Let the summer holidays begin!

With school a distant memory it was time to get into Summer holiday mode.  This meant 24/7 child care and therefore limited time for blog writing.  Therefore i have decided a weekly posting on the blog is the best strategy for me and the kids, sorry if this disappoints all you Mumsters out there, but as you all well know 24/7 kids does not leave you much time for anything, let alone writing a daily blog!

So we will start at the logical beginning, otherwise known as Monday.  A busy start to the week with a party first thing for Megs.  So off we went to a local soft play at 11am and dropped Megs there where she was reunited with all her school pals who hadn’t seen each other for ages and ages, well three days anyway! With Megs in the soft play party it allowed Emma, Rosie and I to head off with one of the other mums to the park for a picnic.  So the 3 of us were joined by S, C and later H (she was at the party).

We started at the playground which was fun – all the kids thought it would be fun to split up and head for different equipment, therefore leaving me and S to run around for an hour after them!

When we were both tired we decided it was time for the picnic so we headed out to the grass area, laid out the rugs and tucked into a massive supply of party food – this is thanks to C having a birthday party the day before and leaving large quantities of food for us all to consume!  S then went to pick Megs and H up from the party leaving me with the three little ones who thought climbing a tree and getting stuck would be the best way to kill half an hour! 

With the older kids back from the party we tried to have a game of football but this didn’t go so well as everyone wanted to be on the same side! So we called it a day.  Young C had another party to go to so S took him off while I took my lot and H back to our house for a play in the garden.

We got the water slide out and the hose and that kept them pretty entertained until S came and picked them up.  What is it with water that kids love?? They are obsessed with getting wet and making sure their pals are also as wet – at what point does getting wet become an irritation and not fun???

Anyway, a busy start to the week was followed by a quiet Tuesday.  I took the three of them to have their haircut, including Rosie’s first cut – she was a little overwhelmed with the whole experience with a look on her face saying “why the hell is this woman wetting my hair and then cutting bits off – i want my mummy!”.  £30 later we left! 

The rest of the day was spent chilling at home and doing some food shopping, so not much to report from that day.

Wednesday came, and another busy day – today we were off to a local farm with two other mums and their kids – T, A, K, D, K, J and C.  So a lot of us!  We met at the farm for 10am and headed on in, first stop was the little animals for some cuddling , this involved mainly rabbits being stroked and passed between the kids.  We then had a look at some pigs and geese before finally finding the coffee shop! This worked well as the three of us were able to sit and talk while the little monsters played in a pretty large sand pit.  Sand, like water is a great fascination to kids, they simply love it! They play with it, throw it, build with it and even eat it – endless fun

As they were having so much fun we left them to it for a while before heading up to the main picnic and outdoor play area.  K had even managed to bring 3 proper chairs so it was a rather civilised picnic, well as civilised as it can be with 8 kids running around demanding!  We then let them loose on the main play area, which like Monday meant the three of us running around after the kids making sure they weren’t getting picked on by pesky other kids or getting stuck half way up a climbing frame..... after getting tired of all the running we headed for another sand pit and an ice cream break kindly provided by K.

It was then time for the traditional Larkam v H family football match.  Straight from the outset the H’s were up to their old tricks, kicking, tickling, pulling – you name it they were doing it.  But this time the Larkams were ready, we are used to their methods and decided it was time to play them at their own game.  This tactic proved very successful as we won the game quite comfortably and i only ended up with about 5 bruises on my legs!!  So with the H family collective tail between their legs we headed home after a long but most enjoyable day.

Thursday was yet another busy day –we went up to see my brother and his family, which included two cousins for the little ones – C and J.  I do believe this is their first mention on the blog – so welcome!  We met at a nice pub which had kindly laid on a bouncy castle for the little folk and a pretty good play area, so they were happy in the garden running around while the three of us could catch up.  We had lunch and further plays in the garden which all went pretty smoothly.  Sure there were a few tears and arguments along the way but all in all a peaceful and relaxing day in the sunshine.

Although the drive home was none of the above.  We got stuck on the M25 10 miles north of the Dartford crossing.  It was engines off time – we were going nowhere.  So instead of the usual 1.5 hours it took us nearly 3 hours to get home.  This is normally a inconvenience and something you could do without, but with 3 very restless kids in the back and a holiday to pack for waiting at home, it is another ballgame all together! We finally made it home without anyone being chucked out of the window and got stuck in the packing for holiday.  Thats right people, Mr Mum and family are going on holiday – two weeks of sun, sea and nappies in Spain.  

I hope that has brought you up to speed on the comings and goings in my life, next week will be all about the holiday so don’t forget to tune in same time next week.  Until then, stay well and enjoy the sunshine.