Our friends, Martin and Sarah, are a little younger than we are and have 3 kids quite a bit younger than ours - 6,4 and 2. They called in to see us on their way from Warwickshire up to see Martin's mum near Inverness - only another 4+ hours up the road!
They arrived at lunchtime on Saturday as we were in the middle of trying to give their bedroom a lick of paint. We had expected them mid-afternoon, but they set off at about 3am! A little light drizzle didn't dampen the kids enthusiasm to get down to the local swings and slides at Glendaruel, and whilst we were out the sausages (from Wee Butcher the day before) and onions were cooking nice and slow in the Aga. They went down a treat with the kids.
Sunday, the weather was great and so we could get out and about to some kid friendly spots. First place we went was Otter Ferry (named Otter not after the mammal but after Ottir which is a spit or sandbar reaching out across a body of water, and of course Ferry as originally there was a ferry there from the east side of Loch Fyne to the west). The beach is shingle with millions of shells, which all kids love, so we collected buckets full.
Just down the road (well about 8 miles further up Loch Fyne) is old Castle Lachlan, which is a lovely little walk from a car park to a headland. We have previously written about it on this blog. On the winding road there we played 'guess the impossibly obscure insect or animal' as only very young children can, and then spent the walk picking flowers, investigating the castle and watching oyster catchers swoop over the loch.
Back home the kids, well the middle boy, was fascinated by the little water channel along the side of the drive which, with the dry weather, had become just a muddy trickle. But turn your back on a kid in 2 inches of mud and they will find the spot that is actually a foot and a half deep. Bring on the hosepipe! He took it amazingly well, and we didn't laugh...much.
In the afternoon, having feasted on jacket potatoes slow cooked in the AGA, Martin and John headed out to climb the hills at the back of our house. Fantastic views had been sold to us by Emma and Adam and on a clear day you're supposed to be able to see the Isle of Bute and Island of Arran in the distance. Well, John and Martin can confirm that on a clear day you can see them and, with only about 20-30 minutes walking up, you can find some great places to sit with the mountain behind you and a view to die for - and no one else on the hillside.
So, did the house survive the young visitors? Yes it did - it did remarkably well. There were lots of truck crashes and Transformer battles, yummy improvised cheesecake making sessions and even a performance or two on the 'stage' (the upper floor of the main living room). It's amazing how much a family of five needs to pack for a week trip but, once all the sleeping bags and toys and clothes and kids were packed up into the car and waved off, it was like they'd never been there. So, we breathed in the peace and calm that had been restored and got back to work!
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