So last weekend, when we all still dreaming that England might just bring football home, and when the sun was still blazing, we headed back to Birmingham for a weekend of football, family, fun – and Freddie!

Freddie is my nephew. I have two nieces on Graham’s side, but the little Fredster is my first on my side of the family. He is the son of my youngest brother, Tom and his wife, Kim (from Life of an Auntie) and I absolutely adore him. Last Saturday, Tom and Kim hosted a barbeque to watch the footie (England V Sweden) and celebrate him turning one the next day.

It’s not very often the whole family get together – we live in Wales, my parents, Tom and Kim live in Birmingham and my other brother and his wife live in Suffolk, so when we do all get together, it’s always really special. Sadly, Charlotte couldn’t come that weekend, but hopefully, it won’t be long until we are all in one place again. They’d also invited my nan, my cousin and her son,  some good friends of theirs (and ours!) and Kim’s family.

It was a really lovely buzz, sitting outside in the sunshine, beer in hand, watching the game. We had it streamed off the internet, which was slow – we literally had a one-minute warning when England was about to score, thanks to the shouts of the neighbours! It was a great, stress-free game, which put us all in excellent spirits for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Following tradition, my parents had bought Freddie a Crazy Coupe car for his birthday, as they did with each of the boys. He was quite sure what to make of it at first, but after having all of his older cousins pushing him around the kitchen and patio, he was loving it.

It was a really lovely afternoon and evening – one of those chilled out ones, where we could sit outside, enjoy the sunshine and a few drinks and just spend some time together.