Bridlington beach

There was a time where I really didn't enjoy the beach. A short visit was bearable (provided fish and chips were on the menu), but anything longer than an hour or so sat on the sand would bore me. My love was, and still is, walking in the peak district..but recently something has changed.

Since making a conscious decision to embrace every second of family time, the beach has been a happy place. I smile inwardly watching my family race around. I watch them splash in the sea, build sandcastles, chase each other with crabs/seaweed and there isn't a part of me that is bored. Fish and chips however, is still mandatory.

 

A childs grief

Yesterday when we were about to leave the cemetry (known to the boys as 'Grandads garden '), Rio cuddled the headstone and started sobbing. I saw his eyes start to fill moments before it happened and beelined for him. Through his sobs I could hear "I want my grandad", and I started crying with him, because I want him too. Time isn't a healer. Time is another day without him here. Rio may of only been three when he passed away but we had lived with him from birth up until that point. Losing his Grandad was like losing myself or Craig for him, an every day figure. I think the physical action of hugging the headstone to say bye made him realise he hasn't had contact with his Grandad for over a year because its impossible. He isn't just somewhere else in the country, he is gone.

There were tears at bedtime. And again I couldn't control my own. It just goes to show that like us, children grieve in their own time too.

 

Life Lately

2017 hasn't been the best year so far for us, I'm hoping that it will redeem itself because we all know that 2016 didn't start that well either, and overall that was a great year for my little family. Over the past month or so we have been struck with lergy after lergy and in turn that has left us pretty housebound. We haven't had that many adventures lately, but thankfully we have our annual passes so sometimes we've managed to 'pop' out at least.


I'm hoping for nice enough weather to get a walk in this weekend but in the meantime, here's a little of what we have been up to in photos.

My new year resolutions

Last year my new years resolution was to learn to bake.  In my head I saw myself being one of those mums that fetched out  warm freshly made cookies whenever kids came over to play. In reality, I burnt the just add water type, and my toddlers were better bakers than me. 


A year on I am marginally better.  My forte is predominately brownies but ..I am no longer scared to whip up a batch of buns. This year, my new years resolutions are to embrace family time, every second of it, and to be more organised.

So far these resolutions have encouraged me to clear out every cupboard in our house..tidy house, tidy mind, and brave the cold a whole lot more than I would of liked.

2017, lets do this.

The perfect gift

Despite working in retail, I've managed to have a great Christmas. We all received some lovely gifts and created even lovelier memories. But beneath all that was the fact that it was the first without my Dad. As much as I reflected on that very fact, I tried not to dwell on it... he wouldn't want me to!


One of the gifts we jointly received as a family was an annual pass to the Yorkshire wildlife park. We are blessed to have something like this on the doorstep but I wont lie, costs have stopped us visiting as frequent as we would like. In winter we don't venture to the peak district on weekends as much so this really was the perfect present for our outdoor family..i mean, yesterday we watched lions at sunset!

I didn't really photograph the animals as such, I usually take hundreds and never use them so I spent that extra time mainly just feeling content. I cant wait to go back and create endless memories again there already! Family time really is everything.

Pumpkin carving

Like most family households, pumpkin carving is beginning to become a bit of a tradition for us. Combined with bonfire night, id go as far as saying it is preferable for me than Christmas, the boys may disagree!


This year is our first Halloween in the new house. So we invited my sister and her children over to join in the festivities.

Everyone had fun getting stuck in. And although id been at work for the majority of the day, me & Craig went to bed feeling like we'd had some quality family time. What more could you ask for?