1st August

Well it’s been absolutely perfect holiday weather with time out next to the beach and the kiddies’ open air paddling pool and the bouncy castle. Oh yes and we didn’t miss out on ice cream, fish and chips and lots and lots of sitting around in the sun… let’s do the seaside properly! Today I stayed covered up and well protected as late last night I realised my poor old legs had got rather burnt in their first outing of the year. That was a shame as my daughter and son-in-law had a really enjoyable swim in the sea and I daren’t join them and risk overexposure.

The best part of the day though was the invite to my grandson’s 3^rd birthday party. He woke up early this morning and his first words were ‘can I have my cake now?’ Anyway party time was mid-day and he was made to wait for the candles on the cake thing until then. But then grandad had to try hard to remember all the words of Ringo’s Yellow Submarine and I’ve not thought about let alone played that song for maybe 40 years. So I was the guitar playing music person for pass the parcel and I do find that game confusing as the rules about which child gets to unwrap which layer of paper are completely incomprehensible, and you get it wrong at your peril! I never cheated guvnor honest…

The little lad had a real fun day playing with his hobby horse and a scoot along two wheeled bike, the like of which I’ve never seen before, a proper bike with no pedals or stabilisers. And he’s trying to sleep right now in the sleeping compartment of the tent next to us cuddling dinosaurs and toy cars quite happily. His older sister's rather over-tired and a little fractious but that’s our fault I guess not hers. Earlier today she asked if she could go camping for her birthday party next year so we must be doing something right. We didn’t find time for the last ten minutes of the Robin Hood dvd so that’s a treat to look forward to tomorrow. As well as a picnic we’re planning on the White Cliffs of Dover.

All in all a perfect day with only thing or should I say one person missing… and yes I’m still crying.

Acts 2:25 ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.’ (NLT)