With Emily happily settled in at Stonefold we were finally able to take advantage of doting grandparents and abandon our daughter for a two night break. We'd booked into the wonderful old Priory Hotel in Bath, the city where George and I first met 11 years ago. Arriving at Lunchtime on Tuesday we headed straight out to George's favourite lunch stop, the Cornish Pasty Shop. After wandering around the city for an hour or so, marveling at how small it now felt, we soon decided to grab a beer in the garden at the Pig and Fiddle. We ended up on a mini-pub crawl of our old favourites, and several beers later we realised it was 9pm. Time for a curry in another of our old haunts. The next morning, after a blissfully uninterrupted night's sleep, we headed to Bathampton for lunch in the pretty beer garden at The George. I was keen to have a poke about at Bath University, not having been back since graduating in 1998. Not much had changed, except the one place I wanted to see - the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. The whole front entrance was boarded up so we snuck around the back and had a wander through the corridors instead. It all seemed a very long time ago indeed. That night we dined in the rather posh restaurant at the Priory, and reminisced about the old days.

Sadly all good things come to an end and it was time for George to head to London for a night out with Phil and a work meeting, and for me to make the nostalgic drive back up the M4 to Oxfordshire. Stopping at Stonefold to collect Emily we arrived at Lynn and Alistair's house in Chipping Norton in time for dinner. Emily and Charlotte stared each other out across the kitchen table whilst competing to make the most mess! That night Julieanne, Anna, Nicola and Alice came over for a lovely dinner. We collected George from the station the next day and drove to the quaint Cotswold town of Bledington for a wonderful lunch at the King's Head Inn, apparently frequented by Prince Harry. Probably good that he wasn't in residence as Emily and Charlotte found the piano and made some very special music together.

The next couple of days were spent back at Stonefold, helping prepare for Mum and Dad's 40th wedding anniversary party. My oldest school friend Twiz brought her husband and 2 year old daughter Lucy to see the house where we'd played as kids - it was lovely to finally meet her gorgeous little girl. Thankfully Dad had borrowed a marquee for the party as it was yet another showery day. Clairey and Gareth arrived that morning and it was wonderful to have the whole extended family together for a delicious lunch. That afternoon we all watched a slide show of Dad's photos of us as kids, much to the husband's and boyfriends amusement.

The next day we waved goodbye to Stonefold and made our way West towards Cornwall. To break up the journey we'd arranged to drop in at Sarah's house in Cirencester for lunch, then stay overnight at Ewan and Olivia's new home just up the road in Perrot's Brook. Ewan and Olivia, and their little boy Jack, had just moved to the country from their 3 bedroom flat in East London. Their new home is an enormous sprawling stately home complete with a guest wing, seven bathrooms and a private wood. Emily absolutely loved Jack and the pair of them tore around the kitchen island chasing each other on trikes and baby walkers. Very cute. Olivia, who is expecting baby number two in October, and I exchanged pharmacy and motherhood stories while Ewan showed George all the computer stuff he had in the hundreds of boxes cramming his office.

The chaos that Emily and Jack caused was nothing compared to pandemonium that descended on Barton House with the arrival of the 5 cousins. We were the last to arrive and Abi, Jake and Dylan already had the run of the place whilst Molly watched quietly from her bouncy chair. Emily was a little overwhelmed at first but as soon as she saw the toy pram and dolly in the garden she was off. Very wisely Sue and John moved out to the next-door neighbour's and retired to some peace and quiet each night. We had a wonderful few days exploring the countryside and relaxing in the garden, and the kids played really well together. The 22nd was our 3rd Wedding anniversary, and John laid on a very special treat for us. Jason and Fiona had cleared out a load of old furniture and junk from the storage van at the back of the house and John had built an incredible bonfire in the back field. We took a wheelbarrow of beer down and cheered as John poured on the petrol and lit the tractor tyre at the front of the pile. It was a very impressive, if slightly toxic bonfire, and we all took turns to have a family photo in front of the flames. It's been a long time since we've had an exciting night out like that!

We'd arranged to have Emily christened that Sunday at Tremaine church, where George's father is buried. Godmother Emma Gemma and Godfather Rich arrived on Friday night, just in time to meet the vicar for tea and biscuits at the vicarage. It did go on a little bit, so we had to rush down tiny Cornish lanes with the hedges touching each wing mirror, to get to the Rising Sun pub before they stopped serving at 9pm. We made it with seconds to spare, and joined my parents and Clairey and G who had just finished eating. It was really lovely to see Emma and Rich again and as they were both staying in the caravan in the garden at Barton House we had plenty of time to catch up. Saturday promised to be a warm and sunny day so we headed to Widemouth Bay for sun, surf and sand. Godfather Phil and his girlfriend Sofia had driven down from London that morning and we met them huddled under towels on a windswept beach. The boys braved the elements and went off for a surf while we girls ate ice cream and shivered under blankets. We really had been reminded what a real English summer was like! That night we had a lamb roast at Barton House as Emily's pre-christening party, and sunk several beers in her honour. It was a really lovely evening and a chance to catch up with friends and family who had made the journey to Cornwall.

On Sunday we awoke to rain and a strange feeling of deja-vu.... almost exactly 3 years after I dashed up to the church in the rain for our wedding we would again be arriving at a church huddled under umbrellas. The beautiful little church was packed, and Emily behaved beautifully during the service - not even crying when we handed her to the vicar for the baptism. A couple of local boys read out poems they had written about Emily which was really sweet. Back at Barton House we all huddled in the kitchen for tea and Cornish pasties, and the obligatory photos. It was a wonderful day and so great to have an excuse to get all our friends and family together again.

All too soon (or perhaps not soon enough for Sue and John) it was time to pack the bags one last time and start the long journey back to London. Emily was fantastic and slept most of the way, only waking when we stopped in Reading to meet up with Berni for a quick dinner at a pub by the river. It had been a crazy and exhausting trip, and certainly not a holiday. but it had been so wonderful to catch up with family and friends.