Southport

We normally go away on our “mums and kids” holiday in Easter but we couldn’t all get together then this year so we delayed to half term…we foolishly thought the weather might be better since it was later…we were very wrong!!!!  We also decided to try a new venue..Southport..because we could get a caravan to sleep 10 rather than having 2 vans.  The one van was a million times better but unfortunately the site wasn’t really.

We got there late on the Monday and had tea in the café on site.  Well we tried!  The sign said it shut at 7 and it was 6pm so we thought we had loads of time, it turned out it was shutting at 6 so they weren’t happy taking our order…  We then went to try out the entertainment.  The family bar was really cramped, it was a good job we didn’t have a pram this year!

..and although the staff tried really hard they just weren’t as good as Rhyl.

The next day it looked like there was going to be a break in the rain so we headed off to Rufford Old Hall.  The grounds were brilliant and had loads of giant games..chess, draughts, swingball etc in the garden but it progressed from light rain to chucking it down quite quickly!  We looked around the hall which was a bit stressful as in one room touching was encouraged and in the other it was forbidden!  Austin did not get this rule and a woman slaked us the whole way round making sure he didn’t touch the delicate bits which was a bit stressful!

In the evening we braved the disco again.  In a sign of things to come the girls spent ages getting ready with their nail varnish and stick on earrings! They then all bought cuddly dolphins!!

On Wednesday we had expected more rain but it held off so we went to the on site playground….that was an odd experience!  It was after lunch but all the kids were still in the pj’s or onesies except our kids!  They had a great time climbing and playing on the swings….

…and the rain did hold off despite the black clouds in the background!  On the walk back we found some swans and their babies…

After a pizza tea it was on with the stick on earrings (for boys and girls) and off to the disco! They bought lots of slushies!!  Thursday we drove into Southport and had a lovely walk along the pier and played in the old arcades, we had tea in Southport and came back for the disco.  Tonight’s entertainment was a very strange singer…………

Typically on Friday the forecast changed from constant rain to chances of sunshine!  We were all supposed to be heading off quite early on the Friday but given the rain we decided to go to the beach..I’m glad we did!  The weather was fantastic and they had been wanting to go to the beach all week!!

There was sandcastle building and water pouring….

The weather just kept getting better as we sat on the beach so we stayed for an impromptu picnic which was hilarious!!!!  We found ourselves a bench and we all had one slice of bread and just over half a packet of crisps!!!!!!!!

..we had a couple of pieces of fruit….some raisins….some melted twix’s and really quite a poor picnic!!  The table next to us had knives and forks and a very posh and prepared picnic…it was very funny as they kept looking over at us!!!!!!

Although the weather wasn’t in our favour and the caravan site wasn’t the greatest we did have a great time….

 

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New Liverpool kit….

For his birthday Noah requested a Liverpool goalie kit and yesterday was the release day! We were in Southport last night so he couldn’t do the while queue up and get it on the night but we went today. Unfortunately there is a massive jump between an age 4-5 kit and a 6-7 kit…we had ordered 6-7 but it drowned him so he had to swap to a 4-5 which has no growing room! The only bonus of this was a 50% refund as the small kit was half the price!!!!!!!!!!!!
He wanted to get Pepe Reina on the back but we’d had a tip-off he might be leaving so we left it blank…

I can’t believe it is another white kit…I mean who in their right mind makes a football kit white!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I give it a week before it is a murky grey!!!!!!!!!!!

Raarrrrrr Dinosaurs!!!!!!!!!!

Today we went to see Walking with Dinosaurs in Liverpool!  We met at Nanny and Grandad’s house where Austin got a couple more presents…

…we then headed into town for the dinosaurs!!

They were quite good really.  I wasn’t too sure what to expect but they were quite good models and came pretty close to the audience…

After the dinosaurs we went for a quick walk around the Albert Dock because there was a warship event going on.  The kids were playing with a big brass horn…

Noah even managed to get a sound out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…although I dread to think how dirty the end of it was…yuk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After we’d seen the warships we went for some tea and then back to Nanny’s for birthday cake…..

Austin turns 4!!!!!!!!!!

When I asked Austin what he wanted for his birthday he said half white & half pink yoghurts, pistachio nuts and some onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I almost got him some onions but forgot at the last moment. We did get him pistachios….

….and he was very impressed!!  He was also impressed with his other presents…a bin wagon (his favourite animal!!!!!!!!) and more cars!!

While we all had a leisurely breakfast Noah went off to football….

…where he got a medal for attending all year.

We then asked Austin what he wanted to do and he said go skateboarding and then bowling…so off we went to the park….

…Noah and Austin on skateboards and Caitlin on rollerblades…

We then went bowling where Austin kept lying down to watch his skittles…

Our lane broke and the girl let them have a hold of some very badly battered skittles after she had reset our game…

We then went out for tea.  Austin had a great day and it was a good start to the half term holidays!!

Gymnastics trial

Caitlin and Noah both go to gymnastics at school and the instructor is setting up a new class in a proper gym with better equipment. He gave everyone a trial lesson for free so we went along today with one of their friends.
While they were setting up Austin joined in. There was only one other person in the class apart from Caitlin, Noah and their friend, so I didn’t realise when the class started properly. Austin was actually really really good! He was following absolutely everything that the teachers were telling them…in fact he was following it all better than any of the others! Once I realised the class had started I asked the teacher if Austin was ok joining in and he said yes. The class is for 5 to 8 year olds so I didn’t think he’d be allowed to actually join the class properly. At the end Austin was so enthusiastic and kept talking about how fantastic gymnastics was and how he loved it and it was the best thing he has ever done! It’s not like Austin to want to join in, so I asked if he could join! Adam said he could so long as he was keeping up with the rest of the class and on the understanding that he might have to stop if it gets too busy! We’ll see how he gets on!

Party time!!!!!

Today was Austin’s birthday party.  He was sharing his party with 2 other boys from nursery at the same soft play Noah had his at when he was at nursery..the big blue slide soft play!!!  He really wasn’t that keen on the whole party thing….  Zoom has a crown and king’s cloak for the birthday boy (or girl) to wear…he put it on for a split second…

They also have a throne..again he wouldn’t sit on that either!  He did enjoy the playing part of the party though and went along with the cake bit even though he doesn’t like cake!!

They nearly didn’t open the big blue slide because Austin and his friends weren’t 5…once we realised that’s what they were doing we got them to open it and Caitlin and Noah had a great time going down it!  Just as the party ended Caitlin had to rush off as she was performing with her dance class in the park.  She just about got there on time and did her dances…

After the dances we stayed at the park…

It was the duck races in the park, which we’ve never been to before but it was really good…

…after we’d watched the ducks being released we had a wander around the stalls and then played swinging across the stream…

 

Caitlin and Noah met a cheerleader who was a bit older than them and really good at swinging across..she showed them what to do and even Caitlin swung right across and jumped off!!

Amazingly everyone stayed dry!!!!!!

Summer fair

Today was the summer fair….  I was helping on the craft stand for the whole fair so Richard was in charge of taking them around the stalls!  Austin helped me to set up while Caitlin and Noah went to football and dancing before the fair.  They went on all the usual stalls like the tombola etc, and also on the pony rides…

Caitlin also went on the pony ride.  She has decided she really likes horses!!

The fair was a great success and the kids had a great time too!!

We’re camping in the rain!!!!!!!!

Well…we have had a camping trip planned with some other families in Noah’s class for a while now and as always with these things you can’t order the weather….so off we went with a rainy forecast!!  There were 14 adults and 16 kids on our trip…..and it pretty much poured the whole time!

We had to set off a bit after the others so we offered to pick up the take away tea on our way….Pizza for 30…………….

….so we arrived at the campsite and had our pizza tea.  Luckily there was a break in the rain so we put our new awning up…..which was ace…

We just hung about the campsite on the Friday night…..with the kids playing…just look at those black clouds!!!!!!!

The kids went to bed and the adults huddled in the gazebo!!  The rain really started coming down and the wind was so strong it ripped the side of the gazebo!  We all went off to bed but it felt like Alfie was going to be blown over!!  We were so cold and hardly slept because of the noise of the rain and wind.

On the Saturday we all went into Skipton….  After trekking about in the rain for a while we went into handpicked hall where we met the lady who wrote the pattern for our campervan hats (as in the photo above)…. snug in a dub.  We eventually found a pub that would take all of us, but we had to sit outside under the canopies.  It was still pretty cold but the canopies sheltered us from the rain..just!  Austin had the strangest pasta dish…pasta filled with peas…..  He loved it!

Just after we finished eating the rain stopped and the sun even shone enough for them to wind the canopies in and we got a tiny bit of sun!  It even lasted long enough for us to grab a quick donut on the way….

…and have a quick play in the park on our way back to the campsite…

Those big black clouds in the background didn’t hold out too long though….and it started chucking it down again!  We decided to go to the pub that was about 200 metres away and watch the football!  We kind of took over one room but everyone had a great time.  We were going to stay for tea but they couldn’t sit us so we called for take away and sat in little groups in the tents to eat it.  With the kids in bed we met for drinks in the tepee we had put up after the gazebo died!

In the morning the rain had died off so the kids got a play in the fields….

They got about an hour before the rain started again!!!!!!!!!  We had managed to pack the awning up…mainly because it was so windy that during the break in the rain the wind dried it off!

Despite the rain we had a brilliant time.  The kids all got on so well…. we are already planning the next one!

A trip to the Town Hall

Today Austin went on a little school trip to the Town Hall to sing nursery rhymes!  His nursery was singing baa baa black sheep!!!!!!!

I’m not sure he was that impressed with his hat!!!!!!!!!

 

The seats are in….

The seats are in Alfie…we may just be ready for our camping trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…let’s hope the weather improves…….