By Jo McInnes

Good grief! I never thought in my wildest dreams I would be travelling around in a caravan. In fact, growing up I was always very derogatory towards those who had their holidays in "trailer parks". Here I am though sitting in a 1996 four berth caravan with an awning out the side... and I'm having a good time!

The caravan leaves a bit to be desired though. I used to have stroller envy, now I find I have caravan envy. There are some serious "outfits" that pull into these parks. Caravans and motorhomes with all the mod cons - microwaves, LCD TV's and huge beds. Our's has a gas leak.

In all seriousness though, considering the last few weeks have been fairly stressful with having the flu and trying to find accommodation and transport for the four of us, it's quite nice to finally be able to relax and enjoy our holiday. We spent a couple of weeks in great little cottages, firstly in Newquay (Cornwall) and then in Armscote (Stratford), but that was becoming a little expensive and I was really getting a bit worried about how long we could sustain this type of holiday lifestyle.

Now we carry our home on our back and we can go pretty well where ever we like. At present we're in Edinburgh and tomorrow we go and visit Nessie at the Loch for a couple of days. We'll come back to Edinburgh again before making our way back down south. We have to catch the Ferry to Caen (France) from Portsmouth on the 14th June. I'm so excited that we're going to be house sitting a place in Normandy for a month. It will give us a chance to stop and experience normality for a while. I'm also really looking forward to doing odd jobs like feeding the chooks and watering the garden.

James and Em are coping quite well, although they can be fairly trying at times. Both are developing incredibly. Em is talking so well we can understand almost everything she demands - and boy does she demand! She is a classic kid with a wickedly cheeky personality and is as stubborn as hell (just like her father). I really miss my mother's group though. I desperately want to ask what stages their 3 year olds are up too and make sure I'm not the only one nearly tearing my hair out!

James has a new trick. When he eats something he doesn't like he stores it in his cheek... sometimes for an hour (no exaggeration!). The amazing thing though, is that he can continue to eat, bypassing the stuff stored in his check and adding to it when he comes across something he doesn't want to eat. I've found pods of fully chewed and partly digested food in the oddest places!!

All in all though, we are finally doing ok. I'm finally starting to look forward to going places and doing things and not wishing I could go home... oh, that's right, I forgot....we don't have a home, we sold it to come here