we rescued mum and dad's sanity, left c in bed with a cold and took the cousins ice skating. my op meant i could only look on admiringly. mr skaterg1rl was relieved that the older cousins could skate well enough to look after the carpetbiters.

in the evening went to see the creation theatre company in a spiegeltent like the one that comes to edinburgh in the bmw factory car park. it was great. the kids were transfixed. the interval pancakes were very fine too.