One word? When seven would do…

When Davies was little he couldn’t say Lynda, despite otherwise having no problem with the L sound. I remember sitting for ages with him saying ‘Llllovely Llllynda’ to no avail as he’d repeat back ‘Lovely Wynda’. He also used to say papple instead of apple, pappy instead of nappy and Tarlett instead of Scarlett (hence ‘Tarly’).

We were up and about early, loaded the van up, said our goodbyes to everyone and exchanged cuddles and promises to stay in touch and were extended offers to come back any time (yeah right! 😉 ) before heading off. We had a very good run down to Manchester and despite going wrong at the very last minute – one of those dangerous sitations where you theoretically know the way so turn the satnav off and wing it and go slightly wrong we were there just after midday. Stuart was out doing the trains (he is a volunteer on the steam train line and has been for years, doing every Wednesday since he retired, and I think one weekend in three) so we had lunch with Lynda and settled in.

We had a lovely afternoon mostly sitting in the sunshine in their back garden adn even had dinner outside before moving indoors. The kids were supposed to go to bed at 9pm as they have had so many late nights but they got engrossed in the Ocean Giants documentary so stayed up to watch that with us. We were all yawning and off to bed by 11pm and it was such a treat to be in a real bed, in a lovely friendly house with people we love.

I had a long chat with Lynda about what we might do next and whether we should go in with my parents, who she has met many times over the years and knows fairly well. Although she is always diplomatic about my parents she clearly has a strong opinion of my Mum in particular which is not terribly high and is always lovely and supportive about our choices. She said to me again that having known Davies since he was 2 she is all in favour of our decision to Home Educate and thinks he is a fantastic boy as a result and would probably have floundered badly in mainstream school. I think aside from Ady and I Lynda probably knew Davies best as a toddler and most understands our initial reasons for Home Ed. I leant very heavily on her when we lived in Manchester and she will always be a second Mum to me really so her praise and support means so very much, particularly as that is not always so forthcoming from my actual Mum.

This morning we breakfasted outside and Lynda foisted wrapped up muffins and other snacks on us for the journey, pressed £10 each into the childrens’ hands and noted down our movements in Scotland so she can try and arrange to come and meet up with us while we’re up there. They waved us off and we went to Tescos for food supplies for the week, the petrol station for fuel and headed off south again.

Our arrival was less than great as we walked into an argument with the campsite owner. When we rang to book I’d been confused by the pricing on the website which quoted campervans at £11.50 per night, hook up at £4.00 per night and awnings at £2.50 per night. It said that over 4 people would be charged at camping rates which were per person, so I took that as 4 or less would be £18 per night. I paid the desposit over the phone of £16 which was the hook up for the 4 nights but she quoted me a lot more as a balance which when I worked it out seemed wrong so Ady rang back to check. It turned out the over 4 people rule applies to caravans and for motorhomes it is over 2 people camping rates are charged so the kids should be paid for at £4 each per night – a total of another £32 for the 4 nights. Ady argued that the website was misleading and she agreed and said she would only charge us the van and hook up. We cancelled the awning and the balance due was £46. She promised to write that in the diary.

When we arrived though they tried to charge us for the kids and it all got very fraught as nothing had been written in the diary and she was very reluctant to let the £32 go. She got imediately very defensive – and I thought very rude – and tried to negotiate to ‘split the difference’. I was really hacked off and ended up walking away to let Ady deal with it as I could feel myself losing my temper and was prone to letting myself down. In the end Ady agreed we would pay for and have up our awning and not pay for the kids so paid £56. I still think it is a fairly pricey campsite – not far behind Rosemarkie which to my mind is exceptionally good as a campsite AND in a fantastically beautiful area.

We pitched up, the kids went off to play and eventually Julie & kids arrived. A plan was hatched with the kids for Davies to go and sleep in Jack’s little tent (Julie has a trailer tent but she sleeps in one bed with Lorna, Maisie has another bed and as Jack doesn’t want to share a bed with Maisie he has a little one man tent outside) while Maisie comes and sleeps in the van with Scarlett. In the end that was scrapped as Jack was super tired and went to bed early but I think that is the plan for tomorrow or later in the week.

We had a quick catch up but it quickly got dark and everyone needed feeding so we said goodnight and will have more time tomorrow. The awning was a real success with all four of us eating in it and the kids sitting to watch a film out there. It will mean we can leave the beds all down and just eat in the awning which will be far less wear and tear on Willow for times when we are full on living in her.

Looking forward to 3 chilled out days chatting to Julie and letting the kids have ball with their cousins 🙂