Our summer holidays so far have been a bit of a wash out, but for a change it hasn’t been the fault of the British Weather. We’re now into week 3 of the kids holiday and week 5 of mine. So far its pretty much all centered around moving house – both sorting out the new house and clearing out the old. However today I slid my key through the letterbox, after locking up my old house for the last time. I know for sure there’s a little more hassle to come from my landlady, but for the most part, I’m done.

Today marked that feeling of relief, knowing I’d done all I could do on the old house and the focusing on the future and of course the rest of the summer holidays. Funny enough, almost as soon as I’d posted that key back through the door, I genuinely felt like something had lifted from my shoulders.

The kids and I swung by my partner’s work, to meet him for lunch today. In a charity shop I spotted a brand new pumpkin theatre, which Lily immediately took a shine to. Though I dismissed it on first passing as the price wasn’t viewable, I spotted it again on the way back past, marked at £4.98.

Though the dolls are sold separately, it wasn’t those that appealed anyway. The simple but brightly painted pumpkin theatre, was just appealing in itself. I headed in, bought that and a dress I had also spotted (pics to follow if I try it on and like it!) and then surprised Lily with it. She couldn’t stop saying “thank you” all the way home and that was worth the £5 in itself. When we got home (via the Leisure Centre to see about swimming times) there was a scramble to get it open, then both girls rushed upstairs to start practising a play with their mini Disney princess dolls.

The theatre itself is really nicely made. There are little leaf-like seats which velcro on and off at the front. The stage has little curtains which tie back with daisy elastic bands. The back drop can change from day to night, all by sliding in the back panel one side or the other. The theatre also has side doors for you to slide your hands in either side to do the play. All in all, I’m really pleased with this little find.

The rest of the day continued pleasantly. I got some more boxes unpacked which made me feel accomplished, then after getting the girls some dinner, they bathed and had their hair washed. We headed upstairs to brush and dry their hair, Megan suggesting I trimmed it – as I’d mentioned a few times that Lily needed her fringe cutting and Megan had some split ends.

I’m no master hairdresser, so I try to keep it simple. I hate really straight cut fringes, that looks like “mother cut it”, so I’ve always gone for a more choppier look with both the girls. Lily’s hair before was like some sort of sheepdog, so this cut (above) though still a little on the long side, was a vast improvement on before. I also trimmed off her ends at the back.

However Megan decided to surprise us all. A harmless conversation about cutting all her hair off came about, which soon turned into an actual decision as to how much she was going to have chopped off. Though she ummed and ahhed for about five minutes, she finally decided she wanted a good chunk off.

This is the before to show how long it was, and the after of how it is now. I can’t believe how grown up she looks now – though this look represents her sass much better than her original angelic look. I tied up the hair she had chopped off in a pink ribbon for her to keep and I’m hoping she doesn’t end up regretting the cut. So far though she seems pretty pleased with it and on the plus side, hair always grows back. Unfortunately I had to talk Lily out of the same drastic cut, partly because I didn’t want it to steal Megan’s thunder and also because I’m pretty sure Lily would actually regret it. A quick “but now your hair is longer than Megan’s!” was enough to make her feel like the winner and put her off the cut. I did tell her though if she still wants it cutting in a week, then I’ll do it. My heart was in my throat the whole time I was cutting Megan’s, just hoping I didn’t make a mess of it. I’m also pretty pleased with how it turned out.

So with two weeks and three days left of my summer holiday and three weeks and three days left of the girls summer holiday, its now my plan to make the most of our days as much as possible. I’ve penciled in lots of swimming and hopefully a few days out. Tomorrow they are spending the day with their dad but after that I’m going to spoil them and have some hopefully make some nice memories. They haven’t complained once over the last few weeks about not really doing much with our days (and being palmed off to Nanny’s) so I think they more than deserve a little spoiling.