After the wonderful few days that was Disney (A-Z of Disney, Sad Disney Bingo, Disney: It’s A Small World and Lunch with the Princesses), we were grateful that we’d had the foresight to book a week off afterwards as well. We were all shattered!

We got back to Aintree at 3am on the Saturday morning and we all fell into bed. When we woke up, we got up slowly, doing a bit of washing and swapping the suitcases over.

I think, if it hadn’t been a Saturday, we would have given ourselves more time to rest and get organised for the second half of the holiday, but we find it best not to be around the Vicarage on a Sunday morning if we are on leave. It’s hard for Nathan to relax when the bell is ringing, calling people to worship, and even more so now that Sophia hears it and says, ‘Daddy, go to church!’.

Anyway, we set off in the afternoon and arrived to find my Mum, Dad, Granny, Grandpa, sister and Mr Bingley the dog settled into a gorgeous cottage near the place with the long name on Anglesey. The cottage is part of a group of old farm buildings that have been extended and converted over time.

Overall, it was a really lovely week, although the weather was pretty poor, especially compared to the blue skies of Paris a few days before! We enjoyed taking it slower and recovering from our adventures.

Highlights for me included:

Visiting Canarfon Castle and seeing all the medals there, including the ones that were given to Granny’s great Uncle. When we visited Combermere before Christmas, we went to Nantwich and saw a family name on the war memorial. It was very special, and it was great to see his brother’s medals on this holiday too!

Another highlight was finding a place called Gypsy Wood Park. It was a beautiful day and us three took ourselves off for a few hours of miniature trains, outdoor trampolines, farm animals, magnetic hook a duck, panning for precious stones, a duck race and lots of outdoor play areas.

It was brilliant and very good value for money. We live close to Farmer Ted’s which is very expensive in comparison. This place was much less commercialised and snaller, which suited us fine because by this point, Nathan was back on crutches with his bi-annual foot injury (don’t ask).

I also enjoyed exploring Canarfon, Menai and Llanfair itself, which has a big James Pringle shop and a great play area, plus  a yarn shop a couple of doors down from a model train shop which suits me and Nathan very well! We even managed to get a drink at the pub one night, just us two.

Mostly, though, we just enjoyed slowing down. Sophia was very taken with the swimming pool on site and my Dad seemed to enjoy having somebody there who is as enthusiastic about water as he is! Sophia had a great time playing with lots of people she loves. Nathan managed to do some lego, which he hasn’t done in ages, and I got on with some knitting and crocheting, which I hadn’t managed much of in Disney.