Life Inside the Doll House

Can someone please tell me how we got to December already? I am in the middle of the usual end of year frenzy and just noticed that I haven't even managed to update this blog with our Halloween pictures. I meant to do a big Halloween post but I guess it might have to be a fudged end of year post instead.  We love Halloween and this year it was particularly brilliant. I'm not sure why given that it was mid-week but everyone in our neighbourhood threw themselves right into it. The kids had strong views over the vision they were going for and I pretty much left them to it.  I think that they nailed it! I took my big camera out for the second year in a row. I find this so difficult because it draws a lot of attention and I feel the need to down play what I am doing. Ideally I would be climbing into all sorts of crazy angles, or lying on the ground, but I had to try to content myself with a bit of pointing and shooting... and shooting... and shooting.  ...

We started this year with a wish list of places we would love to visit in 2017. Travel has always been hugely important to me but it has been much harder to manage with a young family. One of the joys of our children getting older is that I feel we can branch out and explore the world a little bit more.   We have learned to embrace road trips and we are certainly willing to drive quite long distances for the sake of an adventure. We try to avoid flying because it really racks up the cost and it is such a hassle. Stockholm was however high on the list this year and I am delighted to say that we managed to go for October half term. It was just too far to drive in the space of one week so we flew in the end.  If I am honest I would have to say that we chose Stockholm because of our love of Astrid Lindgren books including Pippi Longstocking and Karlson on the Roof and because we are partial to cinnamon buns. That's reason enough... right? I haven't been to a new country i...