Family

I’ve been largely absent from this blog for quite some time, happily wrapped up in family life over the lengthy summer holidays, so it seems appropriate that this week’s Gallery theme of ‘Family’ should be the jumping off point to draw me back into the blogging fold.

Rodiles beach, Asturias summer 2014

This summer was the first time that my OH’s brother and his family came to visit us here in northern Spain. With three teenage daughters to entertain we’ve always felt a little reticent about them spending their annual holiday in our tranquil rural hideaway. Tranquil and teenage are perhaps not the best match. And then we would worry about the weather. What if it crapped out while they were here? This is northern Spain after all, lying by the pool in the scorchio sun everyday is not guaranteed. Especially when you don’t have a pool. Oh, the pressure.

But this year we all decided to take the plunge. They booked the ferry from Poole to Gijon and we crossed our collective fingers. Apart from Jack, who was busy using his digits to count down the sleeps until the arrival of his cousins. From February.

Finally August arrived and so did the cousins. All looking more than a little burned after a deceptively breezy  but fiercely sunny day spent up on deck, whale and dolphin-spotting. Maybe a couple of cloudy days wouldn’t be the end of the world after all.

The ten days they spent with us whizzed by in a whir of activity. Neither my OH or his brother are the type to sit still for long and they tend to drag the rest of us along with them whip others up into enthusiasm too. We sea-kayaked, surfed, stand-up paddled, rock-climbed, hiked and gorge-walked. We also ate well, talked lots and laughed frequently and loudly. It was a great holiday, for all of us.

And amidst all the activity my brother-in-law somehow even managed to squeeze in the time to mow my lawn for me. Family, eh? Pretty wonderful.

Hop on over to the Sticky Fingers blog to find more posts and photos on the theme of family, in this week’s gallery….