The Night Before Christmas

The Podlings on Christmas eve (Tom opted not to be photographed) 

Christmas Eve is so magical, far more so than Christmas Day. The excitement, the anticipation and the sense of magic in the air as the children go off to bed makes it one of the best days of the year for me. As usual, we went to church for the children's Nativity service and then we went back to Mark's parents house for tea and the Podlings got to play with their cousins Grace and Poppy. Then home and into new pyjamas. I am so in love with the nightdress I chose for Emma this year. She is unicorn-obsessed (she was raised by unicorns apparently), so was over the moon when I found this very special nightdress for her. We laid out a mince pie for Father Christmas and a carrot for the reindeer, read 'The Night Before Christmas' and then sent a group of very excited children off to bed.

Alex had a final reading of 'Lucy and Tom at Christmas' by Shirley Hughes before the day itself. It had been his favourite story book for all of December and I always have to read it as 'Emma and Alex at Christmas'. I love Shirley Hughes' books and it is a testament to her charm that although I had to read that book every day (often more than once) for an entire month, I still love it!

It was many more hours before Mark and I got to bed. Thanks to a nasty stomach bug tearing through the family the week before Christmas, I was behind with my wrapping, so it was a late night for us. It is always worth the effort though when the children wake up on Christmas morning and see all the pretty parcels waiting for them. Magical!

That nightdress though! It has a smocked panel of unicorns and has dainty lace at the frilled collar and cuffs. It is so traditional and pretty.

Ready for Father Christmas. 

Wallington

Ah, Wallington! What a delightful place! A National Trust property in Northumberland, Wallington consists of a beautiful Grade 1 listed house set in 13,000 acres of land and we barely scratched the surface of the estate on our visit. The house was simply wonderful and I could have spent hours here. The dolls house collection alone would have occupied me for ages. I would dearly love to go back to the house again.

The weather was not great the day we visited, but that didn't stop us from taking a Thermos to the adventure play area. The Podlings are not bothered by rain showers! It was late in the afternoon and it kept raining, so we had the place to ourselves! The play area was fabulous, but we did eventually have to admit defeat with the weather!

I was utterly captivated by Wallington and it now ranks as one of my favourite National Trust properties, along with Cragside (also in Northumberland) and Lanhydrock House in Cornwall. We will definitely be returning here in the future.

The side of the house. I neglected to take a photo of the front

I loved the carpet in one of the bedrooms

Beach fun!

Morning fun at Crimdon Dene beach. We were so lucky with the weather on our holiday.

Dunstanburgh Castle

Our family have lots of lovely adventures together, but some days are just special. Our visit to Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland stands out as one of my all time favourites. Standing on a remote headland between the villages of Craster and Embleton, the impressive fourteenth century ruin is well worth the mile and a half walk required to get there. The car park is just outside the village of Craster and then you have to walk through the village and then a mile and a quarter along the coast.

The day we went was beautifully sunny, but extremely windy and since Alex is currently going through a phase of being afraid of the wind the little chap wasn't happy unless he was being carried...and only by me! A mile and a half with a hefty three year old on your hip is hard going! Thankfully Alex loves castle ruins, so once we actually got to the castle he seemed to forget the weather and just enjoyed exploring with his brother and sisters. It really was a wonderful place and well worth the walk.

By the time we started to walk back the wind and dropped down again and with some encouragement from us and his siblings Alex consented to walk most of the way back. My back was very grateful! We finished off the day with the most delicious fish and chips in the town of Seahouses before driving back to our caravan and putting four very tired Podlings to bed! It was a very lovely day the memory of which I will always treasure. 

Exploring ruined castles...one of the best parts of an English childhood!

The smug face of a little boy who managed to persuade someone to carry him! Daddy was allowed to carry him on the way back!

The village of Craster

At the end of a three mile walk and still smiling.