The Wales Trip.

We traveled in high winds and lashing rain, which made for the most exciting travel to France we've had to date! Luckily the Ferry was reasonably calm and so the crossing was at least relaxing. In England the weather was at least dry but with there were quite strong gusting winds. Thijs had to wrestle more than drive the car towards Wales.
As the "Welcome to Wales" sign loomed, so too did the dark rain clouds. It was raining by the time we hit the toll booth. We had forgotten to bring cash with us, and the troll bridge into Wales does not accept any card. So with visions having to take the unlit back roads , we threw ourselves on the mercy of the Chief official Troll who let us off with a pink slip which we promised to pay at the nearest post office. And so the Drostens triumphantly enter Wales!

It was great to visit family. Dad was very pleased with his stack of Dutch beer, cheese and Easter goodies. Granny loved her vase of flowers. She would call every morning at 9am to give a growth/flowering report! The other joy of Wales is of course the shopping!! On Friday we had a restful look around the smaller outlet shops in Caerphilly. On Saturday it was time for the big city! Cardiff is the baby shop metropolis! Thijs quickly lost the will to live as we cruised rack upon rack of baby stuff. I was demented because I couldn't think of what on earth we would need, when there was so much choice in front of me.
After a whole day, we ended up with sore feet and a few baby romper suits. Cute ones of course! We had found our perfect pram in Caerphilly, and so on our return from Cardiff we stopped off and purchased the pram and took it over to Granny's for the seal of approval. After much "Ooh's" and "Ahh's" approval was received, and so Saturday was classed a success!

Sunday and Monday was spend enjoying time with family. Granny enjoyed her lamb Easter dinner. After protesting that she only eats a potato she managed to scromff her way through some carrots, beans, roast potato, boiled potato and some lamb. She then polished off some strawberries and cream - well, one strawberry and all of the cream! She has lost an awful lot of weight so it was great to see her enjoy her dinner.
On Monday a friend of Dad's showed up with some old baby things she no longer needed. WOW! We were bowled over by her generosity. We had 3 black bags full of practically new baby clothes and blankets. Plus a brand new Moses basket! There are romper suits, sleep sacks, hand knitted cardigans, booties, beautiful outfits and so much! We can hardly take it in. We've gone from having nothing at home to having so much we don't know where to put it!

Packing for our return journey was an exercise in size management! I remember Thijs telling me he loved puzzles as a kid, and I can tell you this pays off when we need to pack the entire front room into the back of a Peugeot 307!
Can you believe it, we were stopped at customs to search our car?! I had visions of my pork and leek sausages being confiscated but luckily Lilo came to the rescue. She slithered out of the car and proceeded to charm the entire staff, they were so busy petting her that they didn't bother pulling everything out. So my British cooked breakfast is saved by the dog - that doesn't happen very often I can tell you. It's more usual that the breakfast ends up in the dog! She definitely deserves a sausage for this heroic act!

Our journey home was not as thrilling as the journey to Wales, but we were kept on our toes by a mysterious grinding noise coming from the front wheels. Without any of the wheels falling off, we arrived home 11 hours after our departure from Wales and fell gratefully into bed!

Our front room is now full of baby items and I have no idea where to store it all! Hmmm, since we have today free - I wonder if Thijs will mind if we go into town and look at some baby furniture!! ;)