Posts in category: Personal

We had a bit of a break from our normal routine last week, thanks to Rhys going away on a school residential trip.

The last one he went on was in 2020, just before the pandemic took hold and everything shut down.

So it felt like a pretty big deal to all of us for him to be going away, especially because this time it was for 4 days. The staff were amazing though and put loads of photos on Class Dojo each day so we could see what they were up to and how much fun they were having.

It also meant we got to see if Rhys tackled the activities he was nervous about, like abseiling.

I had such a big smile on my face when this particular photo came through, because I knew how unsure he was before he went about giving it a try.

When he got home and told us all about it you could see how proud he was of himself for going for it, and I think he actually enjoyed it once he got going. His favourite activity was the zipwire though, which did surprise me having seen how high up the children went to do it!

They also did paddle boarding, raft building, canoeing, archery, rifle shooting, team games, orienteering, and fencing.

All things considered, he didn’t look anywhere near as dishevelled as I thought he would by the time he came home!

He was glad to be back though and to sleep in his own bed and be back with the family. And the rest of us were so happy to have him home again and hear all about his adventures.

Any one else feel like they’re going to be thrown off all week now with the children not being in school today?!

I’m already out of sync after my two had an inset day on Friday so I don’t really stand a chance this week.

On Friday I had one of the captains from our local golf club at the house so I could take her portrait photo for the clubhouse wall.

I’ve been taking these photos for the club for a few years now and it’s something I normally manage to get done when the children are at school. This time though, with it being an inset day, they were at home with me, so we made the most of my home studio set up being up and took a few photos.

I don’t normally do these kinds of photos with the children, with the clean white background, but I love how these turned out.

I’m hoping Rhys has an even bigger smile on his face at the end of this week because he’s off on a school residential trip tomorrow.

He is a bit nervous about it but I know he’ll have such an amazing time once he’s there. It sounds like it’ll be a pretty classic school trip with activities like orienteering, abseiling, and archery so he’ll be kept pretty busy while he’s away.

I still remember the trip I did with my school when I was his age so I hope his will be one he always remembers too.

The end of another month can only mean one thing, a new family photo.

We took these pictures in the Rhododendron gardens in Singleton Park, after having a wander round to see if there were any new varieties in bloom.

It took a bit of time to get these this month, thanks to the battery in the remote trigger for the camera giving up on us. So one of us had to set the timer and then run back quickly to jump in the frame.

I think we did a pretty good job of it after a few practice runs, and ended up with some great shots like the last one when Nerys didn’t quite make it back in time!

We officially have an 11 year old in the house.

It really doesn’t feel like that long ago that I was getting my head around Rhys hitting double figures and now all of a sudden he’s 11!

His birthday started with doughnuts for breakfast after the excitement of opening up his cards and presents.

Nerys gave him some fidget toys and some sweets that she had bought with her own money and then wrapped herself, and she was so happy seeing him open them.  And what’s really lovely is that he’s played with the fidgets loads already, so she’s happy that she chose well for him!

Along with playing with his new fidgets he also played the new game we got him for his Switch and went for a long walk with Steve so he could play Pokémon Go on the phone that we finally relented and gave him.

He’s been asking for one for years and we’ve always told him he didn’t need one, but with secondary school not all that far away it seemed like a reasonable time for him to have one.  It did make me feel old though, thinking about the fact that I don’t think I could’ve even imagined this kind of technology when I was his age!

We had an interesting conversation with him and Nerys, trying to explain about how different things were when we were younger.

I don’t think they could quite get their heads around the idea of no internet, no mobile phones, and only 4 TV channels with no option to pause or rewind unless you taped the programmes onto a VHS tape.

I suppose when you’ve lived your whole life with these things, it’s really quite hard to try and imagine a world without them!

You know those times where you kind of have to just laugh, cos otherwise you’ll cry?

The first week of the Easter holidays was one of those times, with Nerys catching the chickenpox.

Luckily for her she seemed to have a relatively mild dose of it, but she was still pretty miserable and unwell for the first few days.  And then she had a couple of days (and nights) of being frustrated with feeling so itchy.

We got some Virasoothe gel which really did seem to help and she was so good about trying her best not to scratch her spots.

She was really disappointed to not be able to do a few things we had planned for the start of the holidays but the timing of it all worked out so that she was free to go out and enjoy the Easter egg hunt in Brynmill park at the weekend.

We’ve done this Easter egg hunt most years that it’s been on and the children always really enjoy it.

The older children had 8 letters to find hidden around the park that spelled out the word ‘Brynmill’, and once we’d found them all they got to exchange their answer sheets for an egg each.

It’s such a simple thing but it’s always a lot of fun and I was so relieved that Nerys was actually able to take part this year.

I’m also planning on doing another Easter egg hunt at home for the children today, as something fun to do with their cousins who are coming for a visit.

The weather is looking ok too, so we’ll most likely head out for a walk down to the beach at some point to get everyone out of the house and burning off some of that excited energy!

More than anything I’m just hoping we can enjoy this second week of the holidays before Rhys potentially comes down with the chickenpox too!

As a general rule as a parent, you want your children to share with each other, don’t you.

Until something comes along that you’re not actually sure if you want them to share.  Like chickenpox.

Nerys spent the first week of the Easter holidays with it.  And with it being one of those fun illnesses where you’re infectious before you realise you have it, she’s  obviously been in close contact with Rhys without us knowing that she was unwell.

So now the waiting game begins, to see if he will come down with it too.

In the meantime we’re getting out while we can, but kind of trying to stick to outdoor spaces where we can keep our distance from other families.

To be honest, I can’t quite believe Rhys has made it to nearly 11 without catching chickenpox.

He’s been exposed to it so many times over the years, he really should’ve had it by now!

And now I’m caught in the middle of hoping he does get it now so it’s done and out of the way and he won’t end up having it when he’s older (which from what I’ve heard can be a lot worse), and hoping he doesn’t catch it because it sort of goes against your instincts doesn’t it, to hope your child falls ill!

Parents of more than one, did your children have chickenpox at the same time or did one of them manage to avoid it when the other had it?!

The Easter holidays got off to a fun start for Rhys with a birthday party for one of his friends at Lazerzone.

We got the bus into town together, and I ran around getting bits of shopping done while he ran around having a blast with his friends.

He’d never been to laser tag before, but he had a pretty decent idea of what to expect and I think the experience absolutely lived up to his expectations.

He had so much fun and was just buzzing when I picked him up at the end.

They must’ve been pretty much non-stop during the party though because Rhys was actually looking tired on the bus back home, which is almost unheard of for him!