Family weekend

With 8 grandchildren under 8, when we all get together there are a LOT of us!!

It is absolutely magical to see all the children immediately happy with each other and creating wild games, beaming and running around and thoroughly enjoying meeting up again.

There is always lots of energy to burn off on a wet winter weekend so on Sunday we all went on our favourite Puddleduck walk ….

Collective noun – A bobble of hats? A bobble of cousins?                                Nothing more fun than throwing stones in a river – that satisfying plop! and splash!  And off to spuddle in muddy puddles.                                                                                                                        And then Granny had a cunning plan: my house feels a bit too small for us all to spend too long there if we can’t use the garden, so ….. I hire our Village Hall for a few hours and we all go there where we can also meet up with friends and their children for tea. We have a sweet Hall in our village and it is always decorated for Christmas – perfect. I set up a cosy corner for babies and little ones needing a cuddle, protected from marauding older ones with a line of chairs. With big tables near the kitchen hatch put out for tea.A tunnel of chairs and cardboard boxes,

 

 

 

covered with blankets

became a den for the girls

 

whilst the boys tore round on scooters and bikes doing deliberate skids and ‘stunts’ – Yikes!

 

My daughter led a game of ‘Sleeping Lions’ to calm them all down, one of the twins wondering what had suddenly happened to all her playmates.

After tea: musical statues, bumps and some air guitar demos before some quiet colouring and sticking. Later for those who live far away, pop the little ones into pyjamas for the journey home – and off they went, all happily remembering a fun weekend. (and my house remained intact! – clever eh!?)