This month the boys have been loving eating and drinking all the chocolate at our meals out at Bill’s and Timmermans Garden Centre, swimming and going down the big slide with Nana pushing the wheelbarrow at the pumpkin patch, trick or treating and spending a little bit of their pocket money on new pens and a small toy.
My Dad stayed at home watching the rugby, also because he’s having a problem with his ears at the moment which means his hearing is even worse than usual even with his hearing aids in. The boys had been to this park twice before with Nana and Grandad but it was mine and Matteo’s first time there. It was nice to have some fresh air as we hadn’t been out of the house the day before. Ethan & Oliver were in their element running up and down and going on everything. Their favourite has to be the zip wire. In some parks they have to be lifted up to get on but here they can do it all themselves. They loved zooming down and running back to have another go. After half an hour of watching them running off some energy and us adults only really walking a little bit and pushing them on the roundabout and swing, we started to get a bit cold and so we headed back for a cup of tea to warm up.
Gedling Country Park was an old colliery and was officially opened after paths were installed for walking and cycling in 2015. The playground was added in autumn last year and the boys love it. There is a large area for toddlers with a sand pit, floor trampoline, swings, slide and a roundabout and then another large area for older children with swings, two slides and a climbing frame among other things. The boys favourite is the zip wire. There are also picnic benches so you can take food to eat.
This was the fourth time visiting the Pudding Pantry for me, third for the boys. When we really enjoy going somewhere, we go back again and again and we always order the same thing! I know we should probably try something different but I think we like to stick with what we’ve had before and know we love! The staff are so friendly, the service is fast and the food (and drink) really is delicious.
The Nottingham restaurant is set in a beautiful old building which was actually a merchant’s townhouse and has three floors including the cellar which houses the toilets which have been done up with period features. We were sat at a round table for 8 people in a semi-private room off one of the main rooms. This was great for the kids as it meant that when they had finished eating they could get up and walk around without bothering other people eating.
Oh September, where have you gone? Summer is officially over and Autumn is here. Our school, after school activity and work routine has got back to normal now and we made it through some very busy weeks and weekends. Our first week of September was spent in Italy on holiday. We had a lovely time, […]
I suggested we go to a local garden centre that we had never been to before but I had seen others mention on Facebook in the past. I checked the website and saw that the cafe – Belle & Joe’s – had been voted the best garden centre cafe in 2013 by the Nottingham Post.
The month started with the boys at YMCA camp. They had a fun packed week going back and forward on the bus to camp and making some new friends. The second week they had a few more days with Nana and Grandad and we managed to fit in a haircut, buying new school shoes and a play date with a friend from school.
What with all the change of routine and craziness during the week, this month has been full of quiet weekends, catching up on cleaning and washing. The first weekend we went to a house party, the second Saturday the boys went to their last football practice until September and last Saturday we went into town quickly for a pizza at Suede bar to celebrate to start of the summer holidays but apart from that we’ve been having lazy mornings and time at the park.
We started the month off with a trip to Legoland. It was the last few days of half term and our first visit to Legoland. The weather was perfect and the boys were super excited. We had a wonderful time. Our main photo this month is from our second day going into the park and as you can see the weather was amazing. It was great to spend some time away just the four of us and we had some brilliant quality family time. The photo below is from the first day when we first went on the new Ninjago ride. We bought this as a moment but I wish we’d waited until the second day as we went on again and I won and now have no evidence of that fact!! Anyway it was great fun and the boys are already planning our next trip!