I was given the honour of staying with Dene while Gem & Gav went on their honeymoon. We had grand plans of a fab 2 week girlie hang out, sadly this would also need to include Dene having to go to school and me having to commute from Bicester to Hertfordshire every day for work. I should have realised then that this time would not be all butterflies and fairies as we had hoped....

The first thing to go was the commute. After receiving a call from the school to tell me that Dene was unwell - on around day 2 or 3 - and I needed to pick her up, I threw the towel in to the drive and decided to work from home. Then came the daily challenge of getting a 12 year old to school every day. Who knew this would be like a UN peacekeeping mission. Everyday!! Seriously, what did I know about looking after a 12 year old?

All that aside, we had a - mostly - great time. I remember the trip to Alton Towers and my insistance that Dene come on Oblivion even though she was clearly bricking it. Never one to show weakness, or want to disappoint me she did come on the ride when most who were that scared would have bailed. We even bought the overpriced ride photo as evidence.

Dene also made me a 'lovely' cake at the end of the 2 weeks to say thank you. I was so moved by the effort and thought that she had put into it that I braved the grey / purple icing and soggy bottom to give it a try. It certainly tasted better than it looked!

On the occasions that we argued (a new phenomenon for us, given my previous 'favourite auntie' status), Dene was able to hide from me with such effect that I practically turned the house upside down searching for her. She successfully evaded capture every time and would then miraculously appear again after we had both cooled down. This was until the very last day when I heard a noise coming from her wardrobe. A wardrobe I had almost emptied on each of my previous search missions. This time though I managed to catch a glimpse of her leg just before she whipped it away onto the top shelf. Aha, at last I had found her hidey hole. If I hadn't I think it would have continued to bug me until this very day.

At the end of the honeymoon, we collected mum and dad from the airport and whilst I was happy to once again have my freedom and sanity back, I was also kind of sad that the chaos was over for me.xx