The girls had an inset day at school, and Josh had no college, so as the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, we drove to the beach.

We spent a couple of hours making sandcastles, paddling, stone-throwing, playing at being sand angels, being buried in the sand, racing along the beach, and getting wet and sandy.

I took over a hundred photographs, trying to capture every single moment of our day together.

Josh is sixteen and usually not interested in spending time together as a family, so it was so lovely to have such a relaxing, fun time with all of my children.

Spending the day without any of Tom’s negativity was so precious, and left us with memories of smiles, laughter and happiness.

My children are all I really need in the world.