2017 has been a funny old year, for us it’s been a very ordinary year with no big family birthdays, weddings or other celebrations. However, this is ok, I like ordinary it means we’ve had no heartache, everyone is healthy and happy and we’re just pottering along nicely. Rather than precis each month, I’ve chosen 7 things which have made our year special.

1. Portsmouth. We visited the Historic Dockyards in May half term and had a terrific day, it was much more than I expected, with historic ships, a boat ride, a submarine tour, ninja style assault courses etc.. there was something for us all.
2. Paultons Park. Paultons Park aka Peppa Pig World is my favourite theme park in the UK. This year we had a magical alignment of perfect weather, everyone in a brilliant mood, little queuing and it was possibly our best family day out ever.
3. Cricket. This year with both the children belonging to the cricket club, our summer weekends have been busy with matches. The children have played, I’ve learnt how to score and Mr S has been driver and support.
4. Longleat. We like to have a weekend away at Longleat every year and this year was as good as ever. The lions were particularly animated the day we visited and were amazing to sit and watch.
5. Cardiff. My dad and I took the children to Cardiff in the summer. I used to live and work in Cardiff and love the city. We went to a great Dino Babies exhibition at the museum, to McDs for lunch (we don’t have a McD in our town so this is a big thing for the children) and then to the Bay where we rode the big wheel. The Ferris wheel was one of my favourite things to do this year!
6. The Eden Project. In planning our summer holiday to Cornwall, we knew that the Eden project was no1 on our places to visit. We spent the day there and the children loved it as much as Mr S and I. It certainly inspired some little changes to try and improve our eco habits.
7. Cycling in the Forest. This is a very simple activity but was so much fun. We went to our local forestry commission on a stunning autumn day and spent the morning exploring the forest on bikes. It was the first time that we weren’t practising our skills and were competent enough to ride, it gave us a taste for future adventures.
8. Brighton. Our weekend to Brighton was on our 2017 bucket list and we managed it last weekend, it was a fantastic weekend, good friends, good food and the opportunity to explore Brighton. I was very excited to finally visit the ChoccyWoccydoohdah shop as I used to be a big fan of their cake programme (along with Cake Boss, Charm City Cakes I love them all, they’re my guilty pleasure) Now I’ve been to Brighton, I can’t wait to return.

This post is for Day 25 of #Blogtober17, My Year in review…