Estepona 2013

So we made it to Spain on my kids first holiday abroad and we made it back again... in one piece!

The holiday was very relaxing and not quite as stressful as I thought it would be. We had a lovely apartment with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and balconies that seemed to be coming out of everywhere! The views were lovely and sitting out there for breakfast, lunch and dinner meant I got a lovely tan... see I am good at multi-tasking!

There were SEVEN swimming pools so you can guess where we spent most of our time, although considering when I was younger I would compete with my big bro to see who could swim the most lengths of the pool, the most I did was 62 lengths, yes you read right, that's 62 lengths! I can barely do 1 length now without panting and getting out to recover on the sun lounger.

On the negative side the resort was quite far from the town and we had to take taxis to actually get anywhere of interest and the resort itself didn't provide any entertainment for the children which meant I had to constantly keep them amused. Surprisingly there were quite a few English speaking TV channels so in between trips to the beach and the pool I managed 5 minutes of peace by sitting them in front of the Disney channel. (Just like being at home)

On one of our trips to the beach we decided to try out the fast food in Spain (you have to always compare it to home) We wanted to go to McDs but it was a mile down the road from the town centre so we went into Burger King instead. I can confirm that it was just as good, if not better than ours or maybe I was just really hungry at the time!!

Enjoying Burger king

 During the holiday I managed a few glasses of vino and to read myself through a whole Jodi Picoult novel so that was me sorted! I think next year though we will stay in miserable sunny Britain for our hols and maybe book a cottage in Cornwall.

Oh and I get to tick off another thing to do from my Bucket list which was to take my children abroad :)

Holidays are meant to be peaceful..

... well mine is just stressing me out and we haven't even left the country yet!

I'm hoping that when we leave for Spain on Wednesday that we are going to have a fab holiday, it will be the children's first trip abroad and I've been planning on taking them for years but it just hasn't happened.

I saved up because I thought these days a holiday overseas isn't much more expensive than one in this country and thought it would be worth that bit extra just for the aeroplane ride.

So first of all I booked the holiday because I thought if I didn't then I would just change my mind and we wouldn't end up going, then I got the email to say I had to book transfers because I hadn't added those on. Who would've thought it would be over £200 just to make a trip from the airport to the apartment!?!

Of course you cant travel abroad without passports and as only 3 out of 6 of us had them I had to send off for those. The man got his friend to fill out the forms and luckily we used the passport check and send service because first thing the photos, which we had taken by a photographer in the photo printing shop had been done wrong and we had to go back to have them redone, then the forms were filled out wrong... by him, not me! Then the picture was not signed properly so all in all it was 3 trips back to the post office and a long delay in getting those passports! Such a delay that we still haven't got 1 of them back and we are travelling in 5 days!!

I don't understand how my sons passport was sent back within a week of me applying for it and even though they have had my daughters for 6 weeks I've been told that if I want to get it back by Tuesday it will cost me another £78 *cross face*

As well as all these costs I have to calculate for fares to the airport, travel insurance and food while were there - why didn't I just book all inclusive?? and of course all the children need new summer clothes as they are just growing waaay too quick!

It's not just all about the money because as we know there is always those added extras that everybody has to deal with but I have been looking up about the resort we are staying at and all the most recent reviews are really bad :( First they are saying you have to drive as the beach is very close but not accessible unless you drive as its on the other side of a big motorway and the shops are 2 miles away and that's fine if you are driving but to have to walk it and carry bags back I can see its just going to be a pain. Then somebody else said their apartment was burgled while they were out and the staff didn't seem too surprised as if its a regular occurrence.

I know I shouldn't be pessimistic but when travelling with the whole family it is all really stressful and I want them to have a good time (and not starve while they're there!) So hopefully I wont regret booking our holiday and won't think about all the other things I could have spent the money on and places we could have visited and day trips we could have gone on, no I will be on the blog in a couple of weeks posting all the pictures and telling you what a great time we have had...

Park life

Summer holidays can be a very expensive time of the year and the kids are always pestering me to take them out. One of my favorite places to go is the park; its local, free and there are so many things you can do there.

I'm very lucky that my local park is Dulwich park, it never seems overly packed like other large parks can get as soon as the sun comes out, it is clean and safe and it has a great play area for all aged children.

Today we bought the scooter and badminton rackets to keep the kids occupied.

Kieron doesn't get to use his scooter very often as he is quite clumsy and after going on it down a hill and not being able to stop I've been worried about him going on the roads with it, however the park is mostly even and he was riding on the grass so there wasn't much chance of him doing any damage!

 

It was a pretty windy day so the game of badminton didn't go quite to plan. Kyra spent most of the time standing around bored as the shuttlecock was blowing everywhere except in her direction.

When the kids finished in the normal swings and slide park they decided to use the exercise equipment. These are very popular with the kids,I suppose they feel grown up using all the types of keep fit equipment and its good for them so I think they should put these in all parks!

We finished off our trip to the park with the old fashioned pastime of climbing trees, oh and not forgetting posing for pictures.

Busy as a bee

I set up this blog because being a mum means I'm super busy, although some people have the perception that I sit around all day eating chocolate (sometimes I do)
Being super busy means I would have loads to share, and I promise I do have loads to share it's just that I'm too busy (and exhausted) to actually sit down and put all the words together. I'm sure all you bloggers know that all the exciting things that happen in our lives is a potential blog post and I have so many ideas of things I want to put on here but then the moment passes or its not relevant anymore and so it just doesn't happen...

Well now is the summer holidays which means 7 weeks off work for me! Exciting much, but I'm sure they will pass by really quickly so I've got to make the most of them.
I will be keeping my kids busy with day trips out and a holiday to Spain and will have loads of time on my hands to take photos and post on my blog so no excuses!!

Im going to be a grandma!!

I wrote my bucketlist earlier this year and expressed that one day I would like to become a grandmother, I mean bucketlists are like a to-do list of your whole life and thinking waaaay into the future (just the term grandma makes me think of being around 70!) I thought it is actually something I'm looking forward to being.

My eldest child is 15 so I'm very pleased to announce that none of my biological children are actually expecting a baby!

When I met the man, many moons ago- 17 years to be exact, he introduced me to a very sweet little 4 year old... his daughter. Who is now Miss 21!

They were very close and she would stay with him every other weekend and when he and I moved in together she continued to stay over weekends and holidays. Being  a sweet natured and placid girl she is a lot like me so we get on very well, although as like many children with step parents we did go through the 'you're not my mum, you can't tell me what to do' stage at around the age of 7 but I think that is to be expected and not taken to heart.

Growing up we saw less and less of Miss 21, as she started secondary school and was busy with all the extra curricular activities that go along with it. Then turning into a teenager and wanting to spend all her free time with her friends. More recently starting work and I suppose just busy having a life, not sure myself what that's like as I was a mum of 3 by the age of 21!!

Everytime Miss 21 does visit us she is questioned by the man, particularly about whether or not she has a boyfriend and the answer is always 'no' I'm sure that's because he has always said since she was little that shes not allowed a boyfriend until she is 30.

So it came as quite a surprise when we get a phone call the other day to say not only is she expecting but the baby is due pretty soon :-o

I can imagine how nerve wracking it was to pick up the phone and call her dad to tell him the news but he was very reassuring that she should have called sooner and he would never be disappointed in her, although it was a slightly different story when he came off the phone and was none too pleased... probably at the thought of becoming a grandad!!

All I know is that recently I was feeling broody (maybe my instincts were telling me there was a new baby coming into the family) but now my mind is definitely made up and I do not want to be having children with the next generation. My Implanon implant has just expired and I'm going to call the doctors first thing tomorrow to get a new one put in!