disconnecting to reconnect

it seems a cliche but it is so true... sometimes you really have to disconnect from life a bit in order to reconnect.

every year we try to get away for a few days off the beaten track with little or no electricity and no access to mobile phones or laptops.  it used to be wild camping, just me, my husband and our dog.  then kids started arriving and now it is more glamping than roughing it! but the effect is still the same...

so this year is our ten year wedding anniversary and we decided to do something really special. just the two of us. so the kids and the dog got a lovely spoilt rotten trip to granny and grampas and we headed north...
 

sam found this lovely remote self catering converted wagon on the banks of loch voil in the trossachs - pilot panther

we had all weathers but with our cosy blankets and the log burning stove we barely noticed... even when it started to snow on the last day.

pilot panthers location also has the benefit of being a five minute walk from the amazing monachyle mhor with it's fine dining and luxury accommodation.  so we retreated there one night for our evening meal and again for breakfast on our last morning. delicious.

and okay, a sneaky use of the hotel wifi...

sun, sand and surf!

well, it was awfully quiet over here for a while there... that's because we just went on a wee last minute holiday to the sun! a week of winter sun, deserted beaches, five course meals, huge luxurious apartment and one happy toddler... don't hate me! it was perfect but it is all down to poppy! any time we have ever tried to go somewhere poppy has determined whether or not it was enjoyable! seriously, i never wanted to be a family that was ruled by the baby ...we are. poppy is not a big traveller, more than twenty minutes in the car and she becomes some sort of baby banshee. she moans. she whines. she shouts. when we arrive she tends not to settle very easily and everyone looses precious sleep! i am not exaggerating here, i promise! she is great in so many other ways (all other ways actually, but I'm biased!!) but she is no traveller!
this week proved us so wrong... she sat for four hours on the plane and read books, stuck stickers and sang songs, she played happily all day with one little pull along dog toy on the balcony, beach and pool side, she ate all her dinner, she slept all night. bliss.

and who do we owe this perfect holiday to??? these lovely people!

red cheeks and gondolas

we have just been on a lovely little jaunt up to the mountains! it was very cold but also very beautiful... i found a pretty little play park for poppy and me... and the dog of course! but our cheeks went white

 it was pretty chilly up there! the gondola ride was the best bit and we even managed to get a bit of skiing in one morning thanks to a willing babysitting/dog walking auntie and uncle!

i love that feeling you get on the way back down when you have been completely blown about by a strong wind... i think it might be 'refreshed' but it feels more like 'cleared out'!

back into the thick of it again now... home and back to working through the nap and late into the evening. so many little things that i keep forgetting to do. why is that? i cant possibly still have baby brain, surely? maybe it has developed into toddler brain.