A Slower Summer

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Hello,

I know, believe it or not, it's us!!! Not many travelblogs have been rolling out lately. This is really just a quick one. It's been a bit of a different summer this, not so much traveling. A lot of this is due to the fact that we are currently 9 months pregnant and looking forward to welcoming our new addition very soon. We're hoping the wee nipper is better behaved than Daddy and we're sure to influence the travel gene into every day life.

Even so, we have enjoyed being in England for Alan and Kat's wedding. Charlotte also enjoyed a few weeks up in Scotland where she very much enjoyed being pampered by the family. A very nice time was had just relaxing and being with everyone and of course, catching up with friends.

A few days were spent over by Loch Fyne visiting Mum and Don. This meant a trip to Inver Cottage, a year to the day since our great pre wedding get together last year. Also, a year to the day, a visit to Millcroft Lavender Farm. Our friends at Millcroft were kind enough to make Charlotte's wedding bouquet, so it was great to visit and reminisce and also to eat lavender scones!

There was then a day shopping up in Glasgow with Hilary. This was followed the next day by a trip to the West End of Glasgow to Byres Road, close to Glasgow University. Here we went for cake and coffee and then enjoyed a walk around the botanical gardens and Kibble Palace.

Then it was the long weekend and time to visit Alan and Kat. Charlotte flew down to Birmingham on BMI Baby. Nice and easy. Whilst down visiting, Kat and Charlotte had a dress fitting. Kat had ordered a bridesmaid dress in a size 18 and everyone was slightly worried as the baby belly wasn't too big. However, it wasn't madly huge and would be fine with some alterations. Kat's sister Rachael also came down for the weekend from Leeds to visit and for wedding shopping as she was also on bridesmaid duty. Everyone enjoyed a good old curry on the Friday night. The next day the girls headed into Leamington Spa to look for wedding shoes and jewellery. Then it was a BBQ in the evening. Rachael left on the Sunday to drive back up to Leeds and Alan, Kat and Charlotte enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the garden before heading to a pub in the nearby village of Upton so that Charlotte could enjoy a tipple! Well, a soda and lime anyway. On the Monday Alan decided that he was going to buy a new t.v, so he and Charlotte drove up to near Birmingham to collect the said television. Then it was back to Leamington to pick up Kat and enjoy a nice stroll around Leamington visiting the gardens and the wedding location whilst enjoying some yummy ice-cream. The next day it was back up to Paisley.

Charlotte's Aunt Anne was having a busy week as she was marking exam papers, a good way to earn some holiday spending money!!! Although, very time consuming. However, we did enjoy lunch with Gran at the house. The next day Lesley and Charlotte headed up to Glasgow, where we had a great time looking around the shops and have lunch and a cake stop. Lesley even managed to find shoes for the wedding in the perfect pink colour!!! The next day was Thursday and Gran, Lesley and Charlotte headed through the rain clouds to Largs for the afternoon. Gran treated us to lunch in Nardini's which is a great Italian spot, very well known and has recently gone through a makeover.

It was a lovely afternoon but we unfortunately returned to some very sad news. Mike's Dad Frank had very suddenly passed. It was a very difficult time. Mike was due to fly to Toronto that day and from there on to Glasgow, where we were to spend the weekend before heading down to Leamington for the week. Of course, he had to change his plans and flew over to Halifax to be with the family. Charlotte couldn't get a direct flight to Canada out of Glasgow at all over the weekend, so couldn't make it over to be with them all.

Mike did make it over to the UK but not until the following Friday. In the meantime, Charlotte spent a lot of time with the Scottish clan. Scotland actually had a heat wave, very unusual. She met up with old school friends. A night out in Glasgow's West End with Lindsey, Stephanie and Fiona. Then a trip to the pub with Kirsty and her husband Roy. Then there was a family BBQ and Hilary managed to stop by to say goodbye.

On the Monday Charlotte flew down to Birmingham. She spent the afternoon wandering around Leamington Spa whilst Kat was at work and Alan was away. The next day Alan was returning from a work trip to Salt Lake City. Charlotte, being the tourist, caught local buses to the small town of Stratford-Upon-Avon, very well known for being the birth place and resting place of William Shakespeare. It's a very old and pretty town with gorgeous buildings that surround the river. That evening Kat and Charlotte went for a final dress fitting and Alan was home.

The next day Alan and Charlotte drove up to Birmingham for the afternoon where they visited the Bullring. The Bullring is Birmingham's big shopping centre, part of it is inside and part of it's outside. They also enjoyed a walk down by the river before driving back to Leamington.

The Thursday saw lots of wedding errands getting done. Mum and Don arrived later in the day after the long drive down from Scotland. Alan made a big pot of chili for everyone's dinner.

Mike landed into London Gatwick very early on the Friday morning after taking a direct flight from Halifax. He caught a train to Leamington Spa arriving at 9 in the morning. He was sent straight to bed to get some sleep as a busy day and weekend was ahead. Later in the afternoon family from both Alan and Kat's sides came over to the house. For our lot it was a chance to see their new house and of course, to hand over the wedding gifts! The whole group then walked around to a local pub where everyone enjoyed getting to know one another and having some grub.

On the Saturday we woke up to the big day!!! So exciting. Kat went off to get her hair and nails done and returned to the house looking gorgeous. She, Rachael and Charlotte got ready and had some pre-wedding shots taken when the photographer arrived. Then it was the drive to Jephson Gardens where the ceremony and reception was to be held in the tropical gardens and restaurant. We all walked over the bridge and into the venue where everyone enjoyed a beautiful ceremony. Then it was time for some photographs before dinner and then the party. It was a great day and lots of fun.

The next day we had brunch with Trev, Charlie, Lesley, Steve, Claire, Andrew and David at a local 50's diner. Everyone was leaving that day to drive home or for Alan and Kat, off on their honeymoon to the Lake District. For us, it was a quiet evening in with a curry.

We were due to drive over to Cambridge on the Sunday and Monday to visit John and Terri. John and Charlotte have known each other since they were eleven when they became penpals whilst John still lived in his native Dublin. With Mike's short few days it wasn't possible to make the journey to their house this time, so hopefully on the next holiday.

On the Monday we drove to Kettering to meet a client of Frank's. This took up most of the day and we got back to Leamington in time for dinner and packing. We had to get up early the next day to catch a train up to Birmingham Airport. Unfortunately we were delayed by nearly 7 hours and when we eventually got to Toronto we'd missed all flights so got a hotel room for the night. The next morning we flew over to Halifax for a few days before heading back to Vancouver.

We have just returned from a very nice weekend away in Ontario visiting our friends Ben and Jen and staying at their cottage 3 hours North of Toronto. Bill and Sheri also came in from Halifax. It was a very relaxing weekend and whilst the girls (two pregnant and one with a new two month old and a toddler) talked babies, the boys played golf and enjoyed catching up on the dock. For Mike it was a well earned break from the chaos of the last little while. We also had another Halifax weekend to visit Mike's family - Mike managed to squeeze in some golf and we had a lobster feast with Bill and Sheri and a lovely BBQ at Annie and Deke's.

Summer in Vancouver has been pretty hot. We had a heat wave that saw tempertures of nearly 40 degrees. We enjoyed the weddings of our good friends James and Jenn and Alyson and Tony. Both weddings included beach BBQ's which are always great in Vancouver with the beaches and gorgeous views. Our good friend Sudha came into town from Toronto for Jen and James' wedding and it was great to have him stay with us for a few days. Our other good friend Frank just made a visit also, one of the last before his and his wife Suzanne have their baby. It's baby season just now I think.

So our last holiday was not quite as expected. However, our next proper holiday will be with our new little one which will be very different and something that we're very much looking forward to.

We hope that you are all enjoying your summers and managing to fit in some good holidays 😊

Bye for now and lots of love.

Mike, Charlotte and baby bean xxx

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