So, April is almost over and my little boy is 3!  It really seems no time at all since he was born..  We had a lovely time at the weekend celebrating his birthday, on Friday night we made the trek up to Nottingham (which took 4 hours! Nightmare) and stayed in a hotel for the night.  Saturday morning saw two very excited kids leap out of bed and head down to breakfast before going for a swim in the fantastic hotel pool and then setting off up to Leeds.  We arrived at Kate and Tom's just before lunch, Kate had decorated the whole place with banners and balloons and she had made the most fabulous train cake for Zoomy, he LOVED it! I was so touched, she really is so lovely.  After a quick itinerary check we headed out to Flying Pizza for amazing food and a great noisy catch up.  We then walked down to Roundhay park and went to Tropical World, which was excellent!  After all that we walked on over in to the park, had ice creams and even a ride on Thomas before making the long walk home again for Train Cake, tea and wine.  Z was beside himself with excitement, love him.  It was so so wonderful to see them both and spend time having a proper catch up about the baby and house plans and general catch up - it is 3 months since their wedding already and they look so very happy and content.. Baby bump is coming along nicely and she looks amazing too, so much happiness this weekend.

On our way south on Sunday we managed to stop in and see Nanny and Popo and JC, Becky and Matthew too.  So glad we did, they were all really pleased to see us and we had a good giggle.  It is funny but they (my grandparents) see a lot calmer and happier than I have seen them in a while - I think that the situation with my other grandparents has hit them hard and has brought home hard the fragility of life in old age, and just how quickly things can change.  I can only take that as a positive.  Another positive is that as a result of our visit and other family members last week, my Nana has come round a lot and can now see that my Grandad is indeed Jim, her husband, and not his mother, or a stranger.  The mind is a complex thing but I am really happy to hear that she is more accepting and despite the fact that my Grandad is growing weaker, she is able to support him mentally and that is a huge relief. 

My sister made me crack up today - she sent me the following in an email;

I was thinking today that if you were a city, you’d be Milan… Chic, organized, up to date, yet Mediterranean and groovy..

I would be Naples: dark, chaotic, disorganized and a little hairy at times!

I had to laugh!  She cracks me up, and man I miss her.. I shall take my comparison to Milan as a compliment, love her!