well our holiday is at a close and coinciding with cole’s birthday is our travel back to the UK (at least get an hours extra birthday with the time difference).
we’ve had a lovely, relaxing time away and sad to go back. germany has been great – we had a bit of the summer that the UK seemed to miss this year and lots of lovely trips around Munster and its environs. can really see the henleys 3.5 living in foreign climes at some future stage – a completely different pace of life with completely different priorities and fantastic ice cream to boot!
will try to get some snaps on the blog when back but in the meantime some pics from our holiday are over at flickr to view
well, you are all well overdue an update on all things bairn-related so here goesince our last posting on the interwebs many moons ago we have been enduring the near complete absence of a great british summer.
gethin has been really well. he is chatty and has a great sense of humour. he has spent most of the summer in his wellies – even when the weather didn’t require it (rarely) – and perfected the art of the cheeky giggle. his sleep has reverted of late leading to lots of sleepless nights for the parents (probably good practice for number 2). he is being very stubborn lately and knows exactly what he wants and when he wants it. we have at long last dispensed with the dreaded dummy which has led to some disruption in the ol’ routine but we all feel better for it (well, am sure gethin would disagree).
bairn 2.0 has been conspicious by its relative quietness lately – clearly a lazy one this one. peta went for a visit to the obstetrician and all was well, peta getting to hear the heart beat. the obstetrician was actually present at G’s birth so it was a chance to find out what had happened when he was first born as no-one had really told us. we were quite surprised to hear gethin had stopped breathing for 2 and a half minutes when he was born. i remember he was taken away shortly after he was delivered but as it felt like an eternity before he was brought back i was never sure how long it actually was. thankfully, his heart never stopped beating so there was no adverse affects. i suppose the stubborn qualities he has lately been exhibiting served him well in those first few minutes.
anyway, back to the summer months:
cole got a brief respite in early august when he popped down to ol’ leamington spa to spend some time with his folks and catch up with sister and her family. also a fab excuse to combine business with pleasure at the geek in the park event and meet up with some old friends, as well as help folks clear out lots of cole’s childhood stuff that had been lingering since he left home 13 years ago.
in august cole and peta’s had their 10th anniversary (not the wedded variety) so denise volunteered to sit bairn meaning we could head into auld reekie for some lovely wannaburgers and a trip to the dominion cinema for the new batman flick on a sofa with a cold beer. yummy.
in late august we were hoping to go on a short camping trip to celebrate our wedding anniversary having both booked some time off work, only to have our beloved panda fail her MOT with £600 worth of repairs required. camping holiday comprised being grounded at home for 3 days whilst waiting for painful and costly car repairs to be carried out. boo hoo hoo. we did however get away for a day trip to east lothian once the car was fixed, heading to dirleton for coffee, playing on the beach at yellowcraig sands and then fish and chips in north berwick.
before august was through and an entire fringe festival circumnavigated, we headed to leith for the edinburgh mela where peta was working for library book bus. cole met up with some web geek friends and their offspring who all promptly got wet in the edinburgh downpours that have been characteristic of the scottish summer.
the last ten days have been spent in lovely, sunny Munsterm Deutschland with the in-laws. we have had a great holiday and really sad to be leaving in a couple of days time. we have seen so much, eaten so much, drunk so much, chilled so much and even had the odd lie-in courtesy of some generous grandparents.
we are all thoroughly enjoying germany. the language has been a bit rusty but getting there and the quality of life is fantastic. people really value families over here (whereas in UK children are seen as an inconvenience), public transport is frequent, punctual and convenient, cities are clean and everything is recycled. everyone is so friendly and helpful. plus the ice cream and beer are fantastic. certainly beats deep-fried mars bars and tennants!
This here blog is in honour of the esteemed Gethin William Albert Henley Esq, 5162 days old, who was born on 3rd April 2006 at 18:04 weighing a healthy 9lb 11½oz.
Daddy Cole is enjoying a career as a web developer whilst mummy Peta is juggling working part-time with being an all-round top mum