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Routine...what routine?

It's official, we are back from France and all routine has completely left the building. In fact, the kids seem to have left the building as well! We had a lovely time as ever, very relaxing, lots of sunshine, swimming and family time. For the first time as we headed home though we agreed that maybe it is time to do something different. We love going there but I would like to try somewhere new so that there is some motivation to get out and explore. Glenn would like somewhere with better beds so he gets a decent night's sleep. The kids just want to be assured of enough for us to do for them to be left in peace, and of course it must have wifi! I've suggested Cornwall and we have found what looks to be a really nice location / complex with a great selection of holiday homes, some with hot tubs. This immediately got raised up to the 'essential' list along with the wifi. If only it was that easy to please everyone! Anyway, we've booked and we will try it next year.



Once we got home I will freely admit I enjoyed the time in our own house (comfy beds. lots of space, my dogs and my garden) more than being away. With weather like we have been having there really is no reason to leave home. Ive loved being able to see friends, do a few bits and pieces and relax in my own space. I even read my book in the garden on a few afternoons! I missed my dogs as well - I was so pleased to see them and to hear that they had been ok while we were away. The combination of dog walker and Di & Alby house sitting definitely worked.


The key goal both girls had when we got home was to have their hair dyed. Abi has been asking for weeks to be able to have hers done and of course Izzy wasn't going to be left out. Izzy was off at Amber's (of course, more about that to come) and Abi dragged me into the retail park to choose a colour. The deal was that she wasn't bleaching her hair and it needed to be a dye that would wash out by the end of the summer holidays. We choose a colour (plum, rather nice I agree) and headed home with her excitedly reading the instructions. We went straight upstairs and I had the job of applying it only to her head and not to the entire bathroom, all the towels, the upstairs carpet and everywhere else... Actually it was much easier than I thought it would be and she was very pleased with the result, flicking her hair over her shoulders and making sure everyone could see what she'd done. When it was time to pick up Izzy she was straight in the car to show her what she'd done. Izzy reacted very appropriately - full of praise and excitment, immediately asking when she could have hers done! Of course this being Izzy she wanted to have a bolder colour which did worry me slightly given her hair is a bit lighter...


So, Abi goes to Mia's and its Izzy's turn. You can tell its a big thing - she got out of bed without us having to dig her out - a rarity in the holidays.  We set off for the retail park again, with me making the same points - no bleach etc etc. Izzy headed straight for the 'brights' section, looking specifically at blues and pinks (eek!). Luckily for me we got talking to a woman who was also browsing the dyes after a less than successful attempt to dye her 10 year old daughter's hair turquoise.  Turns out it went green so she was now looking for a stronger colour. Sounds like a road to an all over blue hair colour - not where I want to be! So with this in mind Izzy choose a pink, the box of which assured me it should wash out after 12-15 washes and definitely be all gone after 28 washes. Now a professional children's hair colourist we set to it again and I managed again to get most of it on her head and voila, one pink haired little girl! Thank goodness it's more subtle than the box suggested it might be - nothing to do with me halving the development time while no-one was looking!


Now I just need to get them both to actually wash their hair - so far apparently it hasn't needed it - 28 washes between now and the end of the summer is looking remote!

With all this colour they both headed off to friends and it feels like we are a stop over for a hug, more clothes and maybe a snack. Abi is spending all her time at Mia's and Izzy at Amber's. It's no surprise. Amber lives on a 200 acre country estate with a golf buggy (her parents manage rather than own the estate but the golf buggy is a permanent fixture) and Mia has a horse. What's not to like in preference to your own house? The plus side is Glenn isn't having to pick up all the childcare as I have had to go back to work (ugh) and they aren't on their iPads all the time.

The heat wave continues and I will admit that the air conditioned office wasn't all bad today. That said I couldn't believe how long the day took to pass, unlike the last 2 weeks which have flown by. Tomorrow is a day from home then I have to go to London on Thursday - I'm dreading it already given a forecast of 30+ degrees, again...





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