And it’s here.
The summer holidays.
6 weeks of uninterrupted fun, frolics, laughter, disagreements, arguments, fights, hair pulling, head holding, shouting and nervous breakdowns. But to break it up a bit we will be including a handful of days out. Now I’m not really one for days out, and honestly neither are the kids. Maybe they just take after me but I think it’s nice to feel relaxed enough to enjoy your home without wanting to be out somewhere new every day. I don’t mind the kids inviting their friends for the day or to sleepover, I quite enjoy the mischief and giggles and happily agree to this quite frequently.
Call me a misery all you want but I’m more of a ‘cosy film day’ mother in the colder winter months and a ‘garden day’ mother during the summer. Both sorts of days would obviously be filled with appropriate activities and more importantly snacks, and an excellent time would be had by all. I love home and spending time in it or around it or anything that doesn’t involve leaving it. I can’t think of anything worse than driving to the coast to drive around for a further hour looking for a suitable parking spot only to be so stressed out by the time we eventually find one that everyone has fallen out with each other and wants to go home anyway. Throw into the mix that public toilets are scarce and the thing hygiene nightmares are made of, not even really mentioning about queuing and hanging around for ice creams, rides, amusements etc etc.
Now don’t be hasty, there’s no need to call Childline or the social about what a mean old mum I am. My babies have 3 sets of grandparents and 2 grown up sisters so get plenty of days out.
This said, I can’t be completely selfish and will do a few family days out. I have various things planned like a water park day, a trip to Castle Howard for a picnic, various bike rides and dog walks also including a picnic (mainly because every adventure or activity always has to include snacks of some description)
We already kicked off the year with a trip to a farm in the spring, which apart from the argument in the car on the way there, I actually really enjoyed.
There were horses, cows, goats, chickens, donkeys, lots of sheep, one in particular was a total savage and earned its title as our favourite but for me the highlight of the full day was when the resident old flea bitten turkey that looked like he’d seen his prime a while back took a liking to Husband. We were all standing at the gate to his field admiring the sheer size of him because from a distance he could have been mistaken for an elaborately dressed hippo, when suddenly he caught sight of us and came speeding over like he was being chased by a Christmas dinner chef. He proceeded to shake violently , all the time eyeing us suspiciously and following us up and down the fence. Husband, being the comedian he is, said the turkey clearly had the hots for me, insinuating that I looked like a fat old turkey but the joke was on him because when I moved down to the next enclosure to look at the chickens and the noisy cockerills, the turkey stood still as a statue staring straight at Husband. We then concluded with great delight that the turkey was either guarding his patch from Husband or was attempting to win his affections. Both would indicate that he saw Husband as either a rival turkey or a girl turkey making it the best day of my life.
I hope your 6 week holidays will be a time you can make those all important memories with your famalam, whether you choose to do this by trips out every day or garden and film days from the comfort of your own home. Just remember whatever you choose to do, a picnic or a great snack selection is always essential.
Good Luck.
Life by Eliza 