The road trip begins.

The first leg of our road trip began today. As we had managed to book an extra night up north we decided to surprise my brother and his family with a visit. When I messaged him this morning to ask if he would be home this afternoon he presumed I meant for a phone call. It was so lovely to hear his excitement when I announced that we were travelling a day earlier and would love to visit him in Leeds.

The kids were amazingw patient given the long (and at times boring) journey. When we arrived in Leeds there were two very excited children (my niece and nephew) waiting to see us. All the children played nicely together and we ended our evening going out to my brother's local restaurant together.

It was hard to say goodbye, a few hours never feels enough, but it meant the world to all of us.

We the drove further north to our travel inn and the kids are now settled watching a dvd on my laptop.

Next leg tomorrow....

Here Hangus the Monkey taking in the sights on the motorway today.