Family day out to WWT Slimbridge

As mentioned in a recent post we've decided to make one day a week to a family day, and to try to visit as many fun and new places as possible over the next year. This weekend we went for our first outing to WWT Slimbridge. I had never been before, but my husband visited for school trips and said it was great. We thought it was a great place to start our adventures, as it's not far from home (closer than I thought!) and meant lots of fresh air for a lovely day with our little man.

We had a lovely welcome from the volunteers before heading outside. I'll be honest and say I was a touch skeptical to whether or not we'd actually see any birds, but that was me being silly! There were lots and lots of them as soon as we stepped outside the door! We bought some bird feed as we got there and several birds actually ate it out of my hand. There were more than just your normal ducks and geese, with my boy loving the flamingoes more than any other bird! He was, however, a little bit more wary of them after one touched him with a wing as it flew away from me after it finished the food I had given it.

My boy's favourite part was, however, Welly Boot Land. A little play area with a stream of very shallow water running through it. We understood quickly where it got its name from! And quickly regretted that we had left little man's wellies in storage... But we let him run around anyway, thinking we'd go inside for lunch and a play before heading home, so wet feet didn't matter. He absolutely loved it! He ran through the stream stamping his feet, went on slides and roundabouts, and then stamped some more. The sheer joy on his face made soggy feet worth it. Because they were soggy! Both his shoes and his socks were soaking wet, but it didn't matter! Next time, however, we will bring both wellies and spare clothes!

We went inside for a quick look at the toads they have indoors and a spot of lunch. It may not be the cheapest place to eat, but at £25 for a family of three it's far from the most expensive either. And the food was delicious and plentiful, so when wanting to warm up after getting soggy and chilly in Welly Boot Land, it's definitely worth it. There's also a lovely little soft play area, albeit small, it's a lovely indoor space for little kids to run around. 

Out first trip for Project:Family Adventures was definitely a great success. We loved it enough to sign up as members, and will most definitely be back several times in the next year! And I can't wait for more adventures!

House move is finally imminent!

It's been a long process, though not too painful. We knew from the start that it would take a long time. We sold our flat back in October, though with some stuff that needed to be sorted out with it before exchanging we were expecting it to take a few more months. When we found a house we were told the sellers were buying a newbuild that wouldn't be ready until the end of March, so again we knew we were looking at a few months. We have finally exchanged on both properties, and we even completed on our flat. We moved out in the first half of February and have been living with family since - thank heavens for nice and welcoming family!

What we would've done without my dear grandmother-in-law I do not know. We've gotten to stay local, been spoiled with anything housework related (that's going to be a shock to the system when we move back out!) and most importantly our little man has absolutely loved it! He has always adored her (I'm pretty sure he'd choose her over either me or my husband most of the time!), and it's been amazing to see them together over the past month. I'm pretty sure the cat is plotting to kill us in our sleep (or at least the little Viking), but I'm hoping treats and loving (after little man's bedtime) will buy us enough time to move out. Because that is happening soon! 8 more days until we complete on our new family home, and we can have our own space back. As much as I love my grandmother-in-law and as much as we've enjoyed and appreciated her hospitality, we do also need our own space back. To get back into our proper routines, to get back into our meal planning, and to get back to having some evenings just as a couple.

A week and a half and we should be more or less sorted in our new family home. With a garden for Boy to run around in, with a nice big kitchen for the family to gather, with parking just outside our front door for both us and visitors, and with space for our family to be ourselves again. A new chapter in our story.

At least someone can't wait to see the back of us!
Staring at each other through the cat flap.

New Project

My husband and I have recently decided to try something; Find 52 family activities and days out, and then to do one of these every week for a year. The list currently ranges from simple things such as visiting the Royal Victoria Park in Bath or go swimming at one of our nearer indoor pools, to bigger things like CBeebies Land at Alton Towers and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (hopefully to include a visit to Santa's Grotto in Harrods if I can get tickets), and lots of different things in between. We're at 28 items on the list so far, and it's getting more difficult to find things to do. The husband is insistent that we try to find 52 different things, though he did say he'd accept doing some things twice. My main thing at the moment is to try to find more things nearer to home, as I really don't want to put our little man through hours of driving every week, regardless of how much fun we might have at the other end. Any good suggestions are accepted with pleasure!

It's all a bid to spend more quality time together as a family. And I'm very excited about it! Even if we don't end up going every week we'll still make some amazing memories along the way and have a lot of fun! I'm hoping as well that I'll be able to tell you all about it on here to share the love of toddler adventures!

My two boys off on an adventure!

Wicked Wednesdays - 27 January '16

I put a party hat on him to celebrate his friend's 1st brithday.

Fussy Foodie

My little boy has always been one to eat well. Since we first started him on solids he's devoured it and loved food. If ever he was grumpy, food was usually the answer (and still is, to be quite honest!). He was good and ate pretty much everything, he'd always try stuff, and he'd quite happily finish his own lunch, and then help me with mine. However recently things seem to have changed. He's become quite fussy, and with most foods it's very much hit and miss whether or not he will eat it that particular day. There are a few foods he'll always eat - bread, Ella's Kitchen style ready meals, usually pasta, and he'd live off fruit if he was given half a chance. However my "proper" meals that I cook for him (and us - I try to give all three of us the same food) is more often than not turned away. He won't even taste it. If I try to make him taste it - even a lick I'd be happy with - he screams as if I was trying to poison him. Last night just the mere sight of food made him scream, even though it was Daddy eating his dinner without even acknowledging the Boy (because he made that error when he first sat down with his food). It was the second evening running he wouldn't eat, and he didn't sleep brilliantly without food, so I later gave him some toast and a fruit bar, just so he'd sleep better again (and it worked - woohoo!).

I realise this is a stage most toddlers go through, but I hate it. Especially when food has been the one thing he's been easy with all along. I just really do not want a fussy eater for a child, and I want him to like everything like his parents. I still live in hope that he'll snap out of it sooner rather than later and be proper omnivore again, but we'll see!

Blueberry pancakes was obviously on the "Approved" list!

New Year New Possibilities!

A rather belated Happy New Year everyone! Where has the past two months gone? With Christmas and New Year and all the preparations and travel that went with the two, the time seems to just have flown. One of my New Year resolutions is to spend more time doing things I enjoy, one of which is writing. I have now acquired my own laptop as well (a hand-me-down from the husband as he managed to talk his boss into giving him a new one) I might actually have some time for it.

I rarely make official New Year resolutions, simply because I rarely stick to them. This year it's not resolutions per se, but more things I want to do anyway. As mentioned, I want to do more of things I enjoy. My evenings and general time when the Boy is asleep has become very monotonous recently, generally just killing time on my phone with games, and it has more and more infiltrated my time with the Boy as well. I'm determined to get better at leaving my phone mostly in peace during the time he's awake so I can play with him and enjoy him instead.

Another "resolution" I've made is a fairly standard one which everyone and their neighbour makes: Exercise more. I do enjoy running, and I did it a fair bit in the lead up to our wedding back in 2013, but since falling pregnant and becoming a mum I hate to say I've barely been doing any running. I would like to do a 10k this year, and I have my eyes set on one in May, which means I really rather need to get exercising, otherwise I'll end up walking it! May have to be my nap time activity and just run with the pram, and see it as extra exercise.

Someone I follow on Instagram led me to another thing I wanted to do - Take more pictures! So for 2016 I'm planning on putting up one picture a day (for now this is on my personal Instagram profile, though!) as part of "Project 366". I've managed up until now, with a few last minute posts, and really hope I'll make it through the whole year with one picture every day! (Or two, like today..)

I've also decided to start meal planning. We're 2 weeks in and it's going great, and I'm really enjoying having a plan of what to eat and when during the week. It means weekly shops are back, as opposed to nipping up to the Coop (other shops are available lol) to see if there is anything that tickles my fancy for dinner that evening. It's not all too bad, though it would be easier without the 1-year-old. That does remind me that I haven't done next week's menu or shopping list.... Next job!

Have you made any New Year's resolutions? How are they going?

Meal planning stage 1: Find ideas of foods!

Homesickness

I'm sure there comes many a time for everyone who have moved way from their home where the distance back gets very overwhelming. Not just for people like myself who have moved to a different country - it's not always easy to just go back to your hometown either. It's not a distance based on country borders or travel time, but about so much else. For me, however, it's the physical distance.

* * *

For most of the past week we've had my dad visiting. He wanted to be here for Boy's birthday, and he had a trip with friends planned in London the weekend after, so it all worked out well. It has been great having him here. I don't get to see him anywhere near enough, as it would simply be far too expensive to travel back and forth more often. We don't even need to do anything special, just being in his company is so comforting and familiar. When I dropped him off at the train station after 6 lovely days it was very hard to say goodbye, and I was very grateful to have my little Boy to cuddle extra hard as I walked away trying to fight the tears.

I have lived in England for 5.5 years now. It's far from the first time we've said goodbye. We've also seen each other a lot since Boy was born, so it's not just that either. This time was just a lot harder, and it brought me down in the dumps a bit. I've tried to make out why it got to me as much this time, but I haven't had much luck.

* * *

Back when we were looking for a new house and it looked like we had to move out of our current home town I also looked at houses back home. Near my family. And while just the thought of moving back was very daunting, it was also very appealing. It appealed to me purely from a very selfish point of view, as I would have my family nearby, but in the end I decided that it wouldn't have been fair. Not to my husband, who doesn't speak the language (well, he speaks some and understands a fair bit more, but not to the level I speak English). It wouldn't have been fair to my son who would go from a childhood with cousins down the road and little friends nearby to a place where we don't know anyone with children his age and no "instant friends" relatives. And it wouldn't be fair on all our friends and family here who we'd be moving away from - Boy's aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents and so many more. It just wouldn't be fair.

In fairness, I think a move home would've taken a lot of adjustment. My family isn't very big, and I've lost contact with most my friends from school. I think it would get very lonely for a long time until we settled in. The husband would've had to find a new job in a country where he doesn't speak the language. I would've had to find a new job and get Boy into a nursery. We would've made it, I know we would, but the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

For now I will cherish every moment I get to spend with my family. When they come to visit us and when we go to visit them. I will cherish the laughter, hugs and love, and keep counting down the days until we meet again.

Image sourced from http://enthusiastblog.com/tag/homesick/