Posts in category: Personal

Well September just flew by didn’t it.

The summer holidays feel like ages ago and we’re nicely back in the swing of the school routine.

We did break from our usual routine a few weeks ago though, and headed out to gower one evening.

Steve took us to Rhossili and we climbed up to the top of a hill to get the most amazing view of the sun setting over the sea.

And if that wasn’t the perfect time to get a family photo for this month’s me and mine project I don’t know what would be!

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening and a perfect reminder of how lucky we are to live where we do.

The children honestly have no idea how spoilt they are!

I tried to explain to them on the walk back down to the car how many people out there haven’t even seen the sea in person, let alone watched the sun set over it.  But I don’t think they could really grasp it yet.  Heading to the beach is such a normal thing for them, I don’t think they can get their heads around the idea of people never having paddled in the sea or dug their toes into the sand.

The last month also saw the children both running in the 1K race as part of the Swansea bay 10K, which they really enjoyed.  They’ve done it for a few years now and really look forward to it.

Rhys ran by himself this year as he’d moved up to the next age group, and Nerys ran with Nana.

They both did so well and are really proud of their special medals that they got at the end.

Now we’re at the end of September it definitely feels like autumn is here.

It’s been wet and windy and it feels like all of a sudden it’s getting darker earlier.  It won’t be long before I’m taking the children to cubs and rainbows in the dark, which Nerys is already excited about.

Do your children seem to enjoy being out and about after dark?

We had a pretty big week last week.

Nerys lost her second tooth, which had been wobbly for a while.  It came out when she was in school so she came home with it carefully wrapped in a paper towel.

I think she was just thrilled that she didn’t swallow this one like she did the first one that came out!

And in very happy news, Rhys has finally lost the black, chipped tooth that’s been stubbornly refusing to come out for about a year!

He fell and banged his gums on the lounge windowsill when he was little which is what made the tooth turn black.  And then he chipped it on two different occasions at school.

The dentist has looked at it a few times and reassured us that it would just come out in its own time, even when the adult tooth started coming in behind it.

And now, at long last, it has happened.  It looks like the adult tooth is already shifting into its rightful place too which is good.

So we had two very happy children who were visited by a very understanding tooth fairy who left them a coin each even though they left a note saying they didn’t want her to take their teeth away.

The children also both tried out clubs after school last week.

Nerys went to yoga club and Rhys went along to Taiko drumming.  They both came out saying they’d had a great time, so I think they’ll be sticking with them for a bit.

I’m really pleased that they’re having a go and trying new things.  I just have to get used to the to-ing and fro-ing now!

Do your children do any clubs after school?

It’s that time of year again.

When we head down to the front to watch the children run the 1K race as part of the Swansea bay 10K.

This is the 5th year that Rhys has done it, and the 2nd year that Nerys has joined in too.  Things were a bit different this year with Rhys moving up to the next age group.  So Nerys ran with Nana and then Rhys went on his own with the older children.

They both did brilliantly and are so proud of themselves.

I wasn’t sure how Rhys would feel on the day, going by himself slightly later than Nerys and Nana, but he was absolutely fine.  He did make me laugh though as he was quite happy jogging along as he got to where we were watching, then got a burst of energy when he spotted us and sprinted towards the finish line.

Some of the children who take part seem so determined and competitive, and really go for it the whole way along the route, whereas Rhys just seemed to be having fun just taking part.  What I love so much about these runs though is how supportive everyone is towards all the children.  The ones who cross the finish line last get as much support and claps and cheers as the first ones to come sprinting along.  Maybe even more.

We weren’t sure if Rhys and Nerys would actually make it to run this weekend, because they were both a bit under the weather at the end of last week.  They were coughing nicely and suffering with blocked up noses.  And with the weather predicted to be really wet, we weren’t sure if it was the best idea for them to run.

But when we asked them on Saturday night about it they were both absolutely determined to still go and do it.

I’m so pleased they decided to go for it, and as it turned out it really wasn’t that wet out after all.

Not that they would’ve been bothered if it was pouring down.  They both had the attitude of ‘it’s just rain’ which made me smile so much.  We do try to live by the attitude that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing, and I’m pleased that this seems to have rubbed off on the children.

I’ll be honest though, I’m still not really looking forward to getting soaked on the school run this week after a run of warm sunny days last week!

We did something a little bit out of our normal routine this weekend.

The weather was gorgeous on Saturday but none of us really fancied doing much in the day. So we had a really lazy day with too much screen time and even a sneaky nap for me.

Then at about 6 o’clock we ventured out.

Steve drove us out to Rhossili and we climbed up to the trig point on Rhossili down.  We weren’t going to climb all the way up there, but Nerys got a burst of energy when we reached our first stopping point and insisted that we went all the way up.

I’ll be honest here and admit I didn’t really fancy the walk up to the trig point, but I’m so pleased that the children pushed us on to do it because the view from up there was stunning.

We got there about 10 minutes before sunset, so we could settle down and watch the sun go down over the sea.

It was absolutely beautiful, and the children were enthralled by it.

They’ve seen sunsets from the house before but have never been out anywhere like this to just sit and watch it happen in all its colourful glory.

As we walked back down the hill we kept stopping to look at the changing colours in the sky, it was so pretty.

By the time we were on our way back home it was pretty dark, and then we got another treat when we turned a corner and saw the huge moon, glowing orange.  I think I actually gasped because it was so unexpected, and I can’t remember the last time I saw the moon look so big!

To top it all off, Rhys even got to watch the fireworks from Singleton Park’s proms in the park from our bedroom window once we got home.  He kept saying how lucky he was to have seen all these amazing things in one day.

It was such a simple thing really.

A beach and a sunset.

But it was beautiful and magical and something that I don’t think any of us are likely to forget.

We’re two weeks in to the new school year and the summer holidays are already starting to feel like ages ago.

I’m holding on to those long sunny days for a bit in this month’s siblings post though, with a few photos of the children from before school started back up again.

The first photo is from the day we went on our little tour of our local parks.

We went to Cwmdonkin, Brynmill, Singleton, Singleton boating lake and Cory street parks over the course of an afternoon.  It was a bit of a trek but the children did brilliantly, and really enjoyed themselves.

The other pictures for this month’s post were taken on our family outing to Penllegare woods.

We walked a fair way round the wood, with a few stops now and then to rest and one stop to climb a big tree.  I love how Rhys has got his huge stick in his hand in both these photos.  He wanted to take one of his sticks from home with us, but we convinced him that he would probably be able to find a new one, seeing as we were going to the woods!

These two had a really lovely summer, and seem to enjoy each other’s company more and more as they’re getting older.

I think they miss each other now they’re back in school.  Quite often in the mornings Nerys will run over to give Rhys a last hug before he goes in, and before I run with her round to her classroom.

We have a five minute window in the mornings, from when the doors open and then close again for registration.  So it’s a bit of a rush to get both children in to their classrooms on time.  But I’m not quite ready to leave Rhys in the yard yet, and I don’t think he’s quite ready for me to leave him either.  So for now we’ll keep on waiting for him to go in with his class, then doing the mad dash round to get Nerys in too.

Anyone else find it a bit of a race to get more than one child to the right classroom in the mornings?!

We made it through the first week back at school relatively unscathed.

Things were a bit dicey two days in when Rhys managed to lose his brand new lunchbox.  But luckily it was found again the next day, so disaster was averted.

Both children seem to have settled into their new classes nicely though.

The school have changed up the way the classes are organised throughout the school, but luckily Rhys and Nerys seem to be pretty unbothered by it all.

They were definitely tired by the end of that first week back though, so we had a lovely quiet weekend to let us all recuperate a bit.

Saturday was spent at home, generally lounging around and watching random bits and pieces on YouTube.

Then Sunday we took the children to their swimming lessons then whizzed into town to pick up a few things.  The afternoon was then spent at home, pottering about.

I took these photos of Nerys while she sat by our big living room window sill playing with her toys.

She had some kinetic sand and was using it with her playmobil ‘at the beach’ playset.

The set has a tiny sandcastle in it that, it turns out, you can use to actually make mini sandcastles with.  Nerys had a great time making tiny kinetic sand sandcastles with it!

She has a few different Playmobil sets now and I love seeing how creative she is when she plays with them.  Although I’m not all that creative when she wants me to play with her, I just never know what to make the different characters say or do.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with this!

There is a green outside my parents’ house that has three trees on it that were just perfect for climbing when I was young.

In the years since I moved away they’ve been cut back, so you can’t climb them in the same way any more.  But I can still picture them, still remember exactly how we used to get up the one we climbed most often.

You would grab the lowest branch and walk your legs up the trunk.  Then hook one leg over and haul yourself around and up.  I did it so often the movement is ingrained in my memory.

Climbing trees is a classic childhood activity isn’t it, but it’s not something that Nerys in particular has done all that much.

So I really loved seeing her boldly clambering up this big tree we came across on our walk round Penllergare woods last week.

She thought it was brilliant being up there, and would’ve happily stayed up there for ages if we’d let her.

We had more exploring to do though, so after a few more photos she did agree to come back down.  I think I might keep an eye out for other good climbing trees while we’re out and about though, I quite like watching both my children figure out how to get themselves up in the branches.

Do your children like to climb trees?  Did you used to do it when you were younger?