Back home we go

 25th June 2021

As usual, I had a lovely long lie-in bed. I awoke at around 8am to discover that they was a lot less in the flat that there had been on the other days of the holiday. I guessed this symbolised us going home … but not before all three of us walked into Ambleside to pick up a mountain of 'bathbuns and an apple pie' from the Apple Pie store. Why we couldn't have driven in, I will never know. It was raining quite a lot and I was getting wet. I heard my dad say that you haven't been to the lakes if you haven't walked in the rain … I beg to differ.

Once back at the flat, I got to watch a lot of tweenies whereas my dad was going back and forth to the car, and my mum was cooking food and cleaning. I hated the sound of the hoover therefore, I cried whenever it was on. Finally we were all packed. My parents paid careful attention to a few things connected with the water, gas and electricity in the flat before locking the door and getting in the car.

As I was in the car I decided to take this opportunity to have a long sleep … which lasted the whole journey. What I didn't know was that, in my dad's words, the M6 had turned into a carpark and it had taken almost four hours to get home (normally 2 and a half).

As we got home, both of my parents looked dead to the world whereas I, was full of beans. After my parents unpacked the car, my dad collapsed into the sofa and I gave him my favourite book to read to me … which he was overjoyed about.

So this ends another trip … ummm I wonder where I will be going next time, and if there will be shopping.

I don't want to miss a thing

 24th June 2021

Due to having problems falling to sleep last night, I got up at 8am to see both my mum and dad reading their books. They seemed to have had a good time.

As we headed to the car, the weather hadn't made it's mind up. It looked like rain however, it was quite hot. On our way to Sizergh Castle, we had sunshine, rain and cloud. Fortunately, when we arrived at Sizergh Castle, the sun was out and it was quite hot. I had a little snooze but managed to wake up in time for a walk around the gardens of the house - which were amazing; especially the triangle-shaped trees - before stopping for a picnic. After the picnic we went for a lovely however, quite long - I think the length surprised both mum and dad - walk. At points, mum had to carry me as dad carried the pushchair over difficult terrain. The walk was worth it as, once at the top of a huge hill, the view was stunning. I could see into the valley below plus the hills in the distance. Life seemed brilliant however, just then, mum pushed my pushchair into a unseen hole on this grassy hill. I went crashing to the ground however, I was unhurt. I did cry a bit as it was quite scary plus, I think mum hurt her leg.

Once back at the carpark, we stopped for a cold drink and an ice cream. I love cold water; it was supposed to be my mums but, I loved it so much I drank a lot of the water myself.

After Sizergh castle, we went to Kendal to have a look around even more shops. Mum bought some of her favourite crisps and looked in other shops. I have had enough of shops and I didn't to look around while sitting in my pushchair. Mum and dad saw this therefore dad sat with me on a bench while mum looked around the shops. I enjoyed this as I got to wave to the people who walked by. We didn't spent too long here and soon we were back at the carpark. Before we set off, dad ordered a Chinese takeaway to be picked up in Ambleside. As we drove off, I decided to sleep in the car so that I would be 'full of beans' for our final night at the flat. Even though I don't like shopping, I decided to stay awake in Kendal as I didn't want to miss a thing.

We got back to the flat, Chinese in hand, and I set to my final evening of play. I've loved my time here and, whilst being here, I learnt a new skill. I have managed to walk quite a few steps without falling over!

I wonder when I will be back?

Walking and swinging

 23rd June 2021

I had a glorious sleep. I awoke at 8am and found my parents out of bed. My dad didn't seem too happy. It would appear that, when I've been having long snoozes, my mum has sneaked off for some quiet reading and not waking my dad, so he could do the same. Never mind! I gave my Dad my favourite book to read … again … to cheer him up.

We got in the car around half ten. To my surprise we weren't driving for long and, after 10 minutes, we had arrived at Wray Castle. I thought that we were just going to have a look around the castle - which was empty but, the rooms were interesting - however, after being in the castle for 15 minutes or so, we went for a lovely walk along the shores of Windermere. I had a little time out of my pushchair before we returned to the car. A lovely, and surprising hour.

Surprisingly, I was actually quite tired as I had played a lot in the flat this morning. I therefore went to sleep as I heard my parents talking about shopping again. What i didn't realise was that, this shop - Lakeland - had a café. While I was asleep my parents ate a sausage roll, a lovely sandwich, a portion of chips (really annoyed I missed that), a chocolate cake and a hot chocolate and water to drink. They then had a look around the shop. I awoke just as we headed back to the car. As my dad drove my mum fed me yesterdays sausage rolls … lovely.

Next we made it to Grasmere. My dad got the last parking space in the carpark and went to get a ticket. We had a look around a few shops but not too many. Then, amazingly, I saw that we were heading to a play ground. My mum picked me up and in a swing I went. It was amazing because, not only was I doing my favourite thing, I could see huge mountains all around me with some small clusters of very green trees. I was swinging for a good 20 minutes before it started to rain. I could have kept going but my parents insisted that we took cover. It wasn't too bad as I got to have something to eat again.

Just before heading back to the car, my mum spotted a National Trust place called 'Alan Bank'. I was quite inquisitive therefore, off we went to explore. It turned out that this place had a large house - and, just like Wray Castle, there wasn't much inside - however, a guy called 'Wordsworth' had lived here. My parents seemed quite impressed by this but, I would have preferred some soft play.

With our short visit to the house completed, we headed back to the car with a minute on our ticket left to spare. We headed back to the flat for a bit more playing and a late night. I struggled to sleep and, I am not sure why.

Ferries and shops

 22nd June 2021

I had a lovely long sleep. Once up I ate breakfast before having a play in the flat. The weather was really hot; so much so, that my mum closed the curtains. Soon we were ready to go however, instead of getting the car, I was put straight into my pushchair. Next my dad looked at the sun before covering me in this cream. It was a little cool and I didn't mind it. 

We walked into Ambleside however, instead of going into the town, we went along the coast. It looked as though we were going to catch a ferry and I was really excited. It took quite a while to get onto said ferry. My dad didn't look too impressed with their online booking system. Eventually my dad gave up and mum booked the tickets. 26 pounds it cost for the three of us (I was free).

We sat downstairs on the ferry. The view wasn't brilliant however, I had loads of room to crawl around. we soon made it to Barrow-on-Windemere. First of all was lunch, after this my parents headed into boring shops therefore, I went to sleep.

Before i knew it, 2 hours had past and I awoke. It was soon time for the ferry back. My mum had bought two dresses, a hat and some colourful letters. I was very happy as I had missed all the shops and had awoken just in time for the ferry again. Once more, we were downstairs though, this time, we had bigger windows. 

Once in Ambleside, i thought we were heading back to the flat. Actually, we went into Ambleside to have a look around even more shops, and so my dad could order a billion bath buns from Apple Pie. I wasn't sleepy so, instead, i decided to be sick. My dad almost through me and the pushchair out of the shop at lighting speed. He then took me to a park (victory!) whereas mum went and bought more clothes.

We eventually got back to the flat at around 5pm. I had a little power-sleep before playing a little more and then dinner. I had leftover sausages whereas my parents had a wonderful looking Thai curry. Looking at my dad, he seemed to have had a stressful day … with the ferry tickets, ferry customer service and my huge amount of sick. I decided to cheer him up by asking him to ready my favourite book (Don-Do-Ku-Don) for the 327th time today. I felt a little guilty for being sick while my parents were having a good time shopping therefore, I went to sleep around 9pm. 

Walking and shopping

 21st June 2021

I decided to have a lie-in today. It didn't seem to matter as both my parents weren't in a huge hurry. In fact, I got to have my first short snooze of the day before we left the flat. I was back in the car but, for only 20 minutes. I found myself at Elswater where, I could hear my parents say, we were going for a walk. First of all, my parents had to park the car and this meant waiting for a space. 10 minutes went past before a kind old lady - with her dog - left so we could park. I gave them a wave.

I enjoyed my walk around the lake. The path was smooth and there were loads of other pushchairs about. I spent the whole time waving at people before we sat down for a picnic. After the picnic we walked back the way we came and back around the lake to the car. All-in-all we had been around 2 hours and it was lovely. I decided not to sleep in the car. Instead I decided to play with my toys. I was so busy that I didn't realise that we hadn't gone back to the flat and, instead, we had made our way to Keswick. Now, normally I don't like shopping however, I liked Keswick. I didn't want my parents to know this so, I went around with a grumpy look on my face. We were in Keswick for around 2 hours. My parents did quite a bit of shopping including my dad buying a new light-weight waterproof jacket. Once done we got back in the car and back to the flat in Ambleside.

Strangely, I wasn't tired. I decided to look out at the beautiful view all the way back to the flat. Once home I had sausages for tea before I played for a little while. I was finally getting sleepy around 7pm. Both my parents seemed happy about this but I couldn't understand why. There was so much more playing I could have done though, not with the TV as my dad had built a fancy around it. 

Still, I know that my parents would miss me tonight so, I only slept for an hour on my own before I had to be held for a long time by my mum before I eventually fell asleep.

Good fun

Peter Rabbit

 20th June 2021

I had a lovely sleep. Apparently my dad didn't and that could have been because, I took up a lot of the bed … not sure. Anyway, after breakfast i wanted to have a bit of a snooze. My parents put me in the car and that was fine … I drifted off to sleep. Annoyingly, I got awoken up an hour later. More annoying, I got woken up so that my parents could go food shopping. I was surprised that my parents hadn't learnt anything from the previous holiday where we visited Tesco. I therefore decided to remind them just how much I hate food shopping by screaming the place down. It would appear that my parents managed to move a little quicker after this. 

After going back to the flat to unload the food and to have lunch, we drove to a place called hilltop. This was the place that Beatrix Potter lived and wrote her stories. I was well excited to have a look around and, though the house was pretty cool, it didn't take long. We didn't spend long looking around the gardens either as my pushchairs wheels kept getting stuck between the stones laid within the path. 

Hilltop had been lovely, but didn't take too long. After this we went to the village of Hawkeshead where my parents visited even more boring shops. It wasn't too bad as i got presents; a carrot toy and some Peter Rabbit bookends. After this excitement I decided to have a little snooze and, when I awoke, I had a massive ice cream shoved into my face. It tasted of strawberry's. It was lovely and creamy but it was also a little too cold. Finally, after almost two days we entered a park and I got to do my most favourite thing … I went on a swing. I really enjoyed it and I wanted to swing more but, almost as soon as we had started, we stopped. 

I was still thinking about the swing as we made it back to the flat. Both of my parents looked tired … which was a bonus. I got to crawl around for a good few hours while they relaxed and read. Eventually I had crawled around so much that i too was tired out. We all seemed to go to sleep at the same time … around 10pm.

Off again!

 19th June

I'm starting to distrust Saturdays. Once again, I thought that this would be a normal Saturday. My mum went to work and I was at home with my dad. I didn't see much of my dad and, at the time, I didn't know why. What i learnt later was that, he was busy packing the car for a mega long drive.

At 4.15pm I was put into the car and, I thought, I was just going to pick up mum. I was a little confused as to why grandma was waving me goodbye … I was going to be back in 30 minutes. Or so I thought. Actually, after we picked up mum, we continued driving to a far away place called Stoke-on-Trent and then further. At this point I fell asleep.

While I - and mum - was asleep dad drove north towards somewhere called The Lake District. Now, my dad decided - for some unknown reason - to try a 'new way' to our holiday flat instead of going the way he has been going for years and knows off by heart. When I woke I heard my dad ask my mum 'does this look right' and 'we surely should be there by now'. As it was, I awoke to the car going up-and-down and around endless corners. I was okay, until i saw a sign which stated 'Windermere (via ferry) 2 1/2 miles'. Now I don't know what a ferry is, but it cant be good. I therefore started to cry a lot. My mum wasn't feeling too well either. I heard that my dad was overjoyed with a car sick wife and crying child … shouldn't have tried a new way, should he!

We eventually arrived at the flat around 7.15pm. This was my first time to the flat and I love it … so many places to crawl around and investigate. I had dinner before heading to bed. A very busy day!