A Lovely Holiday

I have just come back from my 2nd holiday of the year (I am a very fortunate girl this year). This holiday was different, as it was just The Curate, Little Bear and Myself. No extended family, not even the gorgeous and extremely lovable Monty the doodle.

Little Bear was very well behaved and in control on the journey down to my mum's (from here on in known as Nanna) house. We had a lunch which Nanna had lovingly prepared, and LB went to check out his room, and make sure all the toys Nanna keeps there were present and correct. He came down and announced "Nanna's house will always be the same." which is Little Bear speak for "I feel safe and secure knowing that Nanna has these things she keeps for me." Over lunch, Little Bear quizzed Nanna on whether she was "lonely being here on your own?" Wise words from my almost 5 year old. He was over joyed when he asked whether Nanna missed Monty dog and she replied "I miss you!" though.

We left Monty dog at Mums and went on our way to our holiday accommodation, a caravan, compact and bijoux on a Bunns Leisure holiday park. Now, I think holiday parks are extremely under-rated. The caravan was big enough for us 3 (although would have been tight with the maximum 6 plus luggage allowed). The children's funfair had well priced and sensible speed rides for a 'children's funfair'. The Go Karts were reasonably priced and entertaining - although much fun  was had (by LB and I) watching the Curate try on every single helmet in the place before settling on one which fitted but left a red welt on his forehead after. The boys had a great time on crazy golf (Little Bear's favourite activity). It was worth the sheer hell of the noisy overcrowded changing rooms to see LBs smiling face beaming with enjoyment the whole time we were in the pool. We flew a kite on the beach and had a quiet afternoon of watching LB paddle in the sea.

I have sung the praises of a park based caravan holiday so for balance some of the irksome bits.

Little Bear hardly slept (usual on a first night on hols but lasted all week this time) the noise, the light evenings (which the holiday camp can't help with I know), and the narrow caravan bed, all resulted in seriously diminished sleep for LB. I slept fine, the Curate tells me nights were noisy!

Being just the three of us meant evening entertainment was limited to the 4 channels on the tiny telly, and twitter on our phones. Although the programme at the pubs and bars looked good...

Seriously though...

The holiday was fab! Good fun, just the three of us, and Nanna had Monty for company - everyone's a winner. Although Monty may disagree, at 2 years old he had never had a professional groom - until Nanna got involved!!

He looks even more gorgeous though!

Why I love my Dog

Darling Monty dog is gorgeous and soft, cuddly and cute, and a real joy to have as a part of our lives. There is nothing more endearing than watching Little Bear kiss us goodbye as we go off to walk Monty, and then bending down to give Monty a cuddle and kissing the top of his head. Monty likes lie across the Curate on the sofa in the evenings and loves nothing more than a vigourous tummy rub, and the welcome we receive when we come back home, whether we have been out for the day or 10 minutes is a sight to behold.

Life with a doodle is never a dull one and occasionally a touch frustrating. He is attracted to mud and soaks it up like a sponge, then once dry he deposits it all over the house. Sometimes when he comes in from a walk and lies down on his bed for an hour or so, when he gets up there is a Monty shaped shadow on the bed/floor like a chalk drawing at a murder scene!

He is an accomplished thief. Today he has been caught (just in the nick of time) with the pods from the egg poacher in his jaws. Any little loose toys lying around get collected in his mouth, they are normally chewed and spat out again, although we have had a marble pass all the way through, yuck! (Just in case you were wondering, we did NOT keep the marble)

He is convinced he is part feline and chases birds in the garden. He went through a phase of chasing ducks near the pond - and nearly caught one recently. Yikes!

We love him anyway, unconditionally, as he is. After all it is only our lack of prowess at training that has created his little behaviour quirks, and as dogs go he is a fairly tame example! That's life with a dog though, the absolution devotion, to you, to food and to muddy puddles - and we wouldn't have it any other way.