Weymouth

In the first week of September, we went on holiday to Weymouth with my mum. It was the first holiday Evelyn had been on, and she turned 6 months while we were there so we could give her some food. 

We got the train down on the Saturday, leaving home early so we could walk through London at a leisurely pace instead of trying to get through the underground with two prams. We met my Mum, Chris and Jenny at the train station and walked to the beach, with Jenny getting a bucket and spade of chips on the way. Kaleb had a ride on the carousel on the beach, and then had a paddle in the sea. We had fish and chips for tea, and I gave Evelyn some bread sticks and yoghurt; the first food she tried. She pulled a very amusing face when trying the new flavours. 

On the Sunday, Evelyn had a paddle in the sea along with Kaleb. She sort of stayed still on all fours letting the end of the sea wash over her hands. Chris attempted to get his lighter out of his pocket while we were in town and managed to drop it directly down the drain. There was a butchers in town called the "Sausage Factory", where I got some specially flavoured sausages to try out for tea; I liked the sweet and sour ones. As the sun was setting, Kaleb looked out the window and said "Sun going to sleep". Chris and Jenny went home in the evening, getting the train back that me and Liz had taken to get there. 

We took the kids to the sea life centre on Monday. We were walking through the underground tunnel when Evelyn woke up and she started looking around in amazement. There was a simple seal ride there that we all went on; I had Evelyn on my lap. 

On Wednesday we went to the Observation tower. Liz stayed at the bottom with Evelyn, and I went up with Kaleb, Mum and Martin. 

Afterwards, we got on the train car that went to the sea life centre, and got onto another train ride nearby, followed by a wander around the sand sculptures. My Mum got Kaleb an inflatable rocket boat, and he had fun playing with it in the sea. 

Liz had a spa treatment planned in Poole for Thursday, so I went with her and Evelyn. I took Evelyn for a walk along the quay and had an ice cream outside the oldest pub on the quay. 

Kaleb rode on a donkey on the beach on the Friday. He looked nervous at first when he was put in the saddle, but started to enjoy himself as he rode along. 

We left the house we were staying in on the Saturday morning and had the car packed, but stayed in Weymouth for the day. The kids watched a Punch and Judy show and played on the beach. At the end of the day, we had a wander around the gardens by Nothe Fort, and along the coast before driving home with my Mum.  

Henley Holiday 2013

We got back from our holiday in Henley on Thames yesterday. Kaleb has had quite a week, as he had a sleep in and a very long nap today. It was the first holiday we have had with Kaleb, and two years since me and Liz last went to Henley.

As I knew we had a lot to bring along with Kaleb, I wanted to make sure we had everything we needed, so quickly threw together an app for my tablet to keep track of everything we wanted to take with us, whether we had packed it, and whether we brought it back with us when we returned. I tinkered with it while we were on holiday as I had my netbook with me, and might put it on the Google play store at some point.

The plan was that I would go to dad's club as usual and be picked up from there, with Liz and my Dad putting everything in the car, but we were running late so I helped pack things into the car before heading off and getting a pub lunch on the way.

Not as late as my cousin and brother, however, who took the same wrong turning as last time...

We did a wander around the local supermarket after getting there and unpacking a bit, Kaleb was asleep so he went around in his car seat. We got a BBQ and fire pit as the concrete ones had been removed, and our plans for Sunday needed a BBQ.

Preparation for the Sunday BBQ included constructing the BBQ, putting up the gazebo, and clearing some of the garden of goose droppings so Kaleb could crawl around the grass a bit. My dad stayed for most of the day, but went home that evening for work that week.

We slept in for most of the morning on Monday and Tuesday, having a big breakfast each day, but it did mean we didn't do much until after midday, having a wander around Henley each day. We did discover that it was a bit chilly in the mornings, but as we only had pyjamas for Kaleb and not a sleep suit, we fashioned our own by tucking socks into his pyjama legs, which seemed to work well.

Another BBQ was planned for Wednesday, which was a lovely sunny day. We got Kaleb's paddling pool inflated for him, and after the initial confused look wondering why he was suddenly wet, he had fun splashing around in it.

On Thursday, me and Liz went to Reading for the day, to look around some of the shops there. At the last craft fair we went to, we found out about another one in Henley while we were visiting, so went to that on the Friday, after which we started to tidy up the house so we had less to do the morning we were leaving.

After a final evening fire, with marshmallows, we went to bed quite late, so it was a good thing we didn't have too much to do the next morning.

We all had a lot of fun that week, I think Wednesday was my favorite day. Kaleb seems to have enjoyed himself as he had a big sleep the night after we got home, and a very long nap this afternoon.

Tidy

In my last post I pondered what I was going to do with myself over the long bank holiday weekend. In the end me and Liz did end up doing a lot of tidying. We finally finished sorting out stuff in the middle bedroom that we've had to do for a long time, which is good. Some things just got re-boxed again, but at least we have sorted through it at least the once. We also did a huge pile of paper shredding that has been getting bigger and bigger, and sorted out things in the dining room, including gathering together some books we don't use to give to a charity shop somewhere. We did take some things to a charity shop today; the first two we usually go to were closed (as its a bank holiday), but luckily we did find one to drop off two bags to (as they were getting heavy carrying them into town). I did also make some cake and a load of biscuits which I brought along to dinner yesterday with my family, which went down well. Still have some cake left, but the biscuits got finished off pretty quickly (I was eating them on and off since they were cooked, so I didn't have a full tub to bring along anyway). 


In all, it was a productive weekend, which I think is good, as it gave us a chance to catch up on things that we've been meaning to do for a while. Plus I got to try out an old cake recipe I had written down to see if I could still make it. 

Four

This weekend is sandwiched between two bank holidays, leaving me with 4 days off in a row. As I have been pretty busy, I hadn't really thought about it, so the extra days off is a nice surprise. 


My problem at the moment is that, as I hadn't thought about the extra days, I haven't got anything planned, so need to think of something to do for the extra two days. 

Wales Trip

I started the last week waking up to this view:

This was taken looking out the window of the chalet we were staying in for a holiday we were on the last week.  

Perception of time

Having just done my first week back at work after a week and a half off, I've noticed that the time seemed to pass at different speeds each time.

Luckily, the time off seemed to last and the time working went fairly quickly. I don't usually notice it as the weekends seem to go at the same speed (or at least my perception of it), so its only really apparent when I have longer off. The only time I really notice the working week has gone fast is when its seeming suddenly got to Friday. Long term, it doesn't seem as though I've been working for as long as I have since finishing my masters (which, granted, has been less than a year, but it doesn't seem like anywhere near it).

As said, this is just my perception of the time passing. Maybe the seemingly quicker weeks is because my sleeping pattern has changed from late nights and sleep ins when I was a student to early mornings for work.

Part of me thinks I should be more productive in my spare time, albeit the small amount of it that I have, but the problem then comes of not being able to think of anything productive I can be doing for a few hours after work with less energy than I'd like as I've been at work all day. Think I'll just stick with relaxing in my spare time for the time being, seems to be working for me for the moment :)