This weekend I've stepped back in time and enjoyed a fabulous time with my family recreating our holidays of the 1970's! Thankfully with a good dose of 21st Century thrown in. To celebrate my mums 80th Birthday we returned to a very traditional family seaside resort of Lytham St Anne's and stayed at a hotel, The Dalmeny, we last stayed in when I was about 2 months old. Admittedly my memories of that time are a little hazy but I've lived through the retelling of stories and seen the faded photographs a million times to be able to chuckle through the memories.
We returned to Lytham St Anne's several times during my childhood but it seems The Dalmeny Hotel holds some very special memories for my mum and my older siblings. Mainly memories of good times with my dad from before he became ill with lung cancer. So this weekend we were treated to remembered times; when Dad and other dads at the hotel were roped into helping the owner (a Mr Webb) replace a pane of plate glass into a window, without any health and safety issues; dad rescuing an adventurous two year old sister who tried jumping in the pool without any arm bands - scarily recreated by my own DD; and bygone times when the male hotel staff would challenge the dads to games of football in the car park.
It's been a very special weekend for different reasons. Obviously it is wonderful that we are able to celebrate my mum still being a fit and active matriarch of our family at the ripe age of 80. She's vowed to still be around to help us celebrate again in 10 years time. But it was also lovely to spend time together as a family as we don't get to see each other too much due to us all living a fair distance away from each other.
Mother, brother and sisters aside it was seeing the younger generation of cousins getting to know each other that I will hold as a dear memory from this weekend. DD is now at an age were her memory lasts longer and she'll be able to recall events and faces from the weekend when we inevitably go through the photos we've posted on our google plus event (my brothers new obsession!).
She had two exciting late nights running around with these new 'friends' and dancing at the disco (my heart melted), fun building sand castles and flying kites on the beach, running excitedly around the arcade on the pier and she loved playing with the big girls and boys as much as her younger twin cousins. This morning she named them all one by one, asking where they were and if they'd come to her house to play. With this move I sincerely hope they are more able to come and visit and I take heart in how easily she made 'friends' in about ten minutes. Maybe she'll adjust to the move quicker than I anticipated? I hope so.
And I also hope we are able to make a trip to The Dalmeny and Lytham St Anne's a regular summer event for us all, helping to create new and precious memories our next generation can revisit in years to come.
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