Christmas in the UK

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  We have just returned from a three week trip to the UK where we caught up with my Dad in London and spent Christmas with Jules' family in Bedford.  

Outside the Tower of London

 On our way to the Ballet

Tess in her smart new dress that Mandy bought her

 It was cold watching the ice-skaters

 The ice-skaters - the pink top made Tess very easy to spot

 A Gidney lunch

Callum using Tom as a pillow

Decorating the tree at HPA

Grandpa Mark reading the story Tess wrote for him

In London we went ice-skating twice outside the natural history museum, walked Callum every morning in Holland Park, visited the Tower of London where we had the most wonderful tour by a Beefeater called Barnaby, saw The Nutcracker at The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, had a Gidney Christmas celebration with David, Ann, Harriet, Edward, Big Tom and Robert, spent the night and a lovely day with Nate, Sarah and Alys in Dulwich, saw the Oxford Street lights from the top of the number 94 bus and hit the shops (just a little bit!).  Tom has been asking for a leather jacket for the past 9 months (he's much more clothes conscious than Tess) and luckily we found one in Zara which he wore with pride for the rest of the holiday regardless of the weather.  

For the record the children had dreadful jet lag and it took us a good 3 to 4 days to adjust them to UK time.  Jules and I tried melatonin for the first time which I thought worked brilliantly and will definitely use again.  

After London we headed up to Bedford where the cousins were overjoyed to see each other again - Tom grabbed Sam in a massive bear-hug the minute he got out of the car and the two of them continued to rough-house like puppies for the rest of the trip.  Tess, who wouldn't dream of playing with a doll back in Oz, spent hours with Anna putting different outfits on Barbies and doing their hair.  The kids, thus occupied, gave Andy, Kristie, John, Rae and us lots of time to catch up whilst drinking real ale/prosecco/baileys/cups of tea depending on the time of day.  

5 cousins

A muddy walk with the family

Best friends

Ready for the Family Talent Quest

They could be sisters

Made up for the Talent Quest

Sarah, our compere, giving the results of the Talent Quest - equal 1st for the kids!

John with his home-made chutneys

Nate, Kristie and Jules

In Bedford we went to the panto of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the boys watched the rugby in the pouring rain (and loved it), participated in a nativity at the local church on Christmas Eve with Anna as Mary, Tess as the Angel Gabriel and the boys as the 3 kings (we had one of Sam's friends with us too), played lots of silly games including hunt the thimble, Cranium, Charades, various quizzes and a Family Talent Quest, went on a number of wet and muddy walks, tried out trampolining at Andy's school (I can still do a mean straddle jump!), ate far too much (Jules almost turned into a monster munch and me a hula hoop), saw Alys take her first steps, and generally had a brilliant time with family and friends.  

It doesn't matter how long we go for, it's never long enough.  And it doesn't matter how relaxed we try to make it, we're always exhausted by the end.  We worked out that we've spent 3 of the past 5 Christmases with The Whomsleys - pretty good going given we live on opposite sides of the world!