How are you surviving the school holidays?

OK, I know that Scotland are already back at school but this week is like the halfway point for us in our school holidays. I wondered how everyone else was doing?

We're doing surprisingly well. It was an inauspicious start to the holidays, what with me being ill and struggling for the first week, which was of course the week that husband had taken off work - which was good because he could amuse the children, but it was bad because we missed out on family days out. Although we did go to Old Trafford for the Olympic football.

Two excited children

That's Team GB down there!

Although, recovering slowly from a bad chest, the walk up 5 flights of stairs nearly killed me. And they told me at the top that I could have got the lift!

And then, to celebrate the opening ceremony the next day, we had an Olympics-themed tea.

I know top left should be blue but I couldn't find
anything suitable!

And then, of course, we had the Olympics to amuse us all. The first week, Missy Woo went to dance summer school at the local village hall so Monkey and I watched most things just the two of us, when he was here. And then the second week kind of merged with the first week, with us hoping it wouldn't end.

On the last but one day of the Olympics, I took the children to MediaCity to see a special preview screening of a new Justin's House episode in the piazza.

Yes, Justin is on stage there before the episode was shown on the big screen - we were asked to stay sat down so the children could see what was going on.  To make it even more exciting, afterwards, we were invited for lunch in Dock House (the building you can see top left of the picture) along with lots of other lovely bloggers and we got to do this.

Notice smiley excited Monkey there. Two hours before, he'd told me that he was too old for Justin's House but soon changed his tune. (You can also see the edge of Geekmummy trying to get the geekdaughter out from under a table as she hid from Justin!). Monkey was actually most impressed with the huge slices of pizza on offer. He had three.

Which brings us onto this week. We've been chilling a lot (and missing the Olympics) but Missy Woo has just come back from an overnight visit to Granny and Grandad's, during which she had her birthday treat from them of a trip to see the Dora the Explorer show, as well as being spoilt rotten by Granny buying her clothes and more presents. Monkey and I stayed home and made cake - I can blame  Great British Bake Off for his renewed cravings for cake. He also discovered a programme on CBBC that he liked this week called "I Want My Own Room" and got very excited when they visited Dock House, showing them visiting the building we'd been inside only a few days before.

Today marks the end of the fourth week and it actually feels like it has flown. Missy has two parties this weekend and then husband is off next week so we're hoping to go on some days out then we are going to my niece's wedding over the bank holiday weekend.  After that, we will be into the Paralympics. The most exciting thing about that is I managed to secure tickets for one of the athletics sessions for all of us this afternoon for just after the children go back to school. I couldn't believe it! We are all now really excited and have something to look forward to once the holidays are over.

How have your holidays been so far? I hope you are surviving. Let me know how you're coping and what you've been doing.

School holidays - a break for who again?

Planning how to drive me mad next

Much as it's nice not to have to dash around at 8.30am and 3.20pm every weekday during the school holidays,  we're reaching that point where we've been in each other's company a little too much. Little niggles between the children that started as storms in a teacup are beginning to escalate into major fallouts, constant requests for squash/chocolate/ice-cream/more chocolate/toys, and a desire to make every day special (because of course, it is a holiday) and therefore resisting the usual routine of bedtimes, meals and everyday life. They all conspire to ensure we begin to grate on each other a bit. I know it's a break for the children, but not so much for me.

Thankfully, the weather hasn't been as bad as expected this week, if you ignore Monday when it rained all day and I spent most of the day cleaning the house with, or more accurately, in spite of their help. This means the children can play out with their friends on our road or the next road. Although I seem to spend some days shouting "Door!" every ten minutes as they fling it open wide to return for drinks/meals/toilet visits or deposit sporting equipment as they change games or playmates, I quite enjoy the breaks; they're like little oases of peace, punctuated by a child bursting through the door.

I realised yesterday that the children have begun to figure this out for themselves that I might actually enjoy this. The children were trying to decide what to do when Monkey turned to me and said, "We're going outside, Mummy. We'll leave you in peace," and went out of the door, taking Missy Woo with him.

Is it wrong I went straight to make a coffee?

Pick your own? More like spot the raspberry!

The first week of the summer holidays have gone well, thanks to the (mainly) dry weather. This has meant I've been trying to think of things to do that means we get outside, to make the most of the weather before it (inevitably) turns rubbish again.

On Wednesday, I came up with the idea of going to a Pick Your Own - our fruit yield has not been good this year, thanks to the birds discovering the blackcurrants and the intermittent torrential rain getting to the raspberries. So, picking some fruit to take home sounded like a nice way to pass an afternoon. There are no PYOs in the local area so it meant a half hour car journey. I looked at the farm's website to see what was still available to see they were on their last few strawberries, but that raspberries were still available. It certainly looked like it was worth the trip as it also had a farm shop and a cafe.

One thousand and eighty eight hours to go...

...until the children walk back into class again. Not that I'm counting, you understand.

No, not wishing my life away at all...

In the meantime, there will be:

- 144 hours away camping
- at least 240 away on a roadtrip/holiday
- 8 hours going on the train to MOSI
- 1 hour going to the dentist
- 2 hours going to the hairdressers
- 2 hours buying shoes (optimistic)
- 4 hours at the library
- 2 hours (possibly more) at a party tomorrow

The Gallery - April

So, the first Gallery of May and we're talking about - April. Confused? Not much. Anyway, the task we have been set is to sum up the month in a photo. Being British, I have gone for the weather angle.

April is normally the start of the holiday season, with Easter holidays often taking up much of the month. This year, it has been unseasonably warm and dry, which has given it more of a holiday feel than normal. The children went feral for a few days during their time off and I barely saw them as they were out playing with friends on the estate. Where were the April showers we've come to expect during school holidays? It's been warmer here than Barcelona - where it has been raining a lot - most days. The problem with the sustained dry weather is that it causes problems on the moors near us and since Friday, there have been fires burning constantly, stoked by the high winds, fanning flames. My picture therefore sums up the two opposing factors - the beautiful weather, with smoke from the fires swirling down from the moors. This was taken less than 100 yards from our front door. (And no it's not that rural, there's a motorway in there, it's just well hidden).

I think you can tell from the tree that it was quite windy!

See more of what April had to offer by clicking on the badge below.