A bold and well thought out move...

We are home now and having spent the day washing clothes, doing the garden and settling back in, I can take stock and reflect on what was a truly lovely holiday and time with Amy and the girls. If Cornwall will have us again, I am sure the family Hammond will be back again some time in the coming years. A beautiful place, lovely kind and generous people and great fun. A place where you can eat cake for lunch has to be a great place for a holiday! Could have done with some better weather, if I am honest! It was so relaxing, calmed my head down after such busy times and gave me such a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my wife and children. My favourite day was our traditional visit to a theme park for rides and tat. Can't beat time with my rollercoaster buddies. Chasing the sunshine abroad next year and Amy has already booked us a holiday to Corfu! I would love one more family holiday in Cornwall before the girls get too old and bored to come away with us and create some more special memories though. 

Look up and you can spot Anna's new daring hair doo! After several days of debate and worry about whether it was the right thing to do, what people would think of her, she only went and did it! Alongside her mother and a very posh stylist she has created the hairstyle that keeps giving. She is cool, casual, chic and a little bit daring all in one. We love it Wiggle and it is definitely something you should have done ages ago. We know she has been secretly thinking about it for some time and I am delighted she had the courage to do something so bold. It was so obvious how important this was to her and she had given it so much thought. I almost didn't recognise her in a shop immediately after! Amy did so much to support her in looking at hairstyles on the internet and helping her choose. I was a bit frightened of the whole situation, if I am honest and anxious about how it would look and how Anna might be perceived, that I forgot the most important thing a parent should do. Allow their children to be themselves and explore who they are. Sorry Wiggle, for doubting you, your hair looks beautiful, as do you...

Never going to win parenting of the year award again..

So overcome by the shock of sunshine on our holiday, we enjoyed a day on the beach along with literally thousands of other people and forgot to apply enough sun cream. Or in Anna's case when asked by her dad, forgot to mention she did not put any on her back. This resulted in what can only be described as four sunburnt tourists, looking a bit 'lobster' like after a day in the sun! Anna's back must have hurt, although she did have a very white hand print on her back where she had attempted to put some on or scratched her back. I suppose it would have been good photographic evidence when she rang social services to report her parents! I am still feeling high levels of guilt, as I was so obsessed in winning our sandcastle competition (please see my master piece to the right) that I completely forgot my parenting duties or reminders about the dangers of the sun. I am not sure why I bothered, as Judge Mrs Hammond, bottled it and awarded the joint first prize to the girls for their efforts. Never mind, I will always know the truth and that my sandcastle was by far the best and most elaborate! Despite the sunburn and the loss, I have to declare it was a fabulous day on the beach with my family and one to treasure for a long time...

The great jumper change over...

Despite the continuing inclement weather we continue to have a great time. Sunday was like a wet Autumn day so we hit the cinema and I broke my vow to only wear shorts. Now Monday mostly held off and gave us a day at Tintagel Castle. The weather is so interchangeable at any given time, I have lost count of the times the girls have taken their jumpers on and off. It feels like we have to have at least twenty pit stops a day, to take them out of their rucksacks! One minute we are basking in the glorious sunshine, the next we are driving through fog! Yesterday though treated us to some glorious sunshine and St Michael's mount. I am still miffed with Mrs Hammond though as she managed to get a medal for the castle quiz and I didn't. They were supposed to be for the kids only, but a quick flash of the boobs and flutter of the eyelashes and hey presto a medal came from the enthusiastic guide. To rub in it, she wore it for most of the day! St Ives for the rest of the day with a slightly windy Anna, who had to take her leave outside of the restaurant every ten minutes or so to break wind! I love my girl. Lucy's propensity for mimicking voices just gets better and better as we have been treated to her 'YouTube New York Miranda' for several days and she has nailed it! Just one thing Lucy - 'Don't you Miranda me!' I am started to get that sinking feeling in my stomach that our holiday will end soon and I will be back to work and away again. Four more days to go and I fully intend to make the most of it with my girls..

Now I just don't appreciate it...

That I now have some kind of stinking virus on my holiday and feel like death warmed up. If I were to take an old fashioned view, it would be weather related as it keeps going hot/cold/rain/dry - but that is not scientifically proven and probably rubbish. Never the less my spirits are still high in such a beautiful place and I continue to love my break with my family. Yesterday we went digging for gold and played a highly competitive round of crazy golf as a family! Not many people can say those two things in the same sentence when describing their holiday! Mrs Hammond securing one of the most forthright and nailed holes-in-one I have ever seen on the last, the lady found her form at the end of her round after initial frustration. Anna also bagged a hole-in-one and perfected the art of hitting the ball way too hard. I am afraid Lucy is not a fan, as her round went from bad to worse, going from agitation to acceptance! 'German Itinerary lady' as the girls and I like to call Amy, with expert ease and skill, helped us chase the sun yesterday and avoid most of the heavy showers peppering Cornwall for the day. More of the same please today Amy, you have set an enjoyable precedent! Today we are off to Tintagel and Merlin's cave just for Anna. To say she is excited would be an understatement!

We're everywhere and nowhere..

Just taking Cornwall in. St Ives for tattoos (temporary) and hair braids and some sneaky posh fish and chips, Newquay for a Cornish pasty and shopping for tat (lots of tat) and the beauty of the Eden project. We have even managed a very brief trip to Padstow, although could not park, so will have to try that again in the coming days! One rained off day and it truly did lash it down, filled with two highly competitive games of Monopoly, the Cornwall edition, including the usual Hammond rows as the girls either fleeced each other or me for all their cash, properties and possessions! Yesterday we took on the swimming pool of death and the infamous red slide that Mrs Hammond and I tried and quickly declared we would never go on again some three years ago. Anna had other ideas, in all her adrenaline junkie glory she tackled this beast over ten times and could not get enough. You are either bonkers Wiggle, which has often been debated or just love these kinds of things. The 'faster the better' and 'been nice knowing you Dad' she told me as she hurtled down on one occasion! Lucy, not known for her adventurous spirit tackled it twice and has now declared like her parents she will never attempt this water slide again in her life time.  I think she was very serious indeed. I would not say we are soaking up the sun and the summer as the sun has barely arrived, but my stoic nature has kicked in and I am determined to keep my shorts on for the duration of our holiday in the cloud and chilly weather for this time of year ! Mrs Hammond is at relaxation level 'defcon five' and has already read four books as she deservedly winds down from a busy term and completing her dissertation. Off to Falmouth and St Mawes today. Traditional evening Harry Potter marathon has now taken us to the Goblet of Fire last night, still waiting for a lovely evening and a walk on the beach with an ice cream...

The golden moment you realise....

Ketchup is of a different class in Cornwall! Everybody needs a light at the end of a tunnel and after nearly ten hours on the road yesterday, Lucy found her ketchup utopia last night and celebrated this in style. It gets better and better, they even give their ketchup nicknames such as 'Tommy K'. The girl is in culinary heaven! We made it to Trispin and we're back. The girls have already hit the hot tub, forced us into the commencement of an evening Harry Potter marathon as well as scouted all the shops in Truro and metaphorically spent all their pocket money in their heads (as has Mrs Hammond!) We had only been here a matter of hours! I could not be happier to be here, a bit bedraggled after the long journey yesterday and listening to six hour of 'Grandpa's great escape' on the CD in the car. If somebody tells me a story I usually feel a bit lethargic, which is not so good if you are driving! I have to say Anna and I really enjoyed listening and talking about the story. She was a gem as my travel buddy and did not moan once or utter those words 'are we there yet?' once. Good patient work Wiggle. We did get a hint of how much of a home bird Anna really is, as she felt homesick last night and with tears in her eyes told us how much she missed the dog! (This will be the one she moans about walking every day) Having unpacked the contents of her bedroom into her temporary bedroom she started to settle. St Ives here we come today......

On the home straight....

I have been grafting beyond belief in the last four/five weeks with lots of time away and working hard in preparation for my holiday. Ironically, you would have thought running your own business and being the master of your own destiny would allow you to just take time off when you want. The reality could not be further from the truth and a great deal of planning needs to go into being able to take two weeks off. The mayhem and highly stressful working through a very long list of jobs continues, although the list is definitely getting smaller. I have not enjoyed the working away from home bit lately, the more tired I become, the less I am amenable to it I am. Last week, my birthday went by without seeing either Amy or the girls and I spent it in a hotel on my own working. Four more sleeps and counting, as our holiday and another family adventure looms and I can only say I am ready for it! This holiday and time with my family takes on so much importance to me this year, as I have been so busy of late. This time will be precious and I can't wait. Lets just hope they don't want to kill me after spending two weeks with me! I will definitely need some afternoon siestas, cups of coffee and time with the girls pratting about around Cornwall. The best things in life are worth waiting for and often mean a bit of hardship to get to and this to me is one of those things. Anna (my car buddy) and I are already planning snacks and our music selection for the long journey already, leaving one of the most inaccessible places in England to drive hundreds of miles to another one of the most inaccessible places in the country!