More Non Camping

So Sunday we had a lazy day. We didn't really do much of anything I think.

Monday was a little bit more structured, a trip out to Bolton Abbey Railway Station for 'A Day Out with Thomas'. Here are Adam and the boys on the train journey to Embsay Station.


We didn't stay very long as there wasn't actually that much to do. A stall where the boys got the 'free' gift that comes with their ticket, a HUGE queue to stand in Thomas and blow his whistle, we passed on that, and a couple of vintage cars and buses to look at. Oh and of course the obligatory toy shops. This time Theo came away with...erm, can't remember, I'll have to ask him in the morning lol and Louis got 'Whiff' who I've never heard of but he seemed happy enough with that. :D

When we got home Theo's friends were playing out in the street so he stayed out and played. I had to drag him in for his dinner and he was straight back out once he'd eaten. That's what I like to see, outdoors fun. There have been occasions when his friends have called round for him and, for whatever reason, he has, usually grumpily, refused to go out to play! He did come home with an invitation to Charlie's birthday party on Saturday so that should be fun.

More resting on Tuesday. I was hoping to get some bits and pieces done, get to the opticians and the Drs but I couldn't get appointments 'til next week so I ended up drawing stuff and sticking bits and pieces to playing cards (see Apshoo). The boys watched telly, played with their toys and drew pictures with me whilst Adam played on the computer upstairs.

Wednesday didn't start too well. Theo didn't want to get dressed then Adam told him we were going shopping. Well he dissolved in a heap of tears. Shopping was boring then suddenly he was crying because he couldn't go to Charlie's birthday party! Where did that come from??

We drove to Drayton Manor so we could spend all day standing in queues! OK it wasn't as bad as all that, but put it this way. I'm glad it wasn't a sunny day otherwise I think we would only have managed a couple of rides.

Here's a picture of the boys queueing for Diesels Mayhem ride.

I know we are not noted for our patience, I think the wait for this ride was about 20 minutes. It didn't help that Theo had had Adam queue for the Bulgy the Bus ride for about 15 minutes before deciding he didn't want to go on after all.

Adam and I took it in turns to queue / ride with the boys. Fortunately for me, this one was Adam's turn. I didn't time it but I'm sure they queued for well over an hour for a 5 minute ride on Terence. At least Louis and I could wander around whilst we were waiting for them. If I had known how long it would take though, I would have wandered to a cafe for a latte :D But, being the loving mum I am, I waitied where I could see the rides so I could get this photo, and a few more.

Theo's favourite ride (although we did only 'do' Thomas Land) was the Jeremy the Jet ride. Despite how it looks in this photo, both Louis and Theo were in the jet with me, honest. It's just that I left Adam in charge of the camera and the control of the jet to Theo (you made it raise / lower using a button in the front) and they never quite got in the same place at the same time. lol

I know I complained about the queues but this was definitely one of the better theme parks I've been to with the boys. Most of the rides were suitable for both of them to go on so there was plenty to do. I had planned on going to the zoo there too but I forgot. By the time Adam reminded me it was 4.45 and I wasn't sure whether the park closed at 5 or 6 so we headed back to the car.

We stayed at the Premier Travel Inn in Burton-on-Trent, straaange lady on reception was very friendly and funny. A very nice dinner was had in the pub next door, diet is out the window this week anyway, just as well.

Today was a really good day too. No photos 'cause we were at Alton Towers Water Park and photos are not allowed. Heaven forbid! After an initial paddy from Louis because he didn't want to wear the floatation vest thingy we had a great time. Theo remembered having been there before and immediately went off to play. Louis had to be coaxed, so we sat in the shallow water and played with the bubbles but he quickly got braver and more adventurous. He liked playing in the water with the bubbles but after the first time I took him for a walk around the park, up the stairs, through puddles, accross bridges etc, he didn't want to sit and play in the water for more than 5 minutes or so before he was up and wanted to wander around again.

Did I mention that my ipod is poorly? A couple of days ago I tried to switch it on but it wouldn't play. I had a look on the Aplle website and followed the instructions for rebooting it. It turned on but there was just a white screen, no menus or anything. Anyway, as we were coming home up the M1 anyway we called into Meadowhall so I could take it to the Apple shop for a nice man to fix it. As it turns out he couldn't. Apparently the LCD screen is dead and they do not replace those. I could trade it in and get 10% off a new one, or they could take the hard drive out of mine and put it in a new case but that would cost almost as much as a new one and I'd loose the engraving on the back of the case.

I discovered today that a new LCD screen to fit my ipod would set me back a whole £15 on ebay, and that includes the tool I'd need to open the case. Adam found a 'how to' video on the internet so I could replace the screen myself for £15. Not too sure I'm going to attempt to do it myself though. You have to disconnect the battery, remove the hard drive and a few other bits and pieces to do it, it looks complicated. I have found a place in Bradford who do Ipod repairs though so I'm going to phone them tomorrow and see if they can fix it and if so how much they charge.

Anyway, this is a mammoth post and it's late now, I need my bed, so I'm off. There are plans for more fun stuff this week so I will be back with more photos soon.

Take care

Non Camping

Louis is much better, no lasting damage from his impact with the pavement, yay.

Today we were supposed to be going camping at a National Forestry Commission site in Pickering. Unfortunately the British weather had other ideas and we had a phonecall on Wednesday telling us that the campsite is waterlogged, and they were expecting more rain, so we've had to cancel. Instead we are planning day trips.

Today we've had a wander around Bradford city centre (whilst we waited for Adam to have his eyes tested), been for lunch at Frankie & Benny's then on to Cineworld to watch Wall-E. Frankie & Benny's was a much nicer experience than Pizza Hut last week. The food was lovely and the service was great, add to that the fact that Louis' juice and ice-cream were free and I can't say a thing against them :D

After lunch we had a bit of time to kill before the film started so Theo and Louis had a game of air hockey.

Last Friday I took Theo and two of his friend, Jack & George, to see Space Chimps which everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy. I wanted to see Wall-E but both Jack and George had already seen it so we went for Space Chimps instead. I think it was probably the better choice for three 4 yr old boys. I enjoyed Wall-E but Theo spent most of the time asking what was going on and why they were doing whatever they were doing.

At this point I have to say a HUGE thank you to Helen, a few months ago she sent me some children's vouchers for Cineworld that she had won in a competition, 25 of them! It's those vouchers I've been spending to keep the boys entertained, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Change of Plans

This evening I had planned to spend it quilting the quillow I have made. Instead I spent most of it in A&E with Louis.

One of the neighbours children decided to try and pick him up whilst they were out playing this teatime and she dropped him before I could get there. He hit the pavement with the back of his head.

I spent the next half hour keeping him awake and I'm not sure if he was falling asleep because he had only had a half hour nap this morning or because of the bump, either way I wasn't letting him sleep. Then came the vomit, euww.

After a phonecall to NHS direct I took him down to A&E where he perked up immediately, typically. We waited around, like you do, in the very child friendly children's A&E. Louis was weighed and checked over almost immediately then we had to wait our turn to see the Dr. When we'd seen him he asked us to wait another 20 minutes so he could check him again to make make sure he was fine. About an hour later we were seen and set off home.

All is well, Louis is all calpol'd up and in bed asleep. I've already been up to 'rouse' him once so he thinks I'm a nasty mummy. He looked at me as if to say 'what on earth are you waking me up for' but at least he woke up. Dr says to check on him twice before midnight and that should be enough but he may feel grotty and miserable for a couple of days.

My poor baby. I could have cried when I got to the hospital. It took me 10 minutes to get there about about 15 minutes to find a parking space. Aaargh. Still, all sorted now andwe're home. Now, how to tell little girls not to pick up the toddler without scaring her. Hmmmm

Diet

Where did the time go? It's Wednesday already and I've been meaning to post on here since last Friday. I've backdated a few posts so hopefully it doesn't look like I've been slacking lol.

I've put myself on a diet (again!) Cutting out all the between meals rubbish, you know, biscuits and choclate etc. Next step is to make sure the meals I eat are healthy and not too fatty then once I stop loosing weight doing that then it's time to start paying someone and do the proper diet thing. I'm thinking about Rosemary Conley, you do an exercise class at weight in too, rather than just turning up to be weighed and spoken at.

This is my weight loss monitor. The first glass contains 1 pasta shell for each lb I weigh. The ribbon is a rough indicator of my target and the second glass contains 1 shell for each lb I've lost since I started this. So watch this space, I may post another pic when I'm a bit closer to my target :D

Sports Day

It was the nursery sports day today. The weather held off just long enough to finish the races. The medals were presented under an awning with all the parents gathered under a nearby tree lol

Theo ran in the first running race but as he neared the finish line somewhere near the back of the pack, he gave up and started crying. He refused to enter any more races because he didn't win :( I think I need to work a bit on the 'It's the taking part' theory with him :D

He did cheer up when it was time for the mummies to have a race. And I didn't cry even when I didn't win .

Theo in his running race

Adam and Louis watching the races.

Everyone got a medal for taking part, even Louis whose contribution involved running across the finish line infront of the Daddies race.

Picnic in the Park

Fed up of spending the days in the house watching Ben 10, I thought I'd drag the boys out to the park. Theo objected as we pulled up at the carpark (yes, I know, driving to the park!) because the weather wasn't looking too fabulous but we ventured out anyway.

What Theo didn't know was that I had phoned the mum of one of his nursery friends so we were meetin Ezra and Seth there. Once we were out and playing everybody had a good time, even Theo, especially when his friends arrived :D

Louis at the top of the slide

Theo and his friends on the tyre swing.

The weather even held off so we had our picnic, sitting on picnic blankets on the wet grass :D

Batcopter

It was Adam's birthday yesterday. I think it went OK, apart from it being a workday, and Adam not being too well. So actually not that well at all then. Hmph

Last Tuesday Theo and I had a play with Fimo to make Daddy a present. I tried to get Theo to think about what Daddy would like. He was determined that Daddy would like a Batcopter, so that's what we have. We ran out of black so it has purple 'legs'. We had fun making it though.

Daddy also got a Dr Hook album, a Louis Prima album, Scrabble game for the DS and a notebook.

The boys enjoyed making birthday cards, sat at the kitchen table stamping, drawing and sticking things, pitty I didn't take any pictures. Louis even made a birthday card at nursery too.

Aaaaaaa

I've been to the dentist today.

Now I'm not scared of the dentist but it's definitely not my favourite way to spend my time. 1 filling and a brush and polish later and I've got tea dribbling down my chin because half my face is asleep!

I have to go back in September for 2 more fillings! So why am I buying tootchpaste if it appears to be doing no good? Hmmm

List the activities you'd do if you weren't so afraid

As there's not been much to write about this week I thought a list was called for instead, so here goes:-

List the activities you'd do if you weren't so afraid.

1. Skydiving
2. Absailing
3. Bungee jumping (thanks Cat)
4. De clutter the house (afraid I might get rid of something I will NEED)

Think I might have to have a think and come back to this one

P15 List Yourself - Ilene Segalove & Paul Bob Velick

Come on, join in, you know you want to :D