I did warn you that our summer got a bit more boring once we were back from Cornwall and day 19 was a fine example of that. Mr C returned to work after a week off and I headed out with the kids to a local drop in Speech and Language Therapy session. Today was the day that I needed to tackle one of the first of the contradictions that came out on the first day of the summer, when I met with Master C's nursery to discuss the problems we're having. They felt that there may be a need for him to have some speech and language therapy, something which really surprised me. Master C's language is, I ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 18 – Back home
After a week of days out and lots and lots of excitement it's no surprise that returning home was a bit of a shock to the system. It rained. Lots. There was loads of laundry to do. Literally. And the kids claimed to be bored. Proof it was needed that school holidays aren't just a long series of blissful days in the sunshine. Mr C wanted to crack on with decorating Master C's new bedroom, so I headed into central St Albans with the kids and took them to Waterstones where staff were doing a Julia Donaldson story time. Little Miss C enjoyed it, but after a week of running around outdoors ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 17 – Castle Drogo and the journey home
After our journey down to Cornwall we were pretty sure that the journey back wasn't going to be fast, but I don't think we realised just how long it was going to take. We said our sad farewell to Fiona and everyone else at Coombe Mill and headed east with an aim of stopping off at the National Trust's Castle Drogo. We'd seen signs for the castle on our journey down, but had run out of time then to be able to visit. Now, the thing that's slightly unique about Castle Drogo at the moment is the fact that they're in the middle of a huge piece of conservation work there whilst staying ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 16 – Boscastle and the Beach
The penultimate day of the holidays at Coombe Mill can only mean one thing - the last feed run! The children had come to love the feed run and were sad that it was their last one, but this also meant that time was running out for Little Miss C to actually drive Farmer Nick's tractor. Luckily though she finally plucked up the nerves to do so and she now talks about it as one of the highlights of her whole summer. As if driving the tractor wasn't exciting enough, this was also the day that she actually managed to find an egg herself too. A perfect end to a week of feed ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 15 – The Eden Project
I really need to play catch up a bit with my holiday diary or we'll be into the Christmas holidays before I've finished writing about the summer! But then again there are plenty of days later in the holidays where the write up will probably just say "kids watched far too much CBeebies today" and that should speed up the blogging process! For our penultimate full day at Coombe Mill we decided on a day trip to the Eden Project which is about a 40 minute drive away. Now the Eden Project is probably one of Cornwall's best known tourist attractions now and somewhere that everyone wants to go ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 14 – Bodmin and Wendford Railway and Lanhydrock
The Wednesday of our week in Cornwall was a perfect opportunity for me to indulge my inner train-spotting geek. I don't hide the fact that I love a good steam train and seeing as both the kids are huge fans of Thomas the Tank Engine too I was pretty sure that they wouldn't mind me dragging them along to the Bodmin and Wendford Railway after that morning's feed run on the farm. So, the start of our trip to the railway wasn't exactly brilliant. Somehow me trying to pay by credit card caused the whole chip and pin machine to blow up when I entered my pin number and then when they'd ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 12 – Trelissick and Godolphin
Time to step back a couple of weeks to our wonderful holiday in Cornwall. Determined to make the most of our National Trust membership yet again we set off this morning to Trelissick Garden. Now Trelissick isn't like all the other National Trust gardens as there's something very special about its setting - on its own peninsular. The garden is high up with some spectacular views of the River Fal and some lovely twisting paths that lead you down to the water, and the ferry port at the bottom. When we were there the colours were absolutely amazing - with the hydrangeas providing a palate ... read more
My 42 days of summer – #sweeet link challenge
The summer holidays. It's a phrase that seems to divide parents. Some look forward to that extra time with their children. Others, like me, dread them somewhat. I mean, 42 days is an awfully long time to be with someone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Until I was asked to write this post for BritMums I think I was in denial as to how long it really was - for the sake of my sanity! But, as I sit here now I'm at the dawn on day 27 (over the halfway point) and they're actually no where near as bad as I feared. So, what are my tips for a great summer holiday? Plan. But not too ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 25 – Off to London to play with GoldieBlox
After all yesterday's Lollibop excitement Sunday started somewhat slower. Mr C and I were actually woken by our alarm rather than a screaming child and it was 8.30 before either of them got out of bed. Lollibop really must have exhausted them more than I'd realised. Our Sunday morning was mainly spent at home with me trying to catch up on the housework whilst Little Miss C caught up with Frozen (again!) and Master C happily played with his toy cars. We then dashed to town quickly to pick up some school trousers that we'd ordered and to shoot into the supermarket to stock up on a couple of ... read more
Summer 2014: Day 10 – Travelling to Cornwall
Finally the day was here - holiday time! Now, this year was our first real holiday with both children and the first proper holiday we've been away for in years, so we were pretty determined to make it memorable. Not feeling brave enough to fly with the kids again yet we instead went for a UK holiday and after seeing so many rave reviews online we opted to stay at Coombe Mill in Cornwall. If you've not heard of Coombe Mill, let me set the scene. Imagine a small farm, run by a family, where children are at the centre of the holiday. The whole site is set up so that they have an absolute ball, ... read more