Skip to main content

Yorkshire #2 (or the Lakes & the wedding of the year!)

So from complete solitude to the hive of activity that was the pre-wedding venue for the last 2 days. We arrived from the Dales feeling a bit wind swept and rural into the most pristine of locations - all spruced up for Chris and Jessica's wedding. We were staying in some beautiful lodges - ultra cool with lots of wood and glass - the complete opposite from what we had just come from - with Liz & Dave in one, Mum, Dad, Amanda, Alex and the boys in another and finally us with Simon and Audrey in another. The kids were already excited and even more so when they discovered that each lodge had its own hot tub!!

The festivities kicked off immediately - Mum, Dad Amanda et al opted for going out but we decided to stay and we had a wonderful evening of catching up over a pizza and a glass or two (well, make that a few bottles) of wine. Glenn very sensibly said he wasn't going to drink due to wanting to ride the next day, only then to make his way happily through half a bottle of gin on his own while discussing the finer points of Brexit with Audrey. Simon and I left them about midnight, still talking politics - fab evening all round.

The day of the wedding dawned warm (for the Lake District) and overcast but not wet or windy. The sun even made a show once or twice which was great given so very unexpected. After a discussion with the kids that 2 hours in the hot tub does not constitute a pre-wedding wash, we had showers and bacon sandwiches and got ready. I hope somewhere, someone got a photo of our whole family dressed to impress - its unlikely to happen again! We set out on a coach down some particularly windy roads (Laurie getting paler and paler as we went) into the beautiful Cartmel Priory for the ceremony. Jess looked stunning, as did her (many) bridesmaids and Izzy had dress and flower envy from the start! We managed to get seats near the front so had a great view throughout which made all the difference. The next entertainment was trying to get coaches back out of the village without crushing the surrounding cars or upsetting the neighbours - we managed it - just!

From here up to the reception at Jess's family home - Bigland Hall - which looked absolutely beautiful. The house, the marquee, the lake, the decorations, the food was all wonderful with some really lovely touches including photo place names and the basket of flip flops for sore feet later on in the evening... or straight away if your name is Abi!

Highlights for the kids included the fact that no-one was monitoring their consumption of fizzy drinks, there was unfettered access to the photo booth (which they made enormous use of while we listened to the speeches), lots of people wanting to dance with them when the band started, and no-one telling them it was time to go home until they were ready. Izzy wilted about 10pm and suddenly announced she needed to go home. Abi opted to stay on with Simon and Audrey (immediately appointing Audrey her Mummy for the evening!) and they rolled home after midnight. It was a very tired little girl that finally appeared this morning! What a lovely weekend, we were truly spoilt by Jess, Chris and their families.

So after a good run home we are now happily back in the house - dogs are on their beds (we've missed Freya's snoring), kids are washed and ready for bed and we are looking forward to waking up in our house with normal service resumed. It's been a lovely week away, but there is no place like  home.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome Albert James!

So this week has been full of new things - Jess and Chris have welcomed Albert James Wilkinson Rayner to the family, a tad early but all doing well apparently (and so cute!!), I started my new job, Abi has her new shed and Dad got sorted on a phone that wasn't invented before the kids were born!! I always knew this week was going to be full on and it certainly has been. The first thing I had to do was try and sort out my diary which had been filled from dawn to dusk by my predecessor with meetings. I decided to set out as I mean to go on and immediately took out those that started before 9am. While I can get into  the office for 8am , it's a pain and requires me to be on the 6:30am train which is just a bit much every day (stating the obvious). I then made it clear that we don't need to be joined at the hip for the next 4 weeks which is a sensitive process - even though he is retiring it's hard to let go and he is understandably keen that the team are looked after. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Diary management!

This part of the summer is definitely typified by me trying to remember who is supposed to be where and when. Abi likes to be off doing something with someone while Izzy is happier to know she's close to home and so for the last week they've gone their separate ways. Abi has been down in Somerset making the most of Ben and Laurie being about. From what I can tell she's having a lovely time. Apart from the covert phone call one evening to tell me she was 'starving'  (Mum was cooking for the hordes and so it had been delayed), I've barely heard from her. The few calls I have had have very quickly ended in "can I go now" like I'm making her speak to me! Today she switches from Mum and Dads to a night or two with Kerrie - not sure who is more excited! Izzy didn't want to be away for that long so she opted not to go. She's very conscious that Abi and Laurie are joined at the hip when together and Ben has his own things he wants to do so she ...
Post a Comment
Read more

All about Izzy

This weekend has mainly been about Izzy, mostly because Abi has been off riding again and so we've hardly seen her. This has its pros and cons - on the one hand Izzy gets lots of attention and the choice of what to do. On the other she misses Abi and when big sister arrives home we have the inevitable few hours of resettling which seems to involve tears as a matter of course. I did have a moment of despair this evening when I looked across to the table just before Sunday dinner - normally a happy time - to see both of them, heads on arms, holding back tears. Luckily a bit of food and a game of 20 questions to share what everybody had enjoyed about their weekend and we kind of managed to get back on track by dessert. When asked what she wanted to do, Izzy immediately shouted "Jo Jo" so my task was to sort out a visit with Jo, the boys and Ellie. No matter how much time passes they still love to see each other and the first task is always the same. Edward and Izzy have t...
Post a Comment
Read more