EASTER WITH MY FAVOURITES

Beau came home from nursery just before Easter and said he had a story to tell me:

"Mummy I've got a story to tell you. You don't have to be sad ok but at nursery, a man died. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE SAD! A man died at nursery but then after that HE CAME BACK TO LIFE!!" -Beau, aged three and a half

This, I think, is the best ever telling of the Easter story. 

On Easter Friday, we set off to the New Forest with my family. We went away last year too if you remember? This time, Dad had booked Old Bridge Cottage in Ringwood and it was the perfect setting for a little weekend away with some of my favourite people in the world. My sister Becs and her partner Jim came with their two children Ivy and Kit, my older brother Nick came with his girlfriend Sophie, my younger brother Matt (Sheepy) came and of course my Dad and his wife Pat. 

On the first night there, Ettienne treated me to a his first ever stint of 7 hours sleep straight through! I woke up engorged to high hell but so excited that it might be the start of a better sleep pattern going forwards...no such luck. It was a one hit wonder and the next night he was back to waking every few hours for a guzzle on my breasts...oh the joys.

Over the course of the weekend I successfully palmed my children off on everyone else everyone wanted a cuddle with the baby so I selflessly gave everybody a turn holding him, because I'm nice like that :o) We all took our turns cooking, looking after the various children, planning where to go and generally having a lovely time together. I'm sure most people think this about their families, but I really do feel like I have the best family in the world. I'm incredibly lucky that they're all such kind, decent people. I was thinking about how every family has to have a black sheep/bad egg and how if you can't think of who it is then it's probably you... 

On the Saturday we all headed off in convoy to Beaulieu motor museum. I was kind of dreading it as a) motors don't really interest me and b) its pretty bloody expensive to get in. But actually it was a really great day out and worth the entrance fee. We all ended up getting separated for a little while and Ettie and I spent a really enjoyable couple of hours with just my two brothers, drinking coffee, talking about healthy eating, and stumbling across a wedding which we very nearly got in the photos of. Ettie needed feeding so we all found a bench and my brothers remarked on how sitting next to your sister while she's breastfeeding is a little like a solar eclipse...you shouldn't look directly at it :o)

On Sunday we headed to Sandbanks in Poole. We'd intended to go to Swanage on the ferry, but soon realised that the world and his sodding wife had the same plans that we did, and we joined the world's biggest, most slow moving queue. The one benefit of being stuck in the queue for so long was getting a chance to perve on all the amazing houses there. We all decided that this is the plot we'd go for, upon winning the lottery of course. Also whilst queueing (and losing the will to live) the car behind us broke down, so Jim and James spent a good 20 minutes helping the owners push their Audi along the road. It's like Jim attracts troubled cars. Anyway, since we were getting to the point where we were all getting out of our cars (I was handing out travel sweets to our family convoy of three cars, Sheepy and Beau had gone looking for a toilet, Jim was trying to diagnose our queue neighbour's car issues, then Ettie needed feeding) we eventually gave up on our quest for the swanage ferry and set our sights on the beach at sandbanks instead. It was pretty effing cold but the kids had fun and the men all showed off how manly they were by rolling up their jeans and paddling in the bitterly cold sea. I say it was bitterly cold; I sensibly went absolutely nowhere near it so I wouldn't know, but one can make an educated guess.  After the beach we all got a coffee and some chips to thaw us out before heading back home to cook dinner and settle in for the evening.

The following day it was decided that we would hit up one more tourist attraction on our way home, and Sheepy suggested Salisbury Cathedral.

We had been blessed with a beautifully sunny day, and it was completely stunning. It boasts the tallest spire in the UK and the architecture inside was mind boggling.

Beau and Ivy loved it there too and enjoyed spending the last day of the holiday chasing each other around like shadows, giggling their heads off and generally being cute as a button. The relationship these two have is so sweet. Every day since we got back has been filled with moans of "I miss my cousin Ivy" "I love my cousin Ivy" "When can I see my cousin Ivy?" and "I don't love you any more because you won't let me see my cousin Ivy". Charming.

I sat outside the room which holds the magna carta and fed Ettie and took a shameless selfie while we were there. Breastfeeding in such a public place is always a good way to get the measure of people...there are those who make every effort not to look anywhere near you once they've clocked what you're doing as if to say "God this is uncomfortable", those who look and give you a slightly disapproving look as if to say "Really?? Here??" and there are those who give you a little smile as if to say "Good on you, and what a cute baby" OK maybe I imagined that last bit, but he is. Those ones are "my people". I like those ones the best.

Ettie tried on his big brother's sunnies and I think you'll agree he looks quite the dude. My brother Nick is officially the broodiest of all the broodies after a weekend with his niece and nephews. Hopefully this time next year it'll be him and Sophie expecting their own little bundle of sleep deprivation :o)

And here's a picture of my big boy to take us out. After making me chase his shadow around until I broke a sweat (so all of about 10 seconds then) he pulled me down to the ground and made me do "she loves me, she loves me not" with the daisies. I don't think there's any doubt about this one though...I love this boy (and his baby brother) to the moon and stars and back. Thanks for a lovely holiday mi familia xx