I had a picture in my head of how the summer was going to pan out, which was obviously daft - things rarely go the way you think, do they. And there were indeed a few unexpected twists and turns: some good, some decidedly not so good.
The first was a grim little detour to the land of pain, when I did something agony to my shoulder. There is no great story attached to this injury; no tale of daring do, no sporting heroics, not even an over-energetic frisbee throw....
I was sewing. Yep, sewing. And when I finished sewing I couldn't move my right arm without screaming.
It all happened so quickly, SO out of the blue - and it completely stopped me in my tracks.
Not great when you're in France on your own with the kids.
There were some painkillers, which took the edge off the agony, but they soon ran out and I spent one long, uncomfortable night on the sofa, watching the West Wing and talking to the cat.
Straight to the doctor the next day, who prescribed a cocktail of pills and, thankfully, they seemed to do the trick. So apart from a bit of one-handed driving, I did nothing for a week: the kids lived on bread and we watched a lot of DVDs....including all 7 series of 'Sorry' - the 80's sitcom with Ronnie Corbett (lives at home with his overbearing mother) Anyone remember it? The eldest loved it for some reason, but not quite as much as his 'Legends of Tennis' DVD which he watched at least 23 times.
Weirdly there were a few good things that came from the shoulder injury: I got back into reading, about the only thing I could do. I'd sort of got out of the habit, and had forgotten how much I missed a good book.
It's also the only time I've ever gone to France and lost weight.
The next casualty of the holidays was my camera - dropped on a hard, cold tiled floor by the second born. I very nearly almost cried; not because it was expensive or particularly brilliant, but because we've been through a lot, that little camera and me. I'm rather attached to it in a sentimental kind of way. It isn't completely and utterly bust, but landed on the zoom lens; so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Time I think to look for a new one. I still managed to take a few photos, and this is probably my favourite - taken at the Dune du Pilat near Bordeaux, which is definitely worth a visit if you're ever in the area.
The shoulder injury put paid to my ambitious Jumble Betty toy production plans too. I had hoped to build up a decent stock. But, if I'm honest, it wasn't just the shoulder - I simply ran out of steam.
Still, having no internet for ages probably helped boost bunnies etc, and I managed this lot. Quite a few of them aren't finished though.
I did however finish knitting the Tintin jumper for my 8 year old. The one I started when he was 6. I'm not going to do the big reveal yet as it needs to be sewn up. And I'm not feeling too optimistic, because all the kids have grown like weeds this summer. I know I'll have a job on my hands to get the youngest to wear it. She's not into Tintin... or jumpers.
I've more summer shenanigans to write about if you can bear it, but will leave that for a quiet moment when the kids are back at school, and the name tape mountain has shrunk to a gentle mound.