I never thought at the beginning of the holiday I would be wishing for more time home with the boys but I am. This summer holiday has flown by, probably due to having two weeks away at either end of the holiday. So here I am in the house alone, in silence apart from the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. The boys went back to school today.

The sunshine has made a welcome return this week, so the boys wore their shorts today (which is good because I hadn't sewed the name labels onto their trousers yet).

Last week we went to Northern Ireland to stay with Jeff's parents, we had lovely weather there unlike at home which had lots of rain. It's not often we have better weather when we're over there! Here's a few of the photos from our time in Northern Ireland.

Jeff and I getting out for a drink or two.

Matthew and Callum having fun as Star Wars characters at Zack's birthday party.

Out and about down to Castle Ward via the ferry across Strangford Lough.

Scrapping and chatting with my friends Sheila and Janine.

Out and about with Janine and her boys. Janine had been to this country park earlier in the holiday and had seen this wheatfield - the perfect setting for a quick photo opportunity of our boys!

More crabbing. Day 1 - 10 crabs, day 2 - 3 plus a little hermit crab found in a rock pool.

And a family photo - thanks Janine!

Goodbye Summer.