I love a weekend en famille. There is nothing that soothes the soul more than time spent amongst the free-spirited youngsters and the beautiful grown-ups that my sons have become.
We started last weekend with a trip down to Luton where Gloria was holding her ‘Birthday Bash’. Paul drove all of us in his brand new car, with the exception of Harriet and Danielle, who were under the weather and not up to it.
The pleasure we took in each others’ company on the way down the M1 was prolonged, however, as we hit a long line of traffic, all queuing behind a pile-up somewhere further along the motorway. We’d intended to arrive at the venue about 14.30 – and we were on track. Then we weren’t. Oh! ETA: 14.50. No worries, we’d still arrive in time. Delay expected? 6 minutes. 5 minutes later and the delay was still expected to be 6 minutes! Eeesh….. ETA now just after three o’clock. Sit down for the afternoon tea was 3.p.m. “Shall I text Gloria to tell her we’ll be late?” I wondered. Paul nodded. ETA now 15.15….. ‘OK’ she replied, seemingly unperturbed.
We finally arrived and sat down for a very welcome cup of tea and some sandwiches and cake – and a bouncy castle! Oh my, I was a nervous wreck. The last time I’d been party to a bouncy castle with all the family was at Paul and Harriet’s wedding when Ellie fell and broke her arm. I foresaw all sorts of possibilities. I mean, just look at those tangled limbs!!
As it turned out there wasn’t anything too bad. Just a bit of a bloodbath as William’s nose encountered Thomas’s face as they jumped together, and a nosebleed ensued. The white serviettes turned crimson; William’s trousers blossomed, cerise patterned, from top to bottom; the floor was dotted with carmine-red splodges; and there was a wailing that bothered our ear drums.
Anyway, despite the ‘to-be-expected’ injury, the afternoon tea went down nicely and I’m pretty sure Gloria enjoyed herself. She even had a little bounce, too! Brave woman!!
She survived the bounce and made it in one piece to cut her cake – with a little helper, of course! Alexander was on hand to help Grandma – just in case she couldn’t manage it by herself.
The following day, Sunday, our family fun continued with a roast dinner in the afternoon to celebrate Danielle’s birthday. She made an effort at the dinner table but she wasn’t at all well and had spent much of the afternoon wrapped up in a blanket on the sofa. Bless. She even had to get Oliver to blow her candles out….
At the end of the day, we had had a wonderful time – the kids, especially. I could tell that they had enjoyed themselves because there were pieces of paper all over the computer room where they’d been experimenting with the hole punch.
I could tell that we had enjoyed ourselves because there pots, pans and glasses all over the kitchen, all itching to get into the dishwasher. Paul had carried plates and cutlery into the kitchen and managed to stack most of it into the dishwasher, but there was a surplus.
Michael stared helplessly at the mess, saying, “I’m sorry we’re leaving everything but…..” he didn’t need to say any more. The crockery would find its way into the dishwasher in due course. There was nothing more to do. We turned our backs on the kitchen chaos and enjoyed each others’ company for the rest of the visit. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The kids, of course, the carnage and the clutter?
Take care everyone. God bless.
I had a lovely birthday bash on Saturday and also ended up roasting for 9 on the Sunday. I hope William is now recovered.
Gosh, you were busy!! It’s good to be so though, isn’t it? And yes, William had recovered by the time we got in the car to go home!