Rachel, Owen and Kathryn

Katy supervises the construction of the tent. Owen cooks us all breakfast. Verdict: we like this camping lark.

Those eight days were our first chunk of summer holiday 2011. On August 3rd Katy had her first night away from us, as she had a sleepover with her cousins in Newark. She had a wonderful time and was very well behaved (unless Barbara's not telling us something), and came back a noticeably more confident and grown-up little girl. She now goes to children's meeting at Quakers without us, which makes a huge difference to our Sundays. We made the most of our escape, and stayed at what might be My Best Hotel Ever, the Bailhouse in Lincoln: small but perfectly formed. I managed to forget my phone, but there are some lovely pictures on the hotel website . The weather forecast was bad, but when we arrived it was 30 degrees! This necessitated a quick trip to the shops, as that pool was irresistible. Primark has its uses: all kitted out for £15.

Chugging again, this time on a steam train from Haverthwaite to Lakeside . Wondrous Windermere. What a surprise! A reception committee of owls met us at the station - w[h]oo'd have thought it?

En route to staying with friends in Silverdale we visited the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis , which boasts a large snow leopard and some rather smaller creatures too.

After all the excitement of the previous few days, a 50p ride seemed thrill enough for a tired little girl.

Katy loved the treehouses, wobbly bridges, rope walks, zip wires, big slides, sand pits, den-building and boat-trips so much we had to go back and do it all again the very next day.