We’re very nearly at our first official summer holidays… We just about managed half terms, muddled our way through half term and now it’s time for the biggie: six weeks of me and the kids. All the time. No afternoons of napping toddler while Corliss is at pre-school. That’s usually when I get my jobs done, make the tea for that day and have a bit of time to myself. I’m kind of excited and dreading the six weeks in equal measure… On the one hand, it’ll be great to be free from the timetable and routine that pre-school creates; on the other hand… No pre-school!
I’m sure it’ll be fine. It will. There’s plenty of things to do round here. I’ve got a few day trips planned, there are tons of parks near us, we live right next to the Longdendale trail and if all else fails, we’ll pester the grandparents for a few days.
Last weekend, Aidan was on a stag do on Saturday, so I took the kids to Hollingworth Lake and Hebden Bridge with my friend and her kids. It was lovely! Little walk around the lake, picnic, ice-creams 🍦as big as your face (see above). Then a quick trip into Hebden for a look round the chazzers. Just got a board game. Nowt else. But we did have chips in the park and chased a few Pokemon too.
Sunday, we went to Hope Valley car boot sale. It was ginormous! Again, didn’t get much though. A few books for the kids, and the most ridiculous giant pink My Little Pony castle for Corliss. When we go to a car boot, we give them £2 each to spend. It just seems to stop the moaning and asking for everything. Corliss saw the giant castle thing virtually straight away, but it was a fiver. So we told her that it was too many pennies and she would have to look round everywhere first, and if she still just wanted that at the end and it was still there… Of course the giant bastard thing was still there. And she didn’t whinge once or ask for anything else.
I’m pretty sure Aidan is looking up whether we can sell it in a few months’ time…
Yesterday afternoon , I did some baking with the kids while Aidan had a nap. We made vegan and pretty much refined sugar free cupcakes from the Chocolate Covered Katie blog. They’re pretty good! Chocolate cupcakes with date syrup inside and peanut butter icing/frosting on the top. Need to try and resist those today!
What are your plans for the summer?
Little Owl Ski 
That ice cream looked yummy! Best of luck with the l-o-n-g summer holiday, Did you see any vintage ‘Woman’s Own’s’ at the car boot? Am so looking forward to hearing back from you regarding your treasured issues. I have managed to find a few more to help complete my late mum’s Patience Strong poem cutting collection….. Any plans to visit the seaside? We live very close to the sea and I remember that VERY hot summer 40 years ago during my final school summer holiday trying to keep cool in the sea. Kindest regards to you and your lovely family. Andrew from sunny west Cornwall x.
Ooh I’m so sorry Andrew, this completely slipped my mind. We’re in the process of sorting out our spare room and attic (which are heaving – the attic is pretty much caving in under the weight!); the magazines are in the attic somewhere so I’ll do my best to find them out. Hmmm… Could be a fun job to do this afternoon!
Hello again Andrew, I’ve managed to unearth the Woman’s Own magazines. I’m going to do my best to get the poems scanned in and I thought a blog post about them might be quite nice. Are you happy for me to use the bits you’ve mentioned in previous comments about your mum as part of the post? Kind regards, Emma