We had a lovely relaxing Christmas and New Year.  Thanks to the weather being awful we didn’t get out and about very much, but we still managed to have a nice time.

On Christmas Day, as expected, all the children were up by 6am *yawn*.  We made them wait until we were all downstairs, then allowed them to open what was in their stockings.  I’d thought ahead and put in a few little things that would keep them occupied for a while – a Peppa Pig DVD for Olly, Dr Who quiz books for Dan and a colour-in Santa decoration for both of them.  Typically it was the toy car keys that Ben had that they were all arguing over, apparently the ‘bleep-bleep’ noise the keyring makes, is the sound the TARDIS makes when it’s locked/unlocked.

Once showered and dressed we all headed off to Church.  Within 5 minutes of getting there I’d already chased after Ben down the aisle a few times, it was clear he was not going to sit and play with the toys I had taken with me, so before the service even started hubby took him back out again.  They ended up visiting my mum and having a cup of tea.  Dan and Olly were extremely well behaved though and even joined in with the Christmas carols that they knew.

Back home, we all received the rest of our presents from Santa.  He must’ve made a special visit whilst we were in Church  The boys all seemed very happy with what they were given, although the excitement was too much for Ben who went for a nap and opened his presents later on.

I discovered afterwards that both of us failed to take any photos apart from Ben sat in a box

and Dan trying out his new skateboard.

We had a bit of salad and various nibbley bits for lunch and then hubby cooked for tea.  So overall a lovely, relaxing day.

Hubby was off work for the whole week, but as mentioned the weather was terrible.  We did manage to get to Tredegar Park on one dry afternoon, Dan took his skateboard and Olly took his new scooter.  Dan kept losing his temper though as the skateboard wasn’t doing what he wanted it to, sure he’ll get the hang of it eventually. They all had a play in the playground although there isn’t anything much there for Ben’s age, not even any baby swings.

He looked very cute in his new waterproof snowsuit and boots though.

The only other place we got to was Roath Park Lake on New Years Eve, we met up with friends and their children and walked around the lake.  It was pouring down though and we were all soaked by the time we got back to the car, still nice to be out in the fresh air.

We had a little party at teatime on New Years Eve, just us and the children.  Basically an excuse to eat a load of party food, the duck spring rolls from Tesco are gorgeous, although for some reason they don’t have the fresh ones at New Year only Christmas.  We got the boys to bed at their usual time, luckily the fireworks that were going off didn’t keep them awake.  Hubby and I played a few games on the Wii, then went to bed as usual.  Hubby stayed awake listening to the radio, I drifted off until just before midnight and heard all the fireworks.  New Year is pretty much a non-event for us.

Glad to be all back to normal now, with Christmas back in the box in the attic.  Looking forward to finding out what this year holds for us, I’m hoping it includes some decorating of most of the house and hopefully some good weather.

It’s taken quite a few months for Rhi to organise a date with Cardiff City, but eventually they went on the Friday of half term (28th October).  Hubby decided to take Daniel with him as he’s been really getting into watching the football and now recognises a lot of the players.  Rhi took her friend Haley (@haythebluebird on Twitter).

They all met at Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, where the training ground is, in the morning.  They were then taken into the players dining room where they were given tea and toast, while the players all had their breakfast. Then they had a tour of the changing rooms and facilities before going out to watch the training session.

They got to meet a lot of the players after training and had photos taken with them.

Then they all went back to the dining room and had lunch.  Danny was handed a stack of photos of the players and told to go and get them signed. Hubby said it was like playing human snap, Dan was holding up the photo, spotting which person it matched, then going to get it signed.

It sounds like they all had a fantastic time.  Hubby said Malky (the manager) and all the players were very friendly and welcoming.  Haley has also written a blog post of the day, going into far more detail – she actually knows the players names

Hubby, Dan, Rhi & Haley with Malky

I’ve also got a few other pieces that I did earlier on in the year and haven’t sold (yet!).

They should all look really pretty when they’re on the table together.  Must remember to get a photo of my stall before the fayre starts this year.  Really hoping they all sell as I’m running out of storage space.

Now for the hard part – pricing!

They’ve both settled back in to school very well.  Oliver is loving being in school all day, although it’s mostly a mystery to me what he gets up to all day. I think he’s finding it tiring though, as we’re having more tantrums than ever.  Dan is enjoying being in Year 2 and likes his new teacher. We had parents evening for him last week and his teacher had nothing but good things to say about him

I’ve been keeping myself busy whilst they’re in school.  I’ve been getting on with glass painting ready for the Church Christmas Fayre in November, still a bit more to do though.  I will take photos soon and post them, hopefully in the not to distant future. Ben in now toddling all over the place and is in to everything, his latest amusement is turning the telly off while the boys are watching it.

Amazingly I’ve already done a fair amount of Christmas shopping, all the pressies for Dan and Olly are bought.  I’m a bit stuck on what to get Ben though, as he plays with all the toys we have and we really don’t need any more.

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a photo of Ben looking very pleased with his new shoes.

Other than a week’s camping in Keswick at the start of the holidays, we haven’t really done very much. Hubby has been working and I don’t have a car, so can’t go very far afield (I can’t face a bus with 3 children).  We’ve met with friends a few times, and tried to at least walk to the shops every day.  The boys haven’t been too bad, but over the last week or so they’ve been asking to go to school.

My parents have taken us a couple of places eg The Barrage in Cardiff Bay and Roath Park Lake.  Whilst at Roath Park we visited the conservatory.  I hadn’t been in there since school, when we visited on an Art trip.  It’s really good, the boys really enjoyed it.  There’s a pond with huge fish, which you can buy food for, and terrapins.

Dan & Olly Feeding The Fish

Terrapins

There’s lots of free worksheets to get the children looking around the weird and wonderful plants.  Daniel chose to look for all the fruit trees/plants which included banana, mango and lime.  Oliver looked for plants with animal names, I can remember a zebra one and a snake one.

Will definitely try and go again.

Ben has been keeping us busy, he’s turned into a real climber.  He’s attempted the ladder on Dan’s cabin bed and if he has a cushion in the right place, he can get up on to the sofa and from there on to the windowsill.  Over the last few days, he’s been walking more than crawling.  I think the time has come to buy him some shoes.  Dan also needs new school shoes, so it’ll be an expensive trip.

Oliver goes into Reception when they go back to school on Tuesday, so both him and Dan will be in school all day. It’ll be strange, but I’m sure Ben and I will find plenty to do.  Will have to start thinking about Christmas soon

We decided to break the journey up by travelling to Harrogate on the Friday and staying the night with hubby’s parents, before travelling to Keswick on Saturday.  Unfortunately the traffic on the M1 was terrible due to an accident, it took us 7 hours to get there with 2 stops, instead of the usual 4 and a bit with one stop.  Ben mostly screamed the whole way

The journey to Keswick was fine, although Ben yelled, I think he just doesn’t like the car much. It seemed everybody turned up at the campsite at the same time, we queued for what felt like ages to check in.  Nevermind we managed to get ourselves a pitch next to hubby’s sister and we had quite a lot of space for the boys to play.

We’d bought a new, bigger tent for this holiday.  A 6 man, 3 bedroom Outwell, instead of our old 4 man, 2 bedroom Cabanon.  We had a go at pitching it before our holidays, but I was still a little worried we’d have difficulties.  Luckily it went up with no problems and we had ourselves sorted fairly quickly.  The boys had a good run around and Ben had an explore around the pitch while we were busy.

Our Set Up

For the first few days we mostly pottered into Keswick and explored things nearby, having a good look around the town and nosing in the shops.  Back at the site the boys fed the ducks and had a paddle in the lake.

Danny paddling

On the Monday it was hubby’s birthday.  We decided we were going to have a game of crazy golf in the park in Keswick, but first we had a bit of a walk.  We followed a path from the campsite, through a field of sheep, along the side of Derwentwater by the landing stages for the cruises, and then along another path to Friars Crag

View from Friars Crag

From there we followed the path back to the road, then it was a short way to the park.  Hubby and boys went and got fish and chips, while I relaxed on a bench and gave Ben his sandwiches.

The View From The Bench

Once fed we got onto the serious business of crazy golf.  Unfortunately Ben was grumpy and didn’t want to just sit and watch, so I ended up taking him for a walk while hubby and the boys played.  They thoroughly enjoyed it and Danny really started getting the hang of it.

After an ice cream we started making our way back to the campsite.  Danny started moaning his legs and feet were aching and by the time we got back it had progressed to a headache and dizziness.  We took him to the in-laws caravan where he could lie down in the shade and gave him some Calpol as he was feeling really hot.  He spent the night in the caravan with granny and grandad looking after him and luckily he felt much better by the morning although very tired.  We think it may have been too much sun and not drinking enough.  He was most upset that he’d been ill on daddy’s birthday though.

The following day we decided to take it easy.  We went for a picturesque drive around Derwentwater and accidentally ended up in Cockermouth, the boys did all have a sleep in the car though.  We had our picnic lunch at Ashness Bridge which was surprisingly quiet, there was only one other family there when we arrived.

The following day we went to Whinlatter Forest Park. It was gorgeous here and I can highly recommend it.  There’s a number of footpaths of varying difficulty, there didn’t seem to be any leaflets giving details, so we just chose a colour (red) and followed it.  It was a little difficult at times with the pushchair, but we managed and were rewarded with some stunning views.

Picnic Time

There’s a Go Ape! course there, with zip wires and things running through the trees.  So occasionally you’d hear a lot of screaming.  There’s also a really good children’s play area, suitable for all ages.  The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  The car park was really busy by the time we left, so probably best to get there early.

The Boys Go Ape!

Thursday was the rainy day, so sister-in-law and I escaped into Keswick for a bit of shopping and a pub lunch.  I was most successful and bought new walking sandals, a tshirt and a lovely soft fleece.  We had lunch in Oddfellows, sat outside under a large canopy, the food was really nice.

Whilst we were spending money, hubby took the boys for another game of crazy golf.  They did even better this time and both got at least one hole-in-one.  I’m sure the rain added to it.

Friday, our last day.  We got organised fairly early and headed for the nearby supermarket, Booths, for a breakfast of bacon sandwiches for a treat. Then we made our way to The Pencil Museum. I wasn’t sure if the boys would enjoy this or not, but I needn’t have worried.  On arrival they were handed a sheet each, and their free pencil, on which they had to draw the sea creatures that they had to search for around the museum.  I was also handed a quiz sheet, the answers for which were all inside the museum, I managed to answer them all  Once we’d had a good look around, read everything and watched the video, we went in the drawing room, where the boys happily sat and coloured and experimented with the water colour pencils.  I think they would’ve stayed there all day if we’d let them.

We took our picnic to nearby Fitz Park where there’s a really good children’s play area.  It was obviously the place to be as it was quite busy with lots of other families having picnics.  After we’d eaten we went for a drink in Oddfellows (and to use their toilet).  We also had a look around the shop for The Cars Of The Stars museum, which has sadly closed and relocated to America.  Such a shame as the boys loved just looking at the model cars and posters that were for sale, seeing the real cars would’ve been even better.

We had a fantastic, if exhausting, week and we’re looking forward to going camping again next year. Hopefully it’ll be a little easier as Ben will be older.  Probably won’t travel quite so far either, there’s plenty of sites nearby we want to explore.

Oh, by the way, a lot of the photos were taken by hubby

I know everyone says they grow up quickly, but it really does feel like the last year has shot by.

It’s hard to believe he has gone from this

to this

in just one short year.

He’s not walking yet, but, as you can see, he’s standing without holding on to anything, so I don’t think it’ll be long.

Just for comparison, here’s Danny at one

and Oliver at one

Think he’s definitely going to be more like Danny!

We haven’t really done much today, the boys went to school as usual.  It was meant to be Sports Day, but it was cancelled due to bad weather.  We’re going to have our traditional birthday tea of Clarks pie and chips followed by birthday cake.

Happy 1st Birthday, Ben

Happy Anniversary to my lovely hubby

It’s also 13 years ago that we met, have a read of my About page to find out how and where.

Trouble is leaving it so long, I can barely remember what we did.  I do know the Bank Holiday weekend was mostly wet and rainy so we didn’t really get anywhere, apart from the Monday, when we braved the hordes and went to Techniquest in Cardiff Bay.  After failing to find a parking space in our usual car park we made our way to the multi storey, which was mostly empty We met up with our friend’s Anthony and Leah and their 2 children, and made our way over to Techniquest.  It was heaving in there, obviously everyone had had the same idea.  I hadn’t been for a very long time and I was a little disappointed with it.  It’s all looking a bit tired now, some of the displays were broken or we just couldn’t get them to work.  The boys weren’t interested in reading instructions on things, they just wanted to press all buttons in sight and see what happened.  As it was so busy we had to queue for the more popular displays.  We managed to look around everything within about an hour and a half, and that was taking our time.  I don’t think we’ll be going back in a hurry as it is quite expensive.

Around Easter time Danny learnt how to ride his bike without stabilisers and has been doing really well ever since. His bike was getting far too small though, so I’d been searching around for a new one.  Once we’d figured out what size he needed, and realised it’s almost impossible to buy a bike without gears, I chose one from Argos which was reduced.  Hubby spent almost 2 hours on the the Sunday putting it together and then it rained so Danny didn’t get to try it out.  On the Tuesday my dad kindly came over to the park with me and the boys and the new bike.  It turned out to be a little big for him – he can’t actually sit on the saddle with his feet on the floor.  He’s got to start peddling and then sit down, which he did get the hang of quite quickly, we had a bit of a problem stopping and fell off a few times, he’s got to get off the saddle before braking so he can put a foot on the ground.  While he was moving he was fine I’m sure with a bit more practise and an extra inch or two growth, he’ll have no problems.

I think the rest of the week was dry and sunny and the boys spent a lot of the time in the garden.  Ben loves crawling around out there, although he seems to have a taste for stones and other bits, so I’m constantly chasing after him and fishing bits out of his mouth. He had about five stones all in one go in his mouth the other day, when will he learn they’re not for eating?

On Saturday, I went to Mothercare with my mum to complain about my Chicco pushchair.  I bought it in January and already one of the back wheels has worn right down.

The back wheel

The front wheel, how the back one used to look

The manager said it’s wear and tear and they can’t replace it or refund us, she tried to make out it’s because I’m hanging heavy bags of shopping on the handles – which I’m not, and for the amount of wear I’d have to be doing it every day.  Eventually she agreed she’d send the pushchair off for a report, to see if there’s a fault, as I pointed out that I’ve read at least five reviews online where people have said their wheels have worn down within 6 months.  I’m hoping to hear back from them today.

In the afternoon we went for a walk around our local lake and then went in the field next to it for a kick around.  The Council have taken down the goal posts though, which seems a bit mean, I know the football season’s over, but now is when we get the nice weather and the children are more likely to be out playing.  Anyway we still had a good run around and Olly and I made daisy chains.

On Sunday we went out for a walk with my mum and dad.  We went to a new found out, the Newport Wetlands (also here) despite the grey weather, it was really lovely down there. It’s an RSPB site, so there’s lots of information about bird spotting and lots of places to sit and bird watch. It was mostly flat and great for the pushchair, we followed the path up to the East Usk Lighthouse, then walked alongside the sea wall and went through a bit of woodland, then back around to the Visitor Centre where there’s a really good children’s playground.  We sat at a nearby picnic bench while the boys were playing and a very friendly duck came to say hello.

Highly recommend it and it’s been added to our ‘Places To Go For A Walk’ list.