I’ve still not had the inspiration for a new title for my monthly catch up, so its a little alliteration for his month’s instalment.  June is one of my busiest months of the year, its unbelievable that we were enjoying our family break at Butlins at the start of June as that seems so long ago now.  This month has seen the family break at Butlins, a Year 6 residential, cub camp, school trips, meeting up with all the grandparents, a family celebration, sports day, transition clubs, important school meetings and future planning.  It has been busy and whilst I had a few wobbles I do try to compartmentalise my life to try and maintain a healthy balance.  This month running has been essential to my well being too.

We are now in the countdown to the end of primary school for Little Miss and its been a month full of lasts, the last school trip, sports day etc..  I’ve also been busy like all the parents on a top secret mission for the leavers assembly, which has involved going through all our old photos of special school events over the years.  Its really brought home the passing of time and the importance of making the most of every day.  In all the photos I found I think my favourite is one from World Book day, the children are dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2  and then on a whim I borrowed some Cat in the Hat props from school and despite being a bit out of my comfort zone, I did the school run dressed up, which made the children so happy.  Looking back its the little things, often spur of the moment, which bring back the happiest memories, carpe diem! In my post ‘Disappointment’ I wrote of Little Miss’ shortened residential trip, however Sports day was a big success.  This year the format was different and so much improved, it had a very inclusive feel with the children working in small groups from Reception to Year 6.  As the only Year 6 in her group, Little Miss was so good at motivating and encouraging her little team, she shone.  Later, she enjoyed the running races with her friends from Year 6.  For me it was the best Sports day yet, gorgeous weather, a great new programme of events, a perfect viewing spot with friends and a lovely refreshment tent (okay slightly bias as I had baked some cakes for the stall run by the Scouts who were fund raising)  For me the two most enjoyable events in the school year are the Christmas concert and Sports day and I’ll really miss not seeing Little Miss in the primary versions next year,  I’m not sure how the secondary school organises these events but I hope we get a chance to watch too.  One of the great ideas of Sports day this year was to put siblings in the same group so they could work together on some of the activities,  I now have a beautiful photo of my two, running hand in hand  in the snake race, its my new phone screen saver.

Another special event this month was our summer solstice evening at the beach, it was a perfect evening for a barbecue on the beach, swimming and beach games and I loved the beach hut I hired.  The day after we headed to our county town to meet up with my parents for a trip to the cinema.  First we had lunch in a delightful courtyard café, it was one of those hot, sunny days where it all felt so right, we were shaded from the hot sun by greenery around a big table full of delicious, fresh, wholesome food and good company.  After lunch, we all went to see Toy Story 4, its amazing for its animation but I felt the story just lacked a little something.  I preferred the earlier films centred on family life, this is more an adventure with only a few main characters (I missed so many, and even Buzz has a much lesser role) However it is a good film with some strong themes of belonging, love etc..

This month I have discovered a couple of new Podcasts, With Me Now, a show about Park Run and Feel Better, Live More with Dr Rangan.  I’m really enjoying both and find it relaxing in the evenings to sit in the garden and listen to  a podcast.  The Feel Better, Live More ep 67 is fascinating on how our environment affects our lifestyle.

We’re now on the countdown to the summer holidays and its nearly time to write our summer bucket list and plan our summer adventures.  However we have 3 more weeks and I know I will be an emotional wreck when Little Miss finishes primary school on July 19th.  She’s be going to the same site for the past 9 years, from pre school to the primary school, its been such an important and lovely place for her to be I’m going to miss her being there.