Valentine's Weekend

We had a lovely weekend just the four of us. We normally tend to spend a fair bit of time travelling at weekends to visit family i.e my dad or hubby's parents. I love to get out and about and visit people but I also love spending time with just hubby and the boys and this weekend was really nice. On Saturday I got my first National Trust fix of the year at Ickworth house in Suffolk. My sister-in-law introduced us to the NT a year ago with a yearly membership as a Christmas present and I have probably already said this in a previous post but I think it is one of the best presents I have ever received (apart from the rocking horse when I was a girl or my first car or my engagement ring of course!). Anyway, I am totally into NT places now and only wish there were more in our area. This is what I like about them:

• It makes you feel good to have a walk outside in lovely landscapes and scenery and there are normally sheep roaming the fields and wild deer in woodland areas


• It is educational for adults and children - learning about the history of the old buildings


• It is a great photo opportunity - beautiful architecture and landscaped gardens


• There is frequently a play area for children: outdoors and sometimes a small indoor area


• There is nearly always a tea shop or restaurant that serves locally-produced produce: food is fresh and yummy and they cater for children. Sometimes we have lunch if it is a good-sized cafe or we will take a picnic in the summer and then go to the tea shop for a cream tea and ice cream for the boys in the afternoon


• They frequently have a gift shop that sells local produce and pocket-money toys and good books: I have found some good children's books in these shops before


• And with a membership entrance is free to all NT places in the UK - this is especially useful for us when we go on our annual summer holiday to Cornwall as there is an abundance of NT sites down there.

Anyway, enough plugging of the NT! On Sunday it was Valentine's Day. Hubby surprised me with a dozen beautiful pink roses and a lovely bottle of Cabernet Sauvingnon (I'm still having the occassional class even though I'm pregnant - I am not as pedantic about things as I was with my first pregnancy - this time around I feel I need my daily cappuccino and weekly glass or two of red, everything in moderation is what I say). I gave hubby a chocolate fondue set which I thought would be fun for us all to use as a family as we all love chocolate! The boys gave Daddy a big Toblerone which was so heavy Jacob could hardly carry it! We went out for a walk and then enjoyed the rest of the day pottering aroung the house; Finn and I baked a yummy chocolate cake and hubby and Jacob watched Ice Age 3 on DVD. The only problem with weekends is that they are over too fast.