Daddy week!

We had such a brilliant week last week. Hubby had some time off work, so we managed to all get some quality family time. We had some adventures! 

It started With a quiet day as we were all tired from a busy weekend. Momo was pretty emotional, always a sign that he is tired. He is crazy about Mr Men books at the moment and whilst we were reading he got really upset when Little Miss Neat's balloon burst. He was so sad that she was sad, he cried, actually sobbed for ages. Nothing I said would help. I suggested reading a different book, tried explaining it wasn't real, offered to make another balloon and stick it in the book (that made him very cross 'we can't stick things in books!') then I had a brain wave.  The boys had a balloon modelling set for Xmas that they hadn't yet used. So I dug it out and within minutes Oscar stopped crying and wanted to have a go! We all had fun, with googly eyes and sticky faces, making dogs, a giraffe, hats and a snake (hubby's contribution!). 

                                                           

The rest of the day was spent watching some tv, reading more Mr Men and doing jigsaws.
                                 

Tuesday we went to a lovely country park, Ryton Pools. we went to meet an old friend who we haven't seen in years. Last time we got together she had a little baby, now he's a big, funny lad and my boys had a great day playing with him and his dog, Maggie. 

                                                                              

Squashy and Momo would love a dog. Unfortunately they have to make do with playing with other peoples. So they loved being out with Maggie. Taking turns to hold her lead, feeding her treats and getting her to run. She is a retired greyhound and is very fast!
                                                    

The park was lovely. Although fairly busy it was so big that nowhere was too crowded, except the playground. But we always try to avoid the playgrounds during the holidays. We fed the ducks, climbed some trees, 

                                                                

picnic'd, went exploring in the woods,

 raced with Maggie, 

                                    

paddled in a lovely little solar-powered artificial stream, 

                                      

then ended the day with yummy ice creams and a little play on the climbing frames and swings as it for quieter. A brilliant day catching up with old friends. We left promising not to leave it so long next time. 

       
                           

On Wednesday was Momo's Strider Championship.

                              

 We are lucky the BMX track is only down the road from us. We weren't sure what to expect, or how Momo would get on. We take him to weekly Strider sessions, where he is often a little 'unpredictable'. The last few weeks he has preferred to run along next to the other kids rather than ride! he isn't a big fan of loud, crowded places. But he coped really well. He was in 3 races, he fell off round a corner in 2, which during the weekly sessions has caused outrage and moody strops galore , but he was great, got right back up and carried on to the end. 

                                                         

He got to practice between the races, on the BIG track, which was very exciting and rode with his friends Mr Moomoo and Tpants.
                                               

                      

At the end they all got a medal and we got them to pose for some 'champion' photos. 

                                         

Thursday we had my favourite day of the holidays so far. We went to Cardingmill Valley in Shropshire. I once went with school but didn't remember much. It was BEAUTIFUL. The most beautiful place I have ever seen. Even the car park is amazing!  Just look! 

We set up camp in the car park, just next to the stream and the boys paddled and had great fun building dams and sailing their boats.

We had a lovely yummy picnic, we are all getting really fed up of sandwiches at the mo, so I tried to be creative with chicken drumsticks, salad, potatoes and big chunks of fresh baked crusty bread. It went down very well! 

                                                                 

The boys did some 'mountain climbing' and sliding back down, trying to avoid the sheep poo! 

                                    

The sheep were everywhere, at one point when we were all in the stream I turned round to find them on our picnic mat trying to get in the basket! 

                                         

In the afternoon we went for a trek up into the valley to find the waterfall.

It was quite a walk, pretty hard going in places especially for little 4 year old legs (and big grown up legs that don't do as much walking as they should!) The Big 'Uns walked a lot of it in the stream

                                

and the views and scenery were just stunning

                              

We eventually made it and it was well worth it.

                               

 It was lovely to see the boys playing in such a beautiful natural water source, 

                                                

Big man even had a shower! 

                                                

We spent a good while enjoying the view and the peace, 

                               

lying in the sunshine, the boys splashing around and my feet dipped in the lovely cool water. 

                                     

I got a few more hex's hooked and the boys had a great time.  This is the view down from the top of the waterfall, you can see Hubbahubby and Squashy down at the bottom!

                               

After the trek back down we had a little play in the stream, Momo made a friend in the water and they were squirting each other. He had fun chasing his little boat up and down the water!

                              

Then we decided to do the walk the other way up to the reservoir. It is safe for outdoor swimming so I wanted to have a look. It was beautiful, so pretty and quiet, wih the sun shining over it. 

                                   

By this time it was quite late afternoon and there was no one else about. I was a little nervous to let the boys go in deep without anyone about To help if they got into trouble, I'm not the strongest swimmer and we were 15 minutes from the car park, with no signal on my phone (paranoid mama I know!) so they just had a little dip with the promise of us coming again for a proper swim. 

                                      

Squashy was getting In touch with his inner-mermaid

It was by far my favourite day of the holidays. So relaxed, happy and amazing scenery. Some lovely memories made and I can't wait to go again.

                                       

The last day of the week, I wanted to go to the seaside again. We dithered about half the morning trying to decide where to go and so ended up just going to Brean in Somerset. it's not the loveliest place, quite touristy and a bit tacky for me really, but it's only about 1 1/2hrs from us and we can drive onto the beach which means not having to carry all the junk too far! 
                         
So we found a spot, it was fairly busy, but having the car parked next to you creates some privacy. 

 Hubby and the boys got busy building a huge sand castle village. 

It was awesome - decorated with pebbles and shells and bits they found on the beach! 

                                          
                            

Momo had his Strider as usual, and as its a pretty flat beach it was good for racing around! 

                                            

The sun couldn't be bothered to join us, but it was warm enough. I managed to get a spot of crochet in too.

Then in the afternoon our friends The Larkys' joined us! That was a lovely unexpected surprise! We had some fun games of rounders, football

                                      
and then we took great pleasure in getting their son, (one of Momo's first best friends' )JJ very muddy in a bit of crab hunting!
                                                                                                                                                                                  

They managed to find one and were all pretty pleased! 

Before heading home we finished up with fish and chips and a walk down the front. 
                                                                 

Another lovely day and finish to a happy week of adventures.