Its the Easter holidays and what lovely weather we've been having. We spent a lovely few days in the Lake District (wednesday to Easter Sunday) and then a morning with the Pinneys on their canal boat. Despite all the outdoor exposure Philip is still addicted to opening and closing doors but he is now asking to go in the papoose which is much better than the screaming struggles we used to have. We've been working really hard on getting him to say sheep but it's still called a dog (along with all other four legged animals) although he knows to find his sheep cuddly toy when it's named. All birds are ducks and he says duck just in case when he sees water.

Philip really enjoyed the Grisedale adventure playground which is recommended for kids of all ages and splashing in wellies and shorts at the edge of Coniston (though he was a bit frustrated at not being allowed to wander further into the lake). I particularly enjoyed hot chocolate by the lake in Grassmere and a very nice meal in the evening, an ice cream while sitting looking across Windemere with Philip asleep and Ed happily reading the paper while queuing for the car ferry and browsing in Lakeland Plastics in Ambleside. The Lakeland Plastics building is purpose built and they've gone to a lot of trouble to design in features to allow women to shop unharrased. There was a great play area for Philip, sofas and e-mail for Ed and lovely loos with a TV to watch incase you had to queue!

We weren't sure at the beginning of Ed's Easter holidays whether we'd be able to go away, as Philip developed chicken pox. In a way it was good timing as he seems young enough not to have been too iritated and scratched but it did rather throw Ed's holiday plans up in the air. And we weren't sure whether Philip would be better and non infectious in time. I was glad we hadn't booked a foreign holiday.

Also Ed's Grandpa, Peter, sadly died on the Saturday at the beginning of the holidays. All three of us went down to Reading and back in the day yesterday for the funeral and though exhausted by the time we returned we were glad to have been able to celebrate such an interesting and compassionate mans life. He was private secretary to Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill which produced some amusing stories.