Weekend of 15th/16th August

All back together as a family and Toby was feeling fine so we headed out for the day to a town called Stein am Rhein, north east of where we are staying, on the way to Lake Constance (Bodensee). It was a beautiful town with buildings decorated with frescoes from the 16th century. The boys of course were interested for about 30 seconds, so we headed down to the riverside, where the simplest of things were enjoyed. Particularly funny was a local dog that was intent on jumping in to the river over and over again. Toby and Sam found it mesmerising and hilarious as you'd expect at their age. A miniature railway offered rides for children and parents, so that, combined with watching some boats, an ice cream and paddling in the river up to their waists (no change of clothes but why worry? I can certainly remember occasions like that from back in the 70's!)made for a lovely day out.
Of course both boys then fell asleep in the car on the way home, and then insisted on chattering for hours come bedtime!
Sunday was a trip to the local outdoor pool, given the weather has been so good. We're not sure when it will break so thought we should make the most of it...is that a British approach though, with no two days being the same at home?!! Although Toby isn't allowed to swim due to his central line, I followed him around the toddler paddling pool ready to catch him if he slipped. He seems to know he needs to keep it dry. He still enjoyed splashing about, but was less happy when Sam got to go down the slide and into the bigger pool, and he realised that he couldn't join him. We couldn't win really though - to not go would deny Sam some fun, and yet to go denies Toby some fun. Life's never going to be fair in this situation, so we went anyway. The sadness hit all over again at one point, like a punch in the stomach, that something as simple as a day at a swimming pool is compromised with the treatment of this illness. Roll on the end of the treatment.