Delicious Devon - Friday 9th August.

Our great friends, Anna and Dave, move out each summer from their town house in Exeter to a holiday house by the sea in Shaldon 20 mins away. So, courtesy of their incredible generosity, we are taking over their town house as a base for a few days. Come Friday, we’ve somehow managed to pack up the car (a challenge in itself using the small one – did I tell you the other has been written off? Perhaps a story for another day… and not by me shall I add… Ahem, Wayne! Oh yes, things are NEVER dull around here!), get organised and hurl ourselves onto the M4/M25. Tilly was such a great sleeper in the car that, naturally (and stupidly?!), we assumed Lila would follow suit and left at morning nap time, which is normally a two hour cosy sleep in her cot. Oh no, … 45 mins into the journey she's wide awake thanks to stationary traffic. ARGH! So, having left at 11am, we finally arrived in Exeter at 16.30, a lunch stop, a loo stop, tears, tantrums (from Mum!) and completely frazzled parents. Why, oh why, don't we live in Devon anymore? Never the less, we picked up the keys and headed straight for a lovely afternoon/evening on the beach to join the gang. I had to literally fling Wayne into a kayak for an emergency paddle to go and de-stress around the waters of Shaldon. Are other hubby's the same after car journey's?? Thankfully, thankfully, Tilly was an angel in the car - think we only had two or three instances of "are we there yet?" - and SO super excited to hit the beach, running with her buddies Edward and Megan… .literally. Major phew on account of one of our children!

Soothe hubby soothe!

It was a fab week. Lovely weather except one day (ideal.... haircuts and school shoes), but otherwise day trips to our favorite beaches at Puttsbourough, Wollacombe, Bantham and Shaldon and a visit to our lovely old haunt of Topsham, bumping into old neighbours, doing the goat walk (my old stomping ground when Tilly was a baby, many a time spent pacing around getting her to snooze!) and generally a good nose around. The first day trip to Bantham was hilarious - on being let out of the car, Tilly literally ran and ran down to the sea, which was on the out tide so miles away, and just went for a flying leap and jumped in! So divine to watch, not so divine to leg it after her through the crowds! What a deprived child with no sea at home!

Sssssh Lila, we're trying to bird watch! 

I managed a night out with the lovely NCT girlies Anna P., Anna D and Helga (I realise I talk about lots of Anna’s through this blog. I now officially know four and two of them have Edwards…so sorry for the confusion!) in a restaurant overlooking the nighttime sea. Just heaven and such a pick-me-up as ever. A chance to wear Wilma wig (and gain a little confidence with her), cold beers and a break from bedtime duty - yey! Incidentally, on the bald issue...leg hair stopped growing just in time for holidays. Well, there's a first time. C being convenient? About bloody time I say! 

So, all in all, a fantastic week and a heavenly change of scenery in our old stomping grounds. But sadly, as we all know, things can be quite exhausting with the kiddies out of sink from home, different beds etc and lets face it, holidays really aren't holidays anymore with little kiddies are they? So, as the week went on tiredness accumulated and everything began to take its toll on me, naturally impacting on hubby - especially Lila in the car journeys, kindly giving us on average one hour before total meltdown. By the end of the week, we fell back down the motorway (at a crawl again may I add…..Grrrr!) and collapsed back into our house and familiar beds into what then led to be a very tense, irritable, argumentative week on my part! So sorry Wayne! Oh, the highs and lows – quite exhausting and at times extraordinary. I certainly won’t miss the unpredictability of this bloody journey! Sometimes it really feels like I've been hurled around on a sea voyage, bashed around on the sides, dizzy, confused and so disorientated at times.