I'm playing Daddy this weekend, and I'm staying with my cousin Kathy for the rest of the day. Of course, I'd originally planned to take the kids out for a nice walk. Maybe check out a local castle or a country park.

But it's raining, in a big way. And Jessie has a nasty cough...

I'm all for "fresh air", but I think there has to be a point when it's just not worth it. There's not a lot of sense in dragging Smallest Girl out in the open if it's going to condemn her to bed for the rest of the week. But it's easy to feel cheated when we have so little time together. It's made me think a bit about what I'm trying to achieve. Surely the object of these visits is to spend time with them. Not to turn up like the Fairy of Fun and dazzle them with madcap days out.

But it's true. Every time I come down here, I always try to "do" something worthwhile. Something that will be memorable, so that we can look back on it in a few years and actually have a past to look back on.

So yes, for once, we're doing "ordinary". We're going to watch rubbish on TV, do some homework. Have a chat. Maybe make lunch together, We're going to do that rare thing; spend time in each other's company, and maybe get to know each other a little better.

So Sunday Journal is a little short this week. We had a pillow fight this morning and I need to go and tidy the bed.

So that it's ready for Round 2