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| Photo Credit: Sam |
It was one of those weekends of complete perfection. On the way there, we crowded into a train carriage, squashing a nice-looking lady and her book. A while later, she leaned over: "How lovely to travel with such well-behaved children. So polite!" I whispered back, "Usually!" and we laughed. But it made me look twice at them. It's easy to notice when your children are being terrors. But when they are sweetly crammed into a crowded train carriage, chatting nicely with strangers, reading, gazing out at the scenery, snacking; a parent can gratefully switch off and read her own book in peace.
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| Photo Credit: Chas |
We arrived in Honiton, where Debs picked us up at the station and drove us 20 minutes to
Twistgates Farm. There, Debs and Lisa and I played scrabble and talked and laughed all weekend while the boys ran wild. The weather was just becoming Autumn-y, all the leaves turning at once to be blown away. The boys were exhilarated by it, and wanted to be outdoors barefoot at all hours, stargazing until late, wandering far and wide. They climbed trees, and entertained Lisa's toddler. Chas and Sam experimented with my camera and took some great photos. They came in from time to time, smelling of sweet leaves and putting their icy hands between my warm layers to warm them up.
Chas read
'Of Mice and Men'. Sam read Terry Pratchett's
'Witches Abroad'. Max is reading
'Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones' (It's book three in the terrifying saga of a dead detective and his young sidekick). I am reading
'The Glass Castle' by Jeannette Walls, and it's fabulous. Amazon and Blogger aren't speaking to one another at the moment, and no amount of tweaking seems to make those nice Amazon widgets work any more. Alas! But I will still share books here, when I remember to.
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| Photo Credit: Chas |
On the long journey home, the boys and I chatted and enjoyed one another's company. I thanked them for being so kind to Lisa's toddler, and told them how nice it is that we have so much fun together. When our taxi dropped us home from the station, the driver commented, "Wow, they just hopped out and unloaded all of the bags without being told. That's good to see."
It was good to hear, too. If you ever catch someone's child in a random act of kindness or good behaviour, do mention it! Sometimes we need to be reminded. And it's nice for the kids too!
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