Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

So now we are back from France it's a social whirl for the girls, and I have had to resort back to the normal summer spreadsheet to keep up! Tonight both girls are away, Abi has gone off for a second week at Angie's riding, Izzy will join her for a few nights on Tuesday, and Izzy is at Mia's - pretty much their second home these days. On Thursday Glenn needed to get into London so the girls opted for a day with their extended family, JoJo and the tribe. Regardless of the fact that they don't see them as regularly now as they used to they still love to catch up and it's like they've been together always. Abi immediately took charge of Eleanor and refused to let anyone else push her around, and Izzy and Edward were back to being as close as ever. Jo is brilliant at recreating old photos to show how they've grown - just one more to add to the picture these days. In addition to this they've been to the cinema, swimming and made the most of the generall

What can I say, our lovely holiday in the Dordogne is over and done with for another year and despite the fact that we stayed for 10 days rather than the normal week it felt like it passed in a flash. Happy memories though. Highlights of the week included meeting our Woolton Hill neighbours for dinner and a pool party - they had coincidentally booked a holiday for the same dates just up the road from us! The kids loved showing off the house and playing in the pool with Grace and Finn. I managed a passable BBQ for them while Simon and Glenn went riding, they proceeded to cremate ours when they got home - nothing to do with the 3 glasses of wine I had in the meantime I'm sure!  Both girls loved seeing Jerry and Pauline, and catching up with the horses again, This year Combostel, Bel Ami and Tulin were joined by Amigo, a lovely skewbald. They managed a couple of rides in between the hottest days, the last of which almost ended u in a disaster when Tulin spooked and unseated Izz

Goodness me it's the last week of term already and finally we have some sunshine. It feels like the rain would never stop - the garden has been decimated with heavy downpours and while the grass looks green, it's all a bit soggy underfoot. The kids don't care but we are fed up of still having to wash the dogs off after a walk when it's supposed to be summer!  Of course this is all about to change as we are off to France this time next week - cue unbroken sunshine and a wilting rather than washed out garden! I can't wait to go but I'm also very conscious that it will be over in a flash and then a whole year before we can go again. It's the one holiday that I look forward to all year round - the joys of familiarity! The good news is that we do have various things to look forward to after we come back (apart from back to work and the rest of the school holidays of course). It's our 10th anniversary next month and after a lot of discussion as to what we