Our weekend #3

We've had such a fun filled weekend! Last week was my brother in law's 40th birthday so his lovely wife arranged for us all to have a big family weekend away so we could celebrate together. She booked a lovely house in Ramsgate, which isn't too far of a drive from where we live, but still far enough to feel like like we were away from home.  We left Friday evening. Normally Dylan would catch the bus home after school, but we went to pick him up instead and drove straight there. The kids were quite excited and so were we. It's always nice to get away isn't it! We were second to arrive and the kids immediately went to check out the rooms. I must say, the house was beautiful, spacious and lend itself exactly to what we needed it for...a big family get together / birthday bash.  Once everyone had arrived and settled in we decided to have pizza for dinner, we all knew the next day would be hectic, with more family and friends popping down, so we just wanted a fairly stress free evening. It was the birthday boy's choice and he couldn't have made a better one!

Afterwards we all headed up to the cosy lounge and chatted until late while the kids were playing. Saturday started out in style and as all good Saturdays should... with an amazing cooked breakfast! We had sausages, mushrooms, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, bacon, toast, fruits, and croissants...and it was GOOD!

More family arrived in the course of the morning and we all sat around the huge dining table, chatting, drinking cups of tea or coffee and generally enjoying family time together. I think the big kitchen / dining room is what I loved most about the house. Wish we had that amount of space in our house!

 

When our bellies were full we all went out for a beach walk. We wrapped up really warm, it is after all January, but the weather treated us well. It was quite chilly but we had blue skies,sunshine and smiles on our faces.

The little marina we walked past was very quaint and charming, with little restaurants, art galleries and tiny shops. Dylan and Emily were looking at all the boats and pointing out which one they would want. I might have even seen one I wouldn't mind sailing away on. The funniest bit though was watching the kids when we reached the sandy beach...it's like they were let loose for the first time in their life! Dylan ran straight towards the water line, Emily stopped half way to start building a sandcastle.

little cousin Lily soon joined in

And then they found a jelly fish

I would like to say Dylan didn't get wet feet, but I'd be lying!

Even the dogs were enjoying time on the beach

More friends joined us and a after catch up we headed back.  After a lazy afternoon just lounging around it was time to start prepping for dinner. Stuart used to be a chef so knows his way around the kitchen and even though it was his birthday he still wanted to cook for everyone. Dinner was once again amazing!

We had steak (cooked to perfection), with peppercorn sauce, chips, onion rings, fried onions, mushrooms, homemade garlic bread, salads and coleslaw. There were fifteen of us all gathered around the dining table, I told you it was a huge table! My sister in law had a few surprises up her sleeve for her husband, one of them was a really cool / emotional / funny "this is your life" presentation. Even family and friends who live all the way in South Africa and America had contributed to this with pre-recorded messages and video's. We also had cake and an array of other desserts

It was such a fun evening and some of the conversations around the dinner table were absolutely hilarious! I think the tequila that was had might have contributed to that just a bit too. But the nicest thing of all was to be able to spend time together with our family. After all that's whats most important. I think Stuart had a brilliant birthday and my sister in law did an amazing job organising this all. It's now Sunday. We're back home. Work tomorrow and I'm not ready to let go of the weekend just yet.  When can we do this again?!