Off to'country!

Moving further south - we left for our next stopover........this time at Tessa and Fletch's in a little village near Grantham!   so the journey felt nice and quick compared to recent distances!!

photos still on my old laptop which i have yet to retrieve.......to follow !!!!!

It was great to see Tessa and her new house........ brand spanking new kitchen which was fab and made me miss my own back in Harps!!!   Kids all played great together which also makes for a lovely relaxing time.......so the wine came out soon after we arrived and we had a great catch-up and scrummy dinner/evening.........and a tour of the new Abbott estate to boot!!  We even had our own little annexe for the McCabe clan to sleep in :-)

A bit of fresh air in the morning with a tour of the village and then it was time to hit the roads again and carry on our journey south..............back to Harpenden this time for the last 3 days of our trip!  

We were arriving back about lunchtime just as we were passing The Crooked Chimney pub near Brocket Hall................oh let's stop here for some good old british pub grub we thought.........the last time we will be visiting this establishment even when we move back!   my god.............we thought we'd have a quick lunch and be off.............how wrong we were!  I mean how long does it take to dish up a few roasts which will already have been pre-cooked no doubt??!!!!   i could have done it quicker myself even if i had to go to the shop first and cook it by campfire!!!!!!   over 2 hours we had to wait.........thankfully after ruby had hers she slept completely undisturbed through the whole thing (ie me whinging every 5 minutes about how poor the service was and how we should have carried on to Harpenden!!!!!!)....anyway after a complaint and another round of drinks the food eventually arrived and we gobbled it up (starving by this point......in fact if I'd have known I would ahve been eating so late i would have ordered something more substantial having initially not being that hungry after munching on goodies sent off with us by Tessa!!!)  C'est la vie..............the kids were under strict instructions that we would NOT be waiting for dessert and we would find some goodies in the car!! 

We finally arrived back in Harpenden with not much of the afternoon left........but I managed to leave the older 2 with Shaun and Ruby and I made a pit-stop to see Abi and meet baby Nate before heading in to town to meet the rest of the McCabe clan  in Nero for "an old times sake" coffee stop!

Terry and Pete had kindly offered their house to us for a few days whilst they were away for new year so we made a stop at Sainsburys for some dinner and enjoyed slobbing out in front of the TV!  The next day we met Sarah in St Albans for lunch at my favourite venue Carluccios (yes I'm managing to visit all the old haunts whilst I'm here!!!) and the rest of the days were spent chilling out and having a bit of family time!!!  Very enjoyable end to our stay.   Happy New Year everyone!  see you next time!

further north we go!

it's time to continue our journey......further north we go...........we head off to Carlisle for the day to see Shaun's parents in Carlisle (well his mum anyway as his dad had flu and so was tucked up in bed!!!)........Not much traffic - a rarity in england.....but I guess it was fairly early the morning after Boxing Day (and yes we had a late night at friends and too much prosecco......again!!!!!!............and Ruby got me up at 4.45am and didn't seem to want to go back to sleep :-(........at least she's got a few car journeys to  catch up!!!......and me??   I guess I'll get through the day and crash in the car on the way home (sleep that is - not literally.....i will definitely be in the passenger seat!!!!!)

At Grannies..........

More pressies to open........"I'm loving all this paper to scrunch (and chew!!!)" says Ruby.......

Cheeky monkey heading for the paper again..........

Modelling new presents...........great hat!

 lovely hat and scarf.......I can't believe Grannie's friend made it......amazing!

 Now we've finally got you to wear scarves.........another one for the collection! 

 Only way to keep Ruby in one place.......stick her in the box!

" I've escaped".........happy again!

 Exhausted from all the present opening and big lunch...............can't believe Grannie could make a huge roast dinner in that tiny kitchen.............and there i was complaining about mine over here.......Grannies is less than half the size!!!!  yummy lunch, bit of lounging and off we go again!

Christmas

Don't think Christmas needs too much explaining........same everywhere???  presents, chocolates, pyjama day, TV, games, new clothes (in Millie's case how many outfits can we put on in 1 day?!?!?!!!!!!)
So here it is.............................  Christmas at Grandmas!

Waking up..........."Ruby hasn't opened her stocking"!!!!   give her chance - you've jsut woken her up!!!!!!

Looks like it's gonna be fun!

 Paper the best bit!

Oh yes - for those i didn't see..........Mummy from blond to brunette!

Pre-present opening excitememt!!!!!

Time to give out all the presents!   Chief distributors..........

 Whilst Grandma and Ruby watch the frenzy!

"This ones for me"..........

1st change of clothing and it's barely light outside!

 Outfit number 2.............Princess Millie

 now avec scarf too!!!!

 The customary Christmas day and present opening photo 2010!!!!!   nice goggles Princesss!

 Daddy gets lost amidst all the paper...........

 And Ruby too............careful not to get mixed in with the recycling pile!!!!!!!!

 If you missed the dark hair last time - here it is again..........and no I didn't get a boob job for Christmas (but nice outfit was!!!!!!!) but 2 sizes bigger bra (care of M&S!) a huge success!!!!!!!

 Pyjamas back on..........a new Christmas pair this time!!!!   Millie now well engrossed in playing with her new toys!

 But the days not over before another outfit is modelled!!!!!

Happy Christmas everyone!

Back home :-)

Arriving in Harpenden was fab.......all so familiar and like coming back home!  Except we can only go so far as look at our house from a distance and not go in this time!!! Well to be honest - I ddin't enquire about going for a visit.....not sure I want to see other peoples stuff in there......anyway had far more fun things going on and it was great to see everyone...........huge thankyous to all those of you who put us up, fed and watered us, entertained us, went out with us and generally made our week back in Harps so much fun :-) 

Stop 1 - Tennyson Road!  Millie was so excited to see Imi and Mia again and I don't think she could stop smiling since she woke up at the thought of 2 sleepovers with them!   Sooooo nice to see :-)  of course there was the usual high pitched laughing, screaming and unfathomable chatter as we entered their house and they go off and play like we've never been away.............aren't kids great!   Really great to see Elena and looking forward to wine and chat later when kids in bed!!!   Truly full house all afternoon as Nick and Shaun hideaway upstairs and attempt some work whilst nearly a dozen kids race around downstairs!!!   Elena organised a party for Millie inviting her friends over and they decorated biscuits and made Christmas cards..............and a great chance for me to catch up with friends too :-)   Feeling so lucky to have such great friends! 
Millie's decorated biscuits................

Millie and her friends...........(all younger siblings too busy playing (or making a mess??!!) to be in photo!!!!!!)

We all bombard Pizza Express (over 20 of us!!!!) and the prosecco is flowing whilst kids entertain each other and we wait.....and wait.......and wait.........and wait........for our pizzas!!!!   Poor Shaun had to leave before his food arrived as he was making a guest appearance at his Monday football night training!!!   I'm sure he more than made up for it with plenty of beer and a midnight curry, before him and Nick arrived back at 1am!!!!!!

Huge thanks to Elena for organising everything! 
The girls out in the garden........looking like they might have had enough and ready to come indoors............

.............and get warm on the sofa watching TV!

Meanwhile Ruby is still managing to get up the step with her cast on her leg!!!!

Conor had a great time sleeping over at Max's and spending the day there!   We had big plans to all go and see Santa.........after more than half an hour stuck in traffic we turned back and turned to Plan B !   Lunch at Cathy's and play/chat!   Kids had a ball and great for us to have a chance to catch up :-)   Thanks Cathy for having Conor and the rest of us :-)

Girls night out in Wheathampstead!   Really fun night and thanks to you all for my lovely pressies :-)   Took lots more photos but surprisingly they all came out a bit blurred........must be something to do with the amount of alcohol consumed!!!!!!!

Another night out......couple this time at Sazio :-)     Great fun everyone!

Thanks Terry for organising.....we had a ball!  And thanks for having us and letting us stay at your house!

Next stop - Park Hill!   More sleepovers for Conor - he's loving this time with pals to play with night and day!   no girls in sight!!!!   Kids all getting used to our travelling gypsy lifestyle........falling asleep no probs wherever.......even Ruby bless her.    Sorry boys - the girls have arrived for a couple of nights now!!!!!

We had a lovely night in..............so in need of being a couch potato for the evening!!!  Kids in bed, curry, TV, wine and chat...............perfecto!

What a great week.................loved it!  On the road we go..........up north :-)

next stop Kingston

it's 5 down to 4 as we leave Conor with Stacey for another day/night and we head up to Kingston.  So whilst they go ice-skating and bod around by the sea....we get another chance to do a bit of shopping (and sneak in more mulled wine at their Christmas market!) whilst Millie stays with Maddie and plays :-)

Always good to go back to Kingston and see Katy & Wayne and the girls!  Don't seem to have any pics though of you guys to post......think our only stop where we missed out.........too busy getting the wine out!!!!

John Lewis..................shopped for England.........we are NOW ready for Christmas......looking back I'm not sure where we were in all this shopping time.....I didn't even get a chance to get to M&S!!!!!   Anyway got so carried away in John Lewis we didn't get chance to go anywhere else.......but couldn't miss a quick drink although meant  we missed the carol concert at the church on the street we used to live.....thankfully Katy and Wayne took Millie with them which she absolutely loved.......particularly the mince pies at the end :-)

So once all kids in bed - time to eat, drink and be merry!!!!!  Shame Ruby seems to have started a new habit......waking up in the early hours :-(   not a good one given we not back at home for another 2 weeks.......so milk, cuddle and back to sleep it is!  Although I think at this point I hadn't yet realised this was the solution so was up for at least an hour.......freezing cold (-10 outside!) and not feeling the christmas spirit!!!!!!

All was fine by the morning and had a lie-in until gone 8am!!  Shaun decided to work from "home" - whoever/wherever we happen to be!!!!  ( think more the case that I don't think he trusted me to drive up the M1 with potentially more snow on it's way!!!!!) suited me fine as meant an extra pair of hands  to load kids and bags, coats etc etc etc etc in and out of the car!!!!!!!   Conor arrives back with Stacey and so off we trot - next stop Harpenden :-)

1st stop Brighton!

So after night one in a hotel (arrived late - kids asleep and transferred straight to bed......HUGE glass of wine for me.............and sleeeeep!) we wake up the next morning to big flakes of snow falling..........quite a stack of the stuff outside already!   looks lovely and white and fluffy!   Quick stop at Tesco to stock up on ellas organix for Ruby and toothbrushes/paste which I forgot in my haste to leave (and of course grabbed a few other treats on route to the till!!!!) and what a pleasant experience to be in and out in less than 10 mins......yes it can be done all you luxembourgers!!!!

Driving the few miles down to Brighton was an experience......well not for us as we sailed up  and down the country lanes no probs.........but you had to feel quite sorry for the 10-15 cars (and stranded drivers) we passed abandoned on the side of the road as the snowy conditions obviously proved too much!!!!!

We arrived in Brighton minutes later to no snow and a drive along the seafront to Stacey's flat!   Unload number 2........presents and overnight stuff for kids.....tick!   Great to see Stacey........the adventure begins!    We walk along the seafront...............very cold and blowy but a good half hour walk tee'd us up nicely for good ole british fish and chips!  

Stacey then took the kids to see her friend's axilotal (SP?  even googled it and all responses had caveat "not sure if spelt right!!!!!......well I did try!) which left Shaun and I a couple of hours to browse the shops of Brighton.......fab shopping....could have done with a couple of days not hours!!!!!!  Anyway we had a lovely afternoon and were reasonably successful too..........more stuff to try and fit in the car...........but Shauns got a supply of shoes for the next few months!!!!!!

Only so much shopping one can do (well for men anyway!!)......so off we trot to the lovely Hotel du Vin to check in (yep - Stacey bless her has offered to have all the kids so we get a night away.......woohooo.........well we can't all fit in anyway so sounds like a great plan to me!!!!!) and enjoy some post-shopping........pre-getting ready drinks.....................so more mulled wine it is........fantastic!!!!

After a brief return to Staceys to sort of help with the kids (or just make them more over-excited!!!!) and pick up our (very big 2-week for 5 people!) overnight bag.........we return to the hotel and enjoy the (upgrade!) hotel room we manage to have bagged before quaffing champagne and dining in style!!!!  All together a great night and made being back in England all the more lovely joubly :-))))    

Our arrival back on home soil.............yeeehaaaaa :-)

The events leading up to our departure for England could not have posed more of a problem......i was not deterred............we were going home.......WHATEVER!!!!   So the snow kept falling....and falling.......and falling.......and falling........so school was closed the last day of term (our departure day!) and we wake up to at least 6 inches of snow!    Never mind I think to myself.........fairly prepared in terms of packing and getting all our stuff together..............get the kids in front of the TV and looking after Ruby I thought and a morning to pack the car ................................or so I thought!!!!

So after sorting everyone out with breakfast and Shaun braving the snow to get the roofbox on the car and load the presents/gifts in...................it was all going to plan!!!   I then hear Ruby screaming and rush into the lounge expecting her to have fallen and knocked herself to which a cuddle and carry normally resloves any issues!   But this time no way........she screamed much longer than normal and after finding out what happened (Millie basically tripped up and fell on her leg) I realised a hospital visit was in the offing!

Shaun still at home - we all trudged off to the hospital and with everything crossed that it was to be a short visit we settled into the waiting room!   At this point, Ruby seemed hapy enough and ate her breakfast with her usual gusto!

"Ruby Florence" was called and I thought - ok so short wait - things are not looking so bad......of course that was just the meeting with the nurse for her to write notes in preparation for the doctor! Back to the waiting room for more waiting..................and more waiting........and then we trudge off to an examination room.....for more waiting....waiting....waiting.........hurrah..........at last the doctor appears and examines ruby's leg with much prodding and pushing.    "I think it seems ok"  was his verdict "but just to be sure I want to take an x-ray!"   By this point I'm thinking ....more waiting........Ruby seems fine - maybe we should just go!!!   Thankfully I perservered as the x-ray (a screaming experience from start to finish!!!!) and she has a tiny break at the bottom of her leg - and is now the proud owner of a full leg cast - bless her!  she seems absolutely fine with it so far (and smiling and laughing through the whole putting of the cast on!!!!   i'm sure that was more to do with the fact that she had the whole Mccabe family plus 2 nurses and a doctor all peering over her and making a fuss of her!!!!!.......definitely no "3rd child lack of attention" here yet!!!!!!!)

So we get home at roughly the time we were thinking of setting off for England......except car not loaded, shaun not been to the office, no-one had food - but the house was lovely and clean (shame cleaner now left so i had to make an extra journey to go and pay her!!!!!)   So after a couple of very stressful  hours nad at this point just chucking stuff in the car in the hope I had everything....we departed!

Journey was a breeze......thank god!   All went to plan - snow not a problem and managed to get our originally booked crossing time!  I even managed to cobble together enough baguette, ham and cheese to have a car picnic on route so we didnt have to stop (thankfully car booked in for cleaning once we hit Harpenden!)   Arriving back on home soil felt fantastic..................that gut feeling in my tummy had a big smile :-)