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Monday 14 October 2013

Portugal - Part 1


To celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, it was my mother-in-law's special wish that she should have a holiday with all of her family together. We often holiday with them and my brothers-in-law also holiday with them, but we have never had a holiday with all of us. Mark and his brothers haven't all had a holiday together since long before Mark and I were married, so it was going to be a very special trip. Mark's Mum and Dad rented a lovely villa in Portugal for a week and we all met up in Manchester on the morning of their anniversary to catch the flight together. Mark's Mum and Dad, his brother Greg and his wife Kelly, his brother Ryan and his fiancee Carrie and the five of us made quite a party!

It was Emma's first time on an aeroplane (and indeed the first time she has been out of the country) and Tom and Lily were so young the last time they flew that I doubt they can remember it. The Podlings were understandably excited to see so many aeroplanes at the airport and to actually be flying in one. They took tremendous delight in announcing the airline of every plane that they saw! They behaved impeccably on the two and a half hour flight and during the long wait for the hire cars at Faro Airport. Always a relief as travelling with children can sometimes be a bit of a challenge!

Despite having been awake since 6.30am with barely six hours sleep under their belts (we were late getting to the hotel in Manchester the night before), the first thing the Podlings wanted to do when we got to the villa in the afternoon was to get in the pool! Costumes were located swiftly and the family spent a delightful afternoon in the beautiful swimming pool enjoying the fabulous Portugal sunshine.

We celebrated the golden wedding anniversary with a lovely Chinese takeaway in the evening. Sitting outside enjoying the balmy night, eating good food, spending time with family; it was a perfect end to the day.

Emma's first time on an aeroplane

Straight in the pool!

Emma had the idea of using a tennis racket to paddle the dinghy round the pool. Clever girl!



Uncle Greg taught Emma to jump into the pool. This girl is utterly fearless in the water!


Two exhausted little girls at the end of a busy day. Tom was still going strong!

The three Podlings shared a bedroom in the villa. We thought this might cause no end of problems since they normally have separate rooms at home, but they were so exhausted at the end of every day that they all just fell straight asleep with no shenanigans at all!

My wonderful in-laws on their golden wedding anniversary.
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