David Currie

It was half term last week and we started by heading down to Cornwall to see our new niece: Isla Ashton. The journey down was as slow as you’d expect at the start of the school holidays. We were staying at the nearby Premier Inn to give Ian and Sarah a bit more space. We dumped our bags there and headed over for a Halloween party which the children enjoyed immensely. Emma particularly enjoyed ‘pass the pumpkin’ (anyone would think she didn’t get sweets at home) and the doughnut on a string competition! It was great to meet Isla although, at only three weeks there wasn’t much interaction. I’d forgotten how light young babies are, until you’ve held them for more than five minutes!

Unfortunately Duncan was then sick in the night (nothing to do with the doughnuts – he hadn’t eaten any!) and proceeded to sleep for almost the entirety of the next day. In the morning, Emma and I went swimming with Ian and Megan and then, in the afternoon, Christine went out with them on their bikes. Duncan rallied at dinner time, shortly after we hadn’t ordered him any!

On Monday, we headed to the beach at Porthtowan in the morning. In the afternoon, as the rain arrived we headed in Truro and, whilst I went shopping, the others went to see The Enormous Turnip at the Hall for Cornwall theatre which was a hit with the children.

Duncan was sick again that night but ate his breakfast. Still, we decided not to risk the 45 minute drive over to the Eden Project. Instead, we walked/scooted to the local garden centre/pet shop/Xmas decoration outlet. After lunch, we ventured a bit further to Heartlands. There was a slightly bizarre exhibition in the art centre with stalls from lots of local health providers/charities all seemingly running activities completely unrelated to their usual work. For example, the children potted up some bulbs with a voluntary services organisation! The massive adventure playground certainly went down well even if it was busy.

By Wednesday it was time to move on. We dropped Christine off at Exeter St Davids (she was going in to work on Thursday) and continued on to Monmouth to spend the next couple of days with the in-laws. We had a fun day out in Pontypool on the Thursday. The location was selected by hospital appointment but we then went swimming and for a stroll around Pontypool Park in the sunshine. Friday was freezing but thankfully the rain moved on as we took the children out for a go on their bikes. Duncan wasn’t in the mood but Emma finally got the hang of getting herself moving. I finally went for a run before lunch as the sun was shining and then Sue took the children to the playground whilst I did some shopping. Christine was reunited with us before the next step of our journey…

We arrived back from Dorset with a week still to go before returning to work. We made a few trips out when the weather was kind to us, otherwise trying to get a few jobs done at home (including getting this blog back online). The day after we got back we didn’t go far – just a trip up to Farley Mount where the children’s favourite activity (after the play equipment) is building dens. It’s also an excuse for Christine and I to take turns at having a run.

After a day spent on back-to-school shopping, we decided to get out the National Trust cards one more time. This time it was for a trip to Mottisfont Abbey. The children enjoyed the Wind in the Willows Quest which meant that, when we had to retire to the house to avoid the downpour, we could play weasel spotting rather than admiring “Rex Whistler’s trompe l’oeil design in the drawing room”!

By now we were sufficiently rested for a trip to the Science Museum in London. It was a close run thing as the children’s favourite – the train/underground ride there or the museum itself! We started with all of the hands on exhibits which the children thoroughly enjoyed. I suspect Duncan could have played all day with the water in “the Garden”. We went to see the free “Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles” show where, as you can see, Emma go to be encased in a bubble.

The Google Web Lab was a bit disappointing: five exhibits of which two were broken, one had a long queue (the virtual visitors had half of the robots drawing in the and), and one just told you what you had (failed) to do in the others. When asked for his favourite bit of the museum, Duncan replied ‘the steam engine’. Let’s hope he doesn’t turn out to be a complete Luddite!

We spent the bank holiday recovering from our trip to the big smoke. Emma and Duncan even got to watch Emma’s Tangled DVD end-to-end in one sitting. (Duncan just about stayed awake for the whole thing although is breathing slowed considerably!) The forecast was set fair again the next day so we cycled over to Fleming Park to make the most of the paddling pool before it closes for the winter. With the sandpit and playground the kids could easily have stayed there for the whole day.

After a trip to my parents, it was time for Christine to return to work and Duncan to go back to nursery. Emma and I went to Manor Farm Country Park where she particularly enjoyed feeding the calves. I had to milk the cow though when they brought out the one that had given her a (friendly) head butt earlier in the day! Back to work for me on the Friday. Even that wasn’t too bad: 500+ emails reduced to three, setting me up for the next week.