Summer of Fun!

This summer we had our first proper holiday as a family with Aurora.  We didn't go abroad or do anything fancy, we just went to stay with family, Giles and Beth and the kids, but we had great weather, a great olympics and great fun.

The first day we went to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour in Watford to see the Harry Potter sets as Tristram's late birthday present.  We had a great time looking at the sets and the props from the films, being in the great hall and Privet Drive, having a go on Hagrid's motorbike, the Weasleys' Ford Anglia and the Knight bus.  It was a lot of fun but it was a long day for poor Aurora who got very tired.  We went into the shop on the way out and brought sugar quills for Jack and the girls and Honeydukes chocolate for ourselves.  On the way back we stopped at Shirley's house.  She was there with Riley, but sadly Dustin couldn't make it because he missed his bus.  Lori was away that weekend too, but it was really good to see Carrie and Rob with their boys, including Tommy who was just a few weeks old and seemed so small and light compared to Aurora, but she had fun playing with her second cousins and the toys.  In the evening, as we did every evening (and many mornings and afternoons) while we were there, we watched the olympics with Giles and Beth.

The second day we went to church in Basingstoke and saw the Toomeys.  It was a shame we only saw Robert, Denise, Lee and Erin as all the others were away, but it was still nice to see them and spend time with them.  We went back to their house afterwards as well which was nice as it meant we got to really talk to them.  We also saw their great niece and nephew who came over as well, which Aurora enjoyed becuase there was a boy to play with and copy.

Monday we went to visit Michaela and the girls and see her new house.  It was very noisy and hectic with so many children, but it was a really nice day and Aurora enjoyed spending time with her cousins. 

Tuesday was Ebony's birthday, so we had a little celebration at breakfast and spent the rest of the morning just at home.  In the afternoon Ebony wanted to go shopping to spend her money, so we had a nice girly shopping trip and ate lots of sweets.

 Wednesday was mostly spent at home, the kids playing outside and on the trampoline.  Aurora loved playing outside with them, especially Jack's tractor, which Jack wasn't very happy about because he was very attatched to it and didn't want to share.  We also went geo-caching.  It was a new experience, we'd never done it before but it was a lot of fun and good exercise. 

On Thursday we went to visit an old abbey near to where they live.  It was great weather so we had a picnic, then we all climbed a huge tree and played hide and seek in the grounds.  After everyone was tired of the game we went to the river and some of them went for a paddle, not us!  It was very tiring but very fun.  It was so good to be outside in good weather with good company.  We also met some friendly cows along the way which Ellie affectionatley named Daisy and Noisy. 

On Friday we went to the play park.  It was good but very crowded and a little too hot.  There wasn't much Aurora could do because when the sun was out, a lot of the equipment was too hot for her to touch for long and the swings were very busy.  It was nice to sit in the shade tho and have an adventure in the trees.  That evening after a nice BBQ, we came home.