That was the week that was!

Back home from Melrose and as per usual last night I fell asleep while putting the girls to bed, albeit it was around 10pm as they had napped in the car, so no blogging last night.

In summary, we had a good week and I really enjoyed it, despite everything! And I have to say that that is a bit of a personal milestone for me as a confirmed emetophobic with a deep horror of all things vomit-related. In past times in such circumstances I would have been an anxious crying wreck and bailed out at the earliest opportunity as soon as I heard of the first D&Ver, (or in fact would never have booked in the first place after the tales of last year) but thanks to the wonders of modern psychopharmacology (aka a small dose of SSRIs) my phobic tendencies are minimised and I coped with it beautifully, I reckon!!!

The week started in a great way Stepping Off the Path at J&J's, which was a first for us and I was suitably impressed with the location, location, location. Tamsin was scared we would fall down the hill as we drove over the moors, and I was very glad I wasn't doing it in the dark. On arrival Tamsin immediately went off and played with C and M which was lovely to witness as she does have a tendency to cling to me in new places and with new people.

On Sunday I left J&J still packing while we made our fairly leisurely way up the country. We had 2 stops on the way and arrived at the Youth Hostel around 5.30pm, and all settled in happily, Tamsin being absolutely delighted to claim both top bunks as her personal space. If I remember correctly she seemed to do extremely well that first evening with going off and running about with various other girls, which makes me wonder why it became so much harder later in the week. Isabelle of course was delighted to toddle around contentedly and especially enjoyed communing with her triplet sisters from time to time.

After 2 full days of travelling Monday was a quiet day mostly in the Youth Hostel with a brisk walk into Melrose town and a visit to the Roman Trimontium exhibition, which I found educational at least, and I think Tamsin did too. I decided to postpone a walk round the Abbey till it was better weather and not raining, but as that never happened it will have to wait till a future opportunity.

By Tuesday and Wednesday Tamsin was refusing to go off and play with anyone else if it meant going away from me. She was extremely happy playing with SB and Becca especially and has declared that Becca is her best friend and she loves her :-) but nevertheless refused to leave my side most of the time. By Wednesday afternoon this was driving me to insanity, not helped by 2 or 3 nights of pretty poor sleep due to much bed-hopping between Tamsin and Isabelle's beds, and after an altercation where she kept hitting me because she wanted to sit on my knee and I said no (after having had her sitting there for a good 30 minutes already) she was dragged to the stairs for a time out and I returned to the dining room and burst into tears. Three cheers and a gold medal must be awarded to Barbara, who dispensed hugs and tea, and then took Isabelle and Tamsin off into the Common Room and probably stood with her back to the door to refuse to allow Tamsin to come and find me until I'd had some peace and quiet for an hour or two. You're a star, Barbara, and I owe you big time! Especially as she then repeated her fabulous child-kidnapping act the following day when Tamsin had to be prised off me while I was trying to rest in bed fighting off severe nausea having caught a touch of the stomach bug that was doing the rounds.

Towards the end of that day (Thursday) Barbara told me they wanted to leave because R was ill but she was only considering staying to help me out (see - told you she was a star!) so we hatched a plan that she would help me drive to Bill's sister's house that evening, but in the event, by the evening I was feeling much better and was quite fit to drive myself. So it was an early finish to the week for us but I am quite glad now as it gives us the whole weekend to unpack, sort out and generally return to normal while the girls maximise their Daddy time to make up for the past week.

The nausea returned in full-force as I drove south from my SIL's place, to the extent that I prepared towels next to me on the seat and had a pretty rough time at one stage when the feeling was at its height just while I was driving through roadworks and all the lay-bys were blocked off but thank heaven for some reason it all subsided and I managed to drive home, albeit with three longish stops, and arrived here around 7pm on Friday. In fact one of the stops was a bit expensive (but I won't say exactly how much because Bill will read this) because I stopped off at Meadowhall, never having been there before but thinking it would probably have a children's play area, and entered through Next and a bit of impulse-shopping later and my bank balance was noticeably lighter, but anyway, kids need clothes, don't they?!

My highlights of the week:
- Making and strengthening relationships, long chats with Leandra (very warm and funny woman!) and Kris's vegetable-plot planning session;
- Barbara - 'nuff said!
- Watching Tamsin play and giggle with lots of girls, and listening to their play-time conversations as they all gathered in our room;
- Watching Isabelle just toddle around contentedly like the gorgeous girl she is;
- The great food!
- Tamsin counting past 30 for the first time, and reaching all the way to 112, with only a little help!
- Quote from Tamsin on the drive home - "We're *starving* for Daddy, aren't we?"

It only remains for me to unpack the car (yes, still!), and insist that Bill comes with me next year, and we'll be all set!