Our new love...

... is camping! We had the most fabulous weekend in Tewkesbury, which is suprisingly close to us, but neither Stuart or I had ever visited there by road before, always by boat, therefore making it seem so much further away!

Camping with friends, Rachel, Ian and boys, who are experienced campers, made the adventure even more pleasurable, with their friendship and having things to make our stay more comfortable (I will NEVER forget the airbeds again!)

Barbeques in the blistering sun, chatting under the stars, foraging for the sweetest cherries that were yellow and peach. These all helped to make wonderful memories.
The tent was straightforward, and relatively tidy at this point! We even managed to get it back in the bag at the end of it!

We went to the Medieval festival that was held there and saw the storming of the Abbey, followed by a trial and beheadings! The look on Ethan's face when I explained that this is what they did all those years ago was of horror and complete bemusement!

I never realised you could get black morris dancers, complete with electric guitar! But dare I say it ... they were really good!

The required sword fight with newly purchased wooden swords!

Ethan trying his hand at archery.

And the re-enactment of the War of the Roses.

The fayre itself had all kinds of wares, for the enthusiast, and there were plenty of them! I was very impressed with the lengths people go to make it real, and it has encouraged me to find a little more about our history.

I was proud at how restrained I was, there were beautiful medieval hand stitched leather shoes, but they were well over £100. There were also the most beautiful hooded cloaks, I would love to think I could see myself wearing one up to school in the depths of winter, but I think I may be disowned!!

We returned home with some very tired children (and adults!), but we are already planning our next adventure!