Southern Tour 2007

On Monday 28th May, Nathaniel and I set off on our Southern tour. We drove approx 750 miles in 6 days, stopping to visit different family members for one night each! We had a lovely time catching up with people and the trip was certainly made easy by the fact that Nathaniel was so good. It must have been very confusing for the little fella spending each night somewhere different and having to entertain all of our hosts, but he took it all in his stride!

Our first stop was Newbury, where we stayed with Ros and Mike. We had the added bonus of getting to see Dave, Martha, Phil and Kerry whilst we were there...

Phil, Kerry, Mike, Ros, Nathaniel, Martha and Dave...

Nathaniel playing at Ros and Mike's...

Phil feeding Nathaniel...

Our walk in Newbury...
Check out how many swans were in and around the canal...

(I've counted about 40 in this picture!)

Next, we drove to Hazel and Derek in Chichester. We had a lovely time with them and were so pleased to get to see the still-in-progress extension of their kitchen. It looked great so far and will be superb when totally finished. Hazel went with us into the town to do some shopping where she bought some diddy pyjamas for Nathaniel before buying us lunch.

Derek, Hazel and Nathaniel...
Nathaniel's new pyjamas...

On the Wednesday, we continued on our way to Bedford to stay with Nick, Connie and Rachel. Mum's cousin Judith and her two boys, Charlie and Henry, came over from their house an hour away to see "The boy who was born in Thailand during the Military Coup"!! We had a great time with such things as wonderful live music and attempted foot-print painting!

Rachel feeding Nathaniel...
Charlie, Judith, Nick, Nathaniel, Rachel , Connie and Henry...
The next leg of our tour took us to Cambridge where we had a fun time with Simon and Lisa. Having timed the tour to arrive after Simon had completed his last exam, we went to a family service and supper at Simon's college with them. It was really nice to get to meet so many of their friends there. Nathaniel caused a few laughs when during a quiet moment, he took it upon himself to bounce his lips (not sure how else to describe it!), making a br, br, br, br, br sound!

Lisa, Nathaniel and Simon all sporting various Liverpool kits...

Comberton village where Si and Lis live...

Our last stop of the week was in Meopham with Mike and Jessica. We were greeted by more beautiful sunshine after a pretty wet week up until arriving in Comberton! Again, we enjoyed the opportunity for a good catch up in amongst Mike's never-ceasing workload! Nathaniel was thoroughly entertained by Mike's dog (or should I say horse?!)Beau, who was ever so gentle with him. We had a bonus visit from Mike's next door neighbour Jane and children Poppy and Alfie who wanted to see the baby... and me, of course!

Poppy, Nathaniel and Alfie...

Mike, Beau, Nathaniel and Jessica...

And that was that... except that we then drove home from Bluewater Shopping Centre, after eating with Mike and Jess there, leaving at 21:50 arriving home at 01:30!!! Exhausted but very happy to have seen everyone, we got home to the third side of our triangle who was fast asleep and snoring away!

Thank you everyone for such kind hospitality and a lovely week.

Until next time...

Wet Day Out!

On Sunday 27th May, Kev and I took Nathaniel on a day out to Wales, having agreed to go rain or shine! It rained!!! We drove to Llangollen first, and just as we were wondering what we could do on a rainy day in Llangollen, we saw a sign advertising an attic sale in the town hall. Not quite what we'd anticipated doing on our day out, but it was actually pretty good! For a total of £10 we'd bought the DVD Open Water (brilliant film by the way - based on true events from Cairns.), Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything", Marian Keyes "Anybody Out There" and a CD (Which I cannot remember and can't be bothered to go and check!). Nathaniel caused quite a stir and was cooed over in the fashion he is getting quite accustomed to now!!! From there we drove through Bets-y-Coed and on to Swallow Falls, by which time the rain had subsided enough for us to pay our £1 to enter. The falls are nice, but we felt really ripped off having to pay £1 for the privilege, when we were using spectacular waterfalls for our morning showers in so many amazing places last year... for free!

Swallow Falls

Kev and Nathaniel at Swallow Falls

Lou and Nathaniel at Swallow Falls

Our next stop was Llandudno. Again, the weather relented enough for us to enjoy a walk down the promenade and the pier before our drive home along the coast road.

Kev and Nathaniel on Llandudno promenade.

View from the promenade.

We had a lovely day out together before Nathaniel and I left Kev for 5 whole nights whilst we did a Southern Tour of relatives during my Whit half-term break from work. Unfortunately, Kev was unable to take the same holidays this time so sadly, just 2 sides of our triangle embarked on a journey south.

Great Gathering, Sad Match

On Tuesday 22nd May, I picked Dee and Joel up from Liverpool airport as they had flown over from Cork to watch the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan. Joel is a major Mighty Reds fan and although the game was to take place in Athens, he and a group of Corkians wanted to watch the game in a pub in Anfield - so strong is their support! Whilst Joel met his brother and others in Anfield on the 23rd Kev, Nathaniel, Dee and I went over to Pete and Lorraine's flat to watch the game with a group of friends who had gathered for the occasion. There's no denying which team Nathaniel was supporting...

"Come on the Reds!"

The cousins attempting bum-shuffle football... it may catch on?!

Dee with Benjamin and Nathaniel pre-match!

Kev, me and Nathaniel pre-match!

It was a lovely evening, the obvious downer being the fact that Liverpool failed to make this match their 6th Champion's League success - gutted. It definitely brought in a big anti-climax. All I can say is, it's a good job Lorraine had put on such a good spread of food or else riots could have broken out in the flat! We are scousers afterall - what else do people expect?!!!

As the saying goes... "You win some, you lose some!"

Maybe next time?