Abi & Izzy - the next 5 years

Sunday evening and the weekend is all over bar the shouting... that is getting the kids into bed without a full scale debate / argument ensuing. We’ve had another busy but lovely few days, this time in Taunton, managing to fit in Mum and Dad, Amanda et al, Kerrie and Ryan and Liz - not bad for 36 hours! Glenn stayed at home to keep the dogs (or himself) happy and we went down on Friday at the insistence of Abi who is very concerned that the clock is ticking on time at the Mill. Of all of us I think she’s is the one who most appreciates its special charms. On Saturday Amanda and I rode, with me on an ever larger Dillon, now over 17 hands and enormous. He still doesn’t pick his feet up and so I spend half the time worried he’s going to fall flat on his face, and the other half conscious if he decides to take off with me I haven’t a hope of stopping him! Luckily he’s very sweet and neither happened. It’s loveky riding out together - reminiscent of old times and realising just how luck

The weather has continued and this week / weekend has been hot, hot, hot. Just as the kids went back to school we have been blessed with an early taste of summer and it couldn't have been better timed for Izzy's party #2 - the spa gathering! Having looked at the weather I booked a bouncy castle at the last moment and despite both girls saying they were far to old for that, they all spent the whole day bouncing on and off it (with Bertie), everyone having great fun. We ended up with Izzy and Abi and 5 of Izzy's friends having Emily and Yesim do nails and make up while they took it in turns to choose music and make the most of the sunshine - it really couldn't have been better. Last night the weather broke for a while and we had an amazing storm - great big crashes of thunder and claps of lightening which lit up the whole garden. The rain lashed down and I think the whole county was up at 2:30am finding it impossible to sleep through all that noise. Amber and Effie had

Woo hoo - we've had some sunshine and more is predicted for this week! After what feels like weeks of rain it was so nice yesterday to be able to throw open the doors in the kitchen and welcome the sun in. This weekend has been manic. We had friends round on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, I had a yoga morning yesterday and it was Izzy's birthday party #1 today. In between this I was trying to at least establish what's been happening in the garden under all that water, and Glenn was trying to do a few bits as well - we've basically not stopped. Izzy's party was  a chance for her and 3 of her friends (this time the 4-square crew) to go to Go Ape in Southampton. The forecast was for rain (again!) but in fact it held off literally until the moment they finished and then the heavens opened. We had lunch under a shelter and came home for a couple of hours of playing, Birthdays are definitely getting more civilised! Once again Abi found the course much more of a

Ugh - will it ever stop raining? We have had a few (very few) tantalising glimpses of spring which makes it even worse that the rest of the time it doesn't feel like it has stopped raining for weeks. Despite this we are trying to fill the Easter holidays with enough for the kids to do but not so much that either we are bankrupt or they are over indulged - a fine balance indeed. Last week was definitely a quiet one at work and I tried to make the most of it. Given I'm normally a million miles an hour, it always feels weird to start and end the day at a more reasonable time. I definitely don't do the hours I used to but I still feel guilty if I've done less than a 12 hour day, something I constantly try and reassure myself is unnecessary. This weekend thus was a long one and we have managed to squeeze in a huge variety of stuff. Glenn was riding the Paris-Roubaix challenge so he set off on the Friday morning with his merry band of George, Jon and Jez while the girl

What a lovely week we've had in Italy. After a bit of a shaky start for Abi, we all settled into the rhythm of our first family ski holiday and I have to say that we all loved it. By the afternoon of day 2 Abi was definitely in need of a break. The mental and physical challenge of learning a new skill got to her and she didn't find it easy to start with. Izzy meanwhile took to her ski lessons and the snow like a pro and immediately loved it. She declared herself a natural and off she went! Interestingly it was Izzy who then hit a wall on the last day and didn't make the final races which was a shame, but not surprising after 24 hours of lessons in 6 days. I started well (really well even if I say so myself) and quickly progressed on day one from the nursery slopes up to the main piste. I finished my lesson, we had lunch and Glenn decided that he would continue my tuition by taking me down a steep red run, accompanied by much swearing by me and promises that I woul

So after much excitement we are finally skiing and despite my concerns about being on a group trip, I can see why families chose to go with other families for something like this. The girls are loving having 28 other kids from their school to hang out wit, and for the most part, we parents are loving the independence that gives them. There has been a bit of pushing and shoving, quite literally this afternoon when (apparently) Oliver and Oliver threw snow at Tom, who retaliated by pushing one of them who then threw an ice sheet and subsequently got punched in the face. It’s at these times I’m pleased to have girls!    Izzy has taken to the snow like a pro skier and is absolutely loving it. Today (day 2) she was begging to go out at 9am to practice, shot off to her lessons when they called them at 11 and was rating to go again for the afternoon. Abi is finding it more difficult and consequently is getting very tired. She did her morning lesson and then slumped over lunchtime,