KEITH and I have just returned from a trip to Suffolk.

It would be a bit over crowded at ‘Number Ten’ if all the family came to stay in one sitting so we booked our Christmas at a popular holiday village, and instead of presents treated the grandchildren to some of the various activities these centres specialise in.

Our party was our three daughters, their children – four boys, four girls, plus, Keith’s mum Edna (aged 87) daughter Paula’s mum-in-law June and daughter Katharine’s partner Mark.

Daughter Joanne is between husbands so we were a bit short on men as Paula’s partner is serving in Afghanistan. The meal was a great success, we shared our gifts and sang happy birthday to Freya who was six on New Year‘s Day. Little Isabel (two) slept through it all.

Naturally, there were mishaps, firstly Oliver locked up the family’s bikes then lost the key; Joanne (his mum) fell off her bike and the momentum sent her running straight into a tree. Edna and Mark were escorted home by security. No, they hadn’t been causing trouble; Mark was being helpful by driving Edna back to the cabins and didn’t know that no-one was allowed to drive on the site at night. As for me I wasn’t too sure about the duvets – it was like sleeping in a bag of crisps.

I treated Keith to a couple of scuba sessions, he spent so long inspecting the bottom of the pool he came back to the cabin looking like a prune. At the all-singing all-dancing pool, the children wore the backsides out of their costumes on the various slides. Freya, who is just a mere slip of a thing, discarded her life jacket and swam the whole length of the pool wearing only barely inflated armbands. She told me later, “I only drowned two times.”

Meanwhile, us ladies contented ourselves with the joys of a latte at the cafe, while indulging in ‘people watching.‘ Believe me everything the gene pool has to offer was on show.