All at sea

This photo wasn’t taken by me, but my dear husband, who watched, possibly amazed, as I manoeuvered the dinghy across the lake. It was my first time and I have a discomfort, bordering on fear, of deep water. However, I booked the sailing lesson before I discovered the lake at Center Parcs was only 5 feet deep.

My instructor asked whether I was as calm as I looked on the water. I guess it’s a gift to be able to look calm on the outside whilst feeling terrified inside! I managed to stay afloat (yay!) and performed a really cool mooring,

(Another shot by Mr Angelfeet -he should have his own blog!)

Rosie’s confidence seemed to soar whilst we were away. She explored her new-found cycling skills by going off on her own, in a way that I don’t think I would feel comfortable with on our city streets. She also astounded Mr Angefeet and I as she got into a canoe for the first time and just confidently paddled away. It was a delight to see.

(I took this one.)

Jenny didn’t get to steer her own vessel, but she did have fun on the water too.

Bruised, grazed and aching in places I didn’t know I had . . . but feeling strangely alive

I think I could say that I have been a fairly sedentary person for many years. Go for a cycle or have a cup of tea with a friend? Cup of tea please. And do you have a biscuit?

Anyhow, our-4-day break at Center Parcs could easily have been on the sedentary side. They offer pamper treatments, a sports cafe where you can watch as much TV as you like, numerous restaurants around the site. Or you can sit on the lakeside watching other people fall off windsurfing boards as they try to master it. But it wasn’t.

However, being a mostly sedentary person, I had not remembered that sometimes you Fall Off. Not just the kids – we’re used to picking them up and dusting them off. Me too. But I also had forgotten/never realised that to fall off is OK.

Here are the girls not falling off.

(Jenny opted for training wheels at the cycle hire centre and it was a joy to watch her little legs pedalling away. She did take a tumble on Thursday evening by going too fast over a speed-bump, and grazed knee and elbow, but she recovered enough to get back in the saddle on Friday).

Larking about

We’re off on holiday for a few days. I can’t guarantee to be able to post every day, so if there’s a deafening silence, don’t worry.

River

Two-wheeling

Told you it wouldn’t be long.

Baby

We went to the llama park today.

Practice

So, it’s true. I haven’t forgotten . . .

And she won’t forget – well done, Rosie! First time on 2 wheels.

Just resting.

She’s still on three wheels, but not for long.

Preparation

We’re off to Center Parcs shortly, so we’ve been dusting off the bikes we own, which frankly haven’t been used for quite a few years, and getting them serviced.

Hubby did three or four charity rides in the last 15 years, but his bike hadn’t seen any daylight for some  considerable time. I don’t have a bike, and am deeply lacking in my ability to ride one. I used to be able to so, well, you know what they say. You never forget . . .

We’re really looking forward to our few days away. Away from the computer, (probably, they do have Wi-Fi), away from the TV (mostly) and lots of family fun planned.

Sorry for the gaping holes in my posting. Some days it just got too late to post anything worthwhile and other days, there have been minimal photo opportunities. We’ve been to the pool a couple or three times and we’re not allowed to take pictures, even of just our own kids, in this borough’s pools, due to interpretation of the Child Protection laws. Jenny did some gymnastics today – I didn’t even bother asking whether we could take pictures – perhaps I should have.

The weather is variably pleasant and rubbish – right now, as the light fades, it’s a drizzly grey outside and we’ve not had a repeat of the wonderous thundery night from last week.

What I hope to bring you is some fabulous photos of us having a fantastic time at center parcs in the very near future.

Waiting for Daddy

That’s my phone. She wanted to send Daddy a text, so I let her start getting used to the vagaries of predictive text

Darth Jenny

We travelled up to Berkshire, a 2-hour drive which should have been much quicker but for the heavy traffic on the motorway, to visit my sister’s family. Rosie and Jenny love visiting their cousins, because the boys are tolerant enough to be wrestled, chased and generally sat on by them.

The girls also like playing with the boys’ toys.