We escaped for a few days :-)

Why???? do holidays that you arrange and plan for
go pear shaped and yet the ones where you say
'ok lets go', turn out to be the best???
Here is a classic example lol
2 nights at our favourite place, Barmouth, in Mid Wales!
The trains all ran on time, no problems with the
connections and the hotel was only 2 minutes walk
from the station :-)
Ok the weather wasn't too good on the first day,
but it didn't stop the kids from going on the beach,
the next day was even better and the last day was
glorious hot sunshine!! The hotel, 'The Seashell' was
lovely! we had a huge room on the second floor with
spectacular sea views, the food was good too, i would
highly recommend it.
I feel like we've had a real break :-)

The breath taking mountains, what a back drop!!



The view from our hotel window!



Charlotte



Lewis



Holly









Sunset by the sea, you can't beat it!

The two sides of the world meet!

Thursday 2nd April, a day i will never forget :-)

We set off for London at 8am, the children were so excited,
they just love trains! we arrived in our capital at 11am
with just a half hour to make it across the city to
Buckingham Palace and this meant taking the tubes!!!
There were so many rude, ignorant people who didn't have 5
seconds to spare grrr. The escalators were fun, poor Holly
kept putting her feet over the gaps, then couldn't understand
why the step split leaving her grabbing for my hand whilst she
regained her balance on one or the other lol
We squashed in like sardines until Andy gave us the nod that
it was time to get off. It was 11.20am and i could see the
Palace ahead :-)
We thought it would be a lovely place to meet, trouble is about
500 other people had the same idea, it was just a sea of heads,
and i had to find someone i had never actually met in person lol



Thank goodness for mobile phones, cos after a quick conversation
at least we were in the same area and it wasn't long before i saw
Rachael and her family coming towards me :-)
We hugged and i made a fuss of Noah and from there the talking
started and i don't think we stopped till we parted late afternoon lol



We watched the remainder of the changing of the guards then set
off for Hyde park, after asking the way *blush* in fact times
those blushes by ten, Darren had lots of questions for us and
we couldn't answer a thing lol, next time me thinks i'm reading
the tour guide of my own country lol
We settled at one of the playgrounds where the kids let off some
steam, and it gave us a chance to catch up.



Everyone was hungry so we took the short walk to the boating
lake and set up 'camp' by the trees.
Darren chose one of the deck chairs and it wasn't long before
he was pounced on by a very rude little man for payment (can i
just add he wasn't english) but Darren soon put him in his place,
it was so funny!





It was such a happy relaxed day, and just what Rachael needed
after her jet setting holiday, and who'd have thought this beautiful
spot was in the middle of a busy city, who ever planned London, had
a bit of forethought!!









All too soon, it was time to say goodbye, Holly was falling asleep
and we hadn't taken a buggy (she never uses one now), so we left
Rachael to do some shopping and we left to catch our tubes.
A very happy day :-)

Well here we are again lol
I've got some more photo's to share :-) We have finished the
bathroom...finally!
Its a pain only having hubby here at weekends, decorating
just drags on and on. I did do some whilst he was away, but the
minute you get any sort of paint out you have two very inquisitive
children in tow asking to 'help'
We've gone with a sea theme, not very original lol
but i'm pleased with the result.











Don't know if you can see, but the nets are decorated with dolphins, fish
and shells!



Other than that there's not been a lot going on. Lewis has
been sick, only a cold, but his breathing has been bad and
he's had a hacking cough :-(
Its been arranged that Stefan will attend school in the
afternoons only, he just wasn't coping being there for
a full day. His condition means that he finds it hard to
sleep at night and then hard to get up in the morning, and he
was absent more than he was there. This will be heaps
better and at least he will be attending regularly again.

Catch you all again then x

Pancake Day!!

I just love my family!! i hadn't spoken to my eldest daughter
for a couple of days, i hardly see Michael with his busy social
life and yet on Tuesday i had EVERYONE home! and why? it was
Pancake Day lol Its like an unwritten rule that its a family
occasion :-) I hope they keep these traditions going when they
have children of their own.
I cooked a quick tea of bacon baps, hash browns and battered
onion rings, then it was on to the serious stuff!!
Our favourite, which might seem a little strange, is sausages
with golden syrup lol, people scorn until they actually try
it! we have converted many over the years :-) Lewis and Holly
don't actually like any sort of pancake yet, even with a sprinkle
of sugar, but i don't think my others did either until they got
to about 10 or something and now they can't get enough lol Good
job we have a gadget that cooks 6 at once!!





Also, we have been decorating :-) Its the bathrooms turn for a
spruce up!Its been 6 years since we did anything in there, so
it was all looking a bit tired. So far I've scrubbed all the tiles,
which are floor to ceiling on all four walls!! so you can imagine
that was quite a job. And i've re-grouted most of it. Looks fresh
and clean. The ceiling now needs painting, the woodwork needs
glossing and all the new furniture needs to be put together and
putting in, so yeah busy busy!

I will probably post up some photos when we're done, so watch this
space :-)

xx

My eldest daughter is 20!!

Not only was it Valentines day on Saturday it was also my
daughters 20th Birthday :-)

Being a Saturday, i expected her to have plans, a meet up with
friends at a bar or something, but no, she wanted a family party
at home! Awwwww

So we had the usual present opening, a buffet tea and I'd set
up our white board for a game of pictionary for after.
I chose 'Movies' as the theme and before she arrived i printed out
lots of movie names and cut them into slips.
For those who are unfamiliar with the game here are the basic rules.
1. you choose a slip of paper, read it and discard.
2. you describe the movie using only pictures, no words
3. the person who guesses correctly gets the next go.

I can't remember when i laughed so much, some of the drawings
were really comical and it took ages to get some of them lol
Who needs tv to be entertained???

Here are some photos









Holly decided to have a go lol







A lovely evening :-)

Proffessional photos!

Finally the photos are here!! :-)
They've come in a nice consettina album with photos both sides
with a leather look cover.
They've been quite sneaky though, they have sealed the mounts
making it almost impossible to remove them without tearing it.
So...I've scanned them in situ lol The quality isnt the best
as our scanner has seen better days, but you get the idea :-)

I have 11 altogether but I've only posted my favourites here!












All change!! lol





Memories for the future :-)

SNOW! SNOW!! SNOW!!!

We had our first real snow fall yesterday since.....well i
can't quite remember when!!
Lewis and Holly have only seen snow twice before, but they
were tiny and it only lasted a few hours and it was gone.
This time they were old enough to appreciate it and had
heaps of fun throwing snowballs and making snowmen :-)

It was snowing hard and we had a fair depth so i decided
to dig out my old sledge (or as Lewis insists on calling
it a toboggan!!)
I've had it since i was a kid, so i guess
it must be at least 40 years old and its still going strong.
The look on his face when i arrived complete with sledge to
pick him up from nursery lol, he had an absolute blast on
the way home!

When we got back Jessica was there and he tried to pull her,
and he did a bit, but she was just that little bit too heavy
for him lol.





Charlotte wanted to be the first to tread in the 'new' snow on
our trampoline :-)







I sent some of my pictures up to BRMB, a local radio station,
and they published them on their website, how cool is that??