It's a Family Affair...

The Easter holidays featured a mass exodus from the south side of Glasgow to the south of France. Ronnie and Sheena had booked their trip way in advance and had locked in their accommodation with us, shortly followed by the Woodsies who planned to have a couple of cross-over days with the Grandies. Unbeknownst to Iain, however, was that the McBrides + Gregor & Emma had also booked flights to come visit and would be arriving on the same night as the Woodsies and on the following day respectively. God, it was so difficult making sure that I didn't accidentally let slip that they were all coming!

Three Generations of Cleland men, in the pub. 

In spite of it being Easter, it was still very cold. Hence the attire.  

When you're feeding en mass, its good to go marae style/buffet in the kitchen. Tuesday was spag bol for  13...

 And then three tiers of cheese for Heather's birthday!

 On Wednesday, it was dinner for 15... Cue pulled pork and more buffet eating!

 Cousins having dinner together...

 Everyone here for dinner on Wednesday (before Gergor and Emma arrived):

Ronnie and Sheena left the following morning and that evening we all went into town for dinner. The  wine and the chat flowed and we hung out till about 11pm. The kids did amazingly well to keep going!

The weather was pretty brutal while everyone was here and it was a case of just staying indoors to avoid the rain and trying not to get cabin fever. Fortunately, the wine and gin flowed too and kept everyone (the adults, at least) in good spirits! On Saturday, everyone came round to ours for a big family lunch before the Woodsies and McBrides headed off.

 Later that day, and in the lovely evening sun (!), William and I went to the Pau v Agen match with Gregor and Emma. It was great to get out to a game as we hadn't been to one in ages, plus it was great going with G&E. Pity the result didn't go our way though. Iain was bealing.

With spring in the air, I noticed this wee girl in our garden looking after her eggs. She'd nested in the vines in front of the kitchen window. So amazing.

On Sunday morning, it was time to get out for some fresh air after a week being cooped up indoors. The five of us headed to the Foret du Bastard for a wander and Emma and Gregor managed to knock off a geocache on their travels.

Before we knew it, Gregor and Emma were also hopping in their car and heading to the airport. Its crazy how something that's been in the pipeline for such a long time can pass in the blink on an eye. Great times and one of the reasons we wanted to come back to Europe.

LM. :)