Posts in category: Personal

This weekend was one that we’d been looking forward to all year.

The weekend of the Wales National Airshow here in Swansea.

We’ve been along to see it every year since it started, and absolutely love it every single time.  We pack up a bag with a blanket, drinks and snacks and head down to the beach to enjoy the show.

It was a glorious sunny day on Saturday, with clear blue skies and just enough of a breeze to not feel uncomfortably hot.  So we wandered down for the first display at around midday and stayed till the Red Arrows wrapped things up perfectly just after 5 o’clock.

We’ve seen them quite a few times now and they’re always the highlight of the day for me, just amazing to sit and watch.

Normally we would go down to the beach for both days of the Airshow, but this year the displays were the same on both days and the forecast for Sunday was actually pretty grey and soggy.  So, after debating for a while, we decided to give the second day a miss this year.

Lucky for us though, we could still see some of the displays from our bedroom window.

This was the face of a little girl rather excited to have been able to see both the Red Arrows and the RAF Eurofighter Typhoon from our house.

She has always been that little bit more interested in watching the planes than Rhys, and is a huge fan of the Red Arrows.  She does like the Typhoon too, and isn’t even slightly bothered by how loud it is.

It just makes us laugh now when it flies over, because it brings back memories of both Nerys and Rhys sleeping through it when they were babies.  Honestly, if you’ve ever heard it you’ll know how unbelievably loud it is, and it’s just so funny to remember these babies not even stirring in the buggy as it flew past.

The best piece of advice my sister gave me before I had the children was to never tiptoe around them when they’re sleeping, to just carry on as normal, and that they’ll get used to sleeping through the noise.

She was right with my two at least!

Well June has been a pretty glorious month, hasn’t it!

Lots of blue skies and sunshine has meant lots of weekend afternoons spent at the beach.  It’s been so warm that the children have actually been able to swim in the sea which they’ve been absolutely loving.

The beach at Swansea bay is one of our family’s happy places, and having spent so much time there this month it seems fitting that we took our photos there for this month’s me and mine project post.

June has been a pretty good month all round.

The children are happy at school and both had loads of fun at their sports days.  There are only a few more weeks of school for this year and I think they’re starting to reach that wind-down time, where things relax a bit.  Rhys went on a trip with his class to Oxwich bay last week and had a great time looking for crabs and other creatures.  And Nerys’ class have been doing lots of learning with water outside to keep cool in the heat.

As much as they seem to be enjoying school, they’re both definitely looking forward to the summer holidays, and I am too.  Last summer we all seemed to get ill one after the other and it was a bit of a washout, so I’m hoping we’ll all stay healthy this year and can spend plenty of time at the park and the beach.

And I’ll be trying my best not to think too much about the fact that when September rolls round Rhys will be moving into the juniors and Nerys will be at school all day!

I think it’s safe to say that summer has now arrived!

After a bit of a washout last weekend, the sun put his hat back on and came out to play again last week.  Which meant that Rhys’ school sports day went ahead on Friday with blue skies and lots of happy children giving it their all.

I do have mixed feelings about sports day, having never really enjoyed it much myself as a child.  Both Rhys and Nerys seem to really enjoy it though, for now at least.  Rhys took part in 4 races this year, and while he didn’t win any, he really tried and he looked like he had so much fun which surely is what it’s all about when you’re 7.

The sun stuck around into the weekend which meant we could do a Sunday afternoon trip to the beach, which seems to be our standard routine at the moment.

We went down for high tide so the water was really pretty warm, and the children had a blast swimming in the sea and then digging in the sand with our friends who came down to meet us.

They ended up absolutely covered in sand and had to be sent back in the sea to rinse off before we could get them dressed again to come home.

Even then we still brought a fair bit of sand back home with us, and all needed a shower in the evening to rinse it away before bed.  I’ve now reached the point of just accepting that my house will be just that little bit sandy for the rest of the summer.

If it means that we’ve had an amazing summer with plenty of days spent at the beach though, it’ll be well worth it!

Last week was a bit of a funny old week.

One of those weeks where you’re quite busy, and seem to do a fair few things, but nothing that you end up taking photos of.

So despite a fun weekend that included a swimming party (which both children absolutely loved), swimming lessons, another birthday party and Sunday lunch with my in-laws, this week’s Living Arrows photo is from Sunday night bath-time.

Quite a lot of the time now Rhys and Nerys will take it in turns going in the shower before bed, instead of having a bath.

Which means that when they do have a bath it feels that little bit more special again now.  I love that they’ll still happily get in the bath together, and they have a blast playing together with their bath toys and the piles of bubbles that I like to put in.

I have no idea what game they were playing together last night, but it must have been fun because they were giggling away together the entire time.

I really must remember to try and get some video footage next time, because that sound of them playing and laughing with each other is one that I never want to forget.

I can’t believe it’s time for another siblings project post, the weeks seem to be flying by at the moment.

Luckily I remembered in time to get some photos of Rhys and Nerys together on our trip to the beach last weekend.  They’re not quite as picture-perfect as the photos I managed to get last month, but they do perhaps show the children’s personalities a little bit more!

In case you’re wondering, that’s a dogfish egg case in Rhys’ hand in the top two photos.  Also known as a mermaid’s purse apparently.  I don’t think I’d ever really come across them until recently but we seem to be seeing them every time we go to the beach at the moment and Rhys being the way he is loves to pick them up and examine them.

I’m pleased I thought to snap these photos when we first arrived at the beach because it really wasn’t too long before both children had stripped off and started swimming in the sea.

Rhys has been having swimming lessons for a while now and has come on really well.  He absolutely loved being able to go out a bit deeper in the water and practice his front crawl and back stroke.  Nerys on the other hand hasn’t started lessons yet, but has really loved being in the water recently.  She’ll be starting lessons in September hopefully and I think she’ll come on quite quickly having waited till she was that bit older to start.

She’s desperate to be able to do the things that Rhys and his friends can do though, and I have to keep reminding her that she is 3 years younger than they are so they will be faster/stronger/better than her at some things.

I suppose that’s quite common with siblings isn’t it?  For the younger one to want to be just like their older brother or sister!