Flow Rider Surfing

So, the surfing pictures are back! 

We all had so much fun. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone thinking about it. It was Stella (Rich's sister) and Carl's 20th anniversary so they had a party. Both families were invited and as such we were split between the 2 wave machines, so I only have pictures of the Brown clan as we happened to split down the middle. There was a quick instruction video, and then off to get wetsuits. 

Now, aside from Rich, none of the men had worn wetsuits before. Ethan had a fit of shyness and so asked to change in the shower cubicle. While they were in there, all the blokes got ready and came out. With their suits on backwards. Much fun was poked, particularly at Carl who though he has never worn one before, has a wife who can scuba and has her own suit, so we thought he'd at least remember that the zip goes up the back!

Our lovely instructor Tom showed us briefly how to bodyboard and get up onto our knees, and off we went.

 Stell with Tom

 After Stell's first wipeout :)

 Big Sam (Rich's younger brother) and you can just spot Rich biffing it at the back. We were shown how to glide fairly gracefully to the side to stop, but while it looked simple, it was very much not.

Hence my look of intense concentration! And here I am...

 It is my unfortunate privilege to inform you that in this position, with the water wooshing up and under the board, your...ahem...personal area... gets a little bashed. It wasn't that big of a deal and not really painful but I am assured it was worse for the men. Sorry fellas. Still, an incentive to learn quickly how to get up on your knees!

Despite the look on my face, I really enjoyed it. Even if wetsuits are the least flattering piece of clothing in the entire world.

Rich above, and with his brother Big Sam below.

 I really didn't expect much from Ethan, I thought he'd either refuse to try, or try once, fall off, and then refuse to try. However, he put us all to shame! He had several turns and wants to go again. I was really impressed with how brave he was as it's not one of his strong points. He absolutely loved it and really wants to go again.

With help from the instructor, and on his own :)

Too fast to snap! 

We were also shown how to do it standing up on special thin wooden boards - a little like skim boards on the beach. However there are no photos of this, even though I managed to stand up alone for a whole ooh... 15 seconds ;)

We did it at The Flowhouse at Xscape, Castleford, and we absolutely loved it, the water was warm enough that we didn't get cold in between turns, and the instructors were friendly and helpful. Now, it's a little pricey at £22-25 for kids and £30-35 for adults, and we were incredibly grateful to Stella and Carl for being so generous as to pay for everyone. There are group deals and multiple session deals, but still it's a bit teeth-suck inducing. I still would go again though, it was tons of fun and for a special treat definitely worth it. And the look on Ethan's face when he'd done it by himself was absolutely priceless. 

So overall, I'd definitely recommend it, even with the price. Hang 10! Surf's up! Kowabunga dude! Yeah, I'm not really pulling that off at all, am I.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Valentine's day and the end of the chocolate ban

Time has once again slipped by without a post. What can I say? Three children under 6 is BUSY. I also try to abide by the rule of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, where he says to the groundhog, "don't drive angry!" though in this case it's don't blog grumpy, as being hungry tends to make me a little snappish.

I love this movie more than is a normal amount.

So, quick roundup. We've had a fairly uneventful month, although after a week of sleeping through Henry got another cough and it was all over, sad trombone. However, it has now passed again and fingers crossed, he's back on track. 

Speaking of illness, I have got a raging case of tonsillitis. It began a few days ago with a tickly throat and continued with a trip to the walk in clinic on friday night (the big V!) where I was told "Oh yes, that is a lot of pus." Why thank you  grumpy nurse, that's exactly what I wanted to hear about the inside of my throat. Gross. This was then emphasised by the pharmacist who when checking my antibiotics said "so take 2 four times a day.... is it a bad infection?" Clearly that is a large dose of penicillin, for which I am very grateful. Don't worry, there is no picture. This is not that kind of blog.

Last weekend my Dad was up to visit now that he's home from New Zealand which was lovely, I've missed both him and my mum while they've been gone. She's still out there, sunning it up! Dad was kind enough to take the big two boys out on Saturday afternoon so that Rich and I could have a bit of a rest and then we had a delicious chinese takeaway for dinner, naughty but oh so good. So good in fact that Rich and I had it again for dinner when I got back from the doctor on friday... oops. While he was up he took this picture for us, which is I think the first one of the five of us together.

Even though it was taken before I could get my Sunday morning make up on, I still love it.

Valentine's day was a bit drab what with the illness, but it was still nice. I made this for Rich...

Which now I look at it kind of seems like an order, or slightly obnoxious. "Hey, You love me!" At least we all know now who wears the pants... The words in the back are the lyrics to All I ask of You from Phantom of the Opera, which was sung at our wedding. I totally stole the idea from seeing something similar online, but changed the scrabble tiles for keyboard letters, because we've never played scrabble ever, and also because we had an old broken netbook. He loved it, and got me my favourite chocolates now that the ban has been lifted. which segues us nicely into the diet.

So, I've lost 12lbs in about 4 weeks. I cheated once as my sister Sam sent some homemade chocolates over for a belated Christmas gift and they weren't going to last. I'm pretty pleased with myself, that's a decent chunk of weight and I'm almost to the first stone off. All the right places are shrinking, and I feel a lot better about myself already. My end goal is to be able to fit into my wedding dress by our 9th anniversary, which is July 23rd, so I've got plenty of time. In between I've got little goals to get to, the first one being 12st 7lbs, which I beat just over a week ago. The next one is one stone off, which will be 12st 4, only 2 lbs away. I'm not happy with the numbers, but I've decided I'm not ashamed to write them down. They're only numbers, and they don't define me. My body has done amazing things (insert cheesy music here) and grown 3 humans. It has acceptable wear and tear. But just because I'm not ashamed doesn't mean I can't improve.

As for the month of no chocolates and sweets, I thought it would be harder. I'm really glad I did it as it made me realise how I was eating a bit of chocolate here or a few of the kids treats there. I've not felt the need to gorge on it now I can have it. My dad brought me back two large bars of Cadbury's Blackforest Chocolate, which is quite possibly the most delicious flavour ever, with little biscuity and cherry flavoured jelly bits. I ate more than I should have, but not as much as I would have before. It was however still too much for my digestive system since I had my gall bladder out, which it reminded me of with some wicked stomach cramps. Therefore, I still have chocolate lurking about the house and hopefully it'll last me a fair while longer. So, success for now!

Last of all, I'll just mention the amazing family trip out yesterday where I dosed myself up and we all went indoor surfing with extended family. I was however doing the surfing and don't have the pictures back yet so I shall do a proper post on that another time. 

For now, despite the tonsils that are trying to kill me, life is good.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Harry Potter Day at Stockeld Park

Last weekend we headed up to Stockeld Park after a tip off from a friend that they were having a Harry Potter weekend. After checking it out online we thought the boys would enjoy it and there were a few free events, so off we popped.

We eventually decided (upon arriving) to get a family day pass to the park, as there was a show in one section and a maze in another that we'd have had to pay for. That was the only negative of the day really, that getting into all the parts of the park was a bit cha-ching, and it wasn't really checked. We could definitely have gotten away with at the very least just buying a pass for me and Ethan. We were only checked twice, once on the way in to the 'Enchanted Forest' and once at the bean planting station (which would only have cost £1 without the pass). The maze and sorting weren't checked at all, which was a bit irritating after we forked out for it!

Anyway, back to the good stuff!

First off we had broomstick training, with 2 wizards and a witch from Hogwarts. They were brilliant. An aside, all the... actors? characters? anyway, they were all from Make a Wish Entertainment (facebook here) and they were amazing. More about them later.

This is Wesley Wizzo, who looks and acts freakishly like my brother-in-law Jonny. So much so that Sam shouted his name. Ethan did some magic spells, the group fought a swamp monster, practised flying, and helped a wizard earn his golden hood.

 There he is flying around, with adults acting as quidditch hoops and the whomping willow. He had a blast, and it was good imagination exercise!

Next there was bean planting, with very dry sparkly soil - points for lack of mess - and a white bean, planted with a wish in a small pot. Simple and enjoyable.

In the same area was an animal rescue/welfare group who'd brought some owls along for the event, and they were lovely about the children touching the owls and they both even got to hold the smallest one.

I can't adequately convey the pure joy this brought them, especially Sammy.

After this we stopped for a snack, and then went into the Maze. We were given a quiz and the answers were hidden in the maze, but, being Harry Potter questions, I knew them already ;)

We loved it, it wasn't too difficult, if you looked at the maps posted here and there throughout. There were a couple of bridges and a tower to see the maze from above too, which was fun. We made it through in about 20 minutes, though we did pass an arguing family who'd been in there an hour! 

 After the maze Ethan went for sorting, which was fab, the hat's face moved and it spoke, and he loved it. He got Gryffindor, so was made up. After this we had the Harry Potter Catwalk, which I have no pictures of because I was Sam-wrangling. All the dressed up kids basically did a fashion parade, with a guy introducing each one. I was impressed that they both had a crack at it, Ethan struck a spell pose, and Sam raced up and down. They were both outdone however by the only girl dressed up as Luna Lovegood. She was spot on, stripey tights, tutu-esque skirt, sprectre specs. She strutted down the catwalk, turned, and dropped into a perfect split. Naturally, she won, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Quick stop to hug a reindeer (Sam is slightly obsessed with these kind of costumed people), and then off to the Harry and Hagrid show in the Enchanted Forest. The show was fun, though Rich had to take Sammy out. When Hagrid called on Harry, he kept shouting "No Hagrid, I Harry Potter!" So they went off to look at the lights in the forest and Ethan and I watched the show. It was great, the actors were absolutely spot on, little bit of magic and great rapport with the kids.

Ethan was so excited, it was very cute. 

After we went through the Enchanted forest it was time to head home. There was a small ice skating rink, but it was busy and we needed to get back, which was a shame. Anyway, on our way out to the car, Harry and Hagrid were waiting for a pick up off somewhere else when we bumped into them and another witch (Polly Potions, from broomstick training) and the second we approached, they immediately turned it back on, and were more than happy to spend a few more minutes with the children. They were absolutely brilliant, and made the day. Very good with the children, really happy, enthusiastic and just seemed to really enjoy their work.

Then it was home to bed where two sleepy boys went to bed without Daddy washing off any Harry Potter scars :)

Make a Wish Entertainment apparently do parties and events, and I would absolutely recommend them and as soon as I can afford it I'll book them to do a birthday for Ethan!

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Dad's Birthday

This weekend was my Dad's birthday, so we went down to Reading to spend some time there. Oh I miss Reading. It was my home town for so long that it still feels like it is.

 We had some present opening, and then all went to Coral Reef - super retro childhood memory-inducing fun! It's a swimming pool, with rapids and slides and jacuzzis. We had a whale of a time (no pun intended!) and it was Henry's first swim. He adored it, and stayed in for over an hour, when mum got out with him and Rich and I got to play with the biggies. They both went down the water slide, Ethan 3 times, despite being scared. Sam had a lot of fun sitting by the tipping bucket and watching it dump a load of water on people, which he thought was hilarious.

 Ethan got on well with his arm bands, with a third one used as a float. Handy really, as he and I got separated in the rapids :S It was horrible, really awful. He got out of the 'current' for want of a better word, and I didn't. There was another parent there who saw and tried to help me out, but I ended up just asking him to watch Ethan while I swam round (panicking the whole way) as I couldn't swim back. When I got round, he was gone, and the man said he'd floated just around the corner... which he hadn't. In my head, he had already drowned. Luckily, he's made of sterner stuff than me, and had spotted Auntie Jess and was trying to swim towards her. Meanwhile, Rich had found me and we were both panicking when I spotted him and Jess got to him just as he was starting to get a bit upset. He is fine about it, not bothered at all. I feel sick when I think about it, and wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's done now though, and over. 

 After swimming we had party food picked by dad with the kids in mind, on muppets plates and cups, and had this surprise Kermit cake made by mum and Jess. Please excuse the pyjama clad legs. 

Sunday brought church and a chance to see friends, albeit fairly briefly for most, as the rest of my little clan are all for leaving immediately. Delicious dinner with more desserts and it was time to pack up and head off again, but not before Sam found Grampa's ear. He's got a bit of a thing for ears, especially when he's tired.

Then came the long trek home, which wasn't too bad actually, and we are back to the routine of Ethan at school, Sam begging to be allowed to go to school, and Henry just being a great big gorgeous sausage.

Life is good :)

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

September

School has begun again, new term, new start. But what's this?

 I appear to have a full on child of five. How did that happen then? Look at that teeny 3 year old on the left, surely that was only yesterday, when he was heading off to nursery and then coming home with a painting of a yellow digger and asking where the tree was on HIS jumper mummy, eliciting a midweek trip to the uniform shop.

He has a lovely teacher again this year, who I handily know a little from outside of school, and can therefore skip the authority figure awkwardness at parents evening next month. He's enjoying it so far and hasn't yet complained at the conspicuous lack of toys in his classroom - a fairly big change from reception last year. His reading ability is improving which is brilliant, we have far fewer frustrations when he's sounding out (a...n...d............ I stop myself from snapping AND. It's AND.) and he can actually remember the beginning of the story at the end, because it wasn't half an hour ago. I love books and I want him to love books too, so I try and let it be a fun experience.

We've had some fun baking. I found a cake pop baking tray in our farm shop yonks ago and thought we'd finally try it out for a spotty cake.

 Not bad, though I'm not sure quite why that red spot rose quite so much. I slightly over filled the cake pop tray, and this greeted me when I took off the top half:

There was a bit of carving involved! the problem is there's nothing stopping the top rising away with the cake. I might have to bodge some sort of fix for it. We made rainbow fairy cakes too, super easy, and if you line the bowls with a sandwich bag before adding mix and colour you don't have ti wash up a millionty things and you have a makeshift piping bag to squirt the layers in so it doesn't make a huge drippy mess on the tins.

 Also best tip - use paste food colouring. that yellow layer in fact has green liquid colouring in it as a test. I might as well not have bothered.

Last weekend we went to Leeds on the train. The boys were in their element and Sam almost passed out in Leeds train station, to be surrounded by trains and lifts and escalators was just his idea of heaven.

Other news, Henry finally let me take a picture of a full on grin.

Normally he spots the camera and goes into a serious brow furrow, which is frankly hilarious. He's currently 15 weeks, and 18lbs 9oz. He's quite a heft, but I still get to snuggle hands free, and I have a new carrier, thanks to kind birthday donations.

Why yes, I am a geek. What makes you ask ;)

I will really try to be better at blogging, but in the interest of keeping it real, having 3 children is HARD. Especially with one potty training, and the wee one having a cough/cold that keeps him up. This morning I was pouring out milk. I opened the bottle and poured, and nothing. Nada. So I looked at it in puzzlement and shook the not-empty bottle. It took me about 30 seconds before I realised I hadn't taken the foil off. It's a real shame Sam no longer naps.

I do have plans to try out these five recipes from Rachel's blog. I think it'll do WONDERS for my diet, but I'm in a baking mood, and it's unstoppable. Sorry waist.

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Family Holiday Episode Two - the countryside

 On their way to the holiday house, Mum and Dad found this gorgeous little river, full of waterfalls, so on the Friday when the weather wasn't really good enough for the beach they took us back to it. It was completely gorgeous, and fun for my little rock hoppers!

 There was a sign above the door on this wheelhouse that said open, though we didn't find out what it actually was. I just thought it was completely gorgeous, townie that I am.

 The boys were incredibly excited by these holes in the bridge, as you *might* be able to tell. It was actually a handy holding place as they couldn't get down to run off!

 See, good rock-hopping spot! Though it was pretty much only accessible by...

 This rather ordinary looking, but quite scary, bridge. It was only maybe 10 feet from the ground, but incredibly narrow. The gaps were quite big, so you had to look at your feet, and I had Henry on my front so you sort of have to plan 3 steps in advance. Mum refused to cross it altogether.

It was heaven, especially as no one fell in. We took a short walk upstream, Sam was excited by several passing dogs and Ethan had great fun throwing in stones with Daddy and sticks with Grandma.

The garden at the house was incredible, perfectly made for small boys. It was deceptively large, with trees and bushes, large rocks and a bridge, brilliant for hide and seek and playing monsters with Uncle Jonny. The house itself was also lovely, enormous (fairly necessary, as there were nine of us), beautifully furnished, and a better equipped kitchen than mine, seriously, the oven needed a degree to work it. We never really figured it out, something about telling it what you were cooking?!

All in all, we had a pretty fabulous time. So much fun and good company, I'm still on a comedown!

 

The way home was very peaceful ;)

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!

Bank Holiday, and an update on me

Bank holiday Monday was a hit! We used a surprise treat as an incentive for good behaviour for Ethan as he's been a bit of a snot recently, and it worked! The surprise was a trip to the Royal Armouries in Leeds for Superhero Day. He loved it, and got to meet lots of characters. He also got to shoot a crossbow, a real one this time, and thought that was the best.

With Boba Fett

A star wars Trooper

A Jedi

Ironman!

They also had a craft activity, a musical instrument area, an artist from the Judge Dredd comic book doing a talk and helping kids draw heroes, and a talk about superhero weapons. The downside of the day was that they didn't put any kind of timetable on the website, so we assumed that the characters (including Ethan's favourite, Batman) would be in and out most of the day. We went fairly early to avoid crowds, and as a result missed Batman, as he wasn't coming until 3:30 for a demonstration of how he uses ninja skills. We also missed the talk about superhero weapons, because we spent half an hour wandering around the third floor trying to find the 'Observation room' which turned out to be a tiny room tucked away in a corner, that wasn't very well signposted. We arrived just as they were packing up and rushing off to the next thing, which was a real shame (for me!) as I saw the weapons on the trolley as they pushed it out, and they included the Portal gun :( Never mind.

Ethan and Rich spent the afternoon clearing the garden and washing the car in the sunshine. It was lovely to watch Ethan muck in and help Daddy. Sam attempted to help too, with mixed results.

Rich also managed to cut through the power cord with the hedge trimmers...twice. I managed to fix it both times, the benefits of having a dad who taught me handy stuff! 

We had good weather on Tuesday too, and Ethan was very excited to wear shorts to school :)

Look at those milky legs! inherited from his mother, unfortunately. He did however also inherit his father's ability to go brown at the slightest hint of sun, whereas I either burn, or in the case of my legs, just somehow magically stay whiter than paper.

Today is a bit grey and damp, but he insisted on shorts again. Even though he also insisted on taking his coat because it might rain.

I've been very productive this morning, demolished 2 side tables and an old tv stand and took them to the dump, hooray for a bit more space! I can now put the crib next to my side of the bed which is you know, helpful. Isn't the dump cathartic? You get to chuck stuff into massive skips and hear crashes and things breaking and all sorts, and clear your house at the same time!

Less than a month to go til due date, a month yesterday to be precise. I literally cannot wait. I might have overdone it a little at the dump, as I am very very tired right now, and it's only lunchtime :S

I had a fun pregnancy dream the other night too. I went into labour at home and ran out of time. My sister Becky delivered it (super likely, seeing as she's only in New Zealand!) and though it was totally painless, the baby had an extra head. It was slightly miniature, but a head it was. Only when I looked again it was a weird hand thing on it's shoulder. Then when I looked again it was gone, but the baby's hand (in the regular place) was all webbed. My mum appeared and said "Oh don't worry, it's too much cortizone" and wiped his hand with a wipe til the fingers were fine. Then I woke up. Like I said, fun, and not at all creepy :S

Update: I was even more productive this afternoon. I hoovered upstairs, moved the crib, and emptied it of clothes. Then I emptied out and tidied the airing cupboard. The airing cupboard for goodness sake! Then I had two bags of clothes and towels and linens that were spare (we had LOADS in there, it was like a flippin' TARDIS) to take to the clothing donation bin thingy. I also found in there a bag of handed down clothes for Ethan that we got aaaaages ago but were massive, and now he has plenty of shorts for summer! I am now thoroughly pooped, and Sam is going to have french toast for tea (Ethan is at a friends house) then we'll start the pick up run (Ethan, and Rich from the train station) showers for the boys as it'll be late for a bath, bed for them, and a collapse on the couch for me!

I didn't do nesting with the boys. It's hit me this time though. It's oddly unsettling! Still, it can only be a good thing when I actively feel the need to tidy! 

Update: This blog has now moved to www.undomesticaited.wordpress.com - Hope to see you over there!