Last shout for AB/CD

Part of my Christmas present from Sharon was two tickets to see the old tribute band stalwarts, AB/CD, through in Glasgow on Sunday. To make a day of it I went through to Glasgow early and picked up Paul Last from Cambuslang en route to Paisley to see the St. Mirren v Hearts game, my first league match in almost two years. Things started well with a goal in the third minute and a first half onslaught but the Buddies failed to capitalise and the match ended up 1-1 after a Hearts equaliser at the start of the second half. At least it was dry and not too cold.

I took Paul on the scenic route back through Paisley and Glenburn, up to Barrhead and then via Hurlet and Clarkston before he took over the directions to get us back to his house. The rest of the Lasts went through to Edinburgh to stay over at our house - I think Paul and I got the best of the deal! We got the train into Glasgow Central as the rain started to come on and eventually got into La Tasca for a quick (far quicker than Christmas Eve) tapas tea before heading down Union St to the Cathouse. I saw AB/CD a couple of times around 1999 and 2000 and, it transpired, this was their swansong, with the Monday night show in Glasgow the last they would be performing as singer Alan Moore has decided, at the age of 64 and with unspecified "health problems", to call it a day. All credit to him, he still managed to belt out a good 18-20 songs. It was deafening though! I'm not sure what Paul, as someone who had never heard any AC/DC stuff before, made of it, but it was a good blast from the past for me. We had to leg it before the end to catch the last train back to Cambuslang. It revived memories of running down Renfield St. from the Apollo and all the way up Glasgow Central station (it was always platform 13!) to get the last train back to Paisley after a gig!

Monday was absolutely miserable in Glasgow, wet and grey, so after a lazy morning and bacon sandwich with Paul, I headed back east and met up with Sharon in B&Q for some serious light, sink, tiles and taps shopping as we try to finalise the purchases required for the interior work which will recommence next week. Robert Lind babysat for the boys who were delighted as it meant they had an extended run of TV, Skylanders, Minecraft and so on. It's been electronic heaven over Christmas as we've been rising late (the boys haven't), the weather has been miserable and it's been dark by half three, so they've been indulged in inside play most of the time.

Wearing the boys out on Christmas Eve

Despite the wild wind "blowing a hooly" as Sharon would have it, we headed into town on Christmas Eve to wear out the boys. First stop was haircuts in Morningside for the big three while Sharon and Angus finished the grocery shopping. Angus and I had our haircuts on Sunday, so we were excused. Finn just wanted a trim (he's trying to grown a long mop on top) and was a little disgruntled that the barber took off a little more than he wanted.

Next we headed into town and parked on Charlotte Square, close to La Tasca, where we went for a late tapas lunch. The restaurant was quiet but the service was dreadfully slow, with our paella taking some 45 minutes to arrive from ordering. We weren't in any hurry, but it can be hard enough keeping the four boys entertained in a restaurant at the best of times, least of all when it's Christmas Eve. Fortunately they had room to roam and ate up well when their food came. Sharon did complain though and we earned a 40% discount on the meal. No complaints about the food really, it's a good gluten-free restaurant, but our appetite waned in the time it took for the food to arrive.

We then dawdled along Rose Street in the gloaming, Angus delighted at the lights strung above the street and having a good look at all the decorations in shop windows. We exchanged a pair of trainers for Finn then wandered into the German market where Finn bought a wooden pig and Sharon bought some decorations as the strengthening wind whipped around the stalls. The big wheel was closed, as was the lower gardens, no doubt to the chagrin of those runnig the event. Saying that, the town and market seemed quieter than expected. Whether it was the weather warnings that had dissuaded people from travelling into town, the midweek nature of Christmas this year or the much-discussed belt tightening due to dire economic straits, I do not know, but central Edinburgh was much quieter than previous years. Sharon took the boys minus Finn on the carousel then we took a detour via Jenners to see the tree (3,000 lights!) before passing the festive pinnacle that is the Dome, its columns LED-resplendent. We bumped into the Barrs before struggling into the chill wind, back along George St to the car.

Angus was in fine form but Rowan got a bit cold and miserable - as ever, he wouldn't zip up his jacket! Both Edinburgh Castle and Jenners were lit up blood red - "Castle Blood" - and looked more grotesque than festive. Angus and I decided that vampires lived there. We also spotted Santa in Starbucks as we walked back to the car. Obviously in need of a double espresso for the long night ahead.

It was after six when we got home and the boys changed into their onesies for a supper in front of the TV in the temporary, but cosy, sitting room. We watched the end of Finding Nemo and Elf then it was upstairs to bed. Finn was desperate to go, being very tired, and even Sean, notorious for not being able to sleep ("Try closing your eyes and staying in bed, Sean. It might help."), requested a "boring book" and was asleep within minutes. Angus resisted briefly and Rowan went down quickly too, the stockings laid out at the ends of their beds and Santa and Rudolph's snacks laid out on a tray by the tree in the bare, but thankfully wind and watertight, extension. Sharon and I carried on with a few festive jobs as the southerly gale picked up outside, battering the newly blocked walls and windows and tugging at the tiles freshly nailed to the sarking. I pity poor Santa having to do the rounds on a night like this!

Giant's Causeway

Sunday dawned reasonably bright as Angus fell out the camp bed in our room. The boys kept fairly quiet however and Sharon and I had a lie in while they arranged their own breakfast downstairs. We made the short drive to the Giant's Causeway late in the morning and parked in the Bushmills Railway car park since, at €6 for the day, it was considerably cheaper than the €21 being asked for the combined car park and visitor centre that opened last year. We walked back up, through the tunnel and down the coastal path to the Giant's Causeway itself. The walk is reminiscent of the cliffs and raised beach of Skye or Arran. After about a mile we reached the hexagonal columns of the causeway itself, their flat tops and undulations like some geometric construction designed by man. The boys clambered all overs the columns and up some of the narrower ridges which was a bit nerve-wracking in the gusty wind. Reputedly the Causeway is the windiest spot in Ireland.

I headed out with the big three to where the waves were breaking and the spray was flying while Sharon waited for the bus back with a tiring Angus. Then the rain shower arrived! We huddled in a gap in the basalt as the rain lashed around us until we decided to make a break for it and return to the road. I survived a nasty slip on the slick rock. Sean and Finn walked back up the hill at a good pace while I accompanied Rowan. Despite the rain we were all in good spirits when we met up with Angus and Sharon at the top. Finn was funny, mimicking a woman who had been "singin' in the rayin" to her children. But we were pretty wet!

I dropped everyone back at the cottage then did a quick lunch shop in Bushmills before returning for a well earned roll and sausage. After a rest we drove along the coast to Portrush, a busy resort town with a stunning beach and a great looking links golf course. The boys had a brief free runaround in the rather grimly decorated Finn MacCool's soft play then we wandered along to the very busy 55 Degrees North who didn't have a note of our booking but who managed to find us a table nonetheless. Despite the business the service was good and the food was excellent, my pork chop, mash and red cabbage being very tasty, Sharon enjoying her steak and the boys tucking into their pizzas, pastas and salmon. It was very good value too, on the early evening menu but with portions that would put most restaurants in Edinburgh to shame.

I went to get the car and was held up as an Orange march made its way through the already busy streets. The boys headed along to the glorious stretch of beach known as the East Strand. Angus and Rowan immediately stripped down and ran into the sea, evoking memories of the last evening in Mallorca in 2010 when the big three were chasing in and out of the waves. Eventually we rounded them up, dusted them off and headed back to Bushmills to end a second enjoyable day in Norn Irlnd.

Bushmills and beyond

We've arrived in Bushmills after a pleasantly unremarkable two and a half hour drive to the Cairnryan ferry terminal this morning. The 1130 ferry time meant we were able to rise around 0630, breakfast, finish packing and get on the road at 0815 without the usual panic and rush and early start that accompanied our previous journeys to Stranraer for the 0930 crossing.

On arrival in Belfast we headed north for a change, through the showers to Bushmills, on the doorstep of the Giant's Causeway. We are staying at Aunt Rachel's cottages in a nice little stable / byre conversion about a mile out of Bushmills. The boys settled in quickly, had a wander round the farm (Angus was asking the ponies their names, but they weren't talking) then Sharon and Sean went for a run. Sharon is trying to capitalise on Sean's competitive instincts and the fact that he seemed quite pleased with himself after last week's "Race At Your Place" at the school, at which he and Finn ran the 1.5km course without stopping. Sharon accompanied Rowan round the course with just one or two stops. Tonight, Sean and Sharon ran for 28 minutes and managed about two and a half miles, which was a good effort, with Sean leading the way for the second part of the run.

We then went to the Smugglers Inn where Sean and Finn surpassed themselves, putting away ribs for starter (Sean was even seen to eat his salad, without coercion) followed by a burger and chips. Rowan and Angus tucked away their mains with little fuss too, so we went to a local playpark to burn off some energy.

After the usual carry-on trying to get them to settle in their new beds we've had time for a quiet hour or so. Time for bed, as I suspect, tired or not, they'll be up with the lark (or the farm animals, more to the point) tomorrow morning.

Cheese rolling

The variable weather has continued as spring struggles to make an appearance. The buds and blossom on the trees in the garden are three weeks late at least. The blooms on the camelia bush have appeared however and Tomasa, our hard-working Polish gardener, has returned to start work on the overgrown beds, lawn and hedges.

We had a lazy Saturday as the rain came and went. Marie eventually walked three of the boys to the library and I went out for a cycle with Finn, who did very well using his gears and getting up a few inclines without stopping. It was a bit of an effort for him though - he never strikes me as having a natural base level of fitness like Sean and Rowan who just seem more active. Finn will have more stamina, I suspect. We'll see as they grow up which sports or fitness regimes, if any, they choose to follow.

On Sunday I did the big cooked breakfast thing after an early trip to the supermarket with my little helper, Angus. Sharon was looking askance at the amount of food I set out on the table but there wasn't much left by the time the locusts had visited it. Sean and Rowan managed two rolls each and sausages, bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, beans, tomatoes and mushrooms soon disappeared from the table. In five or ten years' time I'll have to visit Costco beforehand to get cafe-sized packs of provisions.

Later, after homework and lunch, we packed into the two cars and headed east to Dunbar. The day got steadily greyer and colder but the rain held off, allowing the boys a good play in Lauderdale Park before we walked along towards the harbour. The boys elected to play "Cheese Rolling" by lining up at the top of the grassy bank overlooking the harbour and chasing a golf ball that Sean had found. Many times they did this, with remarkabky few injuries but a lot of grass stains. Angus wasn't quite able to compete but enjoyed the physicality of running and falling, while Rowan's wiriness proved as asset once again as his rapid grabs snatched victory on a number of occasions. Finn came out on top though after more than twenty runs and a lot of wailing from Rowan.

As they rain did begin to spot heavier we drove on to Gifford, to the Goblin Ha', for dinner. Arriving before six we hit that lull after lunch and before dinner when the place is quiet but service isn't that great. I took the big three over to the park for "base jumping", as if the "cheese rolling" hadn't been enough. Cue more wailing from Rowan as tiredness kicked in when I was timing them on a circuit. Dinner was fine, without being spectacular, and we drive home through a lovely evening with two cars full of tired boys.

Out twice in a week

Sharon and I managed to get out twice this week! On Tuesday, we went to see Derren Brown at the Playhouse, Sharon having bought the tickets for me as a Christmas present. It was a good show, plenty of pseudo mind-reading and sleight of hand and a good finale involved numeracy and memory skills. I suspect there was a bit of hidden camera work and collusion but it was entertaining. Afterwards we picked up Marie and Michael from Milne's Bar. They came over as cover this week while Sharon went down to Birmingham for a couple of days of meetings. Normally they would be over in May to look after all four boys as we jaunt off on the Pampered Chef incentive trip, but this year only Sharon will be heading to the Med, leaving me to do the childminding.

On Sharon's return from Birmingham on Friday, I met her in Whigham's after work. We shared a bottle of wine then headed through to Queensferry St Lane, to Sygn, one of the newer bars in the area that also does decent food. Sharon was very impressed with her burger. The fried halloumi starter disappeared quickly too. I realised we hadn't paid for the wine at Whigham's so we dropped back in there to settle up before there was a police report out on us! It was good to be out after work on a Friday with just my wife. It must be years since we did that!

Festive run-up

The final week at school is generally a write-off. Not that work is much different: productivity takes a dip. There was a review of our function of late but fortunately there appears to be no redundancies amongst my peers. There are a few IT roles going though, almost entirely through voluntary redundancy. As ever it is unsettling, especially as more and more well-kent faces with Standard Life experience leave the building.

The schools broke up on Thursday lunchtime. A few mums and a good few kids went to the cinema to see the Rise of the Guardians. It was Angus's first trip to the cinema. Unlike his brothers who did not distinguish themselves on their cinematic debuts, Angus sat happily in the dark and the noise and munched on his sweeties. That made up for him missing out on his concert and nursery parties as his cough and cold kept him at home all week.

Stuart and Lesley came over for tea and an exchange of gifts on the Friday evening then I went out to them on the Sunday afternoon as Angus had fallen asleep in the car and we decided to give him a decent nap.

Earlier on the Sunday we had headed into the city centre for a brunch at the Edinburgh Larder deli in Blackfriars St (Black Bo's in days gone by). I enjoyed my GF bacon sandwich and celeriac soup and the boys ate up too. We walked from there to the Festival Theatre to see The Snowman, the boys' present courtesy of their Irish aunties and Nana and Papa. There is so much stuff in the house these days that these sorts of presents are appreciated by us, if not necessarily by the boys. They were attentive enough, although seemed to enjoy running around the upper cirle during the interval more, Angus flipping seats up and down everywhere he went, running into boxes and generally giving Sharon heart failure every time he went near the edge of the balcony. It was his theatre debut, following on from the cinematic experience two days' previously. Finn preferred the talking of the panto to the mime and music of The Snowman but Sean had keen eyes for the dancing, of which there was plenty. Rowan and Sean liked trying to spot the set changes whenever it went dark. Overall it was very well done, with the snow cascading from the roof at the end a fitting finale to set us up for Christmas.

October break

As previously noted, Sean has been inspired by the Great British bake-Off (GBBO) and even Angus has been demanding "I wanna watch the Bake-Off". So, we put Sean's birthday money from Nana and Papa towards three days' attendance at the Edinburgh Cook School out at Kirkliston. It was just as well as the weather was filthy for most of the school holiday week. Phoebe and Ross were there too and Sean had a great time. He made soups, did baking, made rolls, Thai fish cakes, burgers, pizza; all sorts of things. We only got to sample a few items as most were consumed on the premises, but he did very well and certainly enjoyed himself. He has chosen to do baking as a hobby as part of working for his JAS award (a sort of extra-curricular pre-Duke of Edinburgh type scheme) and has had a litter of cookbooks scattered around his bedroom. Perhaps we'll see more of a return on this investment than on the golf coaching!

There was a Saturday gymnastics taster session at Ladywood that Finn went along to, as well as Sean, but Finn wasn't too enthused. I'd say Finn is more adept at picking up things that require skill rather than out and out athleticism and any sort of class where he has to wait around for his turn doesn't seem to engage him. He's started his skiing lessons with his P4 classmates but we need to get him doing a bit more, physically.

I took the Friday off and we went into town and walked along to the Royal Academy. The boys were funny at the Ross Theatre in the Gardens, with Rowan stomping on to the stage and declaring a tap dancing show. The rest then followed up by cavorting around on the boards. There was no audience save for Sharon and myself. The art gallery was interesting but not necessarily the best place for four boys under ten, the stuffy atmosphere rather matching the overly religious and traditional artwork on display. The boys did enjoy a mythical beasts exhibition however, and it inspired them, once home, to draw their own mythical beast.

On the Sunday we found ourselves in another gallery, the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), as the culmination of a trip through to Glasgow. Sharon went with Sean and Rowan to see the North European Gymnastics championship in the new Emirates Arena in Parkhead while I drove in and around the city centre with the other two, eventually parking at Queen St station and heading for lunch in Zizzi's in Princes Sq. Finn and Angus had a great time playing on the escalators! The others really enjoyed the gymnastics, Rowan having room to roam and Sean picking up a few tips. We met up again at GOMA and enjoyed a drawing session. Having just spent some time in an art shop across the road, it was good to do something arty, not to be good at it, but just to express. I did a nice little sketch of Finn, though the boy himself and Rowan dismissed it. Harsh critics!

We had a family swim at Bonnyrigg to round off the holiday, Sean most upset that Wester Hailes was closed. When will they learn that throwing tantrums when we have no control over the situation is a waste of everyone's energy? Instead we had a good time at Bonnyrigg in the two pools. Angus was a demon once the water slide opened, demanding Sharon and I accompany him down. Rowan and Finn had a great time in the deeper pool, swimming through the "waterfall".

Finn is eight

The dark-haired boy is eight. Finn had a midweek birthday this year so he was at school but opened his presents beforehand. He and his brothers have been up a little too smartly since school restarted, but, to their credit, have been getting dressed and getting their own cereal, albeit a little messily.

I left work smartly, picked up Angus and drove to Straiton, to Frankie & Benny's which was Finn's preferred location for his birthday tea. Brodie was invited too. The boys mostly had pizza while I enjoyed a gammon steak with chips and fried egg. Always a gluten-free favourite in a rather gluten-intensive eatery such as F & B's. We got Finn a new bike for his birthday, a blue Trax mountain bike with six gears, as he has been cycling well on his old bike which has no gear and two broken pedals. Maybe he deserved a new one!

Amongst his other presents, and with his birthday money, Finn favoured science kits - making slime and volcanoes and the like. He's burnt a few patches on the back lawn, I've noticed! His party was at Gymtastic in Penicuik, the current favourite with Rowan and Sean as it features rings, trampoline, parallel bars, a vault and a rope swing as well as lots and lots of foam for jumping, diving, somersaulting and falling into. Angus had a great time launching himself off the vault into the foam, working up his usual sweat. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and Sharon's two-tone birthday chocolate and Victoria sponge cake.

I also had a nice Saturday day out with the wee two, which gave Rowan the chance to be the leader for a change. We drove up to Loch Leven and got the boat across to the castle, reprising Angus's second birthday day out. Angus and Rowan had fun chasing a grouse in the castle grounds. We tried to eat at Loch Leven's Larder but it was too busy so we headed to the Inn at Scotlandwell instead. More gammon for me and macaroni cheese for the boys. We completed our circuit of the loch, arriving back at Kinross for a play at the park there, Angus loving the slide and managing to negotiate the web. Rowan had a great time in "the spinny thing", enticing Angus in too.

Grand day out

Given the weather this summer, I hardly expected we'd be in shorts and trunks and suncream so soon after returning from Spain but I was wrong. Friday dawned clear so I made a picnic and packed up the car with the buckets and spades and got the boys herded up. We drove out to Dunbar. The tide was well out but, despite this, the bridge over the tidal river was still short of the far bank so we had to wade across to the beach on the other side. A bit fraught when carrying a bag full of stuff and leading Angus and Rowan, but we settled down to some serious digging with cut-price snow-shovels I'd secured from Sainsburys. After a good spell of sandcastle making and filling buckets with water and digging a big hole, we retreated across the bridge and set to eating our picnic.

It was a beautiful day so next stop was Tantallon Castle, also known as "Windy Castle". We clambered up to the top and explored the nooks and crannies and spiral staircases, looking out over the sea to Bass Rock and Fife beyond. From there we moved on to the East Sands at North Berwick. By now the tide was in and the breakers were crashing against the favourite outcrop of rocks. Soon the boys were running in and out the surf and clambering over the rocks, which was not the safest place to be given the rather unpredictable nature of the waves. I had to climb on too and remove Angus before he ventured too close to the spray and foam that the others were finding so exciting. It was a great late afternoon sight as the boys chased up and down the beach, squealing with delight.

Eventually I got them changed (again) and we went in search of food, ending up going in for bruschetta and a pizza (and squid and risotto for me). Not surprisingly they all fell asleep on the drive home but it was a grand day out!

Final blow-out

With the start of a new week the pool area got a little busier, which prompted us to find the "big" pool further down the twisting roads of the urbanizacion. This was next to a small bar and sales office for the estate and also a tennis court, but the thought of running about in the heat did nothing for me. The sunbeds were a little less pristine and the bigger grass area a little more rough than the surroundings of the "small" pool but it was a nice enough spot to while away the afternoon. The boys certainly enjoyed the change of scenery and when the Threlfalls arrived there was great whooping and hollering, no doubt much to the disdain of the other residents and holidaymakers who who have preferred a quiet afternoon in the sun. All the children were lining up to be thrown hither and thither in the water by me, Axel and Sharon in her "Witchy Woo" persona. Noisy, it was!

Even Angus was up for being thrown in the water. He's been very confident in the water this holiday, admittedly with his armbands on and using the tube floats to great effect, but it's good to see him enjoying the water. Rowan too has been good, up to a point where he either gets cold or bored and has had enough. His swimming still isn't improving noticeably. Leaving his custom-built prescription goggles at home didn't help as he undoubtedly isn't happy when he can't see properly.

We headed back up to the villa and pulled together a quick dinner party for the Threlfalls to come over later in the evening. Axel's Mum has had one of the terraced properties across the way for twenty years but it was the first time he had been across in Villa Cantarranas and he certainly enjoyed the view and the novelty of looking down on his Mum's property that he's been visiting all this time. The kids ate and watched a DVD while the adults sat out on the balcony and chatted till the sun went down. It's been good meeting a new couple and getting to know them a little and I'd like to think we'll keep in touch with them. Jane is a writer for Sky News and Axel is the anchor for Reuters Business Insider internet TV channel so they are an interesting couple, working in the media and living in Shepherds Bush in London. It makes a change meeting people who exist in a completely different sphere.

As night fell the boys were keen to repeat their skinny dipping exploits of the night before. This started with Finn jumping into the pool with his T-shirt and shorts on and carried on in a similar vein although Angus and Oskar were a little too tired to join in. We finally called a halt after more diving and synchronised jumping in and each retired to their own house.

Tuesday was our last full day and involved plenty of steady packing up of stuff and using up of the last of the food in the house. Once again we sought out the big pool whre the boys were having fun on Edie's inflatable crocodile and playing with the dive sticks although it took me an age to locate and retrieve one from the middle of the deepest part of the pool.

We saw out the final evening by our "own pool" with a final chance to catch the glorious late afternoon and evening sunshine filtering through the palm trees as we read and had a last, leisurely swim. We headed into Mijas, parking down the side street and walking up into town and on up to Calle San Sebastien, an asthetically pleasing upwards curving street lined with restaurants and shops and whitewashed houses. The Secret Garden caught our eye and we headed inside and through the back to...the not so secret garden, judging by how busy it was. Sharon and I shared the Argentinian barbecue while Sean and Finn tackled the aptly named Mega-hamburguesas. You'd have needed to unhinge your jaw to get your mouth round one of those. I'm increasingly ambivalent about barbecued meat. Generally I find it tough going with food inevitably getting stuck between my teeth. A sign of age I suppose. This one was nice but a bit too meaty and could have done with some vegetarian balance.

We staggered out stuffed, but still had room for a stop at the nearby gelateria where the boys feasted on yet more ice-creams before waddling back to the car. A full and fitting last night out to end a fine family holiday in the sun of Spain.

Finn falls ill

Finn felt poorly after breakfast on the Saturday and was complaining of a sore stomach and was running a temperature. We had home-cooked squid and pork the night before and I was initially concerned that he might have had a touch of food poisoning but between being in the pool so often, the heat at night (the fans don't really cut it compared to decent air-conditioning) and the troublesome presence of tiny ants or termites in many nooks and crannies of the kitchen and other parts of the house, Finn could have picked up a big from anywhere. He was eventually sick and perked up a little but he swung back and forward through the day.

I had a fruitless search for the "big pool" which is also available for our use, navigating the narrow avenidas of our and the neighbouring urbanizacion to no avail. In the evening I took the three fit boys into Mijas for a wander and some dinner. We dined at Restaurant Oscar which had a great view but was pretty average in its fare. My risotto was evidently pre-cooked, microwaved then grilled so the "paella crispiness" was on top rather than underneath. And they used long grain rice rather than arborio or even paella rice. The boys ate their pizza with little comment although the breeze took Rowan's menu over the parapet. I had to check him for attempting to follow it.

We wandered some more and found a great homemade (well, homemade in Malaga) helados shop. Sean, Angus and even Rowan enjoyed their ices! Back at the house, Sharon had had a torrid time of it with Finn and his night terrors which lie dormant for weeks on end but when they do surface can be quite alarming. This time was the worst he's been, screaming and demanding to get out the house then screaming more in the small garden and wanting to get out and over to the pool, even in the dark. He would not be placated and he wouldn't wake out of it. I went with him across to the pool the second time it happened and he did waken up as we went through the gate although there was no sudden realisation that he was suddenly awake, just a calming down of the hysterics and gradually awareness that he was out of the house. Needless to say we didn't get a great sleep, keeping an ear out for Finn rousing and starting once again. Angus got up too and was sick, after demanding Sean, his roommate for the evening, get him glasses of water which he gulped down. It was a rough night with various changes in bed personnel before we were done.

Finn was tired but recovering by Sunday morning, with no memory of his wanderings of the night before. The boys had discovered the Uno card game and were enjoying it, led by Finn who had been taught it at school. As midday approached we decided to head into Malaga for the afternoon. The drive in was fine but just as we approached where I wanted to park the road system threw us, taking us further and further away. Eventually we looped back round and got parked. From there it was a short walk up to the cathedral square and a stop for a lazy Sunday lunch, shaded from the fierce afternoon sun.

After an ice-cream stop we passed the ruined semi-amphitheatre of the Teatro Romano but Finn was starting to flag so Sharon elected to take him and Angus back to Mijas. Sean and Rowan joined me for a climb up inside the walls of the Alcazaba. It's ten years since Sharon and I were surprised by the views and the feeling of calm that pervades as you climb up into the cool Moorish interiors with their neat gardens and formal pools. Rowan didn't necessarily exude that same feeling of calm but he and Sean had a good time exploring the walls and archways and gardens with me. We eventually found our way barred and returned back down to the Jardines de Pedro Luis Alonso to the car. The drive back to Mijas was a lot easier in the daylight compared to our late arrival on the previous Sunday.

Back in Mijas we had a great evening to ourselves by the pool which led to skinny dipping by the boys with Sean showing his much improved dive. After all this, Finn was once again fraught going to sleep and repeated his terrors of the previous evening, perhaps not quite so severe but still beyond the norm of the ones he has at home. It seems as though the combination of the tummy bug and the foreign location have brought some stress to the surface and we can only hope he calms down again soon.

Lazy days in the sun

The remaining days followed a similar pattern to the first. The boys would get up en masse, the DVD player would go on, always slightly too loudly for me to be able to sleep through and Sharon would sleep on, having been disturbed by Angus falling out of the bed in the night, or Rowan thumping his way through the house in search of the toilet or Finn sleepwalking. Angus would typically refuse his cereal while the others mucked about and laughed and ate their toast and jam and fruit and pestered us to go to the pool. The advantage of not having a pool as part of the property is that we aren't worried about Rowan or Angus walking out the door and falling in: the downside is that one of the adults must be with the children to take them over to the top pool. The trips to the pool were generally late morning, up until lunchtime and then again late in the afternoon, before dinner.

The boys enjoyed jumping in with Edie and Sharon bought them more pool toys: noodles (long floats that allowed Rowan and Angus to ride them like horses into the deep end), water pistols (they didn't play with these much) and goggles and masks. Finn's flippers mysteriously disappeared on day one, to our annoyance. Edie and Oscar shared their inflatable crocodile and rubber ring too, so their was plenty to occupy the boys in the pool as well as sunbeds on which they could rest and dry off in the sun. Sharon and I read and joined the boys in the pool and took it in turns to prepare lunch and dinner, passing the time and not worrying about being a slave to the clock. Things have turned a corner with Angus now being old enough that we don't need to worry about naps, nappies and strict routine, although he is still in night-time pull-ups and has chosen to go "for a wee lie-down" most days after his morning stint in the pool. The heat and the late nights have disrupted all the boys to some extent, so it's important to relax when we can.

On Tuesaday afternoon we had a fruitless search for Carol and Mark Johnston's holiday villa in the neighbouring Urbanizacion Voltacado, trawling past numerous sprawling, gated houses in the baking heat. Giving up, we returned to Mijas Pueblo for a wander around and a stop for ice-cream, eventually, after a fruitless search amidst the stairs and terraces of the Alcazabar area. We visited the playpark with possibly the best view of any we've been to, up by the oval bull-ring. Sharon decided to re-attempt to locate Carol's villa with Angus and got lucky. Seeing a curtain twitch she buzzed a gate and found them. Angus spent the rest of the afternoon throwing dive sticks for Cameron and Tom (Gary and Nicola, friends of the Johnstons, were sharing the villa) and having a great time.

For Wednesday lunch we drove down to Cala de Mijas, some 30 minutes' drive from the house down to the A-7 and along towards Marbella. The heat by the beach was only slightly attenuated by the onshore breeze blowing through the beach umbrellas and sunbeds. There was far more people about than we had been used to up in the mountains and my feeling, which the others agreed with, was that we preferred the quieter environs of our villa (quieter that is, when Rowan isn't clamouring endlessly in excited squeals by the pool) to the business of the beach.

That said, the boys had a fine lunch of pizza and pasta bolognese and burgers; all very tasty, according to the recipients. My salade grande was less so. By and large, the food we bought and prepared ourselves was far tastier, in my opinion, than the food in the resturants. Maybe our choice of establishment was the cause or maybe the economic woes of Spain have dictated that cheap food now tastes like cheap food whereas once you could be assured of tasty fare at reasonable prices. Now, if you want decent food you have to pay for it.

Rowan and Angus had a play on the ship climbing frame, we had another of many ice-lollies (hours have been spent selecting ice-creams and poring over lolly boards) then Rowan and I visited a supermarket while the rest headed home. In the evening Sharon escaped into Mijas for a stroll about without children and to sit down for a much-needed coffee. She reported the town had a great vibe in the evening, with people sitting out, enjoying their food and chatting as the evening wore on. We had a fine dinner on the balcony ourselves, seared tuna, octopus with chorizo and egg, ratatouille and potatoes, washed down with wine and the quiet sussurations of the trees around us.

Settling in to Villa Cantarranas

Sunshine! The late night didn't throw the boys out of their inner clock, unfortunately, so it was pretty much their usual wake-up time when the round of scraping chairs, thumping feet and sibling squabble began. The main difference was it was gloriously sunny outside and warm!

Breakfast was served on the balcony looking out over cypresses and through palm trees to the hazy hinterland dotted with villas and fincas that stretched from Fuengirola up to Mijas Pueblo. To our left, half-glimpsed through the foilage, across a small car park, was the so-called top or small swimming pool shared by the 180 houses of the Urbanizacion. To the right, beyond the barbecue and chimineria on the balcony, rose the Sierra de Alpujata, blue-brown in the morning haze. As balcony views go, it is up there with the Rome Cavilieri Hilton as the best we've had. And it was so quiet! Apparently many of the houses of the Urbanizacon are owner-occupied and only a few are let out, so the population at any given time is quite low.

The boys were clamouring for the pool so we got the gear together, begin the sun-cream ritual, and trooped over to the "privado" pool. Snag. The gate appeared to be locked and we had no key! We soon found a side gate and there was a button to press to open the main gate so panic was averted. A family from London had just arrived too, Axel and Jane with their children Edie and Oscar. Axel's mother owned the terraced house right by the side gate so between us we had the prime locations for access to the pool.

The boys were quickly in their stride, second skins on (and armbands for Angus) and into the water. The kidney-shaped pool was fairly deep at one end, ideal for Sean and Finn to start jumping in once their confidence grew. Sharon went in search of a big supermarket and ended up a lot further away than she intended, driving all the way to Marbella to do a "big shop" that would see us through most of the week. She eventually returned to prepare us a sandwich lunch on the balcony then the boys settled into their routine of quiet play indoors with iPods and such like as the afternoon sun reached its hottest.

After a second trip to the pool, we changed and drove into Mijas Pueblo, eventually finding parking down a side street. The memory of visiting it from our stay in Mijas Costa back in October 2007 came back as we trooped into the small network of streets around the town centre, passing donkeys and traps and the usual selection of arts, crafts and leather goods shops. We climbed up a steep staircase and found El Capricho, where we had eaten back in 2007. Its frontage is unassuming, a doorway leading on to a staircase, but once up and inside there is a terrace with a splendid view back over the town up to the encircling mountains. The boys were beginning to flag, their late Sunday night catching up with them, so their enthusiasm for the tasty (though expensive) calamari, gazpacho and seafood paella was low with only Sean showing any real vigour. Rowan insisted on listening to Harry Potter on an iPod.

We eventually took leave (and Finn left his iPod behind - fortunately Sharon was able to claim it the next day) and ushered the children back down to the cars to take them home to bed. Sharon and I were then able to enjoy the peace of the balcony in the twilight and subsequent dusk, watching the swallows darting across the darkening sky and then, as the stars struggled to pierce the last vestiges of daylight, bats traced a more erratic route across the rooftops. It was good to sit with a glass of wine and forget all the troubles of the world.

Pierchic finale

After the Saturday activities, Sunday was a much quieter affair, as it generally is on a Pampered Chef trip, once all the Level 1 and 2 achievers depart. Back home though, Finn was having a much more exciting time of it. He was one of three Beavers picked from his colony to go to Longcraig at South Queensferry for a special day of activities for the Beavers and Cubs of the South Morningside troop. Along with Rory Fletcher, he made a tomahawk and a head-dress and then was surprised by the special visitor for the day who flew in by helicopter: Chief Scout Bear Grylls! Sharon and I knew this was what was planned, but we hadn't told Finn. The Cubs and Beavers got to talk to him. Finn got a signed photo. Between this and holding the Olympic torch earlier in the year, Finn probably doesn't appreciate he's had a couple of special occasions recently.

Back in the 40-degree plus heat of Dubai, we had a lazy day after a late breakfast in the airy and stylish restaurant of the Al Qasr Hotel, a short abra trip away from the Mina A'Salam. We read and lounged about until late afternoon when we got dressed up for our last evening out. We boarded an abra just after sunset, the lights of the hotels and apartments of the Madinat resort reflecting off the water as we made the short journey to the end of the private beach across from the Al Qasr Hotel. From there we walked out a broad wooden pier to the exclusive Pierchic restaurant, the Burj Al Arab billowing splendidly in the twilight further up the coast. After a drinks reception on the terrace we moved indoors. Surprisingly perhaps, there was no view of the Burj Al Arab from the interior, but the food had our undivided attention, being splendidly presented and delightful in taste. We were seated with Hannah and Gav and Tracy Campbell and her mother. Part way through the meal there was a proposal (accepted) in the party which set the cap on the romantic ambience of the meal, the company and the location. The stroll back along the pier was leisurely then we had a swift buggy ride back to the Mina A'Salam from where a good few of us met up in the McLeish's room for a last hurrah.

On the Monday morning we located yet another breakfast room but foolishly opted to sit outside in the already stifling heat. The rest of the party departed for their flights home while we took our time packing and easing out of Pampered Chef mode, being able to indulge in a late check-out at 3pm. Our taxi to Sharjah was a massive black vehicle, almost Hummeresque in size and very comfortable in size. The directions sent by Pete were eventually digested by the driver who dropped us at the Kavanagh's residence in the Al Goaz district of Sharjah.

Long hot Saturday

I was up early on the Saturday morning for a golf date withe Pete. So early, in fact, that I was first in the restaurant for breakfast at 0630. Having enjoyed that, fortification for the day ahead, I got a taxi out to the Els Club in Dubai Sports City for 7.30 to meet Pete and knock some balls on the range. It was unpleasantly warm even then as I adjusted to the hire clubs. Fortuntely we had buggies, otherwise I would have been done for by the first tee. Joining us to make up a four, it turned out, was David Provan and Paul Darling, fellow PC guests from Sharon's team.

The course was long and set up for a competition that was off straight after us. Pins behind bunkers on 200 yard par threes with lightning greens weren't going to do us any favours. I struggled all day, managing only one par and pretty much giving up the ghost as the mercury passed the 40 degree mark. The fairways were cut through a half-occupied estate of identikit cube-shaped villas, and bounded by sandy wasteland. Enter there at your peril. The temperature rose even higher if you dared seek a wayward drive amidst the scrub. By the end I was capable of raising the club and letting it fall on the ball, not to much effect. The others fared better by degrees but the Bermuda grass and hogs back greens and 6800 yards and desert heat were too much for me!

I bade Pete farewell and taxied back to the Madinat with David and Paul. Sharon had a bot of a late night and then a morning working out in the, fortuntely, air-conditioned gym. We ended up having a lazy afternoon, me more so than Sharon who headed out while I caught up with some much-needed zeds.

After 4pm we reconvened in reception, by the pool of petals, beneath the domed ceiling with its map of the UAE painted on it, before transferring to our Toyota Landcruisers for the drive into the desert. On the way we passed a lorry, recently tipped over on the road - not the most heartening sight before taking to the dunes in a high-powered car!

We paused briefly to let the air out the tyres, so that the cars would have more traction through the soft sand, then we reloaded the cars and were off, the anthill mob following one another over the dunes. Our driver was good fun and up for a bit of egging on, more so than some of the others who were going through the motions. It wasn't particularly life-threatening but we had a few slides and jolts and near misses with the lethargic driver in front as we would our way deeper into the dunes. Eventually we stopped in the desert for some refreshments as the sun dipped sharply towards the horizon. Sharon and I, and Hannah and Gavin and Alain and Graham, clambered on to the backs of some camels to lead the party up and over a dune in the dusk, to enter the caravanserai which was the scene for the evening's entertainment. The camel ride was more alarming than the dune bashing and I think I ended up with mild whiplash as the camel plunged to its knees, Sharon yelling in front of me.

We were seated at long tables in the open air, beneath the desert sky. Many of the ladies availed themselves of the henna tattoos that were on offer, in between partaking of the barbecued meats, curries and various Middle Eastern dishes that were being served up. In the midst of it all we were treated to some belly dancing. Fortunately, this didn't turn into audience participation - we were content to watch the two dancers do their thing. One was considerably better than the other. After the festivities we slowly cleared the camp and returned to the jeeps. Again, some drivers were more up for it than others: slaloming through the sand (because, our driver claimed, he was driving on full tyres and needed to keep swerving to avoid being stuck) and driving for prolonged periods with their lights off - a rather scary prospect in the black night of the desert.

Once back at the hotel, a few went in search of TV coverage of the Champions League Final while we went to Anne Marie's room. I had to content myself with watching the penalty shoot out by crowd reaction. The best CNN could do was film people's reactions as they watched the denoument in bars in Germany and Kenya. As it happened, Chelsea won. It was a long and tiring day in the sun for me.

Dubai days one and two

Many's the time I've castigated the England cricket team (and other sporting emissaries from the UK on fruitless trips abroad) for their poor performance in locations such as Sri Lanka and India and Australia, unaware of just quite how debilitating it is to walk, let alone attempt to play sport at a high level, in 40-degree heat with a touch of humidity thrown in.

Well now I know. It has been incredibly hot here in the UAE, to the extent that doing nothing, or at the very least doing something in the safer and cooler confines of an air-conditioned interior, is the preferred option. We arrived after an extremely comfortably overnight Emirates flight from Heathrow (but with a minimum of sleep) and were processed through the first of many brand, spanking new buildings at Dubai Airport. The first taste of heat, at 0730, was as we left the terminal and moved to the coach for the transfer to the Madinat Mina A'Salam Hotel, part of the Jumeirah resort, looking out to the distinctive sail-like structure of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, the definitive landmark of Dubai tourism.

The drive from the airport along the Sheikh Zayed Road took us past the fabulous towers lining that 12-lane highway: tall, narrow structures fronted with tinted glass and subtle variations in angles and skeletal infrastructure but all dwarfing the street-level life that scurried around their roots. The unbelievable dimension of the world's tallest man made structure, the Burj Khalifa, rose behind them like some science-fiction space-port, growing ever narrower and climaxing in a needle-like mast that pierced the clouds some 828 metres above sea level.

More mundanely, we breakfasted by the channel that circumnavigates the Madinat hotels, realising how hot the day was becoming. Our rooms weren't ready till the afternoon, so we killed the time on the beach, sweltering under shades and trying to sleep without waking up roasted. "Ye's'll be like rashers," our Cork air-stewardess had pronounced succintly on the flight over. I dozed and sweated and got grumpy. Sharon just dozed and sweated. Some swam in the sea, which was a bit like swimming in warm soup on subsequent days but quite refreshing on this first day, exhilirating in the pounding surf. I didn't swim. I didn't want to even move. I got burnt in the few minutes heading to the toilet from the shade and the sand was liable to singe the flesh on your feet.

Eventually we got our room keys and moved tot he sanctuary of air-conditioned five-star hotel life. It was some 20 degrees cooler in the rooms. Opening the doors to the balcony was like opening an oven door, a thick stew of Arabian air challenging the cold air of the room. However, we didn't stay there for long (and besides, the hotel had misplaced our luggage) so we took a taxi with Anne-Marie to the Mall of the Emirates, the smaller of Dubai's vast shopping malls, to the Carrefour supermarket. Sharon was conscious of being underdressed (due to our luggage misplacement) having moved from private beach to public retail outlet and received a few disapproving looks from the white-clad Emiratis. As ever, the supermarket had a splendid selection of fruit and veg but elsewhere the mall displayed some very familiar names: from Next to Debenhams! Once loaded up with snacks and mixers, we queued for a taxi back to the hotel.

Our luggage finally appeared. After a brief rest, we dressed for the reception dinner. Despite the sun having gone down around 7pm, the air was no cooler. We crossed the road in front of the hotel entrance to the Fort area which was reminiscent of a Legoland Arabian-themed area set in a very warm climate. It's no use pining for authentic, quaint, original buildings in Dubai - the oldest structure in the city is reputedly 32 years old. The roll call of achievers was run through, with Hannah the top points earner and Tracy, another of Sharon's downline and a first time trip achiever, second. There was the usual exhortations to bigger and better things next year and then we attacked the buffet. Fortunately I was on water (and have been for some time, owing to the prevalance of gout attacks) as to drink alcohol in such temperatures would be to invite illness, in my view. Sharon didn't quite see it that way. In Dubai you cannot buy alcohol outside of hotels. There are no off-licences nor non-hotel bars as such, hence everyone had arrived with a healthy quota of duty-free purchases as the only places to drink were in hotel bars and restaurants or in private.

We had a great sleep in our vast bed. The air-conditioning was reasonably quiet and the temperature control was spot on. We met others down in the Mina A'Salam for breakfast then got on an abra, a small wooden boat holding about 8 passengers, for a tour of the resort. There are wonderful villas and gardens in our section of the Jumeirah resort, as well as two Hotels, the Mina A'Salam and the Al Qasr, a souk (market) and anywhere between 29 and 42 restaurants, according to the literature.

We alighted at the Madinat souk and once more escaped indoors. The high, vaulted ceilings of the interior meant the winding marketplace was pleasantly cool but I was still feeling rather worn out so I retired to the hotel room after a brief browse around the shops. Sharon went on and had a salad lunch. I dozed. Our next appointment was the "Old" Dubai tour, leaving the hotel at 3.15pm. We crossed the Dubai Creek to the older part of town, to the Gold Souk. Here we entered the darkened, L-shaped market where upwards of fifty jewellers and goldsmiths sell some of the 20% or so of the world's gold that is traded through Dubai. Many hawkers, vast choice of jewellry, no women to be seen; only men. To be honest, there is so much stuff it would be impossible to browse, even if you had the time, which we did not, being marched through at a fair lick. You really would have to know what you were looking for. The Gold Souk sells 18, 21 and 22-carat gold, the last being unusual and generally not to Western tastes, as it looks more yellow and "fake" than the paler, lower carat gold preferred by Europeans.

We moved on to the Spice Souk next which was more to our liking. Again, a couple of dark alleys full of shops with sacks of spices and dried fruits and herbs, a wonderful aroma filling the narrow lane. There were wonderful dried, black lemons which, when puncutured, released a deep citrus scent. We didn't get far before Sharon was in and conversing with a salesman who fairly shovelled the curry powder and vanilla pods into bags. A little obligatory bartering, which Sharon loves and which I, of course, can't stand, and then we were on our way. Another short walk in the afternoon heat and then we were on an abra across the creek. The short journey to the other bank and slightly down-creek was reminiscent of what I'd imagine Venice (the destination for next year's trip) to be like. From there we made our way past shuttered shops, Friday being the holy day and many places closing up, up to the Dubai Museum. At first sight this was a paltry offering, but moving down from the sun-bleached open-air entrance arena to the darker, cooler interior shifted the level of interest, although parts were too dark to actually see in. It was a bit like Ailwee Cave in County Clare! The last port of call was a restaurant called "local restaurant" or something similar, that sold camel burgers. None of that for us, but a refreshing drink and chance to lounge about in cool rooms on rugs and have a chat. Eventually some ice-cream which may or may not have been made from camel's milk did arrive. It was a very relaxing hour or so.

From there it was back to the hotel and a quick turnaround to get in taxis and head back towards Downtown Dubai, to a restaurant called Fazaris at a hotel called The Address. Unfortunately our taxi driver wasn't quite sure where he was headed and a massive traffic jam caused by the breaking at the end-of-the-holy-day delayed us from getting to the restuarant in time for the booking. This wasn't a problem however, and we made our way through the very stylish hotel to meet up with the others, including Pete and Tracy who had booked the meal.

It was good to see the pair of them, ex-pats now based in Sharjah, looking in fine fettle. The food was good and the added bonus was a middle distance view of the fountain show at the foot of the all-conquering Burj Khalifa, towering above us into the hazy night sky, the ultimate statement of manmade Dubai City. Sharon enjoyed sashimi and a Goan prawn curry, while I had tomato soup and lamb rogan josh. Afterwards we returned to the Mina A'Salam, me to bed and Sharon to someone's room for a late snifter. A busy couple of days!

Preamble in London

I flew down to London around teatime on Sunday and made my way in to Green Park tube station as I was staying at the Washington Mayfair in Curzon St. in advance of the Gartner Enterprise Architecture Summit on Monday and Tuesday. Having muddled up the air-con I ended up with a most unpleasant, warm night which felt like climate training for Dubai later in the week.

The walk to work on Monday morning was a pleasant one however: across Green Park and the Mall, then through St. James' Park and past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament before crossing the Thames at Westminster Bridge. The summit was in the Park Plaza Hotel which looks across the bridge to Big Ben. I stayed in the Park Plaza last year but cutbacks have decreed it is too expensive for me to stay in this year. London was grey and showery and chilly, in keeping with the gloomy economic forecasts that surround work these days.

The conference was worthwhile, more practical and less theoretical than some of the Gartner output of recent times, and I was able to chat with a few of my peers too. At the close of play on Monday I took a long walk back, cutting along Whitehall to Trafalgar Square and then up Haymarket to Regent St and Oxford St, doing a little light shopping with an eye on Dubai. I eventually turned down to Mayfair, passing Claridges and Berkeley Square which was lined with a far higher proportion of Bugattis than I'm generally used to in Fairmilehead.

I dined out in The Little Square in the Shepherd Market just across the road from the hotel, a great little hideaway of restaurants and boutique shops in the heart of Mayfair. On Tuesday I was greeted with rain as I checked out the hotel, so I caught the tube to Waterloo prior to the conference. After the summit ended I was back at Waterloo to catch the train to Mortlake (after a mis-routing to Barnes Bridge) to stay with Ali and Gordon for the evening. Splendid company as ever, with Innes now a stomping 18 months old, competing for attention with Megan and Freya.

Wednesday was my day off, so I returned to the city centre, blagged my bags into the concierge at the Park Plaza ("Yes, I've just checked out. Room 319.") and set off on a wander. I headed down Abingdon St, round the side of the Palace of Westminster and was impressed at the detail on the Sovereign's Entrance - reminiscent of Notre Dame Cathedral or Il Duomo in Milan. Buckingham Palace was slightly obscured by temporary seating which has been erected for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in three weeks' time but I still saw the changing of the guard.

Predictably, I headed to Kensington Whole Foods for a perusal of the food on offer and made a selection for lunch. Next I found myself a book for Dubai (it took a long time to find a bookshop in central London - the disintermediation of booksellers by Amazon and supermarkets continues) then I sat in a pleasant burst of sunshine in a park by Victoria Embankment next to Charing Cross, watching two elderly people play table tennis.

The "me time" was over. It was time to recover my luggage and get on a busy tube to meet my wife at Heathrow Airport...

Audi sold

Another must-do for this summer is to go camping with the boys. I dug out my old two-man tent to see if that was still serviceable. It is, but memory serves me that it had a leak somewhere, which could do with being fixed given the long range forecast for this summer. I bought a two-ring cooker and some cookware and a windbreak, so I've gradually compiled most of the gear. I now need to bite the bullet and get out there! I did manage to leave my credit card in Go Outdoors after this purchase,and it was several days before I realised and then was able to track it down. Minor panic with the trip to London and Dubai looming.

Sharon has been back doing some running, testing out the repaired foot. She managed to get round Arthur's Seat this week but the "good" foot is now giving her some pain. As the surgeon said, he doesn't have the experience of his patients asking about running after their operations, with them generally being about twenty years older than Sharon.

We've put on a couple of dinners recently, with the St.Johns round and then Ruth and Norman Martin, Anne-Marie and Hannah on another occasion. May often seems to be our time for entertaining, especially in the run-up to the Pampered Chef incentive trip. Sharon's excitement is mounting as the days go by and the outfits are considered and discussed (not, generally, with me).

I had some rare time alone with Rowan while his bigger brothers were at their golf and Angus was with Sharon. We went down to Ocean Terminal, where unfortunately the soft play has closed and the juggling ball has gone! This was a ball stuck on a pillar outside the windows - someone must have removed it. Rowan and I had lunch at the handmade burger co., overlooking a submarine in the dock. It was nice just to get him on his own for once and interact with him. Too often his head is buried in his Nintendo DS or he is distracted by his brothers for him to talk any sense to you.

I sold my Audi Avant on e-bay for its reserve price of £500 to a chap from North Edinburgh. Subsequent to making the purchase he mumped and moaned about me not having truthfully represented the car's condition but he had the opportunity to look the car over before handing over the cash, so, galling as it is to be traduced somewhat, it was sold as seen. And if it hadn't developed the oil leak I'd have preferred to keep it as it was a better drive than the Mazda 6, albeit with a more thirsty engine.

I had a quick repeat visit to the Michelin-starred Castle Terrace restaurant for a "Big Data" dinner hosted by Oracle, with some of my peers from Edinburgh organisations. It was quite an interesting evening with good food to boot!

Auchenlarie break

The boys were desperate to get on their Easter break, after passing the first week of their school holiday. I picked up my new car from the Patersons and decided to break it in with a drive down to Dumfries and Galloway, taking Sean with me, while Sharon made the journey in the Sharan with the rest of the lads.

We were staying at Auchenlarie Holiday Park or, more precisely, across the road from the park, in a luxury lodge that had three bedrooms and, most importantly from the boys' perspective, a hot-tub! Auchenlarie is about two miles past Gatehouse of Fleet on a site that slopes fairly steeply down to the sea. The centre of the park was across the busy A75 and down the hill. This is where the swimming pool, leisure centre and bar/restaurant were located, along with the entertainment. We weren't quite brave enough to partake of the entertainment although Sharon witnessed some real "entertainment" as she made her way back from the gym one evening - a right barney going on. We did venture into the restaurant on the first evening, which was fine, had a swim on the last day and the smaller boys were in the soft play a couple of times too.

The boys were able to practice their cycling on the wooden deck and farm road by our lodge ("Lilac Lodge") and we were in the hot tub on a few occasions. The first time I though Angus was going to come out cooked! Given the general greyness of the weather, it was most pleasant to sit in the heated tub with a view south towards the Isle of Man, watching a variety of shower clouds scythe across the Irish Sea.

There was plenty for us to get on with despite the indifferent weather. First off we headed to Cream of Galloway. This featured a great go-kart course. I took Rowan, who, true to daredevil form, was standing up, yelling, as we plunged down steep inclines towards low-roofed tunnels, so he could bump his helmeted head off the tunnel roof. Sharon took Angus, who similarly had a great time as a passenger. Sean went on his own but struggled on the climbs and Finn abstained, as is Finn's way. Sean did "down the hatch", as did I, a disconcerting feet-first barrel plunge in which you feel you are dropping out the sky before it levels off and you crawl out in an undignified manner. Sean also did the Flying Fox and we all went on the 3-D maze and other adventure playground parts. Lunch was tasty too, local burgers and ice-cream.

We went to the RSPB centre at Mersehead for a scavenger hunt where, once again, Finn impressed with his knowledge of birds and their calls. Despite the long drive to get there we had a great time looking for the items on the hunt, Sean and I jogging on to the beach when it looked as though we were going to run out of time.

Another day was spent at Mabie Farm Park south of Dumfries, where we met Rachael Ridley and her son Owen. In between the showers the boys looked at the animals and played in the indoors barn but the highlights were the hay barn, where the boys were swinging on ropes and jumping off bales while having hay fights with Sharon and Rachael (don't think it did my asthma much good), and the grass slide. I apparently went airborne, which I can ratify with the thump my coccyx received. Even Finn joined in, no doubt shamed that his younger brothers were quite prepared to get on their shovels and slide down. Afterwards, we drive around the Southerness peninsula with its stunning views south to Cumbria, to Rockcliffe. The boys had dozed off and were grumpy to a man, so I undertook the short but interesting walk through the woods to Kippford - just in time for the rain to come tipping down! I was soaked and had little opportunity to enjoy the views. Sharon drove round to Kippford to join me at the Anchor Hotel where we had a great, relaxed dinner in the back room with lots of other families and everyone in fine form. Definitely one of the highlights of the week.

But there's more! I took the boys to Cardoness Castle in Gatehouse of Fleet and we went to the local market in Creetown where we gave the boys some money to spend and watched as they made their choices round the various stalls. Finn, bless him, spent his last 50p on a cake for his Mammy. He can be so mean at times, to Rowan especially, but at other times he is the most generous of the boys. Late one afternoon I drove along to Newton Stewart with Finn and Rowan, to a real old-fashioned cinema, to see The Muppets. It was actually quite an enjoyable film.

My outing with Sean to play golf at a nine-hole course at Tongland near Kirkcudbright wasn't quite such a success however. Sean was fairly hopeless. He probably managed a generous 16 at the first par three hole and it went downhill from there (his golf, as well as the course). My investment in their lessons at Swanston is looking like a sunk cost. I suspect the next term will be their last, as Finn isn't that keen either. They seem to enjoy it with their pals (after moaning about having to go), but neither is showing any interest whatsoever in the sport, or any sport for that matter.

Another day we drove towards Castle Douglas to visit Threave Castle. This required a fairly lengthy walk to the River Dee where the castle sits on an island and has to be reached by boat. Once we got there one of the week's frequent showers darkened the horizon and swept in. We retreated to what little shelter the ruined castle offered as the rain teemed down.

A big treat for the boys was our visit to the Cocoa Bean Company at Twynholm. Entry to this place gets them into a chocolate workshop where they get to make chocolate things and decorate them. It was funny to see them all troop in, from Sean down to Angus, dressed in their aprons and hairnets. It's fair to say they loved it. Rowan could hardly keep his face out of the chocolate!

On our last day we packed up then drove back to Mersehead for a family fun day, meeting up with Jane Wilson and Molly, John and George. Once again we had a great day there, making our way to the beach this time. I really enjoyed supervising the creation of our beach art, a red kite. We joined the RSPB, on a whim rather. The nearest RSPB reserve to us is Vane Farm by Loch Leven in Fife, so I suspect we won't get the use of RSPB membership that we do from the Historic Scotland membership. But Sean's competitive streak won't let Finn be the bird expert in the house and anything we can do to get us all outdoors has to be a good thing.

We had a great week in Dumfries and Galloway despite the indifferent weather. We spent a fair bit but there's lots for the kids too and plenty they'd go back and do again. And with better weather there are lots more walks and beaches to explore. I'm sure we'll be back.