Its been another busy couple of weeks. In the winter lockdown, we planned lots for this summer, things to look forward to and to make up for our little treats which we missed in 2020. In our family, we have a six week period chock a block of celebrations, birthdays and anniversaries, so many of our treats at this time of year are linked to these special days, when you add the end of year school treats and holidays its an organisational feat.

The one big celebration we weren’t able to fully celebrate was my parents golden wedding anniversary, it was too near to ‘freedom’ day to make any firm plans so my parents celebrated it quietly in a nice spa hotel. I organised for a plaque to celebrate their anniversary to be dedicated at Clevedon pier which is close to where they live and is somewhere they like to go. I am hoping it will be up when we visit them later this month and we can have a little picnic on the pier. Ten years ago, my parents did celebrate their ruby anniversary with a lovely dinner and dance with friends and family. Its a nice memory and a timely reminder to do that special something when you can as you never know what might stop you doing something similar in the future.

Its been Mr S and my 18th wedding anniversary in these weeks too. It was a quiet day as we were all tired from our trip the previous day to Paultons Park. Originally we had intended to travel up the night before and stay in a hotel to make it a more relaxed weekend. However, when we considered the holiday traffic on a Friday (its so busy here at present) we decided that it was actually easier to get up early and do it all in one day. We didn’t cancel our hotel booking but simply moved it to the autumn when we will visit the area again for a weekend break. The hotel will be an ideal base for visiting Beaulieu or the New Forest.

Paultons Park was brilliant and again for me it is the best theme park. Its so friendly, clean and well organised. There was very little queueing at the rides and with the app and clear timers at each ride, its easy to plan your day well. The children did so many rides, there is a new area, Tornado Springs which is lovely, with a good mix of rides. Our poor daughter did the cyclomator twice in a row and did feel a little queasy for a half hour or so, however she quickly recovered for the rest of the day. My favourite ride is always the log flume and I think we did this about 5 times! We know where the cameras are, so we posed brilliantly and have a fun photo of our day. Paultons Park is also such a beautiful park and is so nice to walk around.

The children have been busy with holiday activities, it seems that most are at the start of the holidays, so diaries are full now but with nothing after our family holiday. They have been doing so much, there’s been football camps, the farm, nerf guns, youth club, swimming and mud trails, from which it took two washes to get the clothes clean again!

It is Olympics and I love it! I love waking up and watching some of the action and then catching up more in the evening. I prefer the sports such as swimming, triathlon, cycling and BMX. I feel these are the real sports which I see people doing rather than sports which are completely new. There have been so many amazing stories and I’m genuinely in awe and inspired by the athletes.

On my social media feed this week, I discovered the poet Robert M Drake, his poem Exactly What It Is, resonated due to some professional challenges. On reading the poem, I did some research on Drake and discovered that he is the known as the ‘Bard of Instagram’ and his work is popular with the YA market. I was able to buy the book and its now in my holiday reading pile and I hope my daughter my dip into it.

I got a little creative this week. I have a beautiful sundress but the sleeves annoyed me, they were separate strips so you could tie them into a knot. However, it was difficult to get both bows in the same position and to prevent them coming loose. They are also gave a strange bulge under a cardigan. I was so frustrated I got my sewing machine out and did a few alterations, This is well out of my comfort zone and I had to google advice but its done and I am so pleased with my work, I have simple sleeves now which don’t fall down and are smooth under a cardy.

We are now on the final countdown to our holiday, suitcases are packed and we’re off tomorrow morning. We are stopping in Colchester for a night and then continuing on to Great Yarmouth for a week and then a further four days in Kent. I feel more comfortable in staying in this country this year but oh I do miss the promise of a summer holiday abroad.