November

As much as I was disappointed by the English summer as much am I excited about the beautiful fall. It has been lovely outside and we had some really sunny days. Temperatures are around 10°C in average and I love the fact that you don´t need a billion layers of clothes when leaving the house.

We have been quite busy since I finished my PhD and "Hotel" N. was fully booked until now. :)
First our friends from Sweden came to visit for a long weekend, then my dad came by for a week and after that 3 of M. friends stayed with us for a weekend. It´s been really fun and we did loads of excursions, including Alton towers (englands biggest amusement park), Birmingham, Dovedale and Macclesfield forest.

Last weekend was the first weekend that we were "alone" and we decided to use it for some grand shopping. I had been told by a friend that there is a great Outlet mall close to Liverpool called Cheshire Oaks.
It was brilliant. They have great shops and M. and I felt like we had reached heaven. ;) It was also nice for the kids as there are two nice play areas where they can run around. We shopped till we dropped and after just a few days we are already longing to go back.

On Sunday we went to another magnificent estate belonging to the National trust. Its called Lyme Park and it is located on the edge of the Peak District, nestling within sweeping moorland. It is also the backdrop to where Darcy meets Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. We loved it but we wore the wrong clothes. People came in Wellies and outdoor clothing while we wore "city" outfits, which got rather muddy after a while. It was well worth it though and I recommend anyone who has the chance to go - go. We will probably be back in a couple of weeks because we heard that Santa is going to pay the place a visit as well.

Finally, we also went to a Halloween party at a friends house. It was great fun and S. even won a price for best costume. She was a little witch and cute as a button if you ask me. ;)

All right, S. get annoyed by me sitting here and writing. Need to go back to mum-duty and figure out what to do today.