Thursday photo #286

As always, the school holidays are whizzing past in the blink of an eye. My husband has muttered on several occasions that he feels like he’s had a busy week already and it’s not over yet. We left for our first short trip as soon as we picked the girls up from school. Spending Friday night having dinner at The Boxing Hare and staying at The Marlborough Arms was a gentle introduction to half term.

Rain and rugby in the Cotswolds

Unusually for us, we managed to time our half term plans to perfection in terms of the weather. It’s rare for us to stay in a hotel rather than our beloved camper van, but this time we were glad of it. We arrived in the Cotswolds to torrential rain, and that’s the way it stayed until we went home. Luckily, our main plans involved being indoors and watching the rugby.

I’ve mentioned on the blog before that my husband is a Wales supporter and I’m an England supporter, so rugby matches can be somewhat tense. When England played New Zealand though, my husband was supporting England because he thought they’d be easier opposition in the final. As it turned out, that won’t matter to Wales. Watching the match over breakfast in the hotel was the ideal way to pass a rainy morning in the Cotswolds.

When we arrived home, I soon headed out again to spend a night in Cardiff for a friend’s birthday. This time I took the camper van, parking it in the car park of the venue and sleeping there. It was the first time I’d used the van on my own and I loved it.

Camping and cold water swimming

Fortunately by Sunday, the weather had turned and the rain stopped. We piled into the camper van and headed for Love2Stay campsite near Shrewsbury. My husband usually books our camper van holidays. He’s often more keen to get away than me because I tend to be quite busy with work during school holidays. This time though, I handpicked the campsite because the river has been flooded lately and I was desperate for a cold water swim.

The campsite we went to had a beautiful organic pool and some hot tubs. We spent a lovely day switching between the two. I swam for a couple of minutes at a time so I didn’t get too cold. It’s dangerous to go straight into hot water when you’re very cold because it can bring on hypothermia. But if you don’t stay in the water for more than a couple of minutes, it’s fine to jump in the hot tub after. It was just what I needed and I was impressed that my husband and the girls all managed a cold water dip too. The water temperature was 4 degrees.

This half term we also managed a day at Blists Hill Victorian Town and met up with friends for pumpkin picking. Of course, the week isn’t over yet so we’ve planned in a few more adventures too. We’re living hard this half term.

Thursday photo #286

Unusually for me, I’ve taken quite a few photos of the girls this week. I love the light on this one. And how happy they looked to be allowed to spend their money in the traditional sweet shop.