It's Wales baby!

Many of you will know already (because I wouldn't shut up about it), that I went home to Wales last week for a long overdue break. We also nipped up to the Lake District for a wedding beforehand so there was a lot of driving involved. By the time we got home I was sick of being stuck in the car, sick of motorways and sick of listening to Baby Jack on loop to keep Alessi entertained. It was all worth it though.

The weather was a nice surprise. The sun shone the entire time so we were able to do so much more than I'd hoped. I even managed to tick off a few things from my Summer Bucket List.

We went for a ride on the Aberystwyth steam train which runs past my Dad's house. It was lovely to see the valley from a different perspective and Alessi absolutely loved it! You know when dogs hang out of car windows? Well that.

 I see you

 See what I mean? Dog out of a car window. :)

We had chips by the sea. Lots of salt and vinegar of course.

 Apart from having to chuck water to scare off all the pigeons, our chippy lunch was uninterrupted and lovely.

I got to play with Alessi on the beach. Dan hates what passes for sand on Aberystwyth beach, but my gravel loving daughter was like a pig in mud. So 'nuh nuh' to you Mr Bliss.

And my mum took a photo of the three of us so we have a family picture now. Too bad I hate it. This is our take on the awkward family portrait.

But we also got to do some unplanned things too. Dad took me up in a very pink helicopter which I had a good laugh at. It was pretty cloudy, but the view was still breathtaking and the freedom of being able to say "let's go over there...oooh what's that? Let's go have a look" was pretty amazing. Dan kept his feet firmly on the ground with Alessi and before I got in the helicopter, asked if it was ok to marry again if I died.

 The higher we went, the flatter everything looked until it all started to resemble a big, green, patchwork quilt.

 Taking a sneaky picture of me and Dad. He was very amused.

On our last day at Dad's we went down to the 'pebble beach' where we spent a happy hour chucking stones in to the river until it got too hot. Alessi absolutely loved it and cried when we had to leave.

A nappy, wellies, some stones and a river makes for a very happy Pip

The whole weekend was well needed. It made me realise what a country girl I am at heart. As soon as we arrive and I'm allowed to wander about again I start to feel less anxious and more 'me'.

Growing up in this place probably hasn't helped my hermit style ways, but at this point in my life I'm past caring about how outgoing I am - or not as the case may be.

And it was so wonderful to see just how much Alessi loved being outside too. She got upset each time she had to stop playing and come back into the house and hated leaving the river.

That's my girl.