Pedalos, crabs and a touch of entente cordiale...

With the summer holidays in full flow and the success of previous outings, off we set again for a short break in the van. Destination Kirkcudbright. It may only be a couple of hours away, but we were slightly wary of our recent car sickness experience, so decided to break the journey at the picturesque town of Moffat on the basis of a pedalo recommendation.

Not having been on a pedalo for at least 30 years I had kind of forgotten they existed, and that there can be joy to be found sitting at an awkward angle, pedalling in pain, whilst trying to steer your way round a duck pond. Or at least there is for small children. That said it was very tranquil and not at all busy so we pushed our luck by not returning till well after our allotted 20 minutes. I'm not sure anyone noticed or even cared, but it was good to feel a little rebellious against such British-ness.

 Ready for pedalo delight

Look Mummy! A duck...

Videoclip: The Pedalos

And then it was on to Kirkcudbright, for a weekend that had everything from pouring rain to baking sun. We discovered our awning leaked, our fridge was kaput, along with many other things that didn't go our way. But, with another great bit of British-ness, the stiff upper lip - we resolutely carried on and, in the end, had a marvellous time.

Highlights had to be looking for crabs and seeing hundreds caught by some local kids, a lovely French couple with a young toddler that Niomi took to playing with, and a glass of wine by the fire with the lovely T. All in all it was another Rooke success!!

Breakfast after the storm

 Happy Emily and a hiding Niomi

 Ready for the beach

 Crab hunters I

Crab hunters II

Crab hunters III

 No hard feelings post-Brexit

 The sea really was a long way out

A great view from the fire

Whilst the cat's away...

But before the cat went away, we all trooped down to Birmingham for my niece's wedding. Travelling with a 2 and 4 year old can be an epic affair, so the journey was staged over 2 days and we allowed for most eventualities. That said projectile vomiting strawberries and orange juice 5 minutes from your destination can really test your patience. 

One major clean up later and we made the end goal however and a ball was had by all. It was a wonderful day and Emily was particularly excited about going to her first 'proper' wedding. She even got to try on the veil. It was like fairy AND princess heaven in one; which is apparently in Birmingham of all places.

Massive thanks and congratulations to Ruth and Keiran for a truly memorable day; and thanks to Edward and Ewa for putting up with us (twice).  

That's the only veil she'll be wearing for at least the next 30 years

Now back to that cat. The cats in this case were the Gurney's who were off enjoying the delights of France. And, whilst the Gurney cats were away, us Rooke mice decided to invade their kingdom and have a jolly good play around North Berwick, instead of returning home post-wedding.

 The majestic Tantallon Castle

And we had a lovely week - there were trips to the Seabird Centre, Fairy Woods (two different ones), Gosford Park and Tantallon Castle, an ascent of The Law,  and a bbq on Seacliff beach to top it off. It was at times a little crazy with a pair of very early risers but coffee saved the day, and Mummy and I also managed to get a couple of nice meals all alone which was heaven. Highlights for me were definitely seeing Niomi bounce her way to the top of The Law and the beach bbq despite not ideal conditions. Thank you Gurney's for our holiday!!

 Two little Rooke mice

A stoll through the park

Topped out on The Law

The beach to ourselves (that's the girls on the right)

Daintily dipping their toes before falling in

Wahey - happy bbq faces

Uh-oh, Dads' in charge...

It was always going to happen sooner or later. A momentous occasion. The great day when I got trusted to look after the children, not just for a few hours but for a few days. And not only that, but I got to spend it with the brother-in-law John, who was also being entrusted to look after his children, whilst Tanya and Layla swanned off to Rome.

These were going to be great times. And with great expectations comes great responsibility. Oh how we would rise to the challenge. Fish and chips, pizza, ice cream, films, tv, beer and wandering round in our pants...all of these joyful experiences awaited. We would be kings of our own destiny, spoiling our girls rotten, filling them with sugar and trash tv, and with no chores to be done we could do whatever we liked whilst the (lovely) wives were away. Nothing could go wrong. Or at least not that much in 4 days...

 John gets his chore list texted in (I showed him the joy of delete)

Food sorted for 4 days

Intricate plans were made, supplies bought, and, after the wives were packed off at 5.30 am, we cracked open the first beer and sat back to enjoy. This was going to be a doddle.

And so we had a marvellous 4 days. We coped and thrived - well at least some of the time. There was fish and chips, ice cream and burgers. But there was also fairy trails, castles and (some) sunshine. There was game playing, dancing, face painting, music and dressing up. There was laughter...and tears. There was control and madness. Salt and vinegar. Calmness and stress. It was a wonderfully challenging journey of adventure, bonding and discovery. Read into that what you will...

I did however learn some important lessons in my 4 days flying solo:

Lesson 1: It's important to be prepared for every eventuality and for a wide range of needs and situations. Always being on the next page to your children helps, and is a valuable skill to learn.

Lesson 2: Niomi is very tiny; she loves being outdoors far more than inside; it was very windy. These 3 things together didn't make for a good combination.

Lesson 3: Niomi can eat an incredible amount. Eating an incredible amount leads to an incredible amount of poo and nappy changing.

Lesson 4: It's important that children get enough sleep. Continually being short of sleep just makes them grumpy.

Lesson 5: It's important you get enough sleep. Continually being short of sleep just makes you grumpy.

Lesson 6: Sugar has a place. It can perk a child up when tired, but can also send them completely bonkers.

Lesson 7: If you take them somewhere where they can spend your money, then they will.

Lesson 8: Who needs the wives? Well...we do. Mums do a wonderful job. Treasure and respect them - it's not easy.

On the trail for fairies

Through the door to fairy land

Fairy discovery

Every picture tells a story

 Arm painting

Oops - we shrunk the kids

 Child tossing

Child chasing

 Sister bonding

Ice cream eating...

 And smiley faces :-)

Picnic eating...

And smiley faces :-)

 Peace and quiet on the loo

And relax...

Alpha and Omega...

Alpha and Omega. First and Last. We like our firsts in this family, and are never shy at trying something new. There's been a fair few first encounters recently, for all of us, but there's also been one very notable last to keep us all enchanted and engaged with our growing family story.

First up was a follow up to our campervan premier, with a camping proper trip to Ruberslaw Campsite in the Borders. For those of you that have been there you will appreciate what a truly stunning campsite it is. Whilst the hardy can camp in the wild woods, we opted for the relative luxury of the walled garden and pitched ourselves amongst the cottage garden flower beds. It's a completely car free environment so the kids could romp around to their hearts content - always a winner for a good nights sleep. As ever Niomi took to her new environment like a duck to water, and thoroughly enjoyed her night under canvas.

I had to laugh though when I looked around the campsite. Sometimes, despite thinking you're unique, you're actually just in a big identikit gang. This gang involves real ale/malt whisky drinking dads barbecuing free range kangeroo burgers infused with lemon and blue cheese; prosecco drinking mums carefully keeping one eye on their colourfully dressed Poppy, Persephone, Charlie and Rupert, and the other eye checking their husbands weren't slacking off by the fire; and Poppy, Persephone, Charlie and Rupert marauding adventurously round the campsite whilst being terribly well behaved and well spoken. Everyone looked a bit like they were in a Jamie Oliver camping show. And if he did do that then it would be this - with midges for a Scottish twist.

The stunning Ruberslaw campsite with identikit tents

 Marauding Persephone and Poppy

 Barbecuing children

 On-site transport

Daddy had to lug Persephone's weekend bags around

Persephone didn't do mornings

 Friendly horse right before it terrified Niomi - she now has horse fear

Prosecco drinking sisters

Ale, malt whisky, prosecco and setting the world to rights

And then there was the next first - Niomi going solo. She is a real adventurer - ready to explore and try all sorts of things for the first time. She's been watching Emily on her bike and has been desperate to get mobile herself. Possibly to escape from us and possibly because she just loves working out how to do things. But, whatever the reason, she's been a real champion cyclist and is now able to start to go it alone on her balance bike. Winner! Despite all the challenge and change she's faced in recent months, she's embraced her bike and is now part of the Rooke cycling community. I'm dead proud of her.

Videoclip: Going solo

Which leads us onto the last. Emily has graduated from Nursery and is starting school in August. She's been at St Mary's for the last 19 months or so. In that time she's grown from a bright but shy and sensitive girl into one that's full of confidence. She's still very bright, but she's also a girl that's now bursting full of a reflective curiosity and joy for life that's infectious to everyone around her. She's really a great kid - with a lovely, lovely personality that pervades all those around her - especially Niomi. She's an amazing big sister too - fully of care and fun for Niomi even though she's only known her for 5 months. I'm dead proud of Emily too. 

I'm truly blessed by 2 lovely girls. They teach me so much about how to be happy in this world.

 Graduation day :-)

And the proof...

Videoclip: Graduation Day

I might want to be a scientist...

She's bright as a button our Emily

"I just can't believe I am real. It's amazing. And how people build stuff. And how you get no roof on a car. And how plants grow and how lovely they look. And how high the trees grow. And how amazing that they make buses and things to travel with. Fences. How they make cocoons. How wind is strong. And roots are strong. And lots of stuff. And how cows are made and things.

And the earth is amazing. And how did the earth get made. I think the earth was made by lots of stars and one star got bigger and bigger and bigger until it was the earth. And horses started to grow and other things.

I might grow up to be a scientist actually."

Emily Rooke aged 4 years and 7 months

Always room for just one more...

When I first got DDU, the beloved campervan, I designed and converted it as a romantic wagon for two. Then with the advent of Emily I was forced to rethink both seating and sleeping arrangements and managed to squeeze her in a bed over the front seats. No more romantic wagon however as this only worked to a point, with her regularly jumping into bed with us during the night.

Now, the advent of Niomi has meant a further radical rethink, which broadly speaking means 'he that drives, cleans, maintains and loves the van the most' gets not to sleep in the van anymore (along with his wife). Yep, you guessed it. The kids get all the luxury and us old-timers get to sleep in a sleeping bag on a mat outside in the awning. Romantic wagon becomes romantic tent. That said we did opt for slight luxury versions of both and they are pretty comfortable, but even so - something doesn't seem right in all that. To add insult to injury they both seem to want to join us in the mornings as well so no-one is snoozing in the van by getting up time. Anyway, that's how our first campervan adventure as a foursome seemed to go, but despite all that it was a roaring success...

Always room for just one more 

After Banchory we headed to Lunan Bay - a glorious 2-mile stretch of sandy beach in between Montrose and Arbroath. I'd found a lovely tiny shabby-chic campsite which was to be our home for a few nights. Given this was Niomi's first campervan experience we approached it with suitable intrepidation. But, true to form, Niomi seemed to take her first taste of life on the road easily in her stride. We all delighted in the fresh air and had great fun on the beach and dipping our toes in the frosty North Sea. We even popped in to see our friend Carol and her husband Mark, dogs Ghillie, Monty, Belle, Baxter and Chester, cats Max and Miles, numerous Belgian Booted Bantums and other hens, one Harris Hawk, and a variety of tropical fish. Plus one quite amazing garden to boot. It's quite a household. Massive thanks to them for hosting us for the day and for kindly donating some lovely plants for our garden.

One final note in all our adventures. If travelling with a 4 year old and 2 year old wasn't enough. We did the whole trip with Emily's 'not to be disturbed' butterfly chrysalises in tow. And whilst we were away they all hatched into 5 lovely Painted Lady butterflies (now released in our garden). Congratulations to Emily on her first pet success :-)!!

 Chilly intrepidation

 Get on board the Beach Train!

 Early Baywatch audition

 Hands in the air I

 Hands in the air II

Daddy to the rescue!

Skipping back to the van

 Sussing out the campervan life from the dashboard

 Breakfast on the lawn

Toddler control campervan style

Who's that sleeping in my bed?

Videoclip: A campervan life