Rachel, Owen and Kathryn

Smithills Open Farm (near Bolton) one Saturday. She seems soo confident - and liked so much she had another go!

Katy's birthday celebration was a distibuted affair, with visits to the grandparents on the weekends either side of a Thomas the Tank Engine cake at nursery mid-week. We were also able to piggy-back on the much grander party at Marple Garden Centre [picture with big 2] organised for Celeste (daughter of an Anglo-German couple we met at NCT antenatal classes). We had a miniature train all to ourselves for the whole afternoon.

In the last week of August we set off again: this time a car tour taking in Cambridge (well, Chesterton to be precise), Hempnall Green (Norfolk), and Leicester. Katy enjoyed boating on the Cam and paddling in the sea at Walberswick.

Before the summer becomes a distant memory there's just time for a quick catch-up. First week of August: we all got on a plane to Berlin, to stay with Julie. I realised over dinner one evening that we had known each other 25 years. That's just a tiny bit frightening. But the weather was great, Berlin's Tierpark was fantastic, sandy playgrounds were almost like the beach, and open-air swimming pools under blue skies made it feel like a real holiday.