Band, films and celebrating at Centerparcs

After choir on Friday 13th November, J and I set off to Storrington for a NMYBB weekend. He could have taken the train as usual, but the church they were staying at just happened to be close to where a really good friend lives, of whom I see far too little, so I took advantage of that for a weekend with her 🙂 We chatted and caught up – but our plan to watch back-to-back vintage films was thwarted by the Paris terrorist attacks, which left us hanging on for news and trying to make sense of what had happened and what might be a reasonable response.
We also went to the band concert, which was excellent (we both bought CDs 🙂 ) and the service the next day, which was equally good – I can thoroughly recommend looking out for NMYBB next time they’re anywhere near you 😉

Belle et Sebastien on Tuesday was fab (yay for free films!) and was followed by a little light lunchtime opera (Mozart’s Bastien et Bastienne) before dashing across town to get L and K to Arts Award. Phew! WedEd on Wednesday and then Princess Bride and multisport on Thursday made for a busy week, but Friday was mostly given over to packing and travelling – to Centerparcs for a celebratory weekend with Bob’s parents, sister and family. We’ve been to Centerparcs many times now, but always in the cheapest possible way, so this was quite a different experience! Bob’s parents had decided to opt for rather posher accommodation than is our wont, including a games room, wine fridge, coffee machine, towels folded into elephants, daily cleaners and even a sauna (which I’m afraid we didn’t use)! It was lovely for the children to spend time with their cousins and for us all to eat together as one large family – a really special way to celebrate a 50th wedding anniversary 🙂