Breathe ... And Relax

We went out today, on a proper outing, and had FUN. You know, that old fashioned thing which makes you feel good? Hasn't happened around here for a while, but the sun came out today - which is something so rare lately it can't be wasted - and we made a picnic lunch, packed up the Lemon and went to Bridport, and then Lyme Regis.

These are two of my favourite places to visit locally, for various reasons. We parked at one end of Bridport and walked up past the river (in full spate, due to all the rain), ate our picnic in the children's playground, and then visited as many charity shops as we could. Although they were disappointingly stocked today, we did get a big score at the market - a lovely wooden rocking crib for dollies. I have been looking for one for ages, and was delighted to see this at one of the stalls today. Needless to say, I snapped it up immediately without any further discussion with Teflon Boy, or the kids! I know what's best for that lot, they will obey.

Anyway, once we'd dragged that off to the car, we continued on to Lyme, where we camped out on the newly improved, larger, sandy beach - and actually SWAM in the water, without dying of cold! Amazing, the first day of summer, ha ha, and we're half way through September already. We had a great time, the sun was warm, the water was a reasonable temperature and there were lots of other people with small fry also having fun too. Quite a pleasant way to spend an afternoon. And we treated the beastly little ones to a toasted cheese sarnie and an ice cream for their tea so they stayed happy even though we made them walk all the way from the bottom of the hill right to the top to get back to the car park.

Please note, for those of you not familiar with my family and its idiosyncrasies, or anyone who hasn't been paying attention:
the Lemon is what we call our Citroen Something-or-other,
our children have both been exceptionally unpleasant lately,
I have completely lost my sense of humour about everything,
and the weather has been unspeakably sh*tty for oooh, about 3 months (all of the Summer, really)