Lilly's party

Last weekend, Tom went to his first party since we moved up here.  It was Lilly's birthday - Lilly is his girlfriend from nursery, they are apparently inseparable during their days there, although I think it is a little one-sided from Lilly.  Lilly is actually bigger than Tom, so I was quite surprised to find that she is only now turning 4.

Tom was down on sleep this week, so after a morning re-doing the alphabet trail in Ingleton, he went to bed for a rest - to our amazement he did actually sleep, in fact we had to wake him up and were late for the start of the party - thinking his rest was more important than being on time.    

See Saw

When we got there, the party was in full swing.  It was held at Barbon Village Hall which has an outdoor play area so all the children were scattered in the park, on the bouncy castle or doing crafts outside.  It was a wonderfully understated party: none of this yummy mummy competitiveness that seems to be the norm these days.  Music was adult music (Muse etc), adults were greeted with Pimms on arrival, there weren't any party games and no party bags, now that is my type of party.  I did make Lilly a cake, but it was for at home with her family - there were homemade cupcakes for the party - fantastic.

It was a beautiful day, I hardly heard any tears or raised voices.  Food was a hot dog each and crisps (as I said it was understated)  just goes to show that you don't need to overdo it to have a good time.  

It was a Tinkerbell themed party. (Tinkerbell is the fairy from Peter Pan for those not in the know).  Allison (Lilly's mum) had handmade both Lilly's and Nancy's fancy dress (Nancy is Lilly's younger sister) - I think they were the best looking dresses I've seen in ages.

Big Hug

When we arrived I wondered if Lilly and Tom would play with each other as parties are very different environments to nursery and all of Lilly's friends were at her party.  So I was happily surprised to see Lilly running towards Tom when she saw him arrive.  They then spent pretty much the whole party playing together.  It was very lovely to watch.  Just as well really, because Matt and I did't know anyone, but of course pretty much everyone else there knew each other, so we were pretty much alone. It didn't matter.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONkmYWeok1s - video of Tom and Lilly playing in the park.

Bank Holiday Monday - the sun disappeared, but it didn't rain until quite late.  We had heard that a steam train would be crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct so we decided to do a walk up there, keeping close to the railway line so we could see it.  It was a lovely walk, and the steam train arrived right on time.

Ribblehead Viaduct

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQgVjB3oLU4 - video of the steam train

We then headed out to Hawes for a cheesy lunch at the diary there, and then home.  Tom fell asleep in the car so Matt stayed with him whilst I went in to cover Simon and Clare's wedding cake.

Telford Weekend

Sorry for being so behind again, I had a heavy weekend after which I got ill so I haven't really had the energy to to do much in the evening - Tom has been wearing me out!

On Friday we dropped Matt off at Ribblehead Station on Friday lunchtime for his week in London (ITI Conference at the weekend and interpreting at Chelsea Flower Show for Mr Kuroda on the Wednesday).  We then headed down to Telford for the weekend.  Sammie wanted to plan a surprise weekend for my 40th, but it didn't work out so I thought I would visit them instead whilst Matt was away.

We had a surprisingly easy journey down to Telford, considering it was Friday afternoon - took under 3

Tom and Mae

Hugging

hours.  Tom was under strict orders to fall asleep - I told him he could sleep in the car or not be allowed to stay up late, he decided staying up was the better option and nodded off for an hour.  First stop was to see Rachel, Mae and Lucy (as Sammie works on a Friday) so we went to their house for a play and dinner and then Tom, Mae and Lucy had a bath together and got into their pyjamas whilst I waited for Sammie to give me the nod that she was home.

Tom and Mae still recognised each other and played really nicely together.  It was lovely to see them - they both have gentle natures and recognise this in each other.  Mae tried to get Tom to dress up as a witch, for the first time Tom said no, because boys don't wear dresses: male stereotyping has begun (although it isn't too bad, his favourite colour is still pink!)  They both ate up well for dinner as well - Tom even ate olives that Rachel gave him - which I know he's not all that keen on - well done him (although I think he adores Rachel so much he'll do pretty much anything for her)

Bedtime Bouncing

When Phil came home, Mae introduced Tom to her wrestling Daddy game, before too long both of them were giving him a hard time - both were giggling and giggling  - poor Phil - he had to work very hard.

Sammie didn't get home until 7.30 - so we said our goodbyes quickly (Tom as is usual these days didn't say goodbye very nicely as he was enjoying himself so much) and headed over to Ketley to see her.

On arrival to Sammie, the kids went mad - Sophie and Jen were very excited to see us and Tom latched on to the excitement and went mad too.  In a bid to calm them down, Sammie put Kiki on and ordered them to sit still on the sofa and watch it.  They did.  In fact, Sophie fell asleep on me - but it was 10pm - yes 10pm before they went to bed, Tom was still protesting that he wasn't tired, but submitted in the end.

Saturday morning we spent with Sammie, Jen and Sophie not doing much - just hanging around, playing.  One of Sophie's toys is a microphone - all the children had a go at performing their favourite songs on it.  I wasn't sure that Tom would go for it - but not only did he enjoy it - he tried to monopolise it.  I couldn't quite believe it - so filmed it for you - have a look at the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLNqJzxwtac

Jen had a dance performance in the afternoon, so we said our goodbyes to them at lunchtime, headed over to Asda for a quick lunch and then a long drive to Wonderland.  I say long drive to Wonderland because Tom was very short on sleep and not particularly well behaved in the morning, I needed him to have a good sleep before meeting up with Mae and co for the afternoon so he would be on good form.  It worked, he fell asleep and managed a good 1.5 hours before Mae turned up.

Tom and Mae on the train

Jake, Tom and Mae

In all our time in Telford, we never went to Wonderland, Rachel has a season ticket to the place and some money off vouchers, both Mae and Lucy enjoy it, so it seemed the most stress free option for the afternoon, also Mae wanted to show Tom around.  It was really good and lots of fun.  The place is full of mini rides, all of which are included in the price of the ticket, so you can go on as many times as you please.  That's exactly what the kids did - in fact some rides, Tom didn't get off, he just stayed on and went again and again.  He really enjoyed himself.

I was hoping to meet up with Helen and Jake whilst in Telford and was lucky in that they found a window on Saturday afternoon and came down to Wonderland to meet with us.  Was lovely to see them all - including not so little Thomas who is certainly a very bouncy baby.

Sometimes when you get 3 children together, two go off and one gets left out.  This didn't happen which was so good, one minute Tom and Jake were playing together, then Tom and Mae which lead to a very harmonious afternoon.  We all had fun, the kids had fun, it was a great afternoon and the time went very very quickly.

On the caterpillar ride

On the carousel

Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.  Was sad to say goodbye to Mae and Lucy, but Rachel has promised to come and visit over Summer.  I'm so happy that Tom and Mae still get on so well, they just click back into being friends again when they see each other - lets hope this continues.

Huddled up on the sofa

We got back to Sammie's in time for the kids to make homemade pizzas - they then huddled on the sofa together to watch the rest of Kiki and were early to bed.



This was good as at 7.30 Rachel and Sarah came round for a girlie night in,  it was also Eurovision night, so we ordered in a Chinese takeaway, poured ourselves some wine and sat back chatting about everything and nothing, critiquing Eurovision and generally having a good giggle.  Was a lovely evening - I miss my girlie chats at the moment, it always takes quite a while to get to that stage in a friendship.

Anyhow, I rolled into bed happy.

Tom and Becca

On Sunday we said our goodbyes to Sammie and the girls and then went to visit Rose, Paul, Hannah & Becca for a couple of hours.  They were all well - Tom went off with the girls, whilst I sat and chatted with Rose and Paul in the garden - yes in the garden as the sun was out - hurray.

We headed back up North at lunchtime, the plan was to detour via Morecambe as it was so nice.  The motorway had other plans.  It was blocked from junction 17 to 22 - so we came off and went cross country.  Not much fun, but at least we kept moving.  However, it added 2 extra hours to the journey, so we didn't make the beach and just came straight home.  Such a shame, I was exhausted (2 nights of bad sleep) so we went to the Co-op bought a ready meal and went early to bed.

Birthday Trip to Edinburgh

We headed to Lancaster late Friday morning.  Tom fell asleep in the car on the way over - it was 11am - he hasn't fallen asleep that early for a long, long, long time!  However, we think he may have been a little ill this week: on Wednesday he came out in a rash on his forearms and neck, we took him for a check up with the Dr to get the ok to send him to nursery and she said it was caused by a virus and his ears were inflamed.  So he had Wednesday at home with me on Drs orders and went back to school / nursery on Thursday.  He seemed ok to us though - maybe something just lingering in the background.

Lots of animals

Major Tom?

Once he had woken up, we headed into Lancaster to get our lunch from M&S (ready for eating on the train) and then headed back to the train station for what is now our compulsory stint of train spotting.  We got to Edinburgh on time, we walked in the rain to our hotel which was quite close by.  We were booked in at The Howard hotel, a very nice hotel full of suites and butlers (no female staff - very strange)  We had a HUGE bed and Tom a sofa bed (he was very very pleased with this).  We refreshed and then headed out to the shops and Pepperberry for which I had received a number of vouchers.  This is a shop I found on line which makes clothes for the busty lady.  I turned up and a lovely lady took me under her wing as I explained my problem - especially the fact I need something to wear to Simon's wedding later this month.  WOW!  Why didn't I know this shop existed?  I couldn't believe it, I put on a dress and discovered that I do have a figure - and it's not all that bad!  Basically they have regular shop sizes: 10, 12, 14 etc, but then they have additional subsizes: curvy, really curvy and super curvy.  For the first time in ages, I had a problem - there were a number of clothes that fitted me and I liked, I had trouble deciding what to get!  I also got remeasured for a bra and discovered the bra I was using was very much the wrong size.  Anyway, I left a happy girl, and now have a dress for Simon's wedding,  1 summery top which I will hopefully get to wear this year and two new bras - thank you to those who got me the vouchers - if anyone is ever struggling to think of a Christmas / birthday present for me then Pepperberry vouchers will make me very happy.  I am looking forward to visiting their Oxford Street shop next time I'm in London to see what else they do.

Reflective Tom

Once I had finished in the shop (in fact the shop closed whilst I was still in it) we looked around for something to eat and ended up in a Korean restaurant eating Japanese food (all the Korean food seemed to be hot)  We then returned to the hotel - Tom went to bed and we had a relaxing evening in the hotel lounge (we took Tom's monitor with us and it worked in the lounge which was fab).

Saturday didn't dawn particularly beautiful, so we decided to get ourselves some day rover tickets for the buses and look round the city.  First stop was the National Museum of Scotland, which was good.  There was a technology bit with lots of buttons to press - including some trains, and a natural history bit with lots of animals.  Once we all had rumbling tummies we headed out to find some lunch and ended up in a Japanese restaurant with a load of starters - edamame, gyoza, karage, agedashi tofu - basically all our favourites - yum, yum, yum.  Tom took a real liking to the edamame - hoovered up over half of them.  We then got the bus to the Royal Mile and nipped in to the Museum of Childhood - lots of display cabinets stuffed with old toys.

Tom in his sofa bed

Next stop was Ocean Terminal.  We thought it sounded interesting and it is home of The Royal Yacht Britannia, so it was bound to have something about it.  WRONG!  We got there and found a very formulaic shopping centre and cinema.  We were very, very disappointed, but at least we had a good ride on the double decker bus down there.  We had tea and a bun in the Debenham restaurant overlooking The Royal Yacht and then headed back to the hotel.  When we got back, we suggested to Tom that maybe he should have a rest before we headed back out for dinner.  He, to our amazement agreed, got into bed and fell asleep???!!!!  He hasn't done that since the day after we moved to Lupton!

As we had eaten nothing but Asian food since arriving in Edinburgh, we decided we should head out and find something a little more local, so did a quick search on the Good Pub Guide and found a good pub only 5 minutes away.  We headed over and found a great pub - but still nothing typically Scottish.  I ended up with falafel and Matt - bangers and mash.  Oh well - it was good food and a nice atmosphere.  We then headed back to the hotel for Tom to go to bed and for us to put our feet up in the lounge again - being brought tea, coffee, posh water and shortbread biscuits by the very attentive butlers.

Sunday we got up and headed to a local cafe we had read about on the web - set up for small children and their parents.  Got there to find it was closed on Sundays (poo! They need to update their website) so instead ended up in Caffe Nero.  We then looked round the local foody market before heading to The Botanical Gardens.  Typical - as soon as we got there it started to rain, we sheltered for a little while and then decided to brave it.  We were lucky, the weather cheered up and we had a good game of hide and seek in the gardens.  I took the chance to play with my new camera - in its close up mode (important for my cakes) and fish mode (yes - it has a fish mode and the gardens had a mini aquarium)

Purple Flower

Red Flower

We spent a pleasant time there and then strolled back to the hotel, picked up our bags and looked for lunch.  Guess where we ended up - yep - another Japanese restaurant - I guess we must miss the stuff.  I then popped back into Pepperberry to get another top - it was now or never and it was too good an opportunity to miss, especially with our forthcoming trip to Oz.

Then we were back at Waverley Station and on the train back home.  There was another little boy in the carriage with us.  It took a while, but eventually Tom got up the courage to play with him and they had a ball - making each other giggle.  The journey seemed to take no time at all.  Then back home, a quick dinner and bed - all of us tired and happy.

Thanks Matt, it was a lovely weekend.

Dry nights

So on Friday Tom woke up in a dry bed for the 3rd night in a row, what a clever boy.  His reward was a toy from the toy shop in Ingleton.  I took him in the morning.  WOW!!!!!  What a shop, I have never seen anything like it.  It's a bizarre place, we had to look around in a farmyard for the owner who then had to find the key to open it, turn the lights on etc.  OMG - I have never seen so many agricultural toys in one place ever - this beats every toyshop I've ever been to.  It was a little overwhelming for me and Tom.  However, Tom knew where to go as he had been previously with Matt.  He was originally wanting a hay baler for his jeep, then a feed wagon, but in the end he plumped for a John Deere tractor, and very happy he is with it too.

Grandparents, Uncles & Aunts - if you are needing ideas of toys to get Tom, then next time you are up here, take a look at this shop - it is a real Aladdin's cave, and the prices are very reasonable.

40

Angus

It happened, I couldn't stop it!  I turned 40!  Can't say I've been looking forward to it - in fact I've been quite depressed about it - don't feel ready to be this old (in my heart I'm still twenty something).  It hasn't helped that I discovered how much I weighed last month, and the fact that I'm always looking scruffy - I don't seem to fit in any high street clothes anymore - my chest grew significantly after having Tom and didn't shrink back (as I was told it would!)  This means that I have to buy clothes 2 or 3 sizes too big to get into them - and sometimes even that doesn't work.  I'm not one for fashion, but it is nice to look good from time to time.  So all of this had been making me down in the dumps.

However, I weighed myself on Wednesday and found that I had lost 8lbs in the last month (diet is obviously working) which cheered me up.  Then on Thursday I was very spoilt, with some beautiful presents and a lazy lunch with my hubby in our favourite Italian.

Do you like the new addition to the family?  This is Angus the Highland Moo - yet another brown wooly creature to fill the house, but he's gorgeous - we already ALL love him.  I got lots of nice messages from friends on Facebook too, so all in all it wasn't a bad day - and anyway plenty of my friends are turning 40 as well in this and the next couple of years AND Matt's been 40 for ages and he's still young at heart, so I guess it can't be that bad!

Thank you everyone for your pressies and messages, they really perked me up x

The Langdales

The first of many Herdy photos

Today, the weather man promised us good weather, so we decided to head across to the Lake District for a day out at the Langdales.  We left a very gloomy Ingleton first thing and headed West.  First stop was Windermere for a quick trip to Lakeland (had to exchange a baking tray I bought a while ago - it was too wide for my oven).  Then we went to Ambleside where I visited Gaynor Sports (the biggest outdoor shop in the UK) to buy some sturdy trainers (my current pair have recently fallen apart, meaning that if it rains I get wet feet).  I managed to get a pair of half price Mammuts so was happy.  We then stopped off at a bakery to get some sandwiches for a picnic.

We then headed off to the Langdales and parked at Stickle Ghyll car park ready for our 5 mile walk to Blea Tarn and back.  The clouds were still down over the mountains, but we set off optimistic that we would get some sun at some stage.  We took the high track along the valley.  It was very rocky and muddy, but Tom took it in his stride and did really well.

This part of the Lake District is full of Herdwick Sheep, known as Herdys (almost a symbol of the Lake District).  We have quite a liking towards them, Matt had his camera out and took many photos - especially as it is lambing season - there were lots of little ones around.  Tom also likes Herdys - he shouts HERDY at the top of his voice every time he sees one, he didn't tire of this today, even though he saw hundreds of them.

Herdy Lamb

Picnic in the clouds

After an hour, all of us had growling tummies (it was 1pm) so we stopped for lunch.  We were still surrounded by thick clouds, but we did get a couple of glimpses of blue sky so were ever hopeful that the sun would come out.

Stunning scenery in the sunshine

We then headed across the valley and along a zigzag track up a steep hill.  It was quite a gradient, but Tom really didn't seem to notice it at all - he chatted the whole way up it without stopping!!!!  We both reckon he is the fittest member of the family (I was certainly huffing and puffing!)  We walked across the top and down into the next valley to Blea Tarn where we spent a good hour sat on a stony shore, throwing rocks into the water (when I say 'we' - I mean Matt and Tom - I just sat and watched!)

During this time, the thick clouds disappeared and at last we saw the sun - and glorious it was too.  The Lake District really is very beautiful.  We happily strolled back to the car, stopping to drink in the views - there were a lot of walkers out enjoying the scenery and sunshine.  We took the low track back to the car park and then sat in the sun outside the pub next door (a National Trust pub) having a drink and enjoying more spectacular views before driving back home.







Tom was asleep in the back of the car within 5 minutes, slept almost all the way home and woke up happy which is unusual for him.  We got home after 6pm (very late for us) so I quickly rustled up a dinner of burgers (we were going to have a BBQ sometime over the weekend, but today was the only BBQ day and we stayed out playing far too long for it).

Then bath and bed.  A lovely day.

PS - Tom didn't manage a dry night last night - he woke up wet at 6.30am.  Such a shame, but we will see how he goes tonight.  He seems determined to do it (he wants a hay baler)

And yet more wonderful scenery

Water Baby

First of all, Tom woke up in a dry bed this morning - what a clever boy.  Matt woke him up when we went to bed and got him to do a wee, and then he went through to 8am with no accident - using his potty in his room.  We were so proud of him.  Once he gets this sorted, we then have to work out how to get him to use the bathroom rather than his potty, but we are so happy.

We woke to a horrible, dull, grey, rainy day.  I believe the rest of the country is bathed in sunshine, we haven't seen it yet.  It was a perfect day for swimming especially as Tom doesn't have his lesson tomorrow.  We thought we would try out Settle Pool as that is where Tom has his lessons, meaning he could show us what he has learnt.  It was a great idea, the water in the pool was really warm, the hottest in the area by some way.  Tom happily showed us what he's been up to.  He has grown significantly in confidence.  He wasn't just jumping in the pool - he was leaping in.  He willingly put his head under the water, many times.  He swam happily with his armbands and then was open to the suggestion to take them off and try a woggle instead.  He got the hang of the woggle after a couple of attempts and then swam widths with it.  We were amazed and delighted.  At one point, he tried to swim by himself with no aids, I let him, but his mouth went under the water and he got upset (although he did manage to propel himself).  He soon calmed down and was back jumping, leaping, dipping his head, swimming with aids etc.  A fantastic session, and the pool was really busy, but that didn't seem to faze him at all.

We stopped for lunch at The Watershed Mill, Hornby starter railway sets were on special offer and this time Matt couldn't resist, so it has started!  Tom doesn't know anything about it yet though, we are going to hold it back for either a treat or Christmas (depends how long Matt can go without getting it out)!

Scarecrows

Cupcakes ready for consultation

We had a busy day today.  I had a wedding consultation this morning.  This was for cupcakes for a gluten free & lactose free bride.  She had requested autumn themed toffee apple cupcakes so I had spent quite a bit of time on r&d as this isn't my specialism.  I learnt what to do to get good gluten free cupcakes and also spent a while working out how to spin sugar, to caramelise apples and make buttercream made with Pure (dairy free marg) taste vaguely nice.  It was a success as they went away having ordered all gluten free & lactose free cupcakes and buttercream.  Just need to write down what I did now so I don't forget - their wedding isn't until November!

Signal Man Tom

As I was rushing around finishing off the cupcakes, Matt took Tom to Settle Station where, every Saturday they open up the old signal box for viewing.  I guess by the photo you can see that Tom enjoyed himself.  He had to undertake a test and came home with a certificate stating that he performed satisfactorily as a signal man - not bad work for a Saturday morning.

They then went to visit the big toy shop in Ingleton.  I had been told by another mother that it is really good - full of Bruder toys.  Apparently it is amazing.  It's a strange place, run by a strange person (it always looks closed from the outside which is why we have never been in it) but it is a boy's delight.  Tom has been getting better and better with his wee at night time, he's using his potty more and more and his nappy has been getting lighter and lighter, so we are thinking that this is the time to try and get him nappy free.  We've told him that if he manages 3 nights dry without a nappy he can choose a toy from the shop - he has gone to bed tonight nappy free.  I wonder what will happen...

Trip, trip, trap - where's the troll??

Matt and Tom arrived back just after my couple left.  We decided to head out to Wray and the Scarecrow Festival which I had heard about.  We had lunch on the way at the Bridge Inn in Tatham - which was a real find, a very welcoming landlady and very good food at very good prices (we won't be having dinner tonight).  Tom as usual got the best lunch (a mixture of the two) and ate a ridiculous amount.

Scarecrows

We then headed to the festival and were really really impressed.  The WHOLE village had got behind it, nearly every garden had a scarecrow of some sorts in it.  There were ones of every variety: Mrs Thatcher, George and the Dragon, Humpty Dumpty a brilliant Call the Midwife scene including a flying stork, a gruffalo, Peter Rabbit, lots of '50 Shades of Wray' themed ones, a Hobbit & Gollum, witches, Harry Potter, the Owl and the Pussy Cat, a helicopter pilot - there were literally hundreds of them and we spent a good number of hours strolling around the village looking at them all - and what a lovely village it is too - full of cottages, not a shabby house in sight.  It was a very pleasant afternoon - we walked a fair way as we went down every street, into every close, along every footpath.  As part of the festival we had to vote for what we thought were the 3 best - it was an impossible task.

Looking at the programme we actually did this on the worse day - all through the week there have been extra events, there is a vintage fair there tomorrow and the village fair on Monday.  Next year we will go on one of these days and spend the whole day there, it was certainly very good.  I understand now what Ingleton aspires for with the Easter Egg Hunt - it has a long way to go to get this good.

Weekend with Michael

We had a mixture of weather last weekend.  Saturday it was lovely and sunny and Sunday it was really really horrible, low cloud and drizzly rain - yuck.  

Spot the viaduct!   

Michael came up on Friday night for the weekend.  Saturday saw him and Matt doing a walk along Barbondale, whilst Tom and I had a quiet day in Ingleton and playing cricket in Kirkby Lonsdale.  We then met the walkers in the pub in Barbon and returned home.  We then went for a quick drink in the Wheatsheaf before dinner. 

Barbon Church

Sunday we hung around the village - ie had coffee in Neptis, made homemade pizzas for lunch and then headed to Thornton in Lonsdale for the PTA 5km fun run that Matt had entered.  He entered it to make sure that he trained and worked hard to get into a position of fitness, but he had sort of regretted it as he re-discovered how much he hates running!  Before the run he got very very nervous, neither Michael or me dared speak to him.

However, he lined up and ran off.  The route went past the church (our waiting place) twice, he did really well, he was in 8th place the first time we saw him and then came home in 10th place.  (Michael, Tom and I counted him in as 10th, but the school counted him in as 8th???!)  Anyway he did really well and he was rightly very chuffed with himself.

We then took Michael back to Oxenholme for his train home.  Although we had Michael with us the whole weekend, we didn't seem to take any photos of him - shame really, especially as Michael and Tom get on so well.  Must try harder next time...