Mum and Dad's respite Weekend away

Frivolous or a necessity?

Demands of providing full-time care for a child struggling with a disability or a chronic illness can be overwhelming  at times, even for the most committed of parents. Having a break away can help parents maintain their sense of self and sense of being a couple,  by giving them time to engage in  things they enjoy... like a hobby, travel, seeing friends or just resting and recouping energy. Respite breaks can  help families stay together by giving parents time to work on their relationship (outside the demands of parenthood) instead of concentrating solely on the needs of their child. I feel therefore in answer to the above question that Respite care is an "essential" for couples as it can reduce parental stress and help to keep overwhelmed couples and families together.

The Hungry boy and Daughter number 2 headed out to their girls and boys camp a few weekends  ago  and so with the above in mind and Heni being well looked after at home by Gem, we decided to make the most of the time that they were away by having a weekend respite break...just me and hubby!
The last time we had been away together was a year previous and the time before that three years previous..... so we were well overdue some time to  spend as a couple. 


We searched for hours for a last minute break... somewhere within a few hours radius of home. After multiple failed attempts at finding something (and then finding that it was not available) we stumbled upon the Guards Van!
 Tucked away on the site of the Mid Suffolk Light Railway trackbed in Brockford, Suffolk, close to the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway Museum,  we found a unique holiday property based on the railway theme.
The Guards van had once been a dilapidated wreck...lovingly restored and updated to be comfortable holiday accommodation....I'm not a huge enthusiast about trains but it looked different and fun and so we booked it on the spot, packed and left the next morning! 

Here is a little bit about our weekend away:-
 
On the same site as the Guards Van was a station building plus two other converted railway carriages,




When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised at the accommodation...the mid section comprising of a small kitchen...

...Leading in to a sitting room... 

 

...and then to a small twin room at the far end of the carriage...

At the other end of the carriage was a shower room and a double room which had double doors...

 ...that opened out on to a small railway sleeper deck and seating area

Like always we like to go explore what is in the locality so  we headed out with no fixed plan in mind. We stumbled upon some reclamation yards that we mooched around for a while and then as we were driving,  noticed the English Heritage Saxtead Green post mill....
  and decided to stop and have a look around 

 ....we climbed all the way to the top and looked at all the working mechanism

 ...and then hopped back in the car and drove along the tourist route to the coast to a place called Snape Maltings
The building is a renovated old brewery in which there are a number of shops, cafes, Restaurants, holiday properties and a concert hall! However we liked the look of the beautiful scenery  by the side of the river Alde that leads down in to the sea and decided to go for a walk instead.

The wind rushing through the tall reeds was a far better exchange than a busy shop...

 ....and the views over the estuary were lovely ....  the sun had even decided to finally make an appearance!

 After our refreshing walk we headed to the seaside town of Aldeburgh with its vibrant high street of pretty painted houses.

....had a walk up and down the high street and then headed to the beach in search of.... yes you guessed it the perfect heart shaped rock to add to my collection...

We walked down the beach ....

...and came across a little  artists shack in which there was an unusual exhibit of soap bubbles called music of the spheres! (by Charlotte Jarvis)

...that were streaming out of the bubble machine and floating in the air down the beach.

 After Aldeburgh we headed a few miles north up the coast to Thorpeness

... for another walk along the beach, by the side of the Peter Pan themed Meare (boating lake) 

...and around all of the quirky buildings... one of which is a five storey house in the clouds... an old water tower converted to a house which is still in use today !

Thorpeness is full of quirky buildings, some of which are more than meet the eye. For example, Ogilvie ingeniously disguised the village’s water tower as an overgrown house, the striking ‘House in the Clouds’ above, lest it offend the eye! This 5 storey house is still in use today and overlooks the golf course on one side, with views of the boating lake, village and beach on the others.

The Meare is an artificially created, shallow boating lake covering 3 acres, with several streams running off the main lake with landings marked with names on a Peter Pan theme. Tiny islands on the Meare contain locations found in J. M. Barrie's novel such as the Pirates Lair, Wendy's home and many others which children are encouraged to play on. - See more at: http://www.suffolktouristguide.com/Thorpeness-and-Peter-Pan.asp#sthash.aBfalZZj.dpuf

Thorpeness is full of quirky buildings, some of which are more than meet the eye. For example, Ogilvie ingeniously disguised the village’s water tower as an overgrown house, the striking ‘House in the Clouds’ above, lest it offend the eye! This 5 storey house is still in use today and overlooks the golf course on one side, with views of the boating lake, village and beach on the others.

The Meare is an artificially created, shallow boating lake covering 3 acres, with several streams running off the main lake with landings marked with names on a Peter Pan theme. Tiny islands on the Meare contain locations found in J. M. Barrie's novel such as the Pirates Lair, Wendy's home and many others which children are encouraged to play on. - See more at: http://www.suffolktouristguide.com/Thorpeness-and-Peter-Pan.asp#sthash.aBfalZZj.dpuf

As we left Thorpness and headed back in the direction of the Guards Van we passed by Leiston Abbey a monastic ruin  originally founded in 1182.  

We wandered around as the sun lowered in the sky and then jumped back in the Landy and drove back to the guards van....tired and hungry after a jam packed day.

  We were not as fortunate with the weather the next day and decided to brave the rain whilst visiting another English heritage site close by called Framlingham castle

 Britain can be stunningly beautiful when its sunny but its not as pleasant when its gray and rainy so we cut our stay shorter than usual and went back to lounge in the pool and hot tub at the owner of the guards vans house. A lovely relaxing way to end an otherwise very busy but refreshing respite break.

It was lovely to spend time with my best friend and just be together... exploring, being outside and doing things we like to do. It reminded me of the fun times we had when we were dating and newly married.... free to go anywhere and do anything we pleased without the additional pressure that family life brings. It's often easy for couples to forget what life is like outside the realms of caring and raising children... and in particular children with extra special needs. Having time to be together can bring you closer as a couple and time spent getting reacquainted can only help strengthen the family unit as a whole.   
I hope that by seeing some of the things we did on our respite break will inspires you to book time out as a couple (or alone if you don't have a partner) to recharge, rebuild and do something different... and have some fun!
Get the calendar.... circle some dates and book that respite NOW!  I'd love to know what fun adventures you take.


Jx