Holiday Fun with Friends - Lyme Park

The Summer holidays has been a bit strange for me this year, previously I was a SAHM, and spent everyday trying to entertain the children, this year I went back to work and it has made a very different holidays.  It has ended up that I have the boys 2 days, my hubby has 1 day and the other 2 split between the grandparents.

Being down to 2 days a week has meant I have made days out more special and made plans with friends.  So far I have met up with Stacey from Mummy M's Memories and her girls and my other good friend Vicky from Mummy3 + 1dog and her girls.

We went to Lyme Park with Stacey and the girls and completed the Gruffalo trail, it entertained the children for a while but wasn't as good as other trails we had done. 

Along the route, the boys were off climbing trees, seeing how high they could climb, then there was the barefoot trail, and once i caught up i came to a pile of shoes and socks and the boys half way round, lol.

J, O & S aka My 3 little monkeys....

We enjoyed a picnic lunch in the garden and then they (the children) were off rolling down the hills and investigating the games that were out, leaving Stacey and I to chat in peace... It didn't last long. 

Staceys youngest S found a worm and kept scaring the boys and giggling, it was funny to see the boys running off.  

We then moved on from the gardens to an alternative trail where you can build dens, the dens had just been taken down, so lots of fresh branches to chose from and a fresh den was made.

Teamwork

We all had great fun building the den and the boys didn't want to leave and are keen to return for more den building fun.

J, O & S and the finished Den

Thanks for reading. x

Glasses and a 5yr Old

Today we had an appointment with the orthoptist with S, due to a referral whilst being checked at school.  We had this issue when O was checked but he was fine, and it was put down to getting distracted during the test, was half expecting the same with S as I know he can be distracted very easily.

S completed the tests required, but he seemed to be struggling with his right eye, which corresponded with his school results, he now had to have drops (a dye) put in his eyes, wait 30 minutes to then see the optician.  I thought we would only be 10-15 minutes, guess I was wrong.

After 30 minutes we were called in, his eyes were checked and it was confirmed S needed glasses.....  This is now all new to me, as he is the first of my boys to need glasses, but as I had to go to work, it would have to be dealt with later.

Once the hubby was home, S and I nipped into town to go and pick some glasses, he was worried that people would call him names, I was shocked as he's only 5, but after some reassurance he was happy.  We went into a couple of shops, but nothing that suited and when we found 1 he liked, I was informed if they were broken it would be £20 everytime for fixing, I decided to try somewhere else.

The third and final place he found 2 frames he liked which fitted, he's only small so we struggled with finding small enough ones that suited his face.  He tried them on and was happy, we now have to wait till next week to get them.  I'm just hoping that maybe his clumsiness might calm down, I suppose I can live in hope.

 We have now collected his glasses and he now looks even cuter.  Trying to get him to wear them in a bit of a battle but its getting easier, and no breakages so far.... fingers crossed.

S looking super cute in his glasses

Thanks for reading. x

Reflecting...

Tomorrow (Friday) is the boys last day in school, wow, where has the time gone.  I am shocked as to how quick the school year has gone by, my youngest son S, has completed his first year and has achieved so much, he has coped with school extremely well and his eating issues are still there but nowhere near the extent they were, and even though he has not exceeded his targets, what he has achieved is far greater.  O and J both came out with a glowing school report and made my hubby and I very proud parents.  

This started me thinking, my boys had achieved so much in the school year, what had we done, and I was quite amazed, we had purchased a house (our rented house), we have extended it and altered every floor and room and almost finished it, just now need to decorate.  I have had a career change and invested in my friends business Linley's Cakes and Bakes and now loving work again, and the fact it works around my family makes the work/life blend even sweeter.

Anybody that knows me, knows I am constantly at 100mph, and I always have lots going on this year has been no exception, but at times I have realised that I can't do everything all of the time and living with a chronic illness does debilitate me at times but I try to not let it.

As we embark on the school holidays, I am trying to juggle work and childcare and thankfully family are helping me out which is great. I am planning some fab days out for the boys (weather dependant), and I will share with you all on here.  I have signed up for a 3k colour run for a local charity, so have started training. As always busy, busy.

What have you achieved so far this year?

Thanks for reading. x

Our New Kitchen

The main reasons for our extension was to create an extra bedroom to enable the boys to have a room of their own but to also create a bigger kitchen where we can have that all important family space with easy access to the garden for those all important garden parties.

Planning the new kitchen and family space has not been easy, we've had several kitchen layouts planned but nothing really felt right, i'm not sure if this has been because the space is so important and i've been scared of it being wrong and not working. It took time but we finally decided on a layout, which gave us everything that was on our wish list, the main things were an american fridge freezer, a larder pull out, the oven at eye level and a breakfast bar and plenty of cupboards, what girl doesn't like lots of cupboards.  

Our main big purchase was a new fridge freezer, we've always had integrated before but this time i wanted a free standing one.  We started searching the market and found the Panasonic Fridge Freezers, we knew this was a good make due to previous purchases of Panasonic goods.  One thing we wanted from our new fridge freezer was a water and ice dispenser, my boys and hubby are not a big fan of water but when its cold, they seem to drink more, which is a bonus.  Another thing we liked about the NR-B53V2 was the stylish design and with a total net capacity of 530L we knew there would be enough storage especially with 3 growing boys with growing appetites.

Panasonic also have a range of 2 door fridge freezers if you are restricted by space, I have to say my kitchen has been planned around us getting an American style fridge freezer.

I'm hoping over the next few weeks that our new kitchen will be up and running and I can enjoy the big family space that we have created.

Thanks for reading.

*This is a sponsored post

My Sunday Photo

Living on a building site

We are now nearly 8 weeks into our build project, and wow how things have changed, we now have a nearly working kitchen, something I've not had for about 5 weeks now, I have a nearly finished Utility room and a nearly finished bedroom.  

Living in a building site with the hubby and 3 boys has not been easy but now as we are getting closer to the end and seeing the newly formed spaces its all getting very exciting.  Don't get me wrong, we still have a lot of work to do, there are 3 new doorways to be created, 2 walls to be installed and a bathroom to be fitted but we are nearing the end and there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We have just have a massive task of decorating our whole house and re-landscaping the garden, but at least we can be creative with these areas.

The View from the old kitchen

The view from outside

My Old Dining Room

The New Extension

How my house looks now

Cooking with no kitchen

The Kitchen delivered

Most of it fitted

My towers

The fridge still needs unpacking

Still waiting for doors

The new utility room

My new bedroom (our old kitchen)

Every day we get closer to finishing....and I have to say I can't wait. :-)

Thanks for reading.

South Lakes Wild Animal Park

Saturday started with us visiting a Maize maze farm park, but on arrival there was no Maize maze (too early) and with the high entry price for not a lot adventures, we decided to head somewhere else.  we headed back on the road to see what we could find and decided upon the South Lakes Wild Animal Park.  

We arrived at lunchtime, the queue was long, but we queued,  once into the park we queued for lunch, as today we hadn't prepared anything.  Once we had eaten we went off to explore the park.

This was an animal park with a difference, it's not a zoo, it's more like a safari park you walk around, we saw giraffes first and walked round to find a big field with Rhinos, monkeys, Reindeer and more giraffes were amongst each other, the monkeys were being playful, while the Rhinos munched and the Reindeers basked in the sun.  You can even feed the Giraffes from the balcony area (if you have paid the £4 feed pass), we carried on walking round, we saw the Lions to then head into the Vulture enclosure where you can see them fly above your head, we were warned to hold onto small children in this section (incase a vulture thought it was dinner time). 

There were 3 distinct areas, the African section, American and Australian.  The Australian was brilliant, another area (not an enclosure) where u walk amongst the animals, there were different types of Lemurs, Monkeys, Emu's, Peacocks, Kangeroos, Prarie Dogs and others, just carrying on there business while people walk around watching them.  It was very interactive for children, being able to see animals up close.

There were lots of different paths to take high and low where you can view the animals from, and were lots of different animals that you were able to feed with the special pass, including Penguins, Giraffe's and Lemur's.  We didn't purchase the pass but did look like great fun.

All in all we had a great day out and such a different day, we all had great fun and was great being able to see the animals in a more interactive way than just staring at them through a window.  A great day out and worth every penny, the bonus being you pay for an adult (£15.50) and a child enters free (normally £9).  

Thanks for reading. x