A weekend away in the country!

The Biebuycks organized this lovely Country Manor for all of us to stay in(Charltons, Biebuycks and ourselves) at staff rates, and even though we knew it would be lovely, we had no idea how lovely and big it would be. We arrived Friday night, it was chilly, so it was lovely to get inside into a warm and welcoming home. We organized the children into bedrooms (I think there were about 14 rooms to choose from), and they were so pleased to be sharing with their friends. All the adults had en-suite bedrooms as well as Eden and Jude. We put together our prepared meals, and then put the children to bed and had a lovely relaxing evening together chatting. We quickly gathered that we were all rather fatigued and in need of this lovely break.
The view from the front.
The view from one of the top floor rooms over the lodge adjacent to the manor.
A view from the back garden(which is 12 acres).
The grounds were simply splendid.
What a treat to stay in a English Country Manor.
The lake in the gardens.
A view of the conservatory.
The pond.
The bathroom near our room was beautiful, photos cannot quite capture it.
A beautiful bath with a view to die for outside the window, I could easily imagine lazing in here for hours with a good book.

Wellies were a necessity for walking around the gardens, there must've been rain before we arrived as some areas were nice and muddy, which made it all very adventurous for the kiddies.
It was lovely to spend time with the Charltons and the Biebuycks again, and we all enjoyed being around a newborn baby again, Georgie is lovely!!
Girls in pink.
A lovely smile from Georgie.
Ayla looking chuffed.
Tracy stealing some cuddles too.
Katie B and Niamh.
Em Ems chilling with Mike in the sunshine.
Eden and Em Ems feeding the ducks all the leftover breakfast toast.
Mike and I coming back from a walk.
Bestest friends.
Ciara had such a great time all weekend, I really didn't see much of her, or any of the others really, they were in a world of imagination and adventure all weekend.
And then we discovered a monopoly game, the children had fun playing and got sooo noisy about it, poor Em Ems had to cover her ears.
The children made a fort/den outside, Eden supplied all flags. I don't suppose they wanted adults in their den :-)
"The Scary Manor - flag of the United Friends!
Their finished den, complete with doorways and rooms.

Dad and Niamh going for a walk.
We saw a ruin from the house and wanted to get there. This part was very sludgy!

Not sure what the story is behind the ruins, or how old they are, but they looked a lot like and old chapel.