“Though jam-packed and tiring, it’s lovely to all be together away from the stresses of work and constraints of term-time”
BY KATY ROBSON-MALONE
Well, I wouldn’t have said we were the caravan holiday types but we have recently been on our second – yes, second – caravan holiday this year!
After being invited to a family wedding in Newcastle upon Tyne in the northeast of England, we decided to make a week of it, spending time visiting family, friends and beautiful sights we wanted to share with the little ones. It didn’t disappoint…
Things didn’t get off to the best start after it took us a nifty nine and a half hours to get up to Newcastle (Yikes!) Amazingly, the girls were awesome. Lynz, however, was another matter. PMT and being in a noisy, confined space for such a long period of time got the better of her and after six hours in she wanted us to stop and stay overnight in a Premier Inn…
I just wanted to get there and so I persevered with the horrendous weather and traffic and, eventually, we saw light at the end of the (Tyne) tunnel. As I had booked the caravan, I was dreading it not being up to Lynz’s standard as I know this wouldn’t have made the day any better. Thankfully, it turned out to be really nice and not at all what she had in mind, based on the trips she took with her grandparents back in the 80s! (Central heating makes 2019 a winner here).
While on the trip, we managed a great mix of quality time with family and friends as well as some “KFT”, aka, Kid Free Time. (Thank you to the lovely people who made that happen and thank you to Lynz’s family who invited us to be part of their special day!)
Once of my highlights was taking a beautiful walk along my favourite coastline. It feels so much more special sharing it with loved ones. I spent years on the beaches in South Shields so to be back there was great.
The week, however, flew by. It was jam-packed and tiring but lovely to all be together away from the stresses of work and the time constraints of term-time. It was, also, freezing up north. (How I ever lived there I do not know…) I’ve definitely become a southern softie. Still, there were beautiful bright skies every day so as long as we wrapped up, we were fine.
We were there for Halloween as well and so even managed to take the girls on their first “Trick Or Treat?” experience! They couldn’t believe their luck but thankfully seemed to forget all about their loot which I have been slowly working my way through ever since – got to save their precious teeth, you understand.
As well as all of that lovely stuff, as a treat for the girls doing so well in their first half-term at school, we took them on their first Build-A-Bear experience (ours too). It was wonderfully cute. They all made their own teddy’s then chose their clothes and named them too.
Their little faces will become a cherished memory, for sure. I do fear, though, that this is the start of what is going to be a very expensive tradition!
In summary, we all had a great time and the kids loved it, but Lynz’s top search on Google ever since has definitely been “luxury all-inclusive holidays with kids clubs.” Let’s see where that one leads us…
#WhichOneIsMummy
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