Thursday 31 March 2016

An Easter weekend at the seaside

Easter has come around very quickly this year and has been a rather strange one with the school holidays not starting until next week. We decided to have a few days at the seaside to make the most of us all being off work/school at the same time...

We love Scarborough, especially when the sun is shining and it certainly was
 when we arrived on Good Friday




On the Saturday we walked, walked and walked some more!

It was a bit windy at the top of the cliff

but the view was well worth it








There was also some competitive crazy golf...
 
Some serious arcade game playing...
 
 
 
and of course a miniature steam train.
 

We spent Easter Sunday at Robin Hoods Bay
This has to be one of my favourite places in the world and one of the most picturesque




 

 
 

 
A fab weekend by the sea, can't wait until the next one!
 

 



 





 

Sunday 20 March 2016

Family outings, shopping meltdowns and a dead rat...just another weekend.

Weekends are often a mixed bag in our house. They are always busy. How can they not be with two little boys? A packed agenda brings out both the best and the worst in us all. Exciting trips out, parties, family visits are lovely and are almost always met with appreciation. However, this combined with tasks that can't be done during the week because of lack of time or Jon and I not being in the same place at the same time are met with less enthusiasm (surprising eh?).

Saturday morning started with the usual 9am swimming lesson for the big lad but for a change we all went to watch because we were going straight from there to the theatre. As soon as I saw Gangsta Granny was at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham I had to book tickets for us as Samuel absolutely loved reading David Walliams' fantastically funny yet cleverly sensitive book. The show was not a disappointment and we all enjoyed it. Freddie was slightly apprehensive about high up we were sitting (the balcony) but enjoyed the show and has wanted to talk about it lots since.












Of course our favourite bits were when Granny was 'zooming' around the stage on her mobility scooter but the dance contest was equally hilarious. Mr Parker seeing Granny do her naked yoga had us in stitches. Toilet humour mixed with a heart wrenching underlying theme of loneliness that older people may experience meant the show was catchy for all ages and it was lovely to see the production supporting Age UK Nottingham.




So after a great time at the theatre the next stop on the agenda was somewhere I never thought I'd say we were going to on a Saturday. That's right we took the ultimate parental failure of a decision to go to......Ikea!!!! Da da daaaahhhhhh! It was done with good intentions people I promise you. It did not end well. The boys were starting to get that slightly tired giddiness, we were looking for something quite specific in Ikea which was like...erm... looking for something quite specific in Ikea. Oh and also, I didn't realise that half of the population of the east midlands were also planning on visiting Ikea this Saturday. We came out without said specific thing but did purchase a lamp, light bulbs, dog shaped coat hooks and a milk jug. Of course, not at all what we were going for but we were panic buying at this point, you know how it is.

Anyhoo the Ikea trauma is over so that's the last time we shall speak of said horror.


Today the Fredster had a nice swim with his Dad whilst Samuel went to a birthday party at the cinema this morning, which was lots of fun by the sounds of it. As if we had obviously not learnt a thing from yesterday, after picking the big lad up we went to B&Q!! I know you're thinking we've lost the plot completely. However, the mood at B&Q was nothing short of euphoric. It was as if everyone in the shop had a very smug feeling about them. "The sun is shining, I'm buying a new lawn mower and that makes me happy." Or, "the sun is shining, I'm going to paint the garden fence and I feel epic about it." When the sun shines in the UK, we go to B&Q, its just how we roll. In our case our beauty of a shed which has seen us through the good times and the bad in the 9 years we have been in our house has got to go. It will be a sad day, but needs must and hopefully at some point in the next century someone will want to build our downstairs loo (which by the way is going to encroach upon the shed's territory). We spent most of the afternoon outside in the sunshine which was lovely. Even the dead rat discovered underneath the trampoline had a toothy smile on his face and the spider in the shed the size of a baby elephant was thrilled to see me.



Thursday 17 March 2016

Nerdy mums rule!


A friend of mine sent me this picture the other day and said that it made her laugh out loud (you know who you are)! Yes ok, lets just get it all out in the open...when at university I did purchase myself my own 'one ring to rule them all'. I'M A NERD. Said ring did not make me the master of evil thank goodness but it has come back to haunt me! 


I absolutely intend on not passing my nerdy ways on to our boys....erm

The dark side made me do it!

Wingardium Leviosa!


Screw it, nerds rule......








Sunday 13 March 2016

Our family blog...

Our little Freddie is not so little anymore. Well into his first year at school now, Freddie, just like his brother is growing up very quickly (a little too quickly for my liking).

Completely his own character, Freddie is not always a massive fan of people talking about him. Despite his love of putting on shows and being the centre of attention at home this doesn't extend to people and places outside of his comfort zone, which is fair enough.

 This has prompted me to make a slight change to the layout of this blog. I've always posted stories and pictures of the whole family but now I'm making it officially a family blog rather than the 'Little Freddie' blog as it was. A diary of our family adventures and a way of being able to look back and share what's been happening is what I'm going for. With the Easter holidays not very far away there should be plenty of opportunity for adventure coming up!