The flooding is crazy and now more rain is predicted - what's going to happen? Thankfully we are ok as we are higher than everything else.  Our planned BBQ party tomorrow for Martha's birthday looks like it's going to be moved.  My friend suggested holding it at the local village hall, it's only £15 or so, so it's not silly when you think of how much time it would take rearranging it and freezing all the food (if it freezes at all!).  We can still have the bouncy castle too which is great news.  I've been busy this afternoon icing 48 fairy cakes with chocolate, icing and decorating them with either white chocolate pieces (Easter egg broken up!), chocolate buttons or Smarties.  I'm going to prepare the fruit kebabs and other bits tomorrow when we make the definate decision about where to hold the party.

 

The car was playing up today as well which sent all my plans awry.  Jason thought the starter motor was on it's way out from a quick look at it.  Peter had a tinker with WD40 and some tools when he got home and hurrah, he's fixed it.  We suspect that it had something to do with the amount of water we've had to drive through this week.  Thank goodness, it has stopped us having to fork out a couple hundred pounds this month anyway!  Sadly my plan to get all the perishables for the party failed as I didn't want to get stranded with the girls.  Decided to do a Tesco online shop which is getting delivered tomorrow 0900-1100, hopefully it'll be nearer 0900 so I can get cracking with stuff.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and Martha will love all the attention!!!

 

Poor Martha and Lauren have both developed colds overnight and I hope that it's a quick moving one and they feel better in the morning.

 

I can't believe how quickly this year has gone.  Martha has been a wonderful addition to the family and makes us smile and laugh each day.  Over the past 12 months, we have learnt her personality, humour, likes and dislikes.  She has progressed through her first year of life wonderfully, always with a cheeky grin.  She started to roll over at around 4.5 months and very shortly afterwards started her first crawling movements, this week she took her first two solo steps and we are very proud.  Her teeth didn't appear to want to emerge until she was 11 months old, then they arrived fast!  She is now sporting bottom front right, bottom left (not middle!), top front left and top front right.  They are all different lengths and look very funny, especially the gap in her bottom gum.  She loves to dance, sing and practice speaking.  Her favourite words are, hiya, dad, mmm and yum (she loves her food!).  Her favourite songs are Nellie the Elephant, Row Row Your Boat, Ring a Roses and The Grand Old Duke of York, she dances to anything so fits in very well to our family!

 

She received many kind presents today including, pop-up tent combo and plastic balls, trendy short sleeved coat (she's already worn it and looks beautiful, toy train, sand pit, trampoline and play sand, plus lots of money. 

 

She is having a party on Saturday which I know she'll love if her trip to Lauren's playgroup is anything to go by.  All the children sang "Happy Birthday" to her whilst stroking her arms, legs and hair.  She loved every minute of the attention (as did Lauren who was a very proud big sister).

 

We've managed to secure our local village hall as a standby in case the weather rains off our outdoor BBQ and Bouncy Castle, we'll just move it all inside!!!  Thank you to Demelza for the suggestion!!

STOP PRESS!!!!  I've just discovered that Organised Mum have their new stock in.  Organisers, diaries and planners start from September and they also sell very reasonably priced reward stickers which I've bought for Lauren. 

 

The girls slept well last night which was great as Peter & I managed to get some sleep!  Lauren awoke a couple of times although I think she's got a cold coming on.

 

Today, we plan to empty the last bits from the car, clean it out, do some essential shopping and then relax.  It's a dull day and the temperature has dropped a lot so not sure what will become of my "walking/picnic" plans!

We're back!!

 

We've had a wonderful weeks' holiday.  The weather has been glorious and Peter & I are sporting t-shirt tans and healthy faces!  I'll run through what we did each day (as best as I can recall!):-

 

Saturday - Before going to the holiday cottage we took a detour to Grange over Sands for a bite to eat.  We found a wonderful little cafe and ate outside in the courtyard.  We arrived at holiday cottage around 1530hrs and checked the place out before heading to Ulverston for some groceries from Booths. Upon our return we were greeted by Laura and Kev who stopped in on their way back home.  We all enjoyed a nice tea of fish and chips.

 

Sunday - I woke with the girls and let Peter have a relative lie in for Fathers Day.  When he awoke, he was served a full English breakfast and Lauren presented him with a card she'd made at playgroup and one that she helped to write from both Martha and herself.  After waving Laura and Kev off, we headed South West past Ulverston to Millom where we saw the sea for the first time of the holiday.  We came home and cooked pizzas.

 

Monday - We drove up to Bowness in Windermere and fed some lovely swans, cygnets, ducks and doves.  Lauren was a bit scared and I got a fright myself when Martha decided to grab a swan!  She shows no fear of anything - scary!  We bought the girls some cagoules which were great for the few showers we encountered.  I was happy to take a trip around Lakeland Limited's flagship store and bought lots of useful gadgets (garlic peeler, freeze blocks for coldbox, non-drip icelolly moulds, new apple cutter etc).

 

Tuesday - This was the highlight of our holiday, we went on the Ravenglass - Eskdale Railway.  Lauren loved the little train and felt very special when people noticed her Thomas the Tank Engine rucksack!  Martha loved the 40 minute trip up to Eskdale but was so tired she fell asleep all the way back (I've embedded a video at bottom, however there's no sound).  We tried to visit Sellafield Visitor Centre but unfortunately arrived too late.  We decided to take the coastal route back and stopped several times to play on the beaches.

 

Wednesday - We went back to Windermere where the girls were treated to a trip to a Fun Factory.  It was completely empty, so we had the entire place to ourselves which they (and ourselves!) loved.  Afterwards, we took a walk down the marina and drooled over the wonderful boats.  We left Windermere and headed to Walney Island where we discovered the most wonderful sandy beaches.  We stayed there for the rest of the day and built lots of sandcastles, Martha was introduced to sand and sea which she loved (both to touch and eat - yuk!) and Lauren had to be literally dragged away at the end!!

 

Thursday - We visited Lakeland Motor Museum at Holker Hall.  It was wonderful to see all the old cars, motorcycles and a full scale model of the Bluebird!  We had lunch at a steam railway place but decided to leave the train trip for another day.

 

Friday - We decided to take the girls swimming at Ulverston Swimming Pool where they had a Parent and Toddler session complete with instructor in the pool, bouyancy aids and toys.  It was Martha's first time swimming and she was a bit apprehensive but I hope that I can encourage Peter to come with us on a regular basis to get her used to it.  Lauren was scared at first, I think because Peter took her in.  When I arrived with Martha, I took Lauren and started taking her through the exercises we did when I took her swimming before and before long she was on her tummy, holding a float in front and loving every minute - it was so wonderful to see the transformation from fear to fun in such a short space of time.  We also visited Lakeland Miniature Village, which is a fabulous place.  The gentleman's skill and dedication is amazing.  You felt you could open the door to the buildings and see people at work or home.

 

Saturday - Today, we packed up our belongings and left the cottage for home - to be honest we were both looking forward to getting back.  It's been great, but hard work with Lauren not settling until after 2100hrs and Martha waking early (0600).  Had a low point on the way home when Peter realised he'd lost £20, so that wasn't good but I tried to make it positive by saying that he'd brightened someone elses day!  Not sure if it worked though!!!  When we arrived home, the girls slept for a long time and Peter & I relaxed.  I was overjoyed to discover some of my fuschia buds have exploded into a beautiful display and I have another mushroom!  We also discovered our friend Paul and his partner have had a baby boy CONGRATULATIONS !!!!

 

Peter is out tonight for goodbye drinks in Harrogate with our friend Greg who is moving to Australia - Good Luck Greg, we'll miss you X

 

I have decided that our holiday isn't over until Peter gets on the aeroplane on Monday afternoon to the Isle of Man so hope we can have a picnic, walk and perhaps swimming session before then.

 

Our first family holiday has been great, it's been hard work, frustrating at times but seeing Lauren, Martha and Peter enjoying themselves makes it all worthwhile.  We've learnt some things for next time (I hope there will be a next time!), discovered some wonderful places and most importantly I think we've all benefitted from spending time together as a family.

Laura & Kev have arrived. It's wonderful to see them both and the girls are thrilled to spend time with their Auntie and Uncle.  Tomorrow we plan to visit Crazy Tykes with them before they continue their onward journey.

 

Tonight, Laura and I are drinking champagne that she won in a pub quiz (I helped over the telephone!) on the verandah while the men are drinking Budweiser.  Surprisingly, the champagne is very very nice.

 

I took a  video of the girls yesterday, sorry no sound on digital camera but very amusing to watch...

 

Decided to go to car boot sale at showground in Pateley Bridge this morning - why we don't know, every time we've been recently, there has been nothing of interest.  Today was different, the sale was in aid of Dacre Braithwaite CoE Primary School (where Lauren & Martha will be attending in a few years), today we made a purchase, two actually.....bacon butties!!!!  Don't think we'll be going for a while after today's poor performance.

 

We returned home with two sleepy girls who promptly went to their rooms and napped for 2 hours whilst Peter & I ate Scotch Eggs and Peter watched TV.  I decided to take advantage of the sun, the girls being asleep and our new verandah and finished my latest book (Critical Mass, Steve Martini).  Whilst relaxing, little did I know how much sun I was soaking up in my arms and face.  I am now sporting a lovely healthy glow and no longer appear to be a blueish/grey!!  Roll on the rest of summer!!!

 

It was too hot to do a traditional Sunday roast so I decided to make lasagne instead.  It was yummy, if I do say so myself and I enjoyed making it so much that I was inspired to make us a cheesecake whilst the oven was on.  I have yet to sample it, but it looks good!!  I'm going to put some fresh strawberries (are there any other kind?!?) on it and attempt to make some kind of glaze with jam - watch this space!

 

Received a lovely telephone call from Laura this afternoon asking if we had plans for tomorrow, we don't, so Laura and Kev are going to visit - my forthcoming week has just perked up!!

I don't appear to have had a very interesting week this week.  I can't even recall what I've done!  One piece of great news is that Martha is sprouting teeth at an amazing rate.  I suspected that she would (or rather hoped!) by the amount of pain she was in for such a long time.  Over the course of this week, we now have upper right, lower right (already got lower left a couple weeks ago), upper left is about to emerge as are both sides top and bottom.

 

Peter is working away tonight, returning tomorrow evening.  He's been working away so much recently and we miss his dreadfully.  He sees such a change in Martha and hears Lauren's language development after being away for a few days.

 

I realised on Thursday why I love online grocery shopping.  We decided to go to ASDA and do a weekly shop to get us by until we go on holiday.  The girls were pulling each others hair in the trolley, grabbing things off the shelves, Lauren was taking things out of the trolley and Peter & I had to take turns carrying Martha/holding Lauren's hand to avert major sibling fighting - www.asda.co.uk; www.tesco.com.

 

We were excited to recieve a package on Thursday containing a signed DVD Single of McFly's latest release, Babys Coming Back/Transylvania.  We are loosely connected to Tom Fletcher from the band which is quite cool.  Well that's my name dropping done for now!

 

I've created a June photo album and uploaded some new photos.  Click here to see.

I am sooooooo happy!!!  Our verandah is completed!  It looks wonderful and I can't wait to spend my evenings sat in a comfortable chair, armed with a good book, cup of fresh coffee and surrounded by wonderful sights, sounds and scents.  My Night Scented Stock is coming along brilliantly and if it continues with make my summer evenings even more blissful!

 

I rearranged the lounge on Sunday to take advantage of our french doors (now that we can exit them without falling into a hole!).  The lounge actually looks bigger and I'm surprised as I didn't think it would look any bigger than it did.

 

Peter spent Saturday evening/Sunday morning weatherproofing the wood which looks impressive and is inkeeping with the exterior of the house.  Sadly the downside of the treatment is the stinky fumes that we've had for the last few days. 

 

On Sunday mid morning, we packed the girls up to take them to the Yorkshire Young Farmers County Show, which is held in the showground in Pateley.  It's a bit like Nidderdale Show just on a smaller scale which actually made it more enjoyable for us all, plus the weather was wonderful in comparison to the show in September where it usually has a downpour!!!

 

Lauren saw her favourite owls, pigs, sheep and plenty of horses.  She was excited when she saw a massive fairy castle (bouncy castle) and begged us to take her but when the moment arrived, she decided she didn't want to go on.  We took her to get a huge Thomas the Tank Engine Helium ballon which she and Martha adore.

 

After a final tantrum, with Lauren screaming "I'm tired" we headed home for the girls to nap, Peter to paint and myself to rearrange furniture.

 

Andrew and Margaret came on their motorbike around teatime and we thanked Andrew again for his hard work on building the verandah.  We all plan to spend a lot of time together over summer having lots of barbeques on our new space!!!

Lauren, Martha and I enjoyed a wonderful day in Harrogate with Natasha.  We drove to Harrogate Railway station and waited for her in the car park as Martha fell asleep but thankfully woke seconds before she arrived.  It was like we only saw each other a few months ago not over 2 years ago!  Lauren warmed up after 30 seconds of shyness and Martha beamed at her non stop.  We took the girls to an indoor play centre for an hour or so then decided to have some lunch at Pinocchio's, a local family italian restaurant.

 

Martha amused everyone when she picked up her entire pizza (it wasn't cut through properly) and started to eat it - it was the size of a dinner plate!!  After a lovely lunch and interesting conversation, we decided to take advantage of the beautifully warm and sunny day and make our way to Valley Gardens.  There I discovered a large outdoor paddling pool that was manned by a council employee which ensured that it was clean and safe.  It must be a very popular place (it's free too!) as the entire park was heaving!

 

Sadly, we had to leave the park to get back to the parking meter but as Martha was fast asleep and Lauren was heading down the same path, we decided it was a good idea anyway.  Once we arrived at the park, we didn't want our lovely day to end, Lauren had perked up as she spotted interesting things (a car being driven onto a low transporter!) on our way back.  We paid for another hour in the car park and went for some cool drinks in the bar which conveniently was next door to the car park and Natasha's Travelodge!  Lauren & Martha became Natasha's biggest fans when she kindly gave them a present each.  Lauren recieved a chronological storyboard game which she has played with every day and Martha a colourful and noisy maracca (?) which she shakes madly whilst squealing (it may be singing!) with delight!

 

It was a brilliant day and I've made a pledge to drive to Sheffield with the girls over the summer holidays and not leave it so long until we see each other again.