Now the blog revamp is out of the way, back to normal service! Finally getting round to the last instalment in our Pembrokeshire holiday summary (well, maybe not quite the end of it, but more on that later)!

One of the reasons we choose to holiday in Wales quite a bit (see 2011 and 2012) is that it enables us to catch up with a good number of friends and family while there and on the way.

Our first stop was Cheltenham, where we popped in to visit an old friend and former colleague, Eve, and her family.  It’s the perfect midway point and Alex and Sophie were delighted to get out of the car and explore Eve’s lovely garden.  Eve’s gorgeous daughters, Gabby and Imogen, were perfect hosts!.  Sophie, in particular, had a wonderful time playing with Immy!

We broke the journey home from Tenby with a stop off in the beautiful village of Marshfield near Bath to visit another friend and former colleague, Amy.  The children hit if off immediately, enjoying their own private lunch table together and much silly giggling over their meal.

We decided to let them burn of some energy with a walk around the village – and we all had fun following the Easter scarecrow trail!  The theme was heroes and villains and Alex loved spotting Darth Vadar, Spiderman, Superman and many others – including Bradley Wiggins – spotted below by Isla and Sophie!

We delayed our return to London with a quick stop in the Midlands to spend Easter with my parents.  I think this may become an annual tradition as the local village Easter celebrations are great fun!  But before the village celebrations, we did a little Easter egg hunt in my parents’ garden.

Our mini hunt provided enough chocolate to last ages, but we didn’t stop there!  We popped over to the neighbouring village – Blakesley – for their big egg hunt and duck race.  Alex and Sophie found plenty of chocolate along with the village children all over the playing fields before picking their ducks for the race.  Alex’s started very well, leading the race for a while, but sadly got stuck on a bank half way along!  Maybe next year…

We worked off some of the chocolate with plenty of playing in the local park which has recently had lots of new play equipment installed. And the boys enjoyed a spot of rugby in the garden, although not sure Alex quite has the hang of it yet!

Love this picture of the tired boys taking a break in Grandpa’s new shed.  Alex appears to have forgotten to pick up his drink before saying “Cheers”!

We finished Easter Day with a family roast – rubbish photo, but happy memory as the children were really well behaved and the food delicious!

Our final stop in the long journey home was with our NCT friends, Dan and Bryony in Oxfordshire.  With the weather properly sunny and warm, we met for a picnic and play at beautiful Blenheim Palace.  It seemed most of the population of central England had had the same idea, so it was completely packed – and by the time we’d made our way from the overflow carpark to the entrance, we were already ready for lunch!  So we found a clear spot of grass and enjoyed a leisurely picnic and catch up, cramming 6 months of catching up into a couple of hours.

We managed to navigate the maze, climb a tree or two and grab and ice cream before getting back on the road for the last push to London.

I mentioned at the start of this post that there may be yet more to share from our Pembrokeshire holiday…  For the first time, we tried to take a bit of video footage of our trip, so I may be able to share a little holiday film.  Watch this space…