Liv Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Our Summer Holidays so far!

August 4, 2017 by Bel

The kids have now been off for two full weeks (and a couple of days) so I thought I would update with what we’ve been up to so far – especially since I’m not keeping up with my monthly updates at the moment.

The school holidays couldn’t really have been off to a worse start, than a weather forecast like this ^^ However, I am grateful to work from home and so no matter what the weather, at least I get to spend time with the kids! As they broke up on the Wednesday, we had a couple of extra days that week, to fit in some fun. Thursday was one of my favourite days actually as we went to see Despicable Me 3 (which was average in my opinion), then went to Chimichanga for dinner (which we had never been to before) and finally we went to our local park – Hartsholme – for a lovely walk around the lake.

On the Friday, the girls made a video of themselves doing the Beanboozled challenge and I really must remember to upload it, plus we seemed to watch a ton of movies over the first few days including; Definitely Maybe, 10 Things I Hate About You, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Phantom of the Opera and Save the Last Dance. We also got an invite to my mum’s on Sunday for a roast dinner and that was amazing.

The following week was the first full week and for the first four days we had visitors in the form of Amy and Liv. The girls were at their dad’s on the Monday so Amy and I just spent time catching up, then in the evening Chris, Amy and I had chinese takeaway and watched Game of Thrones. The other days were mostly spent sewing, though Amy and I did manage to go fabric shopping too.

The weather was fairly rubbish all week, starting off raining and ending up sunny or vice versa. After dropping Amy and Liv at the station though, the girls and I took a trip to Norton Disney (a place we had joked about visiting for a while) and luckily the sun stayed out for some pics.

That weekend, we went to LFCC (which is London Film and Comic Con). I had been once before and really enjoyed it, but this time was a flying visit really – all so I could meet Wil Wheaton. Chris was working until 4.30pm Saturday so we headed off down to London after that and stayed at a Travelodge near Heathrow. In the morning we drove to North Ealing station, parked there and caught the train to Earl’s Court and then walked to London Olympia. Grabbing a virtual ticket for Wil Wheaton’s queue was first priority but after that we did some shopping and wandered around stalls. We ate lunch and shopped some more until finally we could meet Wil Wheaton. I had taken a blank Flux card with me for signing and had decided a CREEPER would be best. These are cards that if laid in front of you in the game, means you can’t win. Since Wil is pretty notorious for not winning on his YouTube show “Tabletop”, I thought this would be perfect. He seemed to agree and wrote “IT SUCKS TO BE YOU” and then signed it. Sadly as he was passing it back, he smudged the card but I didn’t mind as I still knew what it was. He said “Now it really sucks to be you!” which made us all laugh.

As I’m writing this post, I realise this all happened almost a week ago (it was Sunday and today is Friday) but it honestly only feels like yesterday! Anyway the next day the girls were with their dad and went to a National Park and built a den. They have a video of that too which I hope to upload soon. The rest of this week has really just been spent at home. I had a lot of work to catch up on after Amy’s visit and so the girls have really just entertained themselves on Minecraft, Slime Rancher, Theme Hospital etc. Yesterday though they started a jigsaw with my mum and once my work was done I joined in too. Then mum left and I couldn’t bear to leave the jigsaw unfinished so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening making sure it got done!

That pretty much sums up the last two weeks and I’m so glad its been a combination of lots and nothing. I always think its important to have plenty of down days during the holidays so you don’t feel completely knackered, but you also need days were you do things together, or else you end the holidays feeling like you didn’t do anything! Hopefully I’ll update again soon with whatever else we get up to!

Week 30 – Monday Round-up

July 27, 2015 by Bel

This week has been a fab week and I’m hoping there are more to come! I’ve been very well behaved with my diet which is giving the motivation to continue and that in itself makes some days easier! Also the kids broke up from school this week and that has been so nice, spending loads of time together but more importantly, not even needing to get dressed on some days!!

On Monday Megan didn’t feel very well and so the girls didn’t go to school. Sure it was a little naughty to keep Lily off too but we were all wishing we were on Summer Holiday already that we probably needed a day! We were incredibly lazy and did nothing all day. It was actually very nice. However I did manage to get some sewing done and finally finished the Briar Rose cosplay outfit I was working on for Amy.

On the Tuesday, the girls went back to school and Chris was off work so we had one of those days when we got all sorts of little bits done. We took his drum kit to a friend’s house as he was selling it, we went shopping, we went out for lunch and eventually we headed back to pick the girls up from school. It was a nice day but I’d hoped to get loads more sewing done and that didn’t happen! I did however manage a lovely long bath in the evening, a read of my book and an early night.

Wednesday was the girls last day at school, so we headed out with presents and cards galore. Chris was at work all day and I had website training for the Saxilby School website, round at my mum’s house. The training took all morning and then after everyone left, Mum and I had lunch. In the afternoon we headed down to storage to sort it out, as we’re hoping to hand the keys back next week. It didn’t take half as long as we expected so I headed back to mum’s for another cup of tea before eventually going to get the girls. Once I picked them up we popped to the post office, to get petrol and then eventually to Pizza Hut. This is fast becoming our end of term/summer tradition as we’ve now been to Pizza Hut every summer for about the last five years!

When we were finished, we headed home and it was still pretty early (especially since the girls were now on holiday time bed time) and we all settled down to chill. Lily went on her computer, Megan her iPad and I sat down to finish off the book I had been reading on Kindle. When it was time for Lily to head to bed we read some James and the Giant Peach which was the current bedtime read. Megan went a while later and eventually Chris got home from work and we headed to bed not long after.

On Thursday we were all wanting a lazy day (though Chris was at work) and so we did a whole lot of nothing till midday. However we got lunch, got dressed and headed out in the afternoon to get Megan’s ears pierced. She was incredibly brave and I was honestly so surprised. I bought her some extra earrings for when her ears are healed and she is allowed to change them, and also some magnetic ones for Lily so she didn’t feel left out.

Since we’d paid for parking anyway, we went to get coffee from Costa. Megan had a Mint Choc Chip, while Lily had Belgian Chocolate, mine was technically the only coffee as I had a Caramel Latte. We shared a mint choc chip cake too and it was delicious. After we finished out coffee we walked around for a little bit but then headed home. Once we were home we unpacked some boxes from my car and started to go through them. They were a mixture of photos, scrap books and cuddly toys, as well as a box of my old memories, dating right back to school and including school reports and letters I’d received from friends.

The rest of the day was just spend doing out own things, relaxing or getting work done etc. Next came Friday and that started off fairly lazy too. However both the girls needed showers as they were going to their dad’s house and we weren’t sure what the situation was with showering there (they just moved house!). We grabbed showers, packed a bag and then their dad arrived to take them away. Next came a message from Amy to say her and Liv were on time with train and since Chris was going down to catch the train they were getting off, I walked down with him and waited at the station.

Once Amy arrived (and Chris left), we went to Aldi on the way back and then came home. We didn’t do an awful lot with the day, just occupied Liv and chatted to catch up on the last few weeks. Eventually Liv went to bed, we had jacket potatoes for dinner and then chatted some more. The wine came out and Chris arrived home with even more for us. We all sat watching YouTube videos for Five Nights at Freddy’s and it was really nice.

The next day I woke up because Chris had a driving lesson. I got up and started to make some bows for the girls to wear to the cinema that day, but sadly it didn’t work out! The day ended up a bit rushed – heading out to get the girls from their dad, mum getting a flat tyre, coming home to get changed and heading out to the cinema again. However in the end it all worked out and we made it to the movie on time!

Everyone loved Inside Out and I was so glad we’d booked to see it early. To be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up going to see it again! Once it was done (we stayed till the end but there was no extra clip!) we headed out and went for a walk around Scunthorpe. It wasn’t somewhere I had been before and I was curious as to what shops were available. We popped into Primark (and Chris did CEX) and then wandered back to the car. Even better it was free parking all day Saturday so I think it’s somewhere we would go again.

Picture taken from @livvybirdadventures Instagram

We came back home and once we’d settled, ordered takeaway. It was our one weekend treat but it was so good. There were burgers, chips, pizza, garlic bread and donner kebab. I was stuffed afterwards and knew I’d have put on several pounds! In the evening once everyone was in bed, Amy and I relocated to the dining room and I made the finishing touches to her Briar Rose dress (the zip and hem). After that we were all tired and so headed to bed.

In the morning, the kids all got up and since I stirred I figured I would get up too. Amy and I sat chatting as always and Chris went upstairs to play on his computer. Eventually I had to get the girls ready for going back to their dad’s for the day, so we left around 10.30am. By the time I came back, there wasn’t long before Amy needed to go, so we measured out the Wendy dress pattern so I could get on with that and figured out what else needed doing to her Snow White dress. After that I took Amy and Liv to the station, it was pretty miserable as it was raining. Once they had left, I went to Tesco and did some shopping, coming back and getting myself upset about how empty the house was!

Chris humoured me for a while so I wasn’t lonely but in the end I settled down to do absolutely nothing and just mong on my computer. The girls were back earlier than expected, so I had to figure out dinner for them. Chris went for a bath and the girls and I just spent the evening together. Finally the girls went to bed and Chris and I watched TV (well he did and I continued to do nothing on my computer). It was a nice end to a nice weekend but I’m looking forward to continuing on these nice days, for the next six weeks!

Week 26 – Monday Round-up

June 29, 2015 by Bel

Another busy week but I’m actually getting around to doing this post early (it’s Sunday night!). Monday to Friday the kids were at school but Chris was off from Monday to Wednesday. After taking the kids to school on Monday, I settled down to finish of the Murder Mystery I’d been working tirelessly. It took me all day but I finally managed it by about midnight! Obviously I picked up the kids, had dinner etc. but for the most part my day was solely spent doing this.

On Tuesday Chris and I took the girls to school and then headed to the storage unit. We needed to grab a few things, including the futon, which meant taking furniture to pieces and packing it into the car. After that we headed back home but we needed to go to Tesco and visit Chris’ nan too. We decided to go to Chris’ nan first and stayed for about an hour, we then went shopping and did a good weeks shop. Finally we got back home and Chris offered to put the futon back together while I took a bath. For a change it was a really long bath, because I got quite into the book I was reading. When the girls got home from school, via their few hours with their dad, I managed to catch him about Megan getting her ears pierced. He agreed and she was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took the girls to school and Chris was out on his driving test (sadly he failed). When I got home, he arrived shortly after me and while we wallowed for a little while, he soon headed up on his computer and I got sewing for the day. I picked out a pattern to do, traced it and cut it out. I then stopped for lunch with Chris before heading out to Boyes and buying some material. I got back and cut out my pattern pieces but then it was time to pick the girls up from school. Megan was having her friend Elizabeth back for dinner and so that pretty much took up the rest of my evening.

Thursday Chris was back at work but my mum was coming around for the day so I still didn’t get an awful lot done. She read through my murder mystery completely though (noting the odd mistake) and she liked it, so that made me feel positively about the party on Friday. She stopped for lunch and didn’t leave till I went to get the girls from school. After school we went into town and made an appointment for Megan’s ear piercing. We also picked up the Snow White Tsum Tsums which had just been released from Clintons. In the evening I had my nephew (or sort of at least) overnight as my brother and his girlfriend were working the next day when he was off school and they had no one for the early part of Friday. The kids didn’t get that long together but they were no trouble. Once they were in bed I baked some cakes, trying to bake them flat for the first time ever. It was definitely an interesting experience.

On Friday morning I had three kids to get up and ready but again they were no trouble. I took all three to school with me, met up with mum and sat with her and Charlie to watch Megan’s assembly. After the assembly finished, Charlie and I headed off so I could take him home, via McDonalds for breakfast of course. By the time I got home, I had ten minutes to grab my breath before heading out to meet Amy and Liv. I walked down to the train station to meet them and then we all headed back to my house. Since the girls were going to my mum’s that night, we didn’t need to go out and get them from school. In the end we all just chilled out together, headed in to town for a little while, played with some Tsum Tsums and watched Walle. After Olivia went to bed, Amy and I got ready for the murder mystery and finished the cake.

The evening went really well and it was nice to hang with friends. The murder mystery worked fine too so that was a relief, though not having rounds of food to break it up with, meant that it all went pretty fast (we were naughty and ordered Dominos!). Even once we finished though, we all sat around chatting and since we were a small group, that was nice too. In the end we headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning, I managed a lie-in till 10.30am but I still felt tired! The kids arrived home around midday and since they all pretty much occupied themselves in the afternoon, Amy and I spent time together in the dining room – researching everything from Paris accommodation to cosplay ideas. We were still in the dining room when Chris came home from work at 10pm, though obviously we’d got the kids dinner and fed ourselves too. We headed to bed a little earlier than usual as we were pretty tired. However I managed to lie-in till 9am again the following morning!

This time the girls got up and occupied themselves quietly until we were all up. Then we all just sat together, had cups of tea and chatted. I took Amy and Liv to catch their train at 1pm, then came home and helped Megan with her homework. Chris and I spent the afternoon strimming and trimming the front garden and it took ages! Finally I came inside, hoovered around and then ended up sorting all my jewellery supplies out. After getting everyone (and myself) dinner, it wasn’t long before the girls headed to bed. I spent the evening cutting Chris’ hair and then when he went for a bath I watched Holby City while writing this blog post! We’re now settling down to watch Humans and I’m scheduling this post and turning off my computer. I imagine we’ll head to bed after one episode as I have to be up early in the morning!

Hope you all had a good week. See you again this time next week!