Sunday 9 August 2009

Partying in Bronte country

We've just had a wow of a time at a friend's 40th birthday party weekend.
My Darling Husband flew in from Houston on Friday morning. (He'd been away for a week, my parents came over from France to help out, but that's another story...) Anyway once he'd had a sleep and a bath, we stuffed the kids in the car and set off for Howarth in Yorkshire. The traffic was awful, so it took us almost five hours to get there, but we weren't the last to arrive! There were sixty-seven (Yes, 67) people altogether, we took over a large youth hostel that had been built in the 1840s, it was absolutlely beautiful. The kids were over the moon, they had bunk beds to sleep in, loads of children to play with and a never ending supply of food, sweets and activities. The first night we ate, unpacked and got to know everyone. The next day we all walked down one hill and then up a very steep one, past the Parsonage where Charlotte and Emily Bronte used to live and up onto the moors where many of their novels were set. We met some people walking their dog so Little Man and Little Miss made friends. Little Man loved 'rock climbing' with the other boys. We met up with everyone on top of the moor and had a picnic, then made our way back down the very steep hill.
Simon had a rest on a fence on the way. I'm getting old, my knee has been giving me a bit of trouble since then. When we all got back to the hostel, there was a children's party, where we discovered that Little Man doesn't take losing very well, to say the least! Little Miss made sure she got her face painted, and spent a lot of time roaring! The children had their party tea and then it was the adult's turn for tea, Happy Birthday and a Disco, Little Miss was boogiing with the best of them... This morning we had the full English breakfast and then everyone trooped off to Ingrow train station, a few miles from Howarth, and caught a steam train to Oxenhope where we had a picnic in the millenium park there. Little Man was determined he'd see the inside of the engine's cab, so as soon as we stopped he made sure he was first on board! Little Miss just wanted to pose!
We went past the smallest station in England, and the one where they filmed the railway children. Once we got back to Ingrow, we all said our goodbyes and made our way back home. I'll post some photos tomorrow. It was a lovely weekend for all of us, and now it's back to work tomorrow, snif...

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