A week away

We are just back from a fantastic week away in the Lake District. It's the first time we've been away since we had kids where we haven't been staying with friends and family in the US or London and we were pretty excited to throw down some new ground rules before we got there.  

1) No television

This was easy as we told the kids the television was broken. We read A LOT of stories, particularly Beatrix Potter as one of our main days out was going to the museum:

Finn searching for Mr Todd

2) No phones except to check in when we had reception

This was easy, we hardly had reception.

3) No internet

This was easy as again, we hardly had any reception. I also feel like I gained more time in my day by not stalking the BBC News website or Facebook. Plus, who needs a computer when you can kick back like this?

Just chilling

4) Parents were not allowed to say "2 minutes" when the children asked for their attention. The kids LOVE this rule. We have to pay them 5 pence if we say "2 minutes," but with no chores to do, emails to read or clothes to wash, we came back with all our change!

5)  Do something different

Now that we are done with strollers, we have been anxious to start bigger adventures with the kids. It turns out, they both enjoy the hills as much as we do. They were both so proud of themselves, I thought they were going to cry.  

Reaching Alcock Tarn

We climbed the first hill on our 10 year wedding anniversary and laughed how silly we were thinking we'd be back in Mauritius in 10 years to celebrate. We wouldn't have traded this for anything!

Top of Helm Crag

After a mini break from real life, I always come back recharged with great plans how I am going to parent better. For the record, it took until this morning at 8:30am as I heard myself shouting "Hurry up you two! We are going to be LAAAAAATE!" that I was back to my usual love and life moments...