Lazy Summer Days

The weather has been beautiful recently and we have been trying to make the most of it.

Seb put up a paddling pool for Nat in the garden.

On Saturday evening we went out for a BBQ in the park.

Chilled and relaxed drinking Pimms and lemonade.

We took a disposable BBQ to cook sausages.

 



















The boys played Frisbee

and piggy in the middle

Then we toasted marshmallows.

Yummy food, glorious sunshine and quality time with David and the boys.

Paddling and Pebbles

After five weeks cooped up in the house it was lovely to get out in the sunshine this afternoon.
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I collected Nat from pre-school and we went down to the park, paddling pool and beach.

Nat was very excited to splash around in the paddling pool.  I sat on a bench and watched him have fun then we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

After a play in the park we went down to the beach where Nat collected seaweed in his bucket.

 


We chose a few nice pebbles to paint at home.

Nat had another paddle, this time in the sea.  Unsurprisingly his shorts got completely soaked.

 


Nat found a lovely shell on the way back up the beach.

Nice to spend some quality time with my youngest one.

Clowning Around

It's hard to believe but little Nathaniel turned 4 this week.  We got him a Buzz Light year toy which he was very pleased with.

 

We celebrated on Saturday with a circus themed birthday party.

Nat looked great in his clown costume.

David, Seb and I wore clown face-paints and wigs to join in the fun.

Nat's Grandma Hazel also donned a clown costume.

I hired Brillo the Clown to entertain the kids.

 

The children were enthralled and delighted with the Clown show.

 

It was great watching them laughing at Brillo.

Their shock and horror when he started juggling with swords was very amusing.

After the show the kids sat down to eat some party food.

The adults enjoyed a few nibbles and a drink too.

Each child had a clown cupcake (I had to make 35 and they took me ages to make!)

 

We lit the candles and the fountains on the birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday to a very excited little boy.

 

 

Next the kids enjoyed parachute games and balloon modelling.

 

At home Nat opened all his lovely presents.

 

I was exhausted but I think it was all worth it.

The highlight of my day was when Nat came into the kitchen and said "Thank you for my lovely four birthday mummy".

Something Fishy

I have come to the conclusion that boys are very strange creatures.

You wouldn't catch a girl with pockets full of rubbish but boys . . .  well boys seem to collect stuff that, well to put it politely, belongs in the bin.

I am constantly emptying pockets full of bits of plastic, stones, metal items and other things that are dirty, sticky or liable to cause damage to my washing machine. Not just the three year old.  The fourteen year old is possibly even worse.

It is impossible to go for a walk without returning with at least one 'good stick' and pebbles of various sizes and I am always tidying up little piles of screwed up paper, unravelled paperclips, torn bits of foam or collections of items that are supposed to grow in the garden.

At bedtime I don't tuck my little one up with a nice teddy but with a variety of uncomfortable looking favourites such as airplanes, tractors, fire engines, trains and buses which he then cuddles as if they were his dearest friends.

And recently Nathaniel has taken to walking around clutching . . .  a tube of fish food!

He likes to follow his daddy around like a little shadow helping him with all the 'daddy chores' such as feeding Speedy the Tortoise, mowing the lawn, sweeping the leaves, cleaning the cars and of course feeding the fish.

For some reason Nathaniel has become very attached to the tube of fish food.  Personally I wasn't so sure it was either wise or sensible for him to have the fish food so while my husband was out at a concert I prised it out of Nat's little hands and I hid it on top of the fridge where I knew he couldn't reach it.  There were a few tears and tantrums from Nathaniel because I had parted him from his beloved item but thankfully I soon managed to distract him by bribing him with a chocolate biscuit.

However, as soon as David returned home Nathaniel came marching up to me with a self satisfied smirk on his face and the tube of fish food under his arm.

He has since walked around with the house for the past two days, occasionally taking off the lid and allowing a disgusting fishy smell to waft around the place.

I was a little worried that Nat might try and sneak the tube of fish food to pre-school in the treasure chest for show and tell - How would I explain that one? (Oh and I guess I should take the time to say thank you to Hannah for calling to appraise me about the Treasure Chest's intended purpose!)

Anyway this afternoon David kindly took my car to the garage to fill it with petrol - ah what a lovely husband.

Unfortunately, he not so kindly decided to take Nathaniel and precious fish food with him.

So the tube of fish food is now completely empty.

Yes somehow between leaving and returning home , the fish food has ended up being spread all over my car like confetti.

David thought it would be a good idea for Nat to be allowed to clean it up himself - great!

My little car now smells of eau de poisson!!  What joy!

The mystery of the empty treasure chest

So on Friday my mother-in-law kindly collected Nathaniel from pre-school for me while I was at work.  I arrived home to find one very excited three year old proudly clutching a brown treasure chest and a message from my mother-in-law to the effect of "the staff said mummy would know what to do with it!"

Oh dear!

Unfortunately I have clearly not read the newsletter pertaining to this term's activities.

This mummy does not have a clue what we are supposed to do with an empty treasure chest!

I am assuming perhaps we might be expected to fill it with Nat's special treasures for some kind of show and tell?

But what if we are expected to fill it with toys to be given away and I send him in back to pre-school with all his favourite toys?

So now I am riddled with guilt for being a working mum that (a) does not read helpful and informative newsletters from pre-school which contain all the information I might need to know and (b) does not get to collect little one who is armed with exciting 'project' and therefore misses chance to clarify nature of said 'project'.

Do I take a guess at what I think we are supposed to do and risk having to replace all the 'treasure' if it 'goes missing'?

Do I call another parent and admit what a bad mummy I am?

Do I contact the pre-school tomorrow and be branded as a mum who lives a disorganised and chaotic lifestyle and who can't even be bothered to familiarise myself with my little angel's curriculum?

mmmmm not a great choice of options. 

Lets hope my friend Hannah is a good mummy who reads all son's newsletters and who can tell me what to do.

Hannah  - PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!

Stephen and Laura's Wedding

It has been a wonderful weekend.  Yesterday we were up early for the drive up to Yorkshire.  Mum and Dad had driven up the day before and had taken Nat with them but it had taken them over six hours to get there so I was worried that we might miss the wedding if we got stuck in traffic.

We were communicating with my brother on the M1 motorway and learned he was a couple of junctions ahead of us.  We tried to catch up but didn't manage to reach them.

However, we were fortunate and the drive took us only 4 and quarter hours and somehow we managed to arrive just before my brother (think he missed the turning!)

We checked into the Premier Lodge and joined my parents in the restaurant.

As David and I went to unload the car I saw my cousin David and family and my Aunty Margaret arriving.  I was so excited to see them I think I nearly knocked my cousin David over.

We had chance for a quick chat with everyone before we went up to the room to change for the wedding.

I couldn't believe how fantastic the weather was.  A beautifully sunny September day.  The church was lovely and was crammed full of people. 

It was great to see all my family and to say hello to everyone. Stephen, his brother Paul who was best man, my uncle Rob and the groomsmen all looked really smart in their morning suits and purple cravats.  I was just disappointed that my cousin Christine and her husband Richard and my cousin Dawne could not be there too as it would have been nice to  have us all together.

The bride - Laura was fashionably late so Nat was getting a little fidgety.  However, when they arrive the bridesmaids were dressed in stunning purple dresses and Laura was wearing a gorgeous white strapless dress with a small train.

It was a lovely service and I had an excellent view of Stephen and Laura as they exchanged their vows.  Laura looked lovely and the crystals on her veil were twinkling beautifully.

The choir sang while they signed the register which was really enjoyable.

Outside the kids were really excited to throw confetti at the bride and groom and we were able to chat in the sunshine while the photographer took some photos.  We took the opportunity to take a few photos of our family but there were too many people and I was sad to realise we hadn't managed to get any decent photos of the bridal party as there were too many people blocking the view.

Sam, Susannah, Nat, Seb and Joshua

My brother Luke and I

David, me, Luke and Carolyn and my parents Phil and Ruth

My cousin Simone and Tori

We crossed the road to a pub where we relaxed in the beer garden chatting and catching up with everyone. 

Me and Keeley

Kimberly, me and Keeley

My cousin David, Keeley, Matthew and Georgia

Seb, Tori and Grace - all looking so smart and grown up

There was a buffet and the speeches which were great.  Laura's dad gave a touching speech and I was really impressed with my Cousin Paul's best man speech which he gave without any prompt cards.  He was very funny and I hadn't realised what a natural speaker he is.

It was nice to get to know Laura  little too and I thought she was such a lovely girl.  My cousin Stephen has clearly landed on his feet.

Nathaniel had a great time chasing his cousins around outside.  It was really nice to see him playing with the other kids and he was clearly having a fantastic time.

In the evening we moved on to the wedding reception venue which was in a local rugby club.  The room was beautifully decorated with purple bows on the chairs and balloons on the tables.  The wedding cake was three tiers with two black Labrador dogs on the top.



Princess Brooke

The Bride Laura

The groom, my cousin Stephen

The music was great although it was so loud that it made it difficult to speak.

Matthew on the decks

Unfortunately my Aunty Shirley and Uncle Martin had to head back to Manchester before the reception as Shirley had only been allowed out of the hospital for a few hours.

My cousin Robert and Chrissy

Katy and Matthew

Amy and Aunty Brenda

My cousin Paul and Sam

Riley

Azmir and Paul

Uncle Rob

My cousin Kathryn

Rachel

Robert

I had a really great evening hanging out with my cousins and dancing badly.

Aunty Margaret and Keeley

Me and Terry

My cousin Simone and me

Seb with his Uncle Luke

David  

I was sorry to have to go home but I could see David was tired and as he had to drive back the next day I thought it was only fair he had chance to get a decent nights sleep. 

 

This morning we had breakfast at the premier lodge with the other family members that had stayed there and then we met up with Stephen and Laura and the rest of the family at a Toby Carvery for a drink and to say goodbye.

 

We then got in the car for the drive home.  It was another beautiful and sunny day so it was a shame to be cooped up in the car but it was a good opportunity to do some Biology and Physics revision with Seb (he has tests this week). 

 

It has been a really nice weekend and I have had so much fun.  Just as well really because I have a couple of difficult and busy weeks coming up at work that I am really not looking forward to.