It's aunty Joan's 60th birthday (hard to believe, she doesn't look it!) so we headed down to Manchester for a family get together and celebration. A little sad to leave Sedbergh again, feels like we've only just arrived, and we missed so many people that we'd hoped to catch up with, just because we ran out of time. We stopped for breakfast on the way, and Will spent a bit of time watching the cars go underneath us at the motorway bridge. We got M&S food...

Next stop was Edinburgh to visit Great Granny Gracie and Matt's cousins Robert and Thomas, and aunt Astrid and uncle Andrew. We set off early and made a few stops for the kids, the first being Westmorland farm shop services. I'm told these are the only independently run services in the UK. There's a cute duck pond outside, and inside was lovely. A cafe with trees that reach up the Walls and branches that cover the ceiling, bespeckled with fairy lights; a del...

We did it! William made it all the way to the top of Winder without stopping or being carried! I'm also quite impressed that I did it, as living in Bedford with no fells around it really did look like an impossible mountain to climb! It took us pretty much the whole afternoon, but we got back and had a nice long bath and fish and chips from the dalesman to help recharge our batteries. People thought we were mad going up on a day like today, but it's actual...

Had a wonderful day in Sedbergh today. We started out playing with Louis, Sam and Millie. They let William feed their chickens and play on their swing and trampoline. They also invited him to sleep over in their tent, but we decided he was possibly a little young yet. Then we went to steadmans, the best butchers in cumbria and possibly the World, where we got pies to take over to the Moss's. This is an incredibly important tradition known as 'pie club' which ...

We had the pleasure of sleeping over at the Read's home and spending he day with them today - made all the more exciting by meeting the beautiful baby Josiah for the first time (although he's not so much a baby and at 10 months old is already walking)! We went to some parks for a run around in the morning, stopped for lung and naps, then up to the memorial park and butterfly house for the afternoon. The views from the memorial were amazing. You could see the b...