Thinking Summer Thinking Holidays

Aaron asked me yesterday "where/when are we going on holiday?" I said "We've already had a holiday" to which he replied "When?" I answered that "We've been to Bluestone" to which he said "that was ages ago". One of his closest friends at school just went to Manchester for the weekend and although it was for a funeral, because he told Aaron it was a holiday, Aaron's now got the holiday bug. So it sounds like he just wants to go away, so no big demands for sun, sea and sand. But give me a credit card and I think a beach or a pool by the hotel would be beckoning me. Either that, or a trip to Ireland to see my Mum and extended family. Digging out the Bluestone pics though (collage below) yes, I could happily do that again. WONDERFUL free range holiday.

Aaron knew in his early weeks of life, 2010, what it was to travel round the country, with breaks to Nottingham and Harwich in his former months:

Thankfully since then I have learned how to pack, so we have been to Ireland lots of times even meeting Ryanair's luggage restrictions. After years of mastering my packing and travelling light technique, the recent arrival of my newborn little lady, will have put me back to square one, of needing everything but the kitchen sink when going away. That's why families love to go to places that have facilities like high chairs and toys provided, which is increasingly the case in luxury self-catering accommodation that is family friendly. That was one thing we loved about Butlins when we went there for four days when Aaron was young.

The times we have gone away we have been burned, not by the sun, but by airport parking. We get stung, because Daddy does short-term parking, when he drops us off to go to Ireland, but given I always go there hours before (the cautious punctuality conscious side of me) he gets stung for the price he pays. A couple of times, when we went as a couple to Tunisia and Malta, he's left the car in the long-stay carpark and got stung then too, meaning you end up wishing you'd got the Stansted Express and left the car at home. There's something lovely about being able to just hop into your car though.

I didn't know till today that you can book your airport car parking in advance, thus making it more affordable. You can block book 7 or 14 nights and can choose whether your parking is on or off airport grounds. Personally I like the sound of the meet and greet service where you drop your car near the airport, exiting with your luggage, with a member of staff parking the car for you. Like something you'd see in the movies! Actually - in Stansted - they meet you in the short stay carpark in Red Zone Arrivals. 

Cosmic ordering really works for me, so I think I might start focusing on manifesting a Summer holiday and just hope that I can manage to pack everything my newborn baby, the lil lady, needs. Summer is far enough away that she will be 6 months by then and bonny, big enough to travel without being too fragile. To be fair she was BORN bonny and big at a robust 10 lbs 10 oz and is now already 4 weeks old since yesterday. Here she is at 1 and 4 weeks old:

I hope we get to go to Ireland again soon. Below, this is my Mum saying goodbye to Aaron May 2015 in airport departures, in Ireland. Our local little regional airport. Crazy to think May is round the corner and it'll be a year since we've seen her. Secretly, me and my Mum have got a dream of going abroad together but I think she's banking on a lottery win first.

Despite not seeing each other often, they have a very strong bond, fostered from her many flights to the UK in 2010 including one break of 9 weeks. We'll have to get her here again to see the latest member of our little family.