We've done a bit so far, removed the flower stickers (we have something better in mind), removed a few unecessary bits from the inside, painted the interior walls a lovely aqua colour and added a few home comforts - cushions, blankets and kitchen essentials.
Our first family trip was to Haughton Park in Alford, Aberdeenshire, about 30 miles from our house. Because the back seats don't have seatbelts fitted yet, we had to take the car as well. Charlie and Steve did the man thing and took the van, and daisy and I followed behind. You should have seen the delight on my little face, watching our beautiful Doris pottling along the road on front of me!
Daisy was happy as larry when we arrived...
And of course, the most important thing is to get settled in and have a quick refreshment before hitting the woods...
Then it was off into the woods for the good stuff - tree climbing, stick collecting and squealing with delight whenever we saw a bunny! There was even a stone circle in a clearing, which we all got very excited about and just had to release our inner hippies...
Loads of fun! It was lovely to see the kids getting so excited about playing outisde. we made up games, we invented new hippy names for ourselves and had a brilliant laugh. See? No need for computer games or telly programmes, just some fresh air, sunshine and jumping off rocks!
Spot the bare feet! Oh yeah baby, we're so hardcore, we don't even need shoes!
Of course, it wouldn't be a family trip without a drama of some kind, which Daisy willingly provided. She went to jump over a log, tripped and landed face first on the ground, ouch! We all got a bit of a scare when we saw the giant egg that appeared on her head...
She was a little star though, lots of tears but a dose of calpol and many cuddles later, she was right as rain. It was a good opportunity to do a little bit of first aid training with the kids as well, and I taught them about what it means when a bump appears after an injury, and how to check things like ability to answer questions and shining a light at the pupils to check for dilation after a head injury.
We were able to go back out again after a little while, and resumed the fun! I adored cooking dinner on the little two ringed stove and grill, and we all enjoyed listening for the whistling of the stove top kettle! As it's getting colder, we were all grateful for a nice hot drink as the sun went down.
We had fun after dinner collecting sticks for a little campfire, and Steve and Charlie took great pleasure in doing the man thing and lighting the fire. It was really nice to see them doing a bit of male bonding and having a good old campfire chat...
We had a good comfy night's sleep and were up nice and early the next day to continue the fun!
We visited the Grampian Transport Museum (too many photos to post!), which was amazing. Steve and I are both huge fans of anything vintage, and Steve is well into cars, so it was lovely for us to both get excited about looking at everything!
We explored the playparks at the campsite, which was a good excuse for all four of us to act like kids...
And of course, there was more tree climbing, rock jumping and general outdoorsiness. This is what I think is important about childhood, exploring, having fun, using your imagination, getting all grubby and breathless and enjoying yourself so much that you don't even notice the cold!
All in all, it was an amazing first trip away in our gorgeous camper. Alford was stunning and we all had so much fun, we were born to live the campervan lifestyle. We are already planning our next adventure this weekend. Doris is definitely the best thing we have ever bought, and I can see us being very happy campers for a very long time.
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