Daniel & Downpours

I've got a bit of catching up to do again so here goes....

Our friend Daniel came over to visit on Saturday afternoon/evening and the kids were thrilled to see him. He seems to have a natural way with kids and they had great fun clambering all over him and making him swing them upside down!

After they went to bed we had a nice civilised adult evening and it was really enjoyable.

On Sunday it started to rain and it didn't let up until Bank Holiday Monday but more about Sunday... My Dad has supported Blackpool Football Club since he was about 11 years old and it was dream come true on Sunday to got to the new Wembley Stadium and watch them win the match which saw them promoted into the Champions League.

Steve and Alison went along for the trip and Steve was happy enough to support Blackpool during the match - I am not so sure how things will go once they have their first game against Ipswich - that could be pretty interesting!!

On Monday we went to The Glazed Look pottery painting studio which is a very enjoyable rainy day activity and then we returned home and spent the rest of the day up in the playroom whilst it continued to pour outside.

Today we were supposed to be meeting Kirstie and her crew at Maldon to play in the splash park but the weather was so rotten that was out of the question. We tried to stick it out for a bit but after we had to eat our picnic in the car because it was so cold and windy I phoned Kirstie and they all come round ours for the afternoon.


In other news we have our Venture photo back from my Mum's 60th birthday shoot and it's really lovely.

Here's the overall picture
and this one is my favourite because it feels like we spend most of our lives chasing after Ben!!

Watching Week

This Saturday it was watching week at Ballet where all the parents were invited to stay to watch the lesson. Steve and I don't usually like doing this sort of thing. Not because we don't want to watch but because Amy usually plays up when we are there and goes all shy.


However, this time being older and wiser we warned her that if she started being silly we were going to walk out and she was wonderful. It was lovely to see their little performances and they all try so hard.























Today we went over to Granny's house for burnt bacon breakfast (they usually come to us) and the kids really enjoyed it. After that Amy and Steve went ice skating again whilst I did a spot of retail therapy!

Ben slept peacefully in his buggy while I hammered the credit card in various shoes shops and woolworths! - I could really get used to this Sunday morning skating merlarkey!

This afternoon we popped to Paula & Gav's to give Morgan his birthday present (he was 3 on Thursday) and then spent the afternoon in the back garden.

The kids made pizza for their tea and had a great time rolling out the dough and sprinkling on toppings. Most of Ben's toppings went onto the floor but they seemed to have fun.

Playing Catch-up Again

I guess it must be my age but here I am playing catch-up again as I have been out of action through sickness. So here goes....

It was my 33rd birthday last Wednesday and I'd like to say I had a lovely day but in fact I was sick on Wednesday night and most of Thursday so I never really got around to celebrating with my planned take-away and bottle of plonk. I got some really nice gifts though which is always nice.

This weekend the kids had a great time helping us clean out the garage (the things they find amusing eh). Actually the highlight was Grandads rather large van which he borrowed from work (we had a lot of junk in there!). They both had a lovely time sitting in the cab and Amy was quite cross that she wasn't allowed to actually travel in there.

Then on Sunday Steve and Amy went skating. I stayed on the sidelines and watched over Ben because I do NOT skate - I have been skating about 5 times in my life and I'm that person who inches around the rink holding onto the side for grim death!

Amy was a natural at it and was even comfortable enough to let go of both the side and Steve for brief periods. She was skating for about an hour in all which seems quite good going for a 5 year old.

She wants to go again next Sunday although I'm not convinced that the appeal is more for the spangly costumes that some of the skaters were wearing.

Amy's 5th Birthday Party - Part II

On Sunday Amy had what she calls her "adults" party which is when the family all get together to celebrate her birthday.

This year we had decided to abandon our traditional bar-b-que in the rain and had a sort of cold running buffet. Perversely, this meant that the weather was actually quite nice - albeit a little bit blowy.

We had party hats and a mammoth game of pass the parcel and then Amy opened all her presents - she got some lovely gifts.

After that we all sat outside for quite a while and the kids had great fun playing with the train, trampoline & sand pit.

At the end of the day Ben had great fun helping us pack everything away!

Amy's 5th Birthday Party

Amy had a birthday party with both old friends and new today at the local Virgin gym. Steve and I both agreed that it was the best "organised" party so far as the two girls who were our hostesses made everyone feel very welcome and really seemed to enjoy their jobs.

The kids had a great time running around & playing parachutes in one of the studios and then after that there went into the maze which is a 3-story ball put with slides etc.

They all looked really hot afterwards so they settled down to eat some party food the likes of which I have never seen before - you could tell it was all home-made stuff.

When we got home Amy set about the task of opening all the present she had received and she got some really lovely stuff.

Steve and I are knackered but there's no rest for the wicked as we have to get ready for her family party tomorrow.

Quick Catch-up

I thought I should do a quick catch-up post before the weekend as I'll probably have lots to post then.

Last weekend was glorious weather and Steve and I went out on the Saturday night for an early anniversary dinner. On the Sunday we spent most of the day with Auntie Ally and then Ben & Gerry popped over.

These pictures are of Amy washing her feet in the sink after they got sandy and Ben washing the floor with his favourite mop and bucket!

On Tuesday I hosted a Pampered Chef party and I couldn't believe the amount of people who turned up. Usually with these things people say they will come but then don't. We took nearly £700 in sales which means we get quite a few freebies!!

On Thursday it was Amy's actual birthday but things were fairly low-key because of school. She had a school trip that day to Tropical Wings butterfly park and bless her she seemed to think it was all just for her birthday!

Steve & I brought her a doll's house for her birthday present and hopefully she will grow to love it.
She has her parties this weekend so more news on that soon.