A weekend of family and friends

Apart from me suffering from a sudden and painful bad back since Friday evening, this weekend has been a perfect example of how the move has changed our lives for the better.

On Saturday we had friends over. Little Miss D is Charlie's age and I met her Mama through NetMums Meet a Mum when we were both pregnant. They moved to the countryside pretty soon afterwards and although we seem to only meet up once or twice a year we all get on really well when we do. Plus we had yet to meet little Master E, D's almost 7 month old baby brother. He is a lovely, chubby baby, reminding me a lot of C when he was that age, but sooo laid back.

The new house meant we could easily host a day here, we chatted and caught up, used the new Panini maker for lunch, had delicious home baked chocolate cake made by little Miss D and her mama and risked a walk to the park. The two toddlers loved the play park, C was enticed to try out a new slide because little Miss D did but then the rain started and so we splashed our way home in the sudden wind and rain with a broken buggy wheel.

Today we played host again and had Tom's brother, son and parents over for a barbeque. The weather stayed sunny (apart from a random 5 min shower just as we'd finished eating) and little cousin M was able to see our house for the first time. The two boys are both train mad, we had Thomas Take n Play spread out across the lounge and after lunch I took them up to Charlie's room and we got the brio tracks out. These two cousins get on so well now, it's lovely to watch them together, yes there are squabbles over toys, but there are plenty of hugs and kisses, plus little M had learned to say 'hello' since we last saw him, so he had fun saying it to Charlie throughout the afternoon.

Our kitten Baxter had a great time both days. At 10 weeks old he is incredibly friendly, a little scratchy and really brave, both days after 5 minutes getting used to the guests he was right in the middle of it, being petted and played with and generally running around everyone.

So suburban living continues to work well for us. The additional space means we can happily host at ours and have the room to fit everyone in.

 



From top, L-R - Cat fishing, driving the tractor in the play park (his favourite thing to do), scooting with Dad, Violet bear goes down the slide, C&D at the top of the climbing frame, more tractor driving for C, upside down cat, spotted belly cat, 2x Bax, cousins, on sheep with Daddy, cat fishing 2, cat  fishing 3.

Cinema date night

Last night hubs and I saw We're the Millers at a preview screening in Leicester Square. We had a little time to kill beforehand so made like tourists and checked out the M&M store, which  although I only work 5 mins away from, I'd never been to. It was so truly terrible it was good, though really really busy and completely overpriced. On the walls were rainbows of pick n mix M&Ms which were pretty, but the amount of additional merchandise was astounding. I bought a small bag of pick n mix and we fought our way out of the crowds and into Leicester Sq.

 

T had won tickets on Twitter to the screening and we got a free drink and popcorn. As an unannounced bonus the director came in and talked for a few minutes about making the film, that he'd just flown into the UK for tomorrow's premiere and that one of his favourite actors from the film, Will Poulter, is a Brit.

 

It was hilarious, similar comedy to Dodgeball (same director) and the perfect start to our Tuesday night date nights. It was like we were students again except in this comedy about a fake family we got all the in-house jokes about parenting. Jennifer Anniston shone in her bad girl role as Rose and Will Poulter was truly brilliant, particularly in the spider bite and Waterfalls scenes.

 

 

Date night

One unforseen bonus of moving closer to the in-laws is that C's grandparents have offered to collect C from nursery on a Tuesday and have him overnight so they can look after him on a Weds without us having to drop him off in the morning. It's super nice and means T and I have a whole evening to ourselves.

Not only that but with my office move and T's new job, we both work in central London, so can have Tuesday night date nights in town! Something that hasn't happened since 2005 when I was a bookseller on Oxford St and T was an office admin near Bedford Sq.

I'm looking to make the most of this free time and to do something nice at least once a month. T has already won cinema tickets to a private screening in Leicester Square, so date night is getting off to a good start!

Meet our new kitty

On Saturday we got a kitten!

 

I wanted a female to even up the boy girl ratio of our household and a tortoiseshell, because they're so pretty but there weren't any tortoiseshells around so we agreed to go and look at a tabby kitten. There were two tabbies a boy and a girl and of course the first one we caught was the boy, so we put him back, picked up the girl took her home.

 

Charlie was so excited, the carrier was strapped in next to his seat in the car and Penny our new kitten made little mewing noises all the way home. It was love at first sight for all three of us, she was so small, 8 weeks old and v pretty!

 

When we got home we opened the door of the carrier in the area we've made for her in the end room and after taking a few photos left Penny to get used to our house.

 

 

She came out of the carrier and ran under the table where she stayed. To give her time to adjust and with a three year old who could only focus on the new cat, we decided to leave the house. We went to buy kitten supplies as we'd waited to buy food and litter so we could get the same brands as she was used to.

 

By the time we got back Penny was so brave she came and let us stroke her, she ate her lunch and then followed us into the living room. It was as we were playing with her on the sofa that she rolled over and showed us her speckled belly and also the fact that she was definitely not a girl. So Penny has become Baxter, a mischievous, friendly, toddler tolerant (to an extent) kitten, and although we've only had him for a week, he's fitted into the household perfectly.

 

 

Drusillas Wildlife Park

As we didn't get the keys to our holiday house until 3pm we wanted to make the most if our first day, so instead of driving down the A3 from London to Portsmouth we decided to go due south towards Brighton and the drive along the post to our hol house in Pagham. On the way we went to Drusillas, a wonderful small zoo perfect for a day out with a toddler.

 

The inhabitants were small, monkeys, meerkats, penguins, farm animals etc. And an added bonus for my little train fan, they have a Thomas train with Annie and Clarabel carriages giving rides around the site. The only problem was that you had to walk through the whole zoo before you could go on Thomas, and this was very hard for a 3 year old who could see his favourite train but not understand why we couldn't go on it immediately. If we go again we will take the shortcut at the start which takes you to the picnic area at the end where the Tidmouth Halt station was and then see the animals.

 

When I asked Charlie what his favourite part was afterwards he didn't say the Thomas ride, his best thing was milking a cow! Not a real one but a life-sized model which squirted water from it's tests. C and Daddy had a go and my little bit loved it.

 

Other highlights were seeing baby Fenwick fox, looking through a giraffe periscope and feeding time at the penguins. We popped bubbles in the picnic area and had lots of fun on a rickety bridge in the adventure playground. In the Thomas gift shop at the end Daddy bought C a Spencer train for his collection. C was disappointed at first as he couldn't choose but as soon as little cousin M started showing an interest jealousy kicked in and Spencer is now a firm favourite!

 

 

Holiday snapshot

We've just got back from a week at the seaside, on the south coast in Pagham. Nana and Grandad booked the cottage and Uncle A and Cousin M came to stay for the first weekend. We all had so much fun, C loved spending time with his little cousin and absolutely adored our days on the beach.

The weather was beautiful, hot sunshine for most of the time, with a monster rainy day half way through, thunder, lightning the works!

I'm still going through the photos but here's a few of my favourites:

 

1 - We walked past these hydrangeas on our daily 2 min walk to the beach

2 -  Seagulls on Bognor seafront

3 - Trying on Mama's shades

4 - Thomas train at Drusilla's Wildlife Park

5 - Kicking the waves with Daddy

6 - Sunset on our beach at Pagham

7 - Mama and C-bear

8 - Holiday house

9 & 10 - Paddling pool fun