We have just had a much-needed break this past weekend. It is my wife’s birthday coming up and we have spent the weekend with her family at Center Parcs. I can’t tell you how great it was to get away and spend some time in the great outdoors. The kids absolutely loved it too, there was lots of time spent chasing my daughter and nephew on their scooters and doing fun activities with their grandparents which are few and far between due to the family being so spread out across the country. This included getting taught a lesson in bowling by my father-in-law.
All the kids loved the pool. I haven’t seen my little girl so excited to go on a slide over and over again for a long time. She was having and absolute blast. At one point I got reduced to the dad that was standing at the bottom, waiting for her to come down one more time, with no let up. I even got the stern, wagged finger from her as I tried to follow her up the steps as she said to me, “no daddy! You stay at the bottom!” The little man also loved splashing around in the shallow pool with a massive smile on his face. My nephew took great pleasure in dragging me on the river rapids over and over again too.
For Est too, she really enjoyed herself too. To have all her close family under one roof was great. We were even able to go off for some time in the spa and have a massage which was very welcome. These kind of things are difficult for us to juggle when you have two little ones to take care of. However when you have grandparents around, they were loving being able to spend some quality time with all the kids.
It has made me realise how important these mini-breaks can be to provide perspective. Everyone had a great time, but it felt so precious, especially for Est, as she rarely gets to see all her family together. Reflecting on this made me realise that I am incredibly blessed in this department. All of my close family live within a radius of about 20 minutes and we see them all the time. Something that I definitely take for granted. Considering this, we need to make a significant effort to ensure we see them more often.
We have an exciting week ahead, with the birthday celebrations beginning soon!