Our first holiday: Quack quack – oops!
I had erased this particular early holiday from my memory until Rachael, the TAMBA editor, encouraged me to drag it up for everyone’s benefit. At the time our eldest was just 6 and the triplets a few months old. We were desperate for to find an easy way to have a break from life and the business for a few days at a time and spend some quality family time together. In a moment of madness we decided that a caravan was the answer. The sensible thing would have been to book a few days away in a rented van, but no, we went the whole hog thinking we had holidays sorted and bought a caravan. Storage on the farm was simple enough, but actually getting it ready to go away was no 5 minute exercise and all my visions of happy children playing in a field while I watch sipping my wine all went out the window on our first outing. It drizzled! I was fed up with indoor card games in a confined space, trying to keep the space tidy and dry and carrying children to and from a shower block in the cold and soggy weather. That on top of the logistics of 3 mosses baskets on the floor at night, every one hearing everyone else waking up and precious little sleep causing fraying tempers. 3 nights was all we could take before packing up and returning home. I don’t even have a picture to mark the event! Needless to say 6 months down the line we conceded defeat and sold the van. Funnily enough, looking back I think it really could work for us all now that the children are older (age 6 – 12) but frankly I don’t think we will be attempting it again, one bitten and all that!
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| The gang playing in our holiday cottage |
Looking up......
Apart from our relaxed visits to the grandparents, our only other real early holiday was a few nights just ½ hour from home in a little holiday cottage. We put it down to ‘competition shopping’ as a home from home type of holiday and it did work out for us. With 3 bedrooms, all modern facilities and space inside the cottage everyone was warm and relaxed despite the weather (again a bit mixed). I do have fond memories of silly things like playing peek-a-boo with the triplets from behind the coffee table, playing football in the communal gardens outside with our older children and a basic but adequate indoor play barn which used up those spare ½ an hour slots early evening for my husband while I cooked our dinner. The cottage was well placed for local attractions and we visited Lapper Valley, still a favourite family day out now.
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| Picnic in the woods while away with the grandparents a relaxing holiday for us! |
On the back of this holiday we were determined to create an indoor play barn of our own at Coombe Mill, which is now a very popular feature with all our younger visitors.
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