We had an absolutley amazing summer. Fulled with lots of fun!
We had man trips to the Park and lots of outdoors games - football being the main on!


Charlie turned NINE years old! Wow. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Madness. He had a wonderful Birthday.


We were also lucky enough to go to Liverpool and visit Speke Hall during the six weeks holidays. Speke Hall is a huge old Tudor house with lots of grounds/Gardens. The kids loved the maze best!


The little's made some really fabulous world cup posters. England got knocked out of the world cup pretty early on but that's ok, the boys supported Brazil instead. They loved being creative and decorated summer beach hut coin banks from yellow moon.


 We also had a picnic in Victoria Park in London.Which was a lot of fun! We saw the London eye and big Ben, it was super cool, even if it was just thru the window on the coach.


We had lots of lovely long walks, enjoying the sunny, warm weather!
The little's enjoyed flying there kites. They really got the hang of it ever so quickly! I am so proud of them.


 We also went to an air show along the seafront, we loved the red arrows! The little's loved watch all the airplanes do there display over the sea!


The kids really enjoyed crabbing along the river bank! It was such a warm, sunny day! We also had some chips and fed the swans & ducks.


Then it was time for the kids to go back to school. Harry started in year 6 - his last year of Primary school! Charlie started in year 5 and Ellie in year 2! They are truly growing up so fast.

At the end of summer, Ellie turned SEVEN! Whoa. She had a lovely Birthday, got lots of really lovely presents :)


We truly did have an amazing summer! We are really looking forward to Autumn!
I hope you all had a fab summer, too.

Sarah xXx

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A couple of weeks ago, we went to the airshow. We don't live very far from the beach, which is where the air show was hosted!

We got to the seafront around lunch time and ate some chips in one of the little gardens along the seafront. You can not beat chips along the seafront, it's one of favourite things to do! And a really nice treat.

It was SO busy but we didn't let that put us off. We went for a walk around after we'd had something to eat, just before the airshow started!

There were lots of stalls and raffles, things for sale and what not. It was fab! The kids had a lovely time, too.

We watched rescue helicopters 'rescue' people from the sea (who wern't really in danger, they were just demonstrating). We also learned a lot about how rescues happens and a lot about the helicopters and pilots, too. Such good fun & educational, too.

There was also all kind of airplanes and war planes demonstrating. We learned a lot about those, too! It was amazing watching the planes fly over the water and do all kinds of stunts.

Can you guess what our favourites were?

red arrows

 THE RED ARROWS!! Now, they really were awesome.Watching the red arrows display was.. I don't really know how to describe it, it was just incredible. They made a fountain shape with there smoke and a heart shape high in the sky. The kids really LOVED the smoke, the red, blue and white, they looked so pretty! Charlie was totally in awe with them. Ellie was more interested in play8ing in the sand LOL and Harry was like "Wow those pilots are so brave".
It was lovely at the end, when the red arrows were leaving and the whole beach was cheering and clapping! Was rather amazing. 


The kids also got to burn off energy on the beach, build some sand castles and have a little look around all the different stalls. We didn't win on the raffle but I did treat the kids to a little something each :) Bless 'em. We can't wait to go again next year!! Such a cheap, fun day out.



Over all we had a fantastic time!

Sarah xXx

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Yesterday, we decided to make the most of the nice weather. The last week or so, it's been rather dull and wet. Yesterday however was very sunny and warm.
The kids have been wanting to go crabbing for a couple of weeks now, so we decided yesterday, that we would indeed go crabbing!

crabbing along the river.

We sat along the wall by the side of the river and sand and dipped out crabbing lines into the water. Charlie thought it was quite funny that crabs like bacon of all things! He was quite fascinated by that fact!

Fun on the sand and crabbing!

We spent a good hour or so crabbing for crabs. We caught around six or seven large crabs. And then we spent some time on the sand, building sand castles & paddling in the water. We also met up with my grandparents and spent a little time with them on the sand, too! It was a fab day.

The horse was very friendly, he came over to say hi!

After we'd finished crabbing we went for a little walk! We saw horses and ducks, geese and chickens. It was a lovely day out (cheap too!).

Sarah xXx

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A couple of weeks ago, while we were in Liverpool, we decided to take the kids to fly there kites that they bought from the shop at Speke Hall. It wasn't THAT windy but it was quite breezy. It took a few attempts for the kids to get the hang of it. Although, they have flown kites before, it was much easier because we were on a VERY windy beach, which made it easier.



They were so proud of themselves once the kite was flying high in the sky! The kites almost got tangled together at one point. I wish my battery on my phone hadn't of died so I could have taken more photos. Actually, I should have taken my camera but forgot. Never mind.






It was really good fun, the kids had a wonderful time, as did I. It's really something all the family can join in on. They also had fun trying to catch the tail of the kite while it was high up in the sky, jumping and reaching for it, aww.



We're hoping to go kite flying again. On the beach next time though, when it's windy. I'll be sure to remember my camera next time!!!
Such fun.

I am so proud of them for persevering with it and learning to fly a kite! Charlie was like "It's an achievement" and he's right, it was! :)

How have you been enjoying the summer lately?

Sarah xXx

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When we were visiting Liverpool, we decided to go to Speke Hall, Gardens and Estate. Speke Hall is Tudor house set on the banks of The River Mersey. It's a very old, beautiful house with SO much ground, woodland and pretty gardens. There is seriously so much history there and it is so, so beautiful. I feel that my photo's really don't do it any justice. The house is also said to be haunted!



First of all when we got to Speke Hall, we paid our admission, we got a family ticket (two adults and three kids) and we were given a couple of skipping ropes and pair of binoculars for the kids to borrow, in a little red bag - easy for them to carry around. We also got a map of Speke Hall, which contained lots of information as well as a map! We decided to have lunch first. We took our own picnic with us. There's a really lovely picnic area at Speke Hall. There is also a restaurant too.



After we'd had something to eat, the kids wanted to go on the Maze, which is seriously AMAZING! The kids LOVED it. Speke Hall is also right by the airport in Liverpool so we got to see lots of airplanes very, very low because they'd just taken off, which was also quite amazing.


We went for a little walk around the grounds and gardens. Wow, just wow, it is so all so beautifully pretty and so well maintained. There's also lots of sign posts along the way, so we didn't get lost.
We had a little look around the kitchen Gardens (where the bee's were at work). The garden is lovely, lots of plants and fruit/vegies. We learned a lot, too!


We had a look around the courtyard and house, the house is quite dark and although you are allowed to take photographs, no flashes on cameras are allowed. Needless to say, the photos are a little dark (I've lightened some of them using ipiccy), but that's ok. The house is absolutely stunning and I am not sure what I was expecting but I was not expecting it to be as breath taking as it really is. While walking thru the halls and rooms, you can just imagine what it was like in Tudor and Victorians times because the house is so old! I really, really enjoyed it. I think my favourite room was 'The Great Hall'. It was just beautifully stunning. I really got a sense of all the history, it was truly amazing.


After we'd had a look around the house, we went and got an ice lolly/ice-cream from the barn shop and had a rest in South Lawn which is right next to the house (and also by a little shop). We then went on the woodland trail and found a little park/play area for the kids! Which they thought was fantastic. They loved the swing rope thingy. Ellie loved walking around under the trees exploring.


We made our way around the woodland trail, taking in the gorgeous surroundings.
We stopped again at the Maze and the other play area before we checked out the little gift shop at Speke Hall.

A thumbs up from Ellie!!!

There is seriously so much for kids to do at Speke Hall - two play areas, a maze, the house itself.. The gardens.. the woodland, there is just SO much to do and see! The kids enjoyed running around in the open spaces and burning off lots of energy. I would love to go back. We didn't get to see everything at Speke Hall and the surrounding grounds/gardens/estate. Next time we visit Liverpool I would certainly go back.
I wish we lived closer, I would totally invest in yearly passes because I think I could go there every week and not get bored and I know the kids feel the same!


There was a lot of staff around to ask questions and give directions etc. Charlie was all like "The people have dressed up in olden day clothes" Ha, he was impressed with staff dressing up, aww. That I thought, was a nice touch.

My favourite part? Certainly without a doubt - the house itself! I loved it.
The kids favourite part? Probably the woodland play area and The Maze. Although they did enjoy everything about our day out at Speke Hall.
Would we go back again? ABSOLUTELY!

A view of the River Mersey, from the top of the maze at Speke Hall.

Speke Hall is the best day out we've had for a long, long time. It was really great fun.

Sarah xXx

Please note: No one has asked me to write this blog post, it isn't sponsored in any way, shape or form, I haven't been paid for this post. We paid our own admissions etc. I am writing this post because I personally wanted to share our day out with the world! 
*All photos in this post were taken by me*

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I haven't joined in with reasons to be cheerful since the kids broke up from school for the summer. I haven't had very much time and I have had a bit of a headache, which sucks. Anyway, here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Visiting family up north! It's so lovely to see everyone, the kids really enjoy visiting family and getting to see everyone again. We had a family get together and a good ol'e catch up! Such good fun, hehe.

View of the river Thames and London eye from the coach.

2) London! I actually got to see part of London when we were on our way up north. We also had a lovely picnic in the park while waiting for our next coach. The kids and I were amazed at how busy it was (not great for my anxiety) and how big the building all were! I really want to go back and do some proper site seeing, maybe it won't be so busy in the cooler months? Ha, one can only wish.

3) We're going for a day out sometime over the next week or so, we can't wait! These Summer holidays are flying by and we are really trying to make the most of it while the weather is (semi) nice. I am really enjoying spending extra time with the kids and not having to rush around doing schools runs, uniforms, lunches and trying to pack everything into a few hours before it's time to pick the kids up from school again. It's great to just relax and not have to rush :)

How are your summer holidays going?

Sarah xXx

We went to the park yesterday for a kick about with the ball. All three of my kids are huge football fans, they love nothing more than a good ol'e game of footy. So, while the weather was nice, we thought we would make the most of it :)

Sarah xXx

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