We also had a nice day at Grandma and Grandpa George's, playing in the garden.
We then travelled over to Suffolk for Sophie, Thomas and I to spend the week with Mum and Mike at their new home. Patrick was only there for the weekends, spending the week in-between doing a bicycle welding course - and building himself a new frame by the end of the week.
We stopped en-route to visit our friends, Helen and John and their two little girls, Katie and Eleanor. It was lovely to catch up again, and the kids all had fun playing together.
Thomas' first birthday fell during the stay with Mum and Mike and he got to open Aunty Sarah and Uncle Dave's present (a Thomas the Tank Engine paddling pool) early, so as to make the most of the hot weather.
As well as just enjoying hanging out in the garden and visiting the local villages, we had a couple of days out, to the beach at Frinton and to Framlingham Castle. It was also lovely to see our friends, Sam and Claudia, and to meet their daughter, Eleanor, for the first time.
Then, on the last day with Mum and Mike, it was Thomas' birthday (and Father's Day). Naturally, Thomas got completely spoilt, but Sophie also enjoyed playing with his new toys.
After a brief stop at Dad and Martha's on the way, we headed back to Berkhamsted, where we were based for the rest of the stay. Although we stayed with Pat and Frances, we also saw a lot of Hiltrud, George and Anna, and Jo, Andrea and their family. The kids were really excited to meet their cousins, Cameron, Cara and Scott, and all got on very well together.
Over the final weekend, we spent time with Dad and Martha, going out for a pub lunch and visiting the Mosquito Aircraft Museum. Thomas really enjoyed playing in the aircraft, although Sophie was a little more reticent. Sarah and Dave came down too on the Saturday and then on the Sunday, Tyler and Katie joined us. We hadn't seen Tyler for absolutely years, and it was really nice to get to meet Katie as well.
After that, we just had one more day before travelling back home. It was a really great trip, lots of fun, very busy, but at the same time quite relaxing. The only problems we had were not being able to fit in as much as we'd have liked to and being woken up unreasonably early in the mornings by Thomas, who found it difficult to adjust to the early sunrise. Hopefully he'll be better next time!