Catch Up

Well, obviously I can't really catch up almost 6 months worth of stuff, but I can do a bit.

Starting with today:
M amazingly slept until 8am, which is unheard of (normally its 6am!) and A went into work a bit late, just cos he could.
I still haven't got dressed at 11.15am, but I don't care as we've had a good morning.
Non-existant breakfast, followed by just laying on the sofa chatting about nothing, then I read Sinbad the Sailor from Illustrated Stories for Boys which is the longest story I've ever read to M. He was flagging at the end (not really enough different pirates/dragons/monsters in it).
We then made cushion towers, and then I made us both a cup of tea and we discussed cogs in the salad spinner following on from a chat about gear sticks we had in the hire car last week.
Bringing us up to now, where predictably I am unable to type for more than a few seconds without interruptions. Why is that? And why is it that at the weekend, when A was looking after M whilst I was finally unpacking in the bedroom, A could get on with stuff in the kitchen whilst M played happily by himself. He never lets me do that!

Off to a play centre this afternoon as the weather is, once again, rubbish. Atelier finished last week - we made sure we were back from the UK in time for the last atelier session and the vernissage (an exhibition of all the kids work over the last term which you can then tear down from the walls and take home - must take pics and post) - so we have full weeks with nothing on.

Still, off to Scandinavia in 27 days for 2 months. Getting excited now. I spent a lot of yesterday (another rain-delayed day) going through the camping book we have and marking the sites on our road map, just so that even though we aren't going to book anywhere, we have a rough idea of where the nearest sites are when we are on the road. A tried to load lots of maps onto his GPS phone thingy, which worked ok until he realised that he didn't have the code anymore because he'd reinstalled it, so he had to go searching for the code to make it work. See, I still believe a good old-fashioned map is better. At least you can't lose your position due to the malalignment of the satellites or whatever it uses! OK, you can be a crap map reader, but I have more faith in my map reading abilities than in A's ability to sort out the GPS!

We're hiring this van. There seems to be so much space in it, although I'm sure I won't be saying that come the end of September! M has insisted that he won't be sleeping in the roof, which scuppers our plans a little, but we've reassured him that if he goes to sleep in the roof, we will move him to the lower bed when we go to bed. The only thing that concerns me about that is that the gas stove and the fridge, cupboards etc are in the lower part of the van, but then I would be surprised if he managed to do too much damage without me waking up, seeing as my sleeping is pathetic at the moment.

We're planning on driving up through Germany to Denmark, hoping to visit Legoland for M's birthday on the 10th Aug, then across to Sweden (on the really long bridge, can't remember what its called just now), visiting Gothenburg and Stockholm, then across to Oslo and Bergen in Norway, followed by a huge trip (probably 5 days driving) to Tromso which is in the Arctic Circle (can't quite persuade A to go up to North Cape) and then across to Finland, visiting Santa Claus at his village on the way down to Helsinki. Then take the ferry across to Tallinn in Estonia, and back home, probably going through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, and trying to avoid Russia as the van is uninsured for there. All in 2 months...... We must be mad, expecially travelling with a 3 year old who is unused to car travel, seeing as we don't actually have one!

Am planning on taking the laptop for M to watch DVDs etc, so hopefully I will be able to write a few posts about our adventures and load them up on the rare occasions we have Wifi at the campsite.

Have had a funny few days myself since coming back from the UK. I have been pretty tired even though it was a holiday (chasing around after an almost 3 year old, and waking up at 4.30 every morning in a tent is not my ideal holiday I have to say!) and M was quite grouchy as he never quite got enough sleep. Also 2 of my friends have just given birth, which while it is a fantastic occasion and congratulations to K and C, leaves me feeling a bit deflated. Being the only person in my group of mummy friends who isn't pregnant for the second time is hard to take sometimes. If it was down to nature why I wasn't pregnant, then I think I may be able to cope better, but knowing that I could be pregnant if only A would change his mind, makes it a little harder to take I think. I am trying very hard not to let my feelings show to my friends, as it is not their fault in any way, but it may be why I've been in a funny mood lately, knowing that this is the start of at least 6 births in the next couple of months.

Still, A did say never say never, so you never know!