On Yer Bike

We have just spent a glorious week away in the Lake District and the week was great! I'm not sure that I have ever known a week fly by so quickly but it was still wonderful. The weather was glorious and it was action-packed.

I was petrified in the days leading up to our holiday. I feared the worst: that Anna would get ill again and we wouldn't be able to go or, even more terrifying than that would be Anna being taken ill while on holiday. The doctors had recommended that we check out where the local A and E hospital department was, in case she had an asthma attack. After reading our travel guide, we thought it was 5 miles away. However, being very thorough, James decided to phone the NHS to double-check and it was 25 miles away in Carlisle (Apparently, Penrith Hospital, which is only 5 miles from where we were staying, only has A and E during the daytime). The NHS then went on to reassure us that an ambulance station was positioned only 3 miles from where we were based so could get to us quickly if needed. I suppose that was some consolation but just compounded the fear for me. I couldn't even think about packing for our holiday or planning anything to do with it until the Sunday night before we were due to leave on Monday morning. Every time that I dared to hope that we might be able to go, there was a very tight, painful knot in my tummy as I imagined Anna being taken ill in the night. I realise that I must not let her illness take over but it is hard not to when you have to consider the possibility of her being ill. I also realise that I do tend to be talking about it a lot at the moment. I can only apologise but, when it seems to be dominating and dictating a large part of our lives through no choice of our own, it is hard not to talk about it.

Thankfully for us, Anna was brilliant and I'm sure the fresh air helped. It was definitely a different type of holiday for us this time but just added to making it so wonderful. We were practically outdoors for the entire holiday, from morning to last thing at night, except for the moments where we slept! James even suggested tents next time so we could be permanently outdoors but I just cannot contemplate only having a thin piece of material separating us from them (by them, I mean the furry 4-legged variety which shouldn't scare me but actually freezes me to the spot whenever I even think about them).

Being someone who adores being outside, Anna loved every second, running though woodland and open fields. We even hired bikes (my bum now hurts every time I sit down from being saddle-sore) and Anna had a little carriage to travel around in. It was very funny when poor James, who happened to tow Anna in her little bike buggy for the majority of the holiday, got shouted at by Anna to go 'Faster, Faster, Faster' every 5 seconds. I wasn't laughing so much when we went to meet James from his Archery course and I had to tow Anna. I'm not sure what she was saying to me for the entire duration of the ride but, judging by the serious tone in her voice, it wasn't complimentary about my bike-riding skills.

I think the personal highlight for me, during the trip, was seeing Anna win a medal and certificate for coming 4th in the Treasure hunt. Basically, we had to follow clues around the woodland and park. Being 3 miles long, we had to travel on bikes and there was approx. 20 families taking part. I had already devised a strategy plan where by I would race ahead and find the clue and figure out where to go next, while James followed my lead, albeit a little slower because he had to tow Anna around. Despite my claims that I was not going to be competitive during the treasure hunt, I fear that my competitive nature overtook any lame claims and I could soon hear James laughing as I started to overtake other mum's and dad's whilst shouting 'come on James, we can do this'. Unfortunately, disaster struck when I lost the map half way round and then had to follow my directional instincts (coming from me, who manages to lose sense of direction whenever I walk out of a lift). A massive hill also didn't help as I lost valuable time trying to cycle up the bloody thing, only to find myself actually cycling backwards because I was going so slow. It was not attractive. By the time, that we had reached the last clue, we knew we were not the first family back and it had stated that only the first family back received a prize. 'Why don't you just go and check in at the sports desk anyway' suggested James. 'What's the point?' I sulkily replied. 'We were probably the last ones back'. I am such a sore loser! James just raised his eyes and said he would go, just to make sure. Imagine my surprise when he came back with a medal and a certificate with Anna's name on it! Apparently, we were 4th and 3rd place beat us by literally 10 seconds. If only it wasn't for that last hill!!

Other highlights included a 'Messy Play' morning for Anna. It was in a huge room where they had laid out paints, playdough, glue, paddling pools filled with spaghetti, fruit slices, custard, flour and water mix and practically everything else that is messy. The leader had also laid out a massive tray of water, in order that the children can clean themselves up if they wanted to. Guess where Anna went first? That's right... Anna decided that the first stop would be to get into the tray of water, sit down and start kicking furiously. Luckily, we had already been advised that swimwear was optional and had followed the advice. Anna then discovered the custard, flour and water mix and jelly tub before then moving over to the paint table where she tried to taste every colour of paint. My daughter was in the midst of chaos all around her... all of which she had created. All of the other children were very gentle and calm as they poured custard through sieves and mixed the flour and water with spoons. Not Anna, she wanted to sit in the jelly and flour trays before then covering her face in it. She also felt the need to taste everything in sight. At one point, the leader commentated that this group of children were very calm compared to some children she met. 5 seconds later, Anna let out a squeal of pure delight while diving head first into the custard. The leader re-phrased it that 'Most of the children were very calm'. At the end of the morning, whilst all of the other children were being washed and dressed, Anna was still painting her face with the purple paint, refusing to let go of the paint and bucket of custard that she was pouring over her feet. We even experienced a major tantrum as she began to scream, before going very rigid and stamping her feet as we led her away, leaving a trail of jelly, custard and paint behind us as we walked away.

Apart from that fun and chaos (which was fantastic fun),the holiday was a true mix of events as other days we would find ourselves sitting next to the lake of Windermere (NOT the tourist bit but a very secluded and quiet spot, 9 miles south of the actual town), eating scones with cream and dangling our feet in the water as we watched the little rowing boats and the ducks swimming past. Anna has also found a love for rabbits as she will happily sit and watch them or ages. Her attempts at saying 'rabbit' have been less than successful but she has an excellent go!

It was an action-packed but wonderful holiday and I am missing it already. We all cannot wait to go again.