grace and me: holiday

Showing posts with label holiday. Show all posts

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Wales weekender

Making a dash for the border on Sunday we managed to miss the bank holiday traffic and kiss goodbye to the torrential rain that was blighting Yorkshire. Grace didn't make a peep on the way over the Pennines, focused solely on Peppa Pig DVDs and a snack pot of fruit.

Hitting the hills around Wrexham we hooked up with Laura and Matt who kindly laid on the picnic of Kings at Erddig National Trust park and ordered us to sit and eat. Grace might have let out a weeny 'no way Jose' to the sitting down, but she did munch her way through a fair portion of carrot sticks before stuffing her face on mini pork pies and sausage rolls. I'd like to say I ate like a fairy and had nothing but crudités and the delicious beetroot and sesame dip, but you know me better than that by now and I do believe I polished off just about everything edible. Gannet.

Anyway, I digress. Apart from finding we'd parked the picnic blanket on a lonesome dog turd (much annoyed), we had a lovely wee while sat by the stream, watching Grace play in the water and watching Husband Matt look like a fairy when he tried and failed to walk on water crossing from one side of the steam to the other on the stepping stones. Funny as!

Grace was treated to a ladybird cake handcrafted by Laura, and we all got a solid nights sleep, helped along by a few bottles of vino and a beef casserole. Zzzz.

Turns out we didn't sleep all that well. Grace woke in the night for the first time in memory and insisted Daddy slept in her bed on the floor. Thermarested up with a kids duvet, the Husband was snoring within minutes leaving me to wrestle a child who was relishing in the novelty of being in bed with her Mummy. Eventually she fell asleep but I retreated to the foot of the bed to nurse my bruised ribs from being kicked and whacked from a sleeping child.

That said, it didn't dampen our day as we headed out to Cilcain for the summer fete, complete with Teddy Parachuting. Ice cream and a brass band later, we strapped up Mr Ted and sent him up for his virgin jump off of the church roof. What a brave bear....

Fortunately Grace slept all the way home which was a godsend considering we sat in a jam on the motorway for over an hour. We were soon home though and back to reality of life, work and childcare, eat (eat some more), sleep. Repeat.

Smashing weekend. One happy Grace Bear, one daredevil Teddy. Two knackered Parents. Night all...

Thursday, 1 August 2013

Postcards from Granny

Taking a break from holidaying ourselves we are still keeping focused on the summer feeling by enjoying the steady stream of postcards hitting the mat. Grace is particularly fond of this one being that it has the much-loved ice-cream van emblazoned on it.... The challenge will be to prize it away from her come bath time...

Monday, 15 July 2013

Twilight Sundae

Well into the swing of our summer break in Norfolk, it feels like we were never away! The drive down was perilous and slow, a crazy combo of motorcyclists oblivious to oncoming traffic on the red route into the countryside, and mind numbing tailbacks at Sutton Bridge while the boats came through. Grace chilled out in the back watching Peppa on loop, patient with the promise of fun with Grandpa and an ice cream sundae bigger than anything she's seen before. We made it in time for lunch and Mummy made good on her promise....

Friday, 8 March 2013

A breath of fresh air

Three weeks into being unemployed and the novelty is wearing off and I'm running out of things to chalk off my to-do list. I'm questioning my sanity and wondering if all that time spent trumpeting my decision making skills in the past has turned on me and taken a whopping big bite out of my backside. I forgive myself though as I gather holding a grudge against oneself achieves very little so instead I pack up the car and head for the hills, literally.

Albeit with the Husband and toddler in tow, I turn off the mobile phone and go tech-free for a three day trip to the Lake District, shoe-horning every essential and many questionable choices into the back of I car I only bought to fit a better buggy into, I realise my history in making decisions has been somewhat flawed. Nonetheless I stuff a bottle of red into the glovebox, set sat-nav to GO, and head off for a back to basics weekend with Grace, neither camping or glamping, but somewhere comfortably inbetween the two staying in a camping pod at the National Trust campsite at Great Langdale. How apt.

Revelling in the luxury of having a roof over our heads with heating when there is still snow on the high peaks outside, I'm gloating merrily at the soggy looking campers rolling out of bed the morning after a night of drizzle. Me, I'm suffering a different fate with Grace being scared of 'pitch black' of the night and the hooting owls that kept her awake and worried for a good hour in the night. We held hands a lot and she thanked me for saving her in the morning. Glad to be of help.

Loving the freedom to roam, Grace enjoyed herself and didn't want to get in the car when it was time to pack up and come home. She'd seemingly gotten used to getting water from the tap across a field, cooking on a camp stove and sleeping on the floor in a glorified shed. As luck would have it this is useful in the event I'm unemployed forever and have to revert to the simple life to keep our heads above water. At least I know we can do it.

We visited Windemere, Keswick, Ambleside and Skipton Castle in passing, each offering the chance of a coffee shop pit stop to fill up on a slice of tiffin.

It was a shock to the system returning to reality as we came back over the hill into Leeds and I realised I'd had three days to just live life with my family and enjoy it without worrying about the trappings of life as we know it. And Grace is back into her usual routine of nursery, ballet and swimming, reminding me at every corner that she'd very much like to go camping again Mummy so she can be with me.

Sunday, 16 September 2012

Quiet Contemplation

Nearly two months of inertia from me now, days where I have felt much to say but had little if any urgency to set pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. And it's not so much that the cork is out of the bottle, just a realisation that life has passed me by this summer and Grace is developing so quickly I'm slapping myself round the chops with said wet fish and getting back on the blogging horse.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, Grace, I have to say, is turning out to be such a joy to be around. These last few weeks have seen her turn from quiet, contemplative little toddler, to a chatty, quirky and funny child with a great outlook on life. I'm so proud.

Her vocab has flourished, it must be all the rain we have had this summer. Colours, objects, feelings... she's not afraid to express. One thing bothering me is her starting to use Mummy and Mum interchangeably. I keep telling her, Mummy has an E on the end and she mustn't call me Mum (she's too young), but I guess it's better than calling me Heather. Maybe that's next. She's counting too, not in the right order, one, two, six, ten. Must be those long legs working up the stairs a few at a time.

Spending a week with her in Scotland has been such a blessing. A trusted Scottish friend has assured me that Ayrshire is well enough across the border to count, so yes, we had a wonderful time exploring the area around Ayr. Loch Doon, Dunure, Culzean Castle, beautiful, and super fun for a toddler. Shell collecting on the beach, splashing in muddy puddles, walking windswept hills looking for sheep to bleet at, spotting ships from the castle walls. Good times.

Back to reality this week, and with redundancy a real possibility at work, wondering if the news will come this week from the people who pull the strings is making this rotten chest infection I've acquired along with the post-holiday blues all the more difficult to shake off. Insomnia from worry (or coughing?!), is making the days drag and I'm getting by on caffeine, my dear friend. I shan't dwell, it hasn't happened yet, just watch this space for thunderous fingers if they do pull the plug on a business I have come to love (and hate at times) over the last nine years.

Matt the Husband is treading the pavements of Sunderland today, running the Great North Run. I'm watching Mo Farrah and his Olympian colleagues get ready to start the race off in half an hour. The chances of spotting said Husband in the crowds on the Beeb are slim, but I'm casting half an eye towards the tele on the off chance I might spot him in his yellow bib. Good luck Lightning!

I'm off to walk the dog and batch cook to make for an easy week when I can stop coughing and get my backside off the sofa. But sat under a blanket with the dog at my side and the heat from the laptop, it's not going to be an easy up and onwards this morning. Grace is having a sleepover at her Grandma's. The house feels very quiet. Quiet Contemplation.