The Vyne

We had a fun day on Monday. Andy had taken an extra day off to finish unpacking all our camping stuff only to find that we got 90% of it done on the Saturday evening and the rest on Sunday. That left us with a day of good weather to do something nice in. After some thought we decided to make good use of our National Trust membership and visit one of their nice properties that aren't too far away. You know where you are with a National Trust place, lots of history, pretty gardens to run about in and cream teas in the tea shop.
We decided not to risk Joseph in the actual house. The Vyne is full of historical artefacts that don't react to well to over-excitable toddlers grabbing them and throwing them around. I know what he's like, he'll wait for the one moment when my concentration has lapsed and then we'll find ourselves with the bill to repair one smashed Regency ormolu clock.
We stuck to the grounds. There's a nice short woodland walk that we took and let me tell you that 1.1 miles feels like a lot longer when you walk it with a toddler. He was fine to start with and then he just decided that he didn't want to hold either of our hands. That meant lots of wandering off, lots of grabbing at bushes and getting too close to the deep ditches that line some of the paths. He also kept wanting to walk back down the path the other way and was none to keen on being picked up and brought back.
When we got to the tea shop we'd worked up quite an appetite and the cream teas were very much appreciated. Joseph had a kids meal and did pretty well, but he did get quite a lot of grated cheese on the floor. When it comes to cheese sandwiches for him I think I'll just use thinly sliced cheese or just make a bit of Welsh rarebit, it's less messy. He liked the cake, it was chocolate rice krispie cake cut into a big triangle with smarties to make it look like a mouse. It even had a bit of strawberry lace for a tail!
He did cause some fuss when we were sat, I think he just got bored. Andy took him outside and he wanted to be in and when in he wanted to be somewhere else. Since we got back from holiday I have noticed a bit of extra clinginess towards me this week. I can't say I mind too much, I like that he's got more cuddly but I do get a little annoyed that bedtimes, which used to be solely Andys job (so I get a little break) now often require my presence just to stop the tantrum. I'm minded to be harsh and not give into him, but it does tug at the heart strings and he's not doing it to be naughty, he just needs to know I'm always there. Also, if I don't go up when he's in that sort of mood then he doesn't want to go to sleep until I do.
After the cake Joseph ran around the pretty gardens for a bit and then we came home. We were tired and my sensitive skin had had enough of the sun for one day.
The previous day, Andy had mysteriously disappeared in the afternoon. He just went, mumbling something about "something to get" which left me puzzled. He came back with a paddling pool. I had previously vetoed this idea as we're short on space but it was only a few quid and it's inflatable so it folds down small.
So, Sunday afternoon had been spent trying to work out the best way to inflate the thing. The manual airbed pump didn't work as the nozzle was the wrong shape. The electric pump had the same problem and human lungs just don't seem to have the capacity to manage the job with any rapidity. We ended up using a little pump that came with some twist and shape balloons. It was slow, but better than huffing.
Joseph wasn't too sure until we added a lot of warm water to it and then he was happy. On the Monday we got the inflation done a little quicker and with warm water added from the start our little boy had a fun filled afternoon splashing about. At least this time we stand half a chance of using up his swim nappies before he grows out of them.
Once Joseph gets the hang of splashing you can't get him to stop. He did get bored in the end, I think the water cooled down. We went in, he had a warm squash and he ran around with a large bath towel draped around him in a romanesque style. Veni vidi splashi.