leftovers. The evening was spent on the patio again, which was lovely, as usual. 

Wednesday morning we started to watch The Greatest Showman. The kids played cards and other games. Just after lunch, the kids swam for a couple of hours. We then insisted they all lay on their beds for a couple of hours. Our hope was they would sleep  for a bit so they could have fun at Auntie Sheila and Uncle Chris’s fiesta. Fortunately for us, all three of the kids slept. 

We ventured down to Sheila and Chris’s about 7 pm. Stuart took the ingredients for paella and made it down at their house. We ate around 8 pm and then danced and sang kareoke until nearly midnight. 

The kids slept in on Thursday morning. Jack slept until nearly 10 am, which he never does, no matter how late he’s been up the previous night. Everything was a bit delayed all day long. Lunch was served around 2 pm.  

The weather wasn’t great all day. It wasn’t raining, but the thunder and lightning prevented the kids from swimming. So instead, they had a crafting afternoon. Grandma always has a crafting afternoon for the kids. 

After some craft time, we pulled out the Mexican Train dominoes. We played several rounds and in the end everyone joined in. Dinner was spaghetti bolognese and everyone enjoyed it. We decided the kids needed an earlier evening. We had planned to go to the lake on Friday, however the weather still wasn’t going to be brilliant. Instead, we decided to go to Fort Bravo, one of the movie sets where they filmed some of the Spaghetti Westerns as well as some famous films, such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

Once we were up and breakfast was finished, we headed to Tabernas and Fort Bravo. It reminded me a bit of Tombstone and Goldfield Ghost Town. We went to the saloon and saw a Can Can show. Then we decided we needed a western photo that was WAY too expensive. But you only live once. 

We decided to have some lunch, which wasn’t terribly nice, but also not terribly surprising. We then went out to wait for the horse and gun shoot out in the middle of town. Did I mention that both of the shows were in Spanish? We tried our best to follow the action. We didn’t get the jokes, though. We enjoyed our time there in spite of not being able to understand the language. I would catch a word here and there, but not enough, unfortunately. 

We headed back to the house and arrived around 5:15 pm. The hope was that the kids could jump in the pool for an hour or so before dinner. Unfortunately, there was a downpour the minute we returned to the house. It was crazy rain and caused us to have to close all the windows in the house. The kids foolishly went out to collect the washing from the line. Oops! Lightning and thunder abound during the rain, causing the electricity and, more importantly, the internet to go out. I thought the kids were going to die. 

After the rain, everyone came indoors and the kids showered before dinner. We had fish cakes, which we told Millie were round fish fingers, and it was a chilly evening on the porch eating dinner. Millie fell for the fish cake trick and actually liked her dinner. It’s always a crap shoot with food and Millie. We have tried everything to get her to try new foods. And even some foods she likes one day, she won’t like the next day. It’s maddening!

After the kids went to bed, we sat outside while Stuart played theme music to different television shows and movies. We tried to guess the shows associated with the songs. We then decided to retire around 11 pm. Another absolutely horrible evening in Spain. 

I didn’t wake up until after 9 am on Saturday morning. The weather was a bit nippy and there was total cloud covering. The plan was to go to the village fiesta in the evening, but it was looking very unlikely. We all agreed that if the weather didn’t improve, an evening in the village wasn’t something we wanted to do. 

Stuart made breakfast of scrambled eggs and ham. The kids had their fill, and then Stuart said if they wanted to get their swimmers on he would sit out by the pool with them. He had asked Jack to skim the pool with the net. Jack complied, but didn’t put the net down when Stuart asked him to do so. Therefore, he hit Millie with the net. Stuart then told him he had to get out of the pool and get dressed. Jack couldn’t quite understand why he had to get out. When I spoke with him, I asked him how he could have avoided having to get out of the pool. He said if he would have listened the first time to Dad he wouldn’t have had to get out. This is a lesson we have been trying to teach Jack for a long time. Maybe the fact that he had to watch his sisters swim while he was out of the pool will give him the reminder that he has to listen the first time for his and other’s safety. 

After their swim, the kids finished their craft with Grandma. Then they made a cake with Stuart. Little did Millie know, Grandma had planned a late birthday celebration while Hope was with us. 

Once lunch was eaten, the kids went back into the pool. Jack was able to go back in the pool, which pleases him. I got my suit on and sat on the top step for a bit. It’s just too cold for my liking. The pool adventure was over, kids had a snack, Jack and Millie took a shower and then went for a siesta. It seems the weather would cooperate and we would attend the fiesta after all. Hope went for a siesta after Grandma attempted to take her gel nail polish off. 

While the kids slept, I sat on the patio, Grandma cut vegetables, and Stuart helped with dinner meal prep. Grandpa took a nap as well. I also hung out a couple of loads of laundry. I do love that job, truly. 

The kids woke up to eat dinner. Millie needed to just taste the cottage pie Grandma made but instead she threw a bit of a tantrum. She’s so picky about food. However, I can understand a bit. As a child, if I didn’t like the way something looked, I would be ill at the thought of eating it. She doesn’t like things that are mixed together. At any rate, she finally ate a bite. Thank goodness, because dessert was made especially for her so it would have been a shame had she not been able to have any. It was another birthday cake. 

In the end we decided just to go down to the bar on Saturday evening. The fiesta seemed as if it was going to be overtaken by rain again. So instead of risking it, we walked down the road to Espiranza’s bar. Auntie Sheila and Uncle Chris met us down there. We chatted for several hours and the kids played on their devices and were perfectly happy. We didn’t get home until after midnight. It was bedtime for all of us. One more week of holiday and then it is back to reality. 

A lot to do in a short amount of time in England! Now Espana!

Sunday we went to the Mermaid on the Hastings sea front and had breakfast with friends. 

Friends Stuart and I worked with when we lived in England. 

We returned to the house and had lunch a bit later with Granny and Auntie Cheryl. They stayed for the afternoon. The kids played in the garden and then braved going into the wood. Everyone left around 6 pm, and then I sat on the patio in the cool evening air. Stuart and Barry returned after taking Granny back to Eastbourne. Grandpa played his guitar and I sang again. 

Monday morning we were up packing and cleaning the upstairs. The kids had breakfast and we celebrated Millie’s birthday. She opened gifts from Grandma, Grandpa, Granny, Auntie Cheryl and us. She was so excited. 

Unicorns were the theme of the birthday this year. 

We left Grandma and Grandpa’s to go to Granddad and Grandma’s. When we got there, we discovered their house was under construction. We got our things unloaded and Millie got a gift of a sequenced lunch bag with a unicorn and a rainbow on it. She loves her little bags. I asked her if she wanted to use that as her school lunch bag. She wouldn’t dream of getting it dirty, so the answer was clearly no. It would just go in amongst her other bags and she would carry it around with random things in it. Fine by me, I suppose. 

We went into the garden once we were settled. Grandma made bubble mixture and Granddad made a bubble contraption that would make these huge bubbles. Initially the bubbles were not great, but after adding here and there and letting it sit for a while, there were some massive bubbles that developed. 

The first few attempts at large bubbles were a bust. 

After a bit, it all started to work!

My sister in law, Anna, and her three girls came over in the afternoon. 

Lunch with the Atkinson girls. 

Millie’s birthday cupcake!

The cousins; Bella, Jack, Eliza (in Jack’s arms), Millie and Sophia. 

Eliza loved Jack and Millie. 

Purdy the dog!

We spent the afternoon in the garden. Bella, my niece, had to get back for her gym class. Once they had left the kids ate dinner and showered, then were off to bed. The adults then had lasagna and nattered the night away. 

We woke up Tuesday morning and headed to our adventure for the day. We went climbing on a ropes course. Stuart misread the instructions. He read that there had to be an adult with each child. Come to find out, that wasn’t true. However, the fee for me to participate had already been paid so I decided to do it any way. There were two courses. The first one was scary enough. My second trip on the first loop, I was just ahead of this boy who couldn’t have been older than 6. I got on the second platform and heard some whimpering behind me. I turned around and said, ‘You okay, buddy?’  He said, ‘I’m just really scared.’ I said, ‘Don’t worry, so am I!’  I helped coach him through the rest of the course. Stuart told me that was just a taste of what teaching Year 2 (1st grade) was going to be like. I suppose I can handle it. 

The second loop of the ropes course was not my friend as it moved too much and messed with my knee. So needless to say, I stayed on the ground after my last attempt. 

We decided to have a picnic at a local park by a lake. The rain came so our picnic was cut short. Our initial plan was to go to Barnes and Anna’s house around 4:30, once Anna returned from taking Bella to gym. The rain forced our hand to go a bit earlier. 

The girls had friends over so Jack felt a bit left out. He managed in the end, but was thrown off by our switching of plans. I’ve noticed more and more that when we change plans on him he has difficulty understanding and processing it. I need to read up on how to handle this, I suppose. 

We left their house and came back to Grandma and Grandad’s house for a couple of hours. The kids played outside and then they called Hope. We then went to a village pub for dinner. I had ham and eggs. I didn’t eat all of my food so Jack decided he would eat mine. When he did, he discovered a fly under one of the eggs. Poor Jack. It kind of made him sick. The pub ended up not charging us for that meal, which was great customer service in our opinion. 

Once we were home, the kids showered and were off to bed. We didn’t stay up terribly late as we had to get up early to leave for London Wednesday morning.

Wednesday morning we were out the door to London by 8:30 am. We got to Premier Inn at the Heathrow airport, but we were too early to check in. We jumped in an Uber and headed to the city for lunch and a show. Clare, Henry, May and three of their friends came with us. Lunch was long and leisurely. 

We then walked up the road a bit to see Wicked. The kids were so excited. We got the tickets for Millie for her birthday. The show did not disappoint. There was some explaining to do at the end, especially for Jack. If you know nothing of the musical, read up in it via Wikipedia and you will see that there would be some things to explain to a 9 year old. 

After the show we went to St James’ park so the kids could run around. We grabbed sandwiches on the way and had a picnic of sorts. The girls ran around and the boys wrestled. We parted just before 6:30 pm and were back at the hotel just before 8 pm. Both kids showered and then watched television in bed. I showered just after 9 and also hit the bed. 

On the way back to the underground, we stopped for a quick selfie in front of Buckingham Palace, as you do. 

Stuart was up and on his way to Birmingham Thursday morning just before 7 am. He was going to pick up Hope. Jack, Millie and I caught an Uber into London to see Mandy’s new pad. She has a view of the Tower Bridge. It was a lovely spot. The only thing not lovely was that it was raining all day on Thursday. We took the tube to the Natural History Museum. There was a queue about a mile long waiting to get into the free museum. I suppose everyone was looking for something to do indoors. We walked back toward Kensington station and found a pub. We ducked in and had a bite of lunch. Stuart and Hope met us at a pub just before 1 pm. We decided we didn’t care that the kitchen was exceptionally slow that day. The rain was not what we had expected or wanted. 

Our Uber took us across the Tower Bridge. 

The view from Mandy’s new home. 

Our pub lunch with Mandy. 

After a lovely lunch we headed back to the tube to go to Covent Garden. We walked around for a bit and the kids got sweeties. We then went back to the underground and tried to tell Mandy what she needed to do to get back to her place. She seemed nervous but prepared. 

The kids posing at Covent Garden, and, yes, we did buy umbrellas we will never use again. 

We headed back to the hotel for the kids to chill out. We had to be up and out of the hotel by 3:00 am. I got a message from Mandy around 4 pm. She had arrived home safely. So her first outing on the tube, alone, was a success. 

We chilled out in the hotel for a couple of hours and then went to dinner in the hotel restaurant. Jack said he wasn’t hungry, but I suspected he was feeling a bit left out by the girls. When Millie and Hope went to the bathroom I asked him if he was feeling a bit left out. He said he was. So I told him that any time in these next two weeks, if he was feeling that way, he could just quietly come to me, let me know, and I would spend a bit more time with him. He seemed happy with that. 

Once dinner was over, we were back in the room and attempted to get everyone to sleep, which was challenging. Everyone was finally asleep around 10 pm. Millie slept between Stuart and myself, so you can only guess what kind of sleep I had. 

The alarm had not even gone off and Stuart was up. It was only 2:30 am. We were at the airport by 3:30 am, only to find out the baggage drop didn’t open until 4:30 am. Oops. Could have slept another hour. Oh well. We got a coffee. The kids played Snakes and Ladders, while another group of kids ran around the area with no manners at all. I spoke to the older girl, who proceeded to basically tell me she hadn’t been running through the kids’ game. I asked her where her mother was. She said, ‘She’s right over there.’ As you would guess, I walked over to her and asked her if she would ask her kids to stay out of the game. I told her they were welcome to play if they liked. I had to put some kind of nicety in there. She yelled at her boys, which was good enough. I didn’t have the energy to tell her that her daughter was rude and disrespectful. Generally, the teens that are rude come by it honestly. What a way to start my day!

Airport Snakes and Ladders? Why not!

We had a bite to eat before getting on the flight. We were the first ones on the flight and we were seated in the bulk head seats, which was nice. We took off at 6:20 am and landed 9:40 am, Madrid time. We’ve done a bit of changing time zones this summer for sure. 

When we landed, we headed to the rental car. Thank goodness Stuart hired a 7 seater car. I can’t imagine what the journey to Oria would have been like in a 5 seater with the three kids. Plus, when we decide to go anywhere in the two weeks, we will be able to all go together. 

Everyone was initially very eager for the journey. 

Then reality set in. Poor children were up a bit early Friday morning. 

We stopped on the journey to go to the bathroom. We were going to stop at a restaurant to eat, but in the end we decided to just grab junk food and travel on. The journey wasn’t horrible. The kids slept for part of it. They got a bit antsy towards the end, which drove Stuart and myself a bit mad. We stopped about an hour away from Oria for another bathroom break. That’s when they silliness started. 

We finally arrived at Grandma and Grandpa’s just before 5 pm. We hardly set foot in the door before the kids were in the pool. I think it was a bit chillier than they thought it would be because they didn’t stay in the pool long. 

Too cold for me!

This is the view I always prefer. 

The kids came inside just after 6 pm and started playing games. Grandma started fixing dinner. Stuart and Grandpa took the rubbish to the big skip. I decided to go out on the patio and enjoy the view. Our Spain holiday is truly my happy place. I don’t worry about anything at all. The wind was blowing and it was a cool 77 degrees (25 Celsius). It was glorious! 

We ate on the patio. Millie actually ate lasagna and was then able to get her presents from Hope. She was so very thoughtful and brought all of us gifts. It was so very sweet. The kids were especially excited. 

The kids all went to bed around 9 pm. We followed shortly. It was a bit warm when we went to bed, but I dropped straight off. All children slept well. 

Millie wasn’t awake until nearly 9 am. I didn’t even get up until 8 am. Once everyone was up and had eaten, all but Grandpa went to Abox to the shops. We bought groceries and headed back to the house. 

The kids swam while Grandpa, Stuart and I washed the deck of the pool. I helped pull the pool cover off the deck as Stuart was scared of the potential spiders that might be in the cover. 

Hope rode the unicorn that Daddy had blown up for her. 

Millie tipped off the unicorn daddy had blown up for her. Ha!

Once the kids were out of the pool, they started writing in their journals. Grandma had bought each of them one earlier in the day. In this time the kids wrote, played music on their phones, and Jack started picking his wart. Thrilling! He’s had this wart that won’t go away for over a month. We are not really sure what to do. I’ve used medication, but it’s still there. I remember as a kid I dug mine out as well. I suppose that will work! 

The kids showered while Stuart fixed dinner on the bbq. We had dinner and then the kids went inside for a bit to watch their iPads or play. Stuart and Grandpa cleaned the pool while Grandma and I sat on the porch. Around 9:30 pm, I read a book to Jack and Millie, while Hope continued to write in her journal and watch something on Netflix. Jack and Millie then went to bed and Hope followed shortly. Grandma and Grandpa went up to bed and Stuart and I sat on the porch for a while. I seem to be sitting on porches a lot this summer. I suppose I should enjoy it while it lasts. It’s only two more weeks before I have to go back to work and I am going to savor every moment.