I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Ours went by in a flash but it was wonderful and definitely one that we will remember and treasure for many years to come. Since having children, we have always spent Christmas at home or at our parents’ houses (which are less than half an hour away) so I was looking forward to going away to celebrate both Christmas and my father’s 70th birthday together with my parents and my sister’s family. From the moment we arrived at Moonfleet Manor in Dorset I felt all the stress from the run-up to the festive season melt away. The Georgian manor house was beautifully decorated with Christmas trees in all the downstairs rooms and mantlepieces heaving with pine and cone garlands. No meals to cook, no house to clean and no need to worry about entertaining the children as there was a swimming pool, games rooms and a huge indoor play area with room to play football and tennis as well as a soft play area for the younger ones. I even had time to read a book and, after a busy Christmas Day with stockings in the morning followed by a treasure hunt which ended in a truly magical Santa’s Grotto, my sister and I booked in for a relaxing facial and massage on Boxing Day. And of course, lots and lots of food, including a six course Black Tie gala dinner on our last night – so healthy eating is definitely on the agenda for January!

Back home there were more presents to open under the tree (with only a small car we couldn’t bring any big gifts with us) including a dolls house for Clemmie and a new games console for the boys, which they were up playing early this morning. We managed to drag them away for a few hours to go to the zoo and enjoy the sunshine (a welcome change from the horrible rain and wind).

The boys have just gone to bed and when I said goodnight I asked what they thought was the best part of Christmas. I expected them to say ‘Getting a Lego set or an Xbox’ but they both replied ‘being together at the hotel and seeing our cousins’ which made me so happy because, to me, that is what Christmas is all about: family and togetherness.

There are still a few more lazy days to enjoy before reality kicks in again and I, for one, intend to make the most of them by doing not very much at all! X