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Staycations have been all the rage this year, thanks to the global pandemic, and to be honest I’m glad we can leave the house at all. My lovely in-laws decided to ‘escape’ their idyllic home in the countryside to go visiting some touristy places on the east coast, leaving behind their beautiful and friendly eight year old cat, Arthur, for us to cat sit. They live a couple of hours away, and with the amount of stuff we loaded into the car, it certainly felt like going on holiday for a week!

We had such a good time! They had gone all Airbnb on us and thoughtfully left a pack with instructions on how to operate everything in the house, including the washing machine- super helpful with a baby, and where the nearest playgrounds and park were. We only visited a few so we still feel like there’s plenty to explore next time we’re visiting, but we did go to a park in St Neots with several playgrounds, including one with a large sandpit. Little J loved it. He sat happily playing with a stick in the sand for ages while we chatted on a bench- what an easy way to keep him entertained!

We also went for a hike around Grafham Water with our trusty baby backpack and stopped to share a tuna sandwich by the water and have a swing in the playground. They have a nature walk there with lots of places to stop and bird watch (or fisherman watch) over the water, but unfortunately we didn’t have any binoculars.

Luckily the weather was fine throughout, and J enjoyed crawling around their large lawn, or pushing the little noddy car (which used to belong to my husband 30 years ago- I’ve seen the home video!) We introduced him to blowing bubbles (he didn’t care) and showed him how to care for a cat (he followed Arthur everywhere and squeaked with excitement every time he entered the room.) And on the one morning that was a little chillier with a rain shower, I dressed J in his new (second hand) puddle suit and wellies and we spent half an hour stomping in puddles and playing with the storm drain before his nap, at which point we lit the fire in the lounge and sat with our books and a cup of tea, re-living our camping experience. Bliss!