Emily loves getting hugs

Last week Emily & Sam had a visit from their Nanny (my mum) who travelled up from London to spend some time with us all. Sam was delighted to see Nanny and spent the entire time chattering away at full speed and showing off all his toys. Emily also enjoyed the visit – she loves to be cuddled so having another adult about to be hugged by seemed to meet with her approval.

Apart from a quick visit to a nearby gardens we didn’t get up to much, instead we stayed in and chatted which was lovely. Thanks for coming up to visit us mum – hopefully we’ll see you again soon!

Watching guinea pigs

Due to the Grand Prix being on my Birthday weekend again, Rich ended up being away for most of it so we decided to celebrate it together on the Monday instead. I really wanted to do a family trip out somewhere so after a quick online session to find out what sort of amusements were available locally we agreed on a little place called Ponderosa.

Little jockey Sam

This place is full of animals – they seem to have a little bit of everything from some rabbits and guinea pigs that you can pet to a little aquarium, some reptiles and insects, farm animals and most popularly with Sam some ponys that will give toddlers rides.

Sam still doesn’t seem to be overly keen on looking at large animals, though he did really enjoy watching the bunnies hopping about between enclosures. He was a little startled by the llamas and not very impressed by the reindeers (they have clicky knees – did anyone else know this?) Luckily there were also a few play areas with slides and swings which he did really like, oh – and a pond with ducks on that he spent a good amount of time shouting ‘Fabo!’ at.

We all had a lovely day out and as I also got so many wonderful presents it ended up being a really nice extended Birthday. Thanks to all of you for your lovely Birthday wishes and thanks also for all my beautiful cards and fantastic presents 🙂

My lovely friends

Sam and I have recently returned from a short trip back south where we stayed for a few days with some of my lovely friends. Getting away from all the stresses of buying our new home has been really lovely – being pregnant and stressed is not a good mix but hopefully there isn’t too much longer until we do get into our new home.

We were very well looked after at Esther’s home, Sam shared a room with his friend Tom and they spent a good few nights chattering away together before finally falling asleep. I ended up with an en-suite bedroom while Esther & Ben got to enjoy sleeping on their sofa downstairs! The food provided was also of an excellent standard and included freshly baked meringue too – so very yummy.  I would definitely stay again.

Getting to spend a few days down South also gave me the chance to catch up with a number of other good mum friends that I have made with Sam over the last few years. Kim, Mark, Abi & Isa it was so very good to see you all – Sam and I have missed having  you just down the road from us and being able to spend some quality time with you all has been fantastic. We also got to catch up with some friends at the play cafe and one of the local toddler groups and Sam just settled straight back in to playing with all his favourite toys.

Thank you all for the wonderful welcome (Kim & Esther especially) it was great to see you all again and hopefully some of  you will be able to make it up to Tea Towers 3 when it is established!

King of the castle

After a month in our temporary home of hilly Yorkshire I’m happy to be able to report that we are starting to feel quite settled up here. There are plenty of places to visit with a toddler so Sam and I are kept amused every day. We’ve registered at two of the local Children’s centres and have been along to a number of different toddler groups in the area. I’m starting to get the hang of the bus routes (though I miss the Croydon tram) and can now leave the house without a map most days!

There are also a few other things that I’m enjoying while here, I’ve discovered a nice new wool shop that I may well visit a few times during my stay. I’ve also signed up for a 5 week basic sewing course which could be fun as well as perhaps a good way for me to get to know some of the other local mums.

Sam is absolutely loving staying with his grandparents. He rushes about the house each evening and bosses everyone around. He is being kept well supplied with books from the local library and is growing a whole new collection of toys here too. Sam is also enjoying having a new bed – one whole single bed just for him! He has only fallen out twice and seems to be very excited that he can get in and out of it by himself.

Biker Sam

Though we are all really enjoying our time here in Yorkshire we are also looking forward to our more permanent move to Manchester soon. We have finally decided on a house we like there and are part way through the process of buying it. Hopefully it all goes through quickly and we can start to set up home in Tea Towers 3. The house is a really lovely 3 bedroom semi-detached with larger garden than we had before as well as a garage for the car we hope to own in the next couple of years.

So living up here in Northland seems to be going really well and we are all feeling happy and at home. Something needs to be done about all the hills round here though…

On our last Saturday living in the South we arranged to meet up with Kim and her girls at the local soft play area… however, when we got there a few other friends were also waiting.

My good friends Kim and Esther had very kindly organised a surprise leaving party for us there and had reserved an area, decorated with bunting, brought along some very delicious fairy cakes as well as inviting so many of our other friends.

We all had a lovely time, the kids all played so well together and I loved getting a chance to catch up with all my mum friends. Being able to give hugs to all their little ones who I’ve seen growing up over the last two years was really special too. Thank you all so much for such a lovely surprise!

All our photos from the day will be appearing here soon – we’ll put them up behind a password as I’m not sure who is happy with having their photo up online or not. Be sure to let me know if you want the password to access them.

A toddler truck made for two

Unnck - mmm corn!

September seems to have come round so quickly this year, where did our Summer disappear to? We’ve done our best to make the most of the good weather what with lot’s of BBQ’s and plenty of trips out to some of our local parks. This weekend though may well see the end of us attending BBQs (for this year at least) and I’m very grateful that the weather stayed lovely and sunny for our evening round at our friends home.

Sam loves to play with his friends Abi (on the left) and little Isa and always makes himself right at home whenever we visit. Murphy the cat also gets a lot of attention – whether she wants it or not! The three of them had a great time on the trampoline (in the background on the left) as well as enjoying a game of kick the football into the tent and shout ‘goal!’.

After the kids (and a few big kids) had finished rushing about madly in the garden we all settled in for some very delicious grub, including a very tasty peri peri version of spatchcocked chicken that I can’t wait to have a go at doing myself. Tons of tasty food and great company made for a lovely evening which we didn’t really want to leave.

We all had a lovely time, especially Sam who has discovered a new love for corn on the cob, so thank you so much Kim, Mark, Abi & Isa and we can’t wait until our next chance to all get together!

How many engineers does it take to construct a gazebo?

This Saturday was not the best day to pick for a BBQ – the heavens opened and tipped down a very large amount of rain on a select group of us who had hoped to enjoy a nice summers day with a little charred meat.

Dry at last!

To be honest we should have expected things to go wrong from the time the host realised mid BBQ set up that he only had 10 little briquettes and sent Rich out to procure some more. On top of this our generous host had also admitted that he had no chicken in the house – only burgers, sausages and lamb kebabs!

While the BBQ started to warm up we may have been fooled into thinking that everything might work out and then as the first burgers were cooked the rain started to fall. At this point a brand new gazebo was pulled out of the shed and while all the men present started trying to figure out the instructions and work out which poles went where, the rain began to come down properly.

Much fun was had with poles coming apart at different corners and there was a brief worry that the gazebo may in fact be too large to fit in the garden… but somehow with a lot of frantic work and some help from Sam a gazebo appeared.

We all had a great time though (Sam especially loved the novelty of being able to run in and out of the rain) and were very pleased with ourselves for being able to beat the elements. So many thanks Richard B for giving us all a great time – I wonder what challenges you’ll think up for us at your next party?