Posts in category: Personal

After two months in a row of siblings photos taken at the beach, we’ve got a bit more variety for August!

The school holidays are in full swing and the children have been really enjoying the break from school.

We’ve had quiet days at home, late nights up watching films, trips into town on a double decker bus and plenty of visits to the local parks.  Our one ‘big day out’ of the summer so far was to Cardiff to see the amazing dinosaurs at Jurassic Kingdom.

Along with the main dinosaur installations there were other a few other pieces like this giant dinosaur egg that were perfect for some fun photo opportunities.

These next few photos are some of my favourites of the children recently.

They’re not posed at all; they’re action shots from them very enthusiastically playing a game of boules together at the family fun day in Dunvant park.  They may not have technically been playing the game right but man alive did they have fun!

One of the things I wanted to do this summer was give the children chances to try out different activities and learn some new skills and I’m pleased that we’ve managed to do that to some extent.

Along with having a go at playing boules they’ve also tried their hands at yoga and football and have both been starting to learn how to ride a bike without stabilisers.  At the start of the holidays we spent quite a bit of time swimming too.  Rhys did his diving course which he really enjoyed and we went swimming several times as a family.

Nerys will be starting proper swimming lessons in September and I think she’ll come on really quickly with it.  She’s already built up her confidence in the water through our visits to the pool so hopefully she’ll be leaving the arm bands behind quite quickly once she starts lessons.

Have your children been learning any new skills this summer?

We’ve reached the mid-point of the school holidays, and it’s been pretty lovely so far.

That’s not to say there haven’t been raised voices and bad moods and a few tears.  But generally speaking, it’s been really nice.

Last week we had good enough weather to be able to spend a fair bit of time outside.

We went to a football session in Brynmill park which both children got stuck into and really enjoyed.  We also did a family yoga session together which was brilliant.

The children had a day out in Margam park with their grandparents and then Steve took the day off on Friday to come to Cardiff with us to check out the Jurassic Kingdom even in Bute park.

This week’s photos though were taken at a family fun day in Dunvant park.

The children did a kite-making workshop which was great fun, and then played with the various games and sports activities that were on offer.

And while Nerys was busy bouncing on a space hopper, Rhys got to play dress-up with some real police kit which he was really excited about.

Among all those fun trips out locally, I also tried something that I thought might be a bit of a challenge for us one day last week.

We had a day at home without computers and ipads.  We did have the tv on for a bit, so it wasn’t a completely screen-free day, but it was a real break from our normal at-home routine.

And it went really well.

I was so impressed with the lack of complaining from the children, especially Rhys who would happily play on the computer all day if we let him.

We spent a couple of hours in total outside the front of the house, with the children learning to ride Rhys’ ‘proper’ bike. They both practised their football skills in the back garden with the pop-up goal I ordered a few weeks ago.  We drew pictures, baked cakes and even tidied up the lounge.

It was just a lovely day, spent together having fun.

With 3 more weeks of holiday to go, I think we’ll try another day or two at home with limited technology before school starts again.

Do you limit how much screen time your children have in the holidays? 

For the first time this year I’ve had a bit of a wobble with the me and mine project.

Despite the stunning weather we had for a fair chunk of July we didn’t manage to take a family photo.  And as we got a couple of days into August I started to think about just skipping it, not even trying to get a picture for July.

Then I reminded myself about the fact that, for me at least, it really doesn’t matter if I get the photos at the right time, all the time.  So what if we have 2 sets of family photos quite close together, because we do it twice in August?

The main thing is that we get the photos.

So at the weekend we took the camera along to Singleton park and snapped these shots.

Looking at these, I’m so happy that we made the time to do it.  That we didn’t just let it go and not bother taking photos for July.  It really is a case of better late than never as far as I’m concerned.

I can’t see me ever regretting taking these photos of us all together, but I know I would really have regretted it if we hadn’t done it this time around.

Now I just want to be a bit more organised and make sure we actually take August’s photos in August.

I have a feeling this summer is going to fly by.

Last week was pretty much all about Rhys doing his diving course with his swimming school.  It was an hour a day for four days and it was amazing to watch him progress over that time.  He wasn’t quite diving by the end of it, but came on so much and it did a lot of good for his confidence too.

Confidence and bravery was actually a bit of an ongoing theme for us last week.

One afternoon we went to Cwmdonkin park for a play, and both children spent a fair bit of time on the wooden climbing frame.  This particular climbing frame is quite tricky to navigate and is really quite high up in places.

Rhys really wanted to make his way round the whole thing but kept telling me that he was scared of being so high up.

So I told him a few times, that it’s ok to feel scared.  That being brave isn’t about not feeling scared at all, it’s about doing the thing you want to do even though it scares you.

And this right here is the fierce face of a little boy who was brave.  Who faced his fear.  Who conquered that climbing frame in style.

Of course, not to be outdone by her big brother, Nerys got up there in the thick of it too.

She is so determined this one. 

So keen to prove that she can do anything Rhys can do.

It’s a funny thing being a parent.

We think that we’re the teachers, the ones passing on our knowledge and experience about the world.  But honestly, I’m learning so much myself through being a mum.  My children have taught me so much already, and seeing them tackle challenges is honestly quite inspiring at times.

Watching them both be so brave last week and push themselves to discover what they’re really capable of was just a great reminder to me that maybe I could do well to do the same myself a bit more often.

We’re just over a week into the summer holidays and we’ve already been swimming three times.

And the children spent a morning last week splashing around in the lido at Blackpill.

I think maybe we’re making up for all the time that went by without us taking Nerys swimming.  She had a great time in the pool when we went to Bluestone last year and then we didn’t take her again until a few months ago.

Luckily though she seems to have really found her confidence in the water.

This was her face after swimming yesterday, when she braved bobbing about without her armbands on and put her head under the water for longer and longer periods of time.

We’ve put her name down to start proper lessons in September and I think she’ll come on really quickly there.

This week though it’s Rhys’ turn to challenge himself a bit.

Today he’s starting a week of diving lessons and I can’t wait to see how he gets on with it.  I have never learnt to dive (I’ve never really liked putting my head under the water) so it makes me so happy to see him so bold and keen to do it.

He’s already started the very beginning stages of learning to dive in his normal lessons, so I’m really curious to see how far he gets with it over the next four days.  Whatever happens though he’ll still be doing more than I’ve ever done with diving!

Is there anything that your children can do that you’ve never mastered yourself?

We made it.

It’s been quite a big, long year for both children but we finally made it to the school holidays!

The last few weeks of term were busy with meetings about next year, class parties, non-uniform days and forms and slips to be signed and taken back to school.

Does anyone else sometimes feel that there’s a slightly manic atmosphere at the end of the school year, with so much for us parents to keep track of and remember?!

We made it though, and had a pretty quiet weekend which we all needed.

Sunday started off a bit grey but by the time Rhys had finished his swimming lesson pretty much all the cloud had vanished and left behind a gorgeous sunny day.

So we made the most of it with another little trip to the beach.

There was quite a strong breeze down by the sea but the children still ran straight out into the water for a swim.  I’d taken the camera with me, hoping to get a family photo for the me and mine project, so stayed on the sand watching the others splash about.

I have vowed though that one day soon I will leave the camera at home and go for a good swim in the sea myself.  The fact that I can’t remember the last time I did it is surely a sign that I should do it sooner rather than later!

Does anyone else swim in the sea in the UK or is it something you only really do when you go abroad?

This week’s photos were taken on our Friday evening trip to Swansea bay, just before I took our siblings project photos for July.

We popped down to the beach right at high tide and it was absolutely gorgeous down there.

The children had stripped off and were in the water before we knew it, and they had a blast splashing around and jumping in the waves.  I realised recently that a lot of the photos I’ve been sharing for Living Arrows have been more close-up portraits, so I wanted to mix things up a bit this week and went for some action shots of Rhys and Nerys enjoying being in the sea.

They are both getting more and more confident in the water and I love how these photos capture that, with both of them running into the water so boldly.

And I had to share the last photo too, just because it made me smile with Nerys looking almost lost in thought while Rhys is in the background up to no good!

We’re on the home stretch now with school, just this last week to go before we can breathe and relax and slow things down for a few weeks.  Part of me still can’t believe the holidays are nearly here though; these last few weeks seem to have flown by and all of a sudden we’re here and the big changes that have been lurking on the horizon are edging closer and I’m still not ready.

I’m not ready to have a child in year 3.  And I’m really not ready for both my children to be in full time school.

It really feels like the end of an era, and I can’t dwell on it too much without getting a bit tearful to be honest.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be the mum having a little cry in the car on the way home from the first school run of the year.

So for now, I’ll enjoy my last week of afternoons with my baby, and then 6 weeks of chaos with both children around, and hopefully plenty of time spent at the beach.