scarborough Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

July AND August Round-up

September 1, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Can you believe it got to August 21st before I actually got around to writing my July round-up? I had remembered earlier than that but with one thing or another, I just didn’t find time to write it up. However by that point it seemed a bit random to post so late in the month and I decided to save it and do July and August together. July will be far more vague but here they both are anyway!

Watching: Fringe (Season 4-5), Vampire Diaries (Season 7), Wayward Pines (Season 1-2), Sleepy Hollow (Season 3), Grimm (Season 6), Suits (Season 6), Transformers – Age of Extinction, Bones (Season 6+)
Reading: Cinder.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): A few more ears, some bunting, an Anna skirt, along with the usual orders of bows, pencil cases and clothes.

And in other news…
– Pokemon Go became a big things for Lily. She doesn’t have her own phone and it won’t work on her iPad so I let her use it on my phone. I have to admit I don’t mind encouraging it – especially the walks to hatch eggs.
– Probably the most notable part of July was the girls finishing school for the summer, coupled with Megan leaving primary school altogether. The last two weeks were very emotional with School play, Leavers Do, Church Services, Leavers Assembly, Sports Day etc. However even though she was sad, school ended on a high note and hopefully she’s looking forward to Secondary School in September.
– We had some beautiful weather, actually like Summer for a change. It was really nice but of course didn’t last long!
– The girls washed Chris’s car, outside with Chris. They started on mine too but soon got bored and Chris ended up finishing it.
– Dentists. Enough said.
– Our first camping trip took place at the very end of July. We went to a place called Staxton, near Scarborough for the weekend and actually had a great time.

Watching: I completely caught up with Bones, right up to the end of Season 10. Criminal Minds (from Season 2-), Captain America: Winter Soldier (finally), X-Men 1, 2 and 3 with the kids. Daredevil (Season 2). Containment, Musketeers and Vikings.
Reading: Cinder, Reliquary.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Harry Potter bunting, loads and loads of pencil cases.

And in other news…
– We went to Meadowhall shopping, to get Beauty and the Beast tsum tsums, shoes for Megan and of course FIVE GUYS! It was Nat’s first time too.
– Nat, Megan, Lily and I went to a Harry Potter convention and ball. We had an overnight stay at the Premier Inn, Nottingham.
– Chris bought Lily a starter set of Pokemon cards and then taught her how to play.
– We took our second camping trip, this time to Chichester, where we spent the day on a boat in the marina and got a brand new tent too!
– We got an ice cream maker to review AND made ice cream. It was pretty amazing.
– Placed an uber Hobbycraft order which was pretty exciting!
– Closet Geek turned ONE! I still can’t believe it really but its actually a great feeling. I love my work more than I ever thought possible.
– Went to see Suicide Squad at the cinema. It was really nice as Chris and I went with my best friend and her boyfriend Dan.
– I took the girls to the beach and we had a really great day. We went to Mablethorpe and the weather was beautiful. We had candy floss, ice cream and the girls got an airbrush tattoo.

Looking forward to in September:
– Megan starts school on 2nd September so that is both terrifying and exciting. I can’t believe she’s old enough for secondary school. I hope her first day goes well!
– Amy is hopefully coming to visit next weekend. I haven’t seen her since May so it will be lovely to see her and Liv again.
– (Not entirely sure I’m looking forward to this but..) Seeing the Halloween orders flood in for Closet Geek. I’m hoping its not as crazy as last year but its nice to be busy.
– Other than that there isn’t much going on this month so we’ll just see how it goes!

Our First Camping Trip

August 10, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

For ages now I’ve wanted to take the girls camping (I used to go a lot myself), but they were either too young or we didn’t have the tent, or we didn’t have the time. Finally we decided to bite the bullet and a couple of weekends ago, we went on our first camping trip. Though we had the tent, we had very little else. We bought a couple of camping mats, Lily needed a sleeping bag and I had to dig out all sorts of old bits and pieces like the airbeds from our youth, the car cigarette lighter air pump and things like that. We made sure to bring an axe to split woods since we wanted to build a campfire. We also borrowed a few bits and I bought a book with campsites in it, all before we were ready to go (I later found a site called Planet Camping which would have been great to buy things from). We settled on a weekend away, up in North Yorkshire. The village was called Staxton, though technically we were only a few miles from Scarborough.

We set off after Chris finished work and the journey was only about an hour and a half. The place we were staying at was called Spring Willows and it was specially picked (partly by availability) because it had a swimming pool. We arrived around 7.30pm and quickly set up the tent. It took a while as it had been ages since I last used it, but we got there fairly easily. Next we blew up the kids airbeds, got the sleeping bags ready and settled in for the night.

In the morning, we had a light breakfast of cereal bars, brioche and iced coffee. Afterwards we headed to John Bull Rock in Bridlington, only to realise the factory was closed and it was a wasted trip. However we stopped for a coffee anyway and then headed back to Scarborough. When we arrived and parked, we decided to walk around the shops. We stopped at Subway for lunch and eventually made our way to the beach and the amusement arcades.

After a while spent in the arcades, we went for a walk along the promenade. We stopped for a drink and to catch Pokemon (!!). Eventually we wanted back to the town and then back to the car, before heading back to the campsite. After relaxing for a while, we went out for dinner. There was a local fish and chip shop which we had decided to eat at and it didn’t disappoint! Afterwards we went back to the campsite and chilled out. We spent a little time in the games room, playing pool, air hockey and pinball. However in the end we went back to the tents and slept (we’d caved to buying air beds for Chris and I while shopping that day so it was a comfier night sleep!). Trout fishing is one of the most popular types of fishing in America. It’s a great way to enjoy time with friends and family while getting some exercise and fresh air. If you’ve never caught trout before, it can be difficult to land them at first. But don’t worry – here are some trout fishing tips for beginners! Usually, mornings are best because there’s less movement in the water due to less sunlight.

When we woke in the morning, we had breakfast again and then packed up the car. We had missed the swimming times the day before so we made it our mission to catch swimming that morning. The pool was amazing but I actually enjoyed the shower afterwards even more. Once we were finished, we headed to the car and drove to York. Since we still wanted to enjoy our weekend, we had decided on another day out, walking around the shops and having lunch out in York.

The weather was lovely as we strolled around York, popping in and out of shops. We visited the Disney Store (of course) and then had a late lunch at Bella Italia as we all love it there. Eventually though we headed home, getting back for around 5pm. We had a lovely weekend away and can’t wait to go camping again!

31/52

August 1, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

This weekend we went camping with the kids for the first time ever. We headed up to a place near Scarborough and so one of our days out was spent there. Of course a trip to the coast wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the arcades. Lily won herself Joker and Batman in the 2p machines while Megan got Iron Man for me and Captain America for Nat (not pictured).