
I managed to finish all the work that needed to be done before jetting away to Spain for two weeks with the kiddies. It was unbelievably hot but gorgeous. No sitting by the pool wrapped in a towel pretending to be warm, as the goosebumps make your spray tan look like a disease. We were a bit like a plague of locusts arriving in Estepona. There were twelve children and six mum's in our group. For various reasons we ended up as the single-mums-r-us tour this year! The children played in both the pool and the sea for eight hours straight all day every day. Myself and the other mums read and relaxed. It was the first holiday I've been on since my two were born that was actually a break for me too. The only thing missing was hubby. He was in France doing an insane triathlon at high altitude in the Alps. We had originally planned to go en famille to France and support dad in his race. But a little research revealed that we would be staying in a very pretty and majestic setting ie Heidi's log cabin at altitude, with no pool, no other kids and miles from the nearest ice cream parlour. Gorgeous, but unless we were to end up divorced and or dead, it couldn't have worked. So I did the kiddy option instead. Cian won't get away scott free and we will do a family break just the four of us, and the children have vowed to drag him to Spain next year! My two, aged ten and almost nine experienced bargaining for the first time. At first they were agog with idea that one should argue about the price of a leather bracelette (which looks fab in Spain and like a dismembered limb of a small furry animal at home). But they soon realised that the street merchants expected the verbal jostle. I did have to point out that the banter wasn't meant to include insults, as they all assumed that the arguing and walking away meant we were having a 'row.' We had to explain to the younger members of our group that the idea was to lower the requested price not raise it. One of our little people had assumed the idea was simply to change the price, so when a man selling knock off wallets asked me for thirty euro, my little friend pipped up with 'no we'll give you sixty!'
We are all back in Ireland now, with the heating on and the fire lit, as we shivver in our white cut off jeans, while pretending we're not really cold. It's great to be home and back in our own beds. Hubby is now home too so we are reunited once again. The pile of dirty washing and the growing heap of ironing being the final sting in the tail to make sure I know holidays are over for another year. Hubby already has a head cold, I have an ear infection and both kids are coughing. The cat needs to go to the vet for his asthma injection - yes only I could own a cat who suffers with asthma. Suffice it to say we are all fit for the bin, but at least we're all a little bit browner than before, wobbly bits always look nicer when they're brown don't they? Hope your July was good and lets hope August is sunny and mild. If you're heading off on your holidays, I'm very jealous but wish you the best. Eat every thing, drink every thing and do as little as possible!
Miss Conceived is still flying off the shelves, so thank you all for buying it. Adios for now and have a great month.
Love
Emma x