The Boys Are Back In Town..... — Steve Chivers Photography

Well June has been the gift that keeps on giving. Hot on our heels after seeing The Eagles we had news that the Chappels were going to be in Bournemouth. So, we immediately fired up the Polo and it was back up the A38 to visit our Dubai family.

For those regular readers you will already know that Seth, Claire and their three beautiful boys are family to us. We have known all the boys since birth and we have all shared so many wonderful experiences together during our time in Dubai.

I always get asked what I miss about living in the Middle East. I always say I miss those people with whom we shared so much of our time.

I have to say we were a little worried that after 7 months little Horatio wouldn’t know who we were. However, we soon dispelled that worry as on arrival there were cries of Aunty K8 and Uncle Chunkle! (by the way that’s what they call me due to my athletic physique….).

First things first was to undertake a family tradition. Every year Mrs. C bakes each of the boys a birthday cake so this time it was to be three in One.

So it was business as usual; Raif had a normal slice, Atticus had the big chunk with his name on and little Horatio, well he spent half an hour picking off and eating all the blue bits. Glad I am not changing that nappie mum!

Then we were off out to have an afternoon in nearby Burley. Actually this was an excuse to let the kids burn off some energy whilst us adults had a catch up.

You can be sure this trio were cooking up some mischief

Honest Uncle Chuckle it was Atticus who did it…..

Well what a wonderful first day. It is always the same with people you love; you don’t see them for ages and then as soon as you do it is normal service resumed. As you can see I was making up for lost time and unashamedly the Leica Q was in overdrive.

Next day there was a treat in store for me. As you know from previous Blogs, whilst Mrs. C continues to bask in the 20 years that all women have between the age of 39 and 40, this March I became “a man of a certain age”. So they took us for a slap-up lunch at the wonderful Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa. Trust me this was really a treat and the food was absolutely sublime.

Hey Auntie Kate, Uncle Chunkle is getting all arty again!

As always when you are having a great time it all went too quickly. During our last morning we all went to Hockey Farm for breakfast. So it was mega bacon and sausage sandwiches all round. Got to keep up the family tradition that whilst on holiday you have to have a portion of pork product in any form.

We then went out to the farm and found sone very scary looking Alpaccas.

Look Aunty K8 this one looks like Uncle Chunkle!

What a coincidence…we both have the same barber!

Well there you have it. So happy to be with everyone and so sad that we couldn’t have more time. So Just a few more images of the people we love.

So the motto of this blog is that whenever possible, wherever possible make sure you make the effort to take time out for the special people in your lives.

Warmest regards from Plymouth