Wilderness Wonderland

We arrived back from our escapism of Wilderness Festival on monday morning, however upon returning home Sam and I both had really bad colds. Looking after a baby when both of us were ill was no fun at all. In fact, it's impossible to really be sick when you have a baby. We felt so guilty that we could not take her out or play with her much. But at least we knew that she'd had a blooming good amount of fun at the festival.

After recuperating this week we finally feel much better, though Eve seems to have caught it, but not too badly thankfully. I'm glad her immune system is good. I put some mild baby vapour rub on her chest and back in the evenings after baths, and then a few drops of baby Olbas Oil around her cot whilst she sleeps. This seems to be helping though the poor girl is slightly grizzly with a runny nose.

Our time in the Wilderness at Cornbury Park in Oxfordshire was incredible though. We were so lucky with the weather, and enjoyed four glorious days there with our friends.











We met up with some old buddies en route to the festival and drove in convoy to the site which was great fun. Both Dads drove the motorhomes with their captain hats on!

The first evening I was really tired as Eve had not slept at all well the previous night, so I chilled out by the motorhome with Sarah and our two babies whilst the rest of our gang went out for good times. During our daytime sessions we had lovely meanderings around the festival, eating tasty food, watching cricket, swimming in the lake and generally having a great time.

I went off for complimentary yoga at The Sweat Lodge on the second morning. I took Eve with me in her pram as everyone else was asleep back at the ranch. She was such a good girl. She fell asleep not long after we arrived at yoga and thankfully stayed asleep, only waking up just before the end of the class, and made lovely little oo-ing and aaah-ing sounds.

It was the first time I had done a yoga class since having Eve, as I've just not had the time to do so before, or anyone to look after her. It felt so good.

Usually I do yoga five times a week at home, and am making a mental note to try to get back on track with yoga and pilates once we are in our new house. Mama's need some time to themselves - sometimes...

The Sweat Lodge was great, at the end we were given a warm flannel soaked in essential oils to wipe down with. Oh the little touches!







After yoga I headed back to meet everyone at base camp. We got dressed up and headed into the festival - this time as 'The Flintstones'!

Barney and Betty, Fred and Wilma

We dressed up the babies too - Eve of course was Pebbles with the bone in her hair, and Jake was Bam Bam...

Dear Eve suffered with her teeth the majority of the time that we were there, though she soldiered through and really enjoyed being shown the wonders of the playground garden that is Wilderness. It was lovely seeing her face light up as she saw new, exciting things.

Nature's best teething toy - Corn on the Cob!

More baby buddies - Anne with Huey and Torgo with Jake

It's such a lovely family festival. It's really well organised, the food stalls and various events and happenings are fantastic, with great music being played all around. Looking about people-watching was enjoyable; no matter what age everyone was having a good time.

The babies just had too much fun - all worn out! Eve, Huey and Jake

I was in bed pretty early with Eve on three of the nights whilst the others went out partying, but I didn't mind as I was tired by 7pm anyway. I got to let my hair down on the Saturday night which was the most fun I have had in ages. It was the perfect evening; still and beautiful with everyone revelling under the setting sun.

Photo by Samantha Milligan

As the sun started to go down we saw a huge hare and horse with people parading behind them. As the evening wore on we somehow got swept up in the crowd walking behind the horse through the festival, around the lake and up the hill toward the helter-skelter castle.

Photo by Sebastian Barros

It was a fantastic celebration of life, nature, paganism and the ending of the summer.

The most amazing thing about the burning of the helter-skelter castle was at it set on fire the throngs of people watching all around the hill started calling up to the people at the top to sit down. As we looked back everyone started sitting down so that all could see the majesty of the burn. It was a powerful reminder of communal consciousness and what we can do if we put our minds together.










Photo by Danny North

The night before really had been the 'calm before the storm' because we woke up on Sunday morning to torrential rain. It was kind've nice though, Eve and I stayed in bed and caught up on some sleep. I was surprised at how well she slept in the motorhome and definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of a different type of holiday.

Sleeping in the motorhome

Thankfully the skies cleared a bit in the afternoon so we had a final wander about and said cheerio to friends who were heading off that evening. Autumn now seems to be upon us, the temperature has become cooler and I'm already thinking about packing Eve's summer dresses away. It's nice dressing her in little dungaree dresses though. 

Beagle with baby Jake and Olivia with Eve

A couple of days after returning home, Eve's first tooth finally appeared - hurrah! At last! We can feel the second one under the skin of her gum. Our next mission is our house move, which we are all excited about....