2014 in pictures

One more look back, and then it's business as usual.  We're going to Brighton today, and also, hopefully, to the cinema. so we're already busy.  So far, 2015 has been the year of everyone being ill at the same time, which is rubbish.

No particular order to the collages, just some photos from a fun year.  All of them were taken on my iPhone, which is why they aren't great.  I've got my brand new brilliant camera to take photos on now, so lets see if things improve this year. 

We're the heroes of this story, we don't need to be saved

Weeks 31, 32 and 33.  It's all gone by in a bit of a blur, so the pictures are from random points in the last three weeks.

Biarritz, Biscarrosse, Disneyland, the Natural History Museum.  The fun never stops at our house.

Portraits of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014.

What I did on my Summer Holiday

Back home again.  At least all the weather has stopped and there's no hurricane hanging around; it's lovely and sunny in Ealing today, which helps.

I don't intend to bore you rigid with 188 photos of our holidays, or a blow by blow account of everything we did.  If you have young children who are easily amused, I can highly recommend getting a boat to Bilbao (24 hours! You get a cabin! Get an outside one though!), driving to San Sebastien, going Eurocamping near Bordeaux and then bombing up the motorway to Paris and Disneyland.  

San Sebastien.  We were very relieved that the girls ate as much as they did; it would have been no fun at all going to Europe's gastronomic capital and having to hunt down a McDonalds.

We sat on the sea wall and watched the sunset.  After I looked over the edge of the sea wall to the drop to the rocks below, the girls came off the sea wall and sat on our shoulders instead.

The lake by our campsite.  Lovely and still; warm and shallow; bit like an enormous bath.  We managed to find a deepish bit - the water came up to my waist and the girls could paddle around with their rubber rings.

The Dune de Pyla.  Largest dune in Europe, apparently.  Quite tricky to climb too.  Good for the legs though.

A way to keep two children out of trouble on the beach.

The big bucket going splosh.  Fun being underneath, but not very nice if it takes you by surprise.

The smallest slide.  Hattie went up and down it about 50 times.  A day.  For 7 days.  

That will do for now, because other people's holidays are boring.  Also Eurocamps aren't sponsoring me, so I'm not going to say to much about it.  It was basic, but perfectly nice.  Better than I thought it would be.  We had a terrific time.  

You're so wise. You're like a miniature Buddha, covered with hair.

Portraits of the children, once a week, every week, in 2014.

Both taken in or leaving the Isle of Wight.  We had a marvellous time; camping is great when the sun shines.

The sea is just a wetter version of the skies

More camping, this time on the gorgeous Isle of Wight.  I've never been there before, which surprises people who don't remember/realise that my cut glass RP hides all sorts of foreignness.

We were promised crap weather, and on Saturday morning, it wasn't great.  Except that didn't last at all.  It was absolutely gorgeous from about 1pm on, actually hot and sunny.  Wonderful.  We met up with a friend and his son, and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

I wish we'd stayed longer.  It was a really lovely few days, and felt like a proper line drawn under the insanely busy half term that had preceded it.

Ryde Beach is really lovely, even in the rain. I can see how you'd go properly mad there in the winter, but in the summer, it's glorious.

I'm trying a bit more of realistic approach to writing about the kids.  I like to think that I'm relatively clear sighted about their tantrums and general annoy habits; this photo shows a pre-dinner snack, successfully warding off bad temper.  

Camping without beer is just sitting in the woods

Despite this, or perhaps because of this, we went camping this weekend. We didn't go far, just along the M40 to near Henley, to a lovely site near the Icknield Way.  It was basically a field, with a loo block and a couple of showers, and somewhere to wash up, and that was all we needed.  I didn't take many photos because my phone died and the camera died, but I did managed to take a few of the red kites bombing our campsite. Someone was feeding them, which gave us an amazing view, but probably isn't the best thing for the kites.

I did take a few of them dive bombing, but they are appalling.  You can see the colour of sky too.  So gorgeous.  Of course, it was Solstice, so it stayed properly light until about 10, then it slowly got dark until about a quarter to 4, when it was light again.  Fantastic for insomniacs, less so for parents.  Fortunately the girls slept through the dawn, and didn't rise to salute it until about 7.  Simon woke up, and I was only sleeping fairly lightly, so we were all a little bit tired yesterday.  

The other wildlife we saw were 10 ducklings and their mum, some pigeons, a load of rabbits, two ponies and a moth.  We were hoping to see either a hedgehog or a bat, but it wasn't dark enough early enough for any of us, even though we went for a stroll along the Icknield Way for about ten minutes.  The girls are not great walkers.  Yet.

We completely inadvertently were taken part in the RSPB and Project Wild Thing's Big Wild Sleep Out.  I only found out about it via Twitter, and we weren't doing it officially.  Still, it was great fun, and I'll send the RSPB a tenner too. Next year, we'll do it properly.

Anyway, the camping was great fun, even though I forgot to bring my jumper.  I wasn't cold in bed, my Mock Crocs and thick socks made me look like a recently escaped inmate from an open prison for the terminally confused, and despite the wee-d in sleeping bag (not mine) dyeing the washing a funny shade of yellow, a good time was had by all.  Our next camping trip next month, and we're heading to the Isle of Wight.  I'm genuinely looking forward to it.  I've even made a "camping" tag.

10 Things I Wish I'd Known About Camping

As one of Nature's indoor people, I am probably one of the last people you'd expect to enjoy camping and the outdoors.  We've just got back from a camping trip to the New Forest, which was my first since I failed to complete my DoE back in the olden days.  Actually, I think I managed to cope with living under campus in France a few years ago, but that was very civilised, with a fridge, electricity and proper beds, so apparently that doesn't count.

Anyway.  Here are some tips for other library-dwellers and people who enjoy the indoor life.  If you are a seasoned camper, please add anything I've missed.  And please tell me how the hell you found my blog.

It gets bloody cold at night outside, even after a warm day.  Take more than a thin jumper.  This is what those Pick n Pay tops and horrible trousers are made for.

Pyjamas and a summer weight duvet are not good things to take.  Much better to put your GirlGuiding blanket on top of 1 million other blankets and lie on them.  A sleeping bag would have been much better, although they make me feel completely claustrophobic and frightened.  

Sleeping on an airbed is comfortable enough until the other person gets up and you roll off.  Also, when the other person decides to let the air out of the airbed, kill them.

Take socks.  Lots of socks.  Preferably handmade, woollen socks.  Preferably with another pair of socks underneath.  

Ugg boots, or similar, less expensive rip-offs, are de rigeur when walking from the tent to the loo.  

Some form of plastic shoe is advisable when walking on British beaches such as Milford on Sea, Littlehampton and Rottingdean.  The same shoes need to be worn in the water.

Everything you take camping will need to be washed when you get back.  I had a bath and the water went GREY.  My hair hasn't forgiven me, despite two loads of conditioner and a hair mask.  I did shower at the campsite, but it didn't seem to remove more than the top layer of dirt.

Do not attempt to wear make up or contact lenses.  A quick brush of the teeth and pulling the brush over the curls is sufficient for campsite glamour.

Everything tastes better eaten outside; a bacon sandwich cooked on a gas stove at 7:30 am is wonderful.

Owls are loud.  

We had a wonderful time, though, and the children loved being outside and having lots of space to play and run around in.  I've even started planning what I need to take on our next trip; buying a tent would probably be a good first step.