Lovelocked

Following a difficult week and despite a broken sleep (due to The Youngest’s incessant coughing), I woke with a clear head and not without a little happiness in my heart.

We were up and out fairly early this morning to meet The Eldest at her digs in Manchester, and having had a bad experience last weekend when visiting for football, I was keen to beat the traffic heading into Manchester. The wee ones were very excited for their day out!

It was a very sweet, emotional reunion as the wee ones hugged their older sister and she showed us around her shared kitchen and we hung out in her room for a little while. I was delighted to hear that she’s been cooking (she would later send us away with some hand-baked cookies), having fun, enjoying her course and getting into some light scrapes - basically, everything that university should be! 

On a tip, we took a wander up to the Manchester Museum, which was really nice and we spent a lot of time in their fantastic vivarium (well, not in it obviously, but looking at it) before checking out the taxidermy section and agreeing that the red panda was the cutest.

The Eldest then escorted us across town to a lively, bustling place called Mala, where we demolished some burgers and hot chocolates - odd combo, but it seemed to keep them all happy.

On our return to the digs and through an increasingly busy city, we passed this scene (a real blink and you’ll miss it vignette just opposite the Palace Theatre where Hamilton is playing!) which was just too good an opportunity for a blip.

With reluctant good-byes between the children (extra), I had an extended embrace with The Eldest and let her know how proud I am of her for how well she has taken those daunting first steps in forging her own path.

It has been a very good day.