It has been a while since we just jumped in the car and went on a trip. But we’d been talking for a few days about taking the babies on a drive but couldn’t quite work out where to go. We had the option of Tobermory (the home of the kids TV show Balamory), Arran or Millport. Tobermory was completely out though as we had to wait for the health visitor to drop by for her first visit now that Greer is with us and it’s a hell of a long drive.

So the health visitor came and went and we jumped in the car. I trust Vonnie’s driving and general sense of direction but after 15 minutes of driving it’s a bit of a surprise to hear her say “I guess this is a bad time to tell you I’m not sure of how to get there.” Now to be perfectly honest I hadn’t decided where ‘there’ was at this point but they both lay in roughly the same direction. It wasn’t until we were coming up to the junction for the Ardrossan Harbour that we took the decision to go to Millport rather than Arran. I love Arran to pieces and I will be taking the kids there one day but £50 to take the car over on the ferry is a bit much for a day trip and so we’d be stuck in Brodick rather than getting out and seeing the island. So that left Millport as our destination. We drove up past the nuclear power station in through West Kilbride and arrived in Largs just in time to see the ferry leave the slip so we had to wait for the next one.

When we were on the Calais-Dover ferry last year Nairn really didn’t like going outside but when I took him onto the observation deck for the 10 minutes or so we’re actually out on the water he loved it. In fact he refused to come back down to the car without a fight and even tried to storm the bridge at one point. It’s been about 25 years since I last visited Millport and apart from the cars parked outside the shops almost nothing has changed. The toy shop where I would buy all my jokes for that summer whenever we visited was still there and if truth be told some of the tricks in the shop window look as though they have been there for those 25 years! The crocodile is still there on the beach but we never managed to get the kids along for the traditional photo opportunity.

So we stopped for lunch and despite Erica screaming the place down for almost the entire time we were in the cafe it was nice. I’m sure Vonnie thought differently though. Once that was over we walked along the beach and let the kids play on the sand for an hour or so. It took me a while to get Nairn to understand that he shouldn’t pick up the jellyfish and sea urchins that rolling about in the surf. We bought ice cream for the kids and climbed on the rocks and all in all I felt about 10 years old again. On the way back to the car we stopped and let the kids have a go on the trampolines which, aside from the joke shop, is one of the few memories I have of the place as a child.

As we headed off home we drove clockwise around the island which I’ve never done before. And by that I mean I’ve never went around the island and not that I’ve only ever went anti-clockwise around it. There are a couple of beautiful wee beaches about 15 minutes walk from the town and no one was there! I also found something that possible inspired the Lost creators and writers. As you drive around the back of the island you come across a face staring out at you from the rocky ‘cliffs’ overlooking the road. It’s freaky just thinking about the unblinking thing staring back at you.

We need to do more trips like this.