Kids!

Thought it would be a straightforward matter, blogging about the Norwegians being here. Thing is – when do you do it? No time during the day – there's far too much going on. After tea (a pretty late affair - see previous sentence), it's time to get them into bed and collapse over a coffee. Before you know it, you can't wait to get the dinette bed made up and tumble into it, so that at least you're ready for the next day by the time they've decided it's started.

I went over to Oslo last Friday, and brought Elissa (8) and Sam (7) back on Monday. The UKBA passport official decided I was sufficiently like them to be their grandfather. The car, parked at Manchester airport over the weekend, started fine and the journey to Great Haywood was smoothed by a cunning battery-operated DVD player. We'd decided to sleep Elissa on our bed and Sam on a "Ready Bed" (lent to us – thanks, Jon, Michelle and Jake) on the floor at the side, and it worked so well that we continued with the arrangement after the first night.

Tuesday morning was reasonably clear so we did our favourite short trip down to Tixall Wide for lunch. They did a bit of steering but there was too much going on around for much concentration on exactly the right direction to go in. Feeding the swans out of the side-hatch had its moment when one of them decided Sam's hand was part of what was being offered!

Wednesday morning we moved the boat across to the service wharf for a pump-out (good education!) and then decided, since we'd left our berth anyway, to go out and moor near where we could get an ice-cream. One thing led to another and we took off down the cut to go through a couple of locks. Tied up at Wolseley bridge in the afternoon, went for a walk in the Wolseley Centre, and then decided to stay the night.

So today (Thursday) we carried on into Rugeley under bright sunshine, bought some supplies from Morrison's, and then came back to the Wolseley centre for a further, more extended visit. Great fun splashing in the stream, swinging on the swing and making friends with the ducks. Back to the marina in time for a (very late) tea. Weather forecast sounds horrendous for tomorrow.

Since they were born, our contact with the grandchildren has been limited to two long weekends a year. It's been a joy to be able to build the relationship during this week – they've adapted brilliantly to being with us, and we're having a lot of fun. But I don't know when the next blog entry will be posted!