Wild Ones // Temple Newsam

In England you have to make the most of the sunny days and as so on Saturday as the sun shone we decided to head to Temple Newsam in Leeds. I used to go there in my student days and so it was a nice trip down memory lane and great to share it with my little family too. 

We had a picnic and the baby, whose recently been weaned, was hoovering up all the leftovers. Then we explored the gardens of the house and the Toddler enjoyed running around the maze. We even managed a really rare family shot with the self timer. I also love the pictures of the kids with their daddy. We love spending weekends together as a family. 

We got ice-cream as the Toddler is obsessed and always ends up covered in it. The grounds are massive and the Toddler did really well running everywhere and exploring it all, but ended up on daddy's shoulders as it was too much walking! I'm glad to have these photos as after this day out daddy took the Toddler to the hairdresser and cut all his golden locks off. Waaah!

You know you're married to a Belgian when...

1) You go through a tub of Nutella a week. At least!

2) They are horrified at the cardboard sold in supermarkets in the 'bread' aisle and that this so-called-bread could have a sell by date that lasts a week. (Can you believe that in Bruges they have bread vending machines as all the shops shut at six?)


 

3) A bum bag in considered an appropriate 'fashion' accessory.

4) They will only drink sparkling water.

 

5) They drive way too close to the car in front.

6) They turn their nose up at waffles (too touristy) and always order pannenkoeken met suiker.

 

7) They are obsessed with football and force your whole family to get dressed up for every game and go crazy when a goal is scored - in Flemmish of course.

The Siblings Project // June 2016

I can't believe that one of the things I was most concerned about, when pregnant, was the bond between these two. I thought that he might be jealous or that he wouldn't be very interested in her until she was mobile.

Well in fact the best thing about having a second baby has been witnessing the bond between the two of them grow. No-one can make her laugh quite like he can. If she's being grizzly we ask him to try and cheer her up and he dances, manically, in front of him singing the Go Jetters theme song, 'go, go, go, go, go, Go Jetters!' She kills herself laughing. She always looks for him in the room and is captivated by all his crazy antics. 

He also enjoys entertaining her by launching himself off the sofa. I think they will be a frightful duo when she is older! Even now she enjoys going high on the swings and going down the slides with us.

Our local park is a bit limited in that it only has a slide and swings and so we have to make up games to amuse ourselves. One of 'their' favourites is putting her at the end of the slide and then he races down and I lift her out of the way just in time. He calls it the 'crash game' and it is requested often, but I do get some looks from the other mothers in the park!

He loves to cuddle her, sometimes it verges on squashing - but I think that he has good intentions! He likes holding her hand and when I pick him up from playgroup he always has a little chat with her in her pram - as if he's missed her. 

In many ways she's a very similar baby to him - in looks and personality. She is very wriggly and always wants to be upright or standing checking everything out. She rocks back and forth on the spot or in your lap desperate to crawl. She is commando crawling now - a very similar age to her brother - and I'm sure it won't be long before she perfects the technique. They sleep in a similar way with their hands above their heads. She is very smiley too and, like her brother, her smile lights up her whole face. They were both very sociable babies too and love having lots of family and friends around.

We ask him, "is she cute?"

"No she's a girl." 

Could be a sign of things to come!

In fact now she is shuffling around she is starting to grab his toys more and chew them and he's not very keen on this, so I can see some sibling rivalry in the future but for now watching their interactions is the sweetest thing ever. In fact it makes my heart very full.

The Toddler Turns Three...

I always seem to do these updates sporadically, rather than on specific but today I am in time for his third birthday . But I am always glad when I do publish them as you think you will remember all the little things, but already his first year is becoming hazy in my mind and now confused with his sister so some things I want to remember about this age...

For me it is the best age. The terrible two tantrums have calmed down and you make me laugh all the time. You've lost the baby cheeks and dimples and now you've grown into a solid little boy, you look light but are very heavy - must be all the muscles.

Your favourite things to do:

* Go really fast on your scooter down a hill

* Make 'fwends' with older boys at the park or soft play and join in their games

* Complete puzzles for 5 year olds

* Play with other peoples toys

* Make up little stories using his Batman legos or dinosaurs

* Watch tv - especially 'wetwix' and youtube which you call 'game' as you watch it on the tablet and you used to use the tablet to play cbeebies games but now you're all about Thomas and Friends stop motions, Ryan's toy review and watching other people play computer games

* Be chased and play hide and seek - your hiding skills have vastly improved from when you used to hide behind the curtains every time. You barely cover your eyes and say, "1,2,6,9,10 ready I come!" Plus if you don't find him quick enough he shouts, "I'm here!" or just pops out from his hiding place.

* You're obsessed with ghosts and monsters and every random noise is always one or the other.

Your speech has improved a lot this year and you've progressed from saying a few words and phrases to sentences. Some of my favourite things that you have said lately, "mummy I yike your tshirt." "Rara is my favourite." You call upstairs downstairs and nothing will change your mind about that. You sing along to all your favourite cartoon theme tunes and often only actually know a few words and just sing them really loudly - its very cute. 

Your favourite foods are pasta, sausages, fish fingers, chips, pineapple, toast and porridge. When I say we're going to the supermarket you say, "supermarket?Popcorns, sweets, guagagine (magazine) ..."

Friends: 

Your best friends are Nancy and Annabel as you see them the most. You also like playing with your other nursery friends Jessica, Huxley, Miriam and the 'twins'. You love 'Sasher' (Asher) too and go swimming with him and Jon and the 'gerls' every Saturday morning.

Quiz your toddlers: Ellis at 2 3/4

What's your name? Ellis

How old are you? Two

When is your birthday? Batman

How old is your mummy? Umm…

How old is your daddy? Daddy sleep

What's your favourite colour? Blue

What's your favourite food? (Big pause) Pasta

Who's your bestfriend? Mia

What's your favourite tv programme? Wescue Bots

What's your favourite film? Monsters Inc

What's your favourite song? Popcorn Popping and Twinkle Twinkle

What's your favourite animal? Wions

What are you scared of? Doggy

What makes you happy? Puzzle

You really are such a fun, lively and charming little boy. Parenting you can be exhausting as you're so full of energy and love to run off in public places. However our lives would not be the same without you in it. You are the loveliest big brother and really make your sister laugh and are always very concerned when she's crying etc. We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Let's talk about maternity leave...

So I've been reading a lot of blog posts and articles lately about the division of labour in parenting. Who is the one doing all of the work in a family? The dad who goes out to work and then helps out with the kids when he gets home or the mum who is at home all day? Now I'm not an official stay at home mum as I returned back to teaching part time after having my Toddler. However I'm now on maternity leave so living the 'dream' for a while. 

Now I think The Belgian (my husband if you're not a regular round here) thinks that all I do is sit around and eat cake with my mummy friends. We've been having a few 'discussions' lately about whose turn it is for a lie in (if there is such a thing for a parent) or whose turn is it to do the dishes and he very kindly remarked that I shouldn't be tired as all I do is 'go on jollies all day long.' 

So this is dedicated to the one I love. 

I want to tell him all about the jollies I go on in seven easy steps:-

1) These jollies usually start some time around four or five am when the Baby needs a feed. You're usually asleep for this - or at least you do a very good job of seeming asleep as I dig you in the ribs and hiss, 'your turn!' I usually don't fall asleep for around an hour or sometimes the Toddler wakes and joins the party too and I have to settle him back down to sleep too.

2) After vegging out in front of CBeebies whilst simultaneously making three different breakfasts as the usual 'powidge' didn't cut it and he didn't touch the toast so dry cheerios it is. I start the mammouth task of packing the mum bag. It seems like a Mary Poppins bag but creating it is not so effortless. We can't leave the house until it packed full with tools to ease any emergency situation - nappy blow outs, toddler tantrums, hungry children, snow in May...

3) Then comes the easy bit getting there. Travelling half an hour or more is usually necessary where we live to get to the decent places for days out with the kiddos. The Baby doesn't like the car to stop so every set of traffic lights, roundabout, zebra crossing etc and she's seriously crying so I am driving at a snails pace as we approach a red light willing it to turn green. 
Then The Toddler (don't let the photo below deceive you) drops his book, drink, toy and expects you to somehow be able to turn around and retrieve it. Or he sees the DDD' player and starts demanding Thomas when its not charged and, of course, you are still driving and trying to meet your mummy friends on time. So a tantrum ensues and you have the cacophony of a small baby's wail and a toddler's full blown hysterics. Bliss. Or should I say how 'jolly.'

4) You arrive at the destination. I will use the example of going to a big park - for example Kirkstall Abbey or St.Ives - these are the types of places I go on my 'jollies.' Not a leisurely stroll around the White Rose Centre or trying some street food at Trinity Kitchen - where I'd like to be going on my jollies. 
So we enter the park and The Toddler immediately disappears. Pretty standard behaviour from him. There is always a part of the park designated to under fives (similarly in soft play) but this is far too tame for him and he would rather attempt the monkey bars and give mummy a heart attack. Or he says, 'mummy help' as I have to rescue him from the leap of death.

5) Squabbles. An inevitable part of any jolly. When you mix toddlers and toys you will often hear the phrase, 'my toy, 'my turn' and 'stop it!' So you try the softly softly approach, 'please share with your friends' they point blank ignore you and you end up chasing them, pinning them down and trying to prise the offending object from their clutches and offer it back to the other pouting toddler - who has wondered off and isn't interested any more as they were just in it for the hustle. Very jolly. 

6) Food. Now if we've opted for a 'picwic' half of it has already been consumed in the car for bribes. The Toddler doesn't usually stay in one place long enough to actually eat and so you have to chase after him with a soggy sandwich before letting him mostly eat crisps. In fact when we got to Bolton Abbey and have picnics on the sand the food is usually 50% sand and they seem to enjoy the extra crunch. As you wrestle to get any goodness into The Toddler the Baby is screaming for her lunch. And so you're feeding her with one hand and feeding yourself sandy crisps with the other hand, whilst the Toddler disappears into the distance. Really must get him signed up for the Olympics 2036 long distance - unless they introduce a hide and seek category. 

Or you could brave lunch in a cafe. Eating in cafes with The Toddler and The Baby should really be saved for another blog post. But suffice to say it is a case of finishing your food as quickly as you can so that you can leave with minimal damage done to the establishment and to your sanity. And if you happened to go Jakes in Harrogate after we had been there last month I have no idea how all of the salt and pepper and sugar sachets ended up all over the floor. Ahem...

7) When it's time to leave your children always very willingly leave the park and get in the car and are perfect angels all the way home. In fact this face never makes an appearance...

Then you arrive home and have to unpack the Mary Poppins bag, Laundry must be done, dinner must be made and grubby children must be bathed. But wouldn't it be more jolly to sit on the sofa and go through your news feed or watch silly videos on youtube? Or taking half an hour to go upstairs and get changed after work - perhaps getting distracted by a nap along the way? Of course! But then this "important task" can only be earned by somebody who has spent the day earning real money instead of going on a 'jolly.'

We love you daddy.... 

.         

Night out at Bradford Leisure Exchange

The boyfriend I had in my late teens was obsessed with Pizza Hut and that is where a lot of our dates took place. Deep pan pepperoni pizza, salad bar and free refills. He had it down to a fine art of building cucumber slice and carrot stick walls to fill the salad bowl with as much goodness as he could. He could down down his coke in thirty seconds and so the waitress' always brought us a jug. Oh yes he was a cheap date.
Then in my uni days the Pizza Hut buffet was the ultimate challenge. Just how many slices of pizza could one student consume? Too many! Your food baby hanging heavily over the low slung nineties jeans.
So imagine my surprise when I was invited to a blogging event to try the new Pizza Hut menu and its all grown up - American classics and even super thick and tasty milkshakes. Its a far cry from my previous memories. We were loving the choice of new flavours for the pizza like Philly Cheese Steak and Beef Fajita. I opted for the Heavenly Veg which was topped with goats cheese, black olives, caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes and fresh rocket. It looked like a classier high street pizza chain. We also got sides of hot crisps with melted cheese - an amazing combo that I'd never tried before. All topped off with one of their new milkshakes - that come with extra in a metal container just like true American diners. I opted for the salted caramel and loved the little pieces of honeycomb in it. You need to hit the hut to try some of those bad boys!

Next up was a round of bowling. I don't think I've been bowling in about a decade. You get cute little stickers when you score a strike and once we discovered this we tried even harder - there is a little kid in everyone of us! Sadly I didn't really earn mine - I got a spare but no strikes.

Next up was the part I was most excited about - trying the new dessert menu at Frankie and Bennies. They have gone for American style desserts too - in keeping with their menu and their decor. I loved the cinnamon waffle crunch and the raspberry trifle sundae. The Can't Decider gives you a little bit of everything and would be a great sharer for a couple.

The kid in me was loving the Ice Cream Candy Shop from the kids menu. Its an extra £2.25 on top of the kids menu and I think it would be so exciting for a child and help to retain their attention at the end of a meal when they often get squirmy. It has ice-cream, sauce, popping candy and little glass bottles of sweets. A really interactive and cute dessert.

The evening ended with a film at cineworld. I like this cinema its clean, never too busy and they have security coming into the films to make sure people aren't on their phones or chatting - because nothing worse than having screens glowing out of the corner of your eye or teens chatting during the best part of the film. I'm such an old woman now who actually goes to the cinema to watch the film rather than to fool around with my friends! Haha!

Thanks to the Bradford Leisure Exchange for a night out and to my mum date Robyn!