Goodbye Holidays - Hello School

So it's been a long old time since I last wrote a post, the kids were off school and much as I would love to tell you how crazy busy we've been, I can't. Well I can, but it's not been all fun and excitement I'm afraid. You see, I no longer have little people and so they tend to go off and do there own thing, leaving yours truly at home twiddling my thumbs and having conversations with our handsome little orange doggy, Max. As of today, though, the holidays are over and both girls are back at school. Miss. L went yesterday and had a ball (Year 7's started back a day earlier), let's see how long that lasts.

However, even though much of the holiday was spent with Max, we did manage to get together a bit. Right at the start of the holidays we had an amazing 'blended' family trip to London for one of the kids birthday's. We travelled up by train, then navigated our way to the London Tombs on the tube. Yep, this was going to be scary day out!

We found the box office, but the main entrance is actually a short walk around the corner, where we patiently queued whilst listening to a particularly creepy rendition of 'London Bridge is Falling Down'. It had the desired effect leaving all, but D just a little bit nervous about stepping in to the main attraction (honestly, I'm not sure that is the right word to use at all for something designed to scare the living daylights out of you). Now I'll be honest, I had an absolute blast, it was just the right amount of scary for me, but poor Miss. L went round the whole thing in tears and Miss. D accidentally swore at one of the actors who scared her (you are not allowed to swear at them). I'm pretty sure she wasn't the first to do so, but it sure as anything made him target her even more. However, you'll be pleased to hear that we did survive the tombs and Miss. L recovered from the stress quite quickly.

We lunched in the amazing Borough Market before heading to Leicester Square, via St. Paul's Cathedral. We were not supposed to go to St. Paul's, but it was chucking it down and I thought a detour via a nice dry subway would be a good idea. It wasn't a good idea, we ended up going miles out of our way, but on the plus side I got this fab photo of the Cathedral.

Apologies for it being a wee bit lopsided, but I was attempting to hold an umbrella at the same time. It was very, very wet, but I just love the reflection and we did eventually arrive at our destination, plus, wee bit of a bonus for Miss. D and I, we saw the 'First Dates' restaurant, which pretty much made our day; obviously if we'd seen the lovely Fred it would have made our entire year - just saying.

It was a very wet day, but it was a lot of fun and the kids (and D) enjoyed making whale noises in the tunnels of the underground as we navigated our way to the different lines we needed. In fact, for the kids, whale noises were the highlight of the day. Note to D and I, spend a cheap day out on the London Underground with the kids next time.

Sadly any trips to the beach went out of the window with the weather, but thankfully the sun saw fit to don his hat and deliver us a glorious bank holiday weekend for our trip to Ramsgate. We took Miss. D's godfather and her crazy friend Miss. E with us and once again, hopped on a train to a festival, Rock Dock and 12 Smoking Barrels.

The festival takes place annually and is a beer and music festival, but it is also family friendly with lots of fairground rides. We went along to see a rather fab little band play. I've seen them a few times and I have to confess to rather liking the drummer, which is probably a good thing since he is my other crazy half. Seriously, though, it was a great day out. We arrived around 2.30pm and the two teens took an instant like to the band who were playing at the time, Friday Night Club. They were very good and on closer inspection I could see why my two teens were just a little bit distracted and also why they got all giggly and shy when the boys came over to them after and gave them both signed set lists. It's always good to speak to a band member's mum and stitch your teens up 😉.

Of course, Twang Rumble Bang were brilliant and everyone around seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Now, I will mention here, that there were a couple of very happy, but very drunk ladies, who were particularly enjoying the music. Whilst everyone else was quietly dancing in their own wee space, these two slightly older, super inebriated girls were having a full on private party all of their own, complete with an attempt at pole dancing with a road sign (I can't lie, it wasn't pretty). I did consider taking a photo for you, but thought better of it, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. It was very good entertainment though, and I really do think the boys should consider hiring them on a regular basis.

All in all, it was a very hot, but super fun day out and everyone had a fabulous time. Here's looking forward to next year.

For now though, the holidays are over and we're back to the routine of early mornings, packed lunches and homework. With luck, Miss. L might just remember to ask her new friends what their names are today. For those of you not yet back to school, enjoy the rest of your time off.