Seaside Day - Blackpool

"One thing that you have to know," I said to Chips,as we were thinking about our trip to the seaside, "its really cold at Blackpool."

And it was. 

When we got to the beach the wind was more than blustery and bitterly cold. It blew the hood of my coat up without me even asking it too,that was a blessing though because soon after that the rain came lashing down and for a moment the coldness nearly took our breath away. 

I almost grinned. It seemed Blackpool had not changed a bit. 

We quickly headed to the nearest dry place,which was the amusement arcade on the pier. 

Luckily the rain did not last long and we were able to venture out onto the 

incredibly slippery pier to look at the sea. 

On the pier things were much calmer. It was still busy and so very slippery but the sea was making that lovely sea noise that I love so much and the sun was treating everybody to a beautiful array of colours as it set for the night. 

We walked right to the very end of the pier and watched the sun until it disappeared behind a cloud,even then the view was beautiful 

Chips liked the pier. He had a look through one of those telescopes that are always at seaside places but never seem to work as well as you would like them too,he dangled his leg through the railings as if to say hey look at me...scared...nah,and then we found the fair rides. 

We decided against the big wheel and the ride that went up and bobbed you around really fast and jerkily,instead we chose the Waltzer. And that my friends was the beginning of the survival of the fittest. 

First go ~ we stood and waited and then when the ride stopped we dashed up the rickety,slippery steps and didn't get a chair. 

Second go ~ we were right near the front this time so we felt more confident about getting a chair. The barriers went up,we went as fast as we could go and we got a chair! Woohoo! And then the fairground man said we had to have a ticket and we could not pay in the car (even though all the signs said we could pay in the car) so we sadly got out of our hard fought for chair and trudged off to buy tickets. 

Third go ~ with our tickets clutched tightly in our hands we rejoined the group of people surrounding the waltzer. We were disheartened by now but as the barrier opened we clambered up the steps,again,and Chips got his hand on a chair but so did a girl and she jumped infront of Chips and claimed the chair. And then her 87 year old grandma got in the chair with the girl! We were beat to the chairs by an 87 year old grandma!

 This was bad. We stomped down the silver,slippery steps again,feeling very miffed. We nearly gave up. But I had those expensive tickets in my hand and we were not going to waste them. I had to grin,slightly,at being beaten by an incredibly old grandma. My thoughts,eventually,was that she was doing really well if she could even get up the steep,slippery steps at her age,never mind attempt to go on a Waltzer ride. May I be doing that at her age please! 

Fourth go ~ we got a chair! Thank the Lord. 

And the ride was good! Fast and twirly. It made us squeal. Chips said I squealed louder than him but I don't believe that,at all. Would I squeal louder than my son...no,definitely not. 

We headed off the pier and went to look at the illuminations,shops and amusement arcades. 

It was quickly dropping dark and very busy on the Main Street. We popped into an arcade and Chips had a go in the 2p machines,we then wandered up the street and looked at the illuminations,which were as good as ever. 

 We then popped into a little bingo hall and played 10p bingo. This was really cool! The bingo caller was a friendly chap who made everyone welcome. We did not win but it was a break from the crowded streets and it was good fun. 

The night ended with a bag of salty seaside chips. 

We really liked Blackpool. It was a great start to the half term holidays. I'll leave you with one of my favourite photos....the sea,a sunset and my boy.  

Rambles

So Autumn is well and truly here. 

Infact it almost feels like winter sometimes!
 This week my hands have been icy cold and I have turned the heating on,it was time I guess. 

I thought I'd do a little update,a few rambles. It may get me back into the swing of this blogging lark. This year has been a total wash out where the poor old blog has been concerned but hey given the circumstances it's understandable. 

So I'll dive in and say that Chips starting comprehensive school has been quite a jolt. For him and also for me. Where can I start...the level of information is nowhere near what it was at junior school,no weekly newsletters,you can speak to a teacher if you really need to but there's no popping in to class to have an informal chat. The rules are all different and there are a lot of them! The language is all different too. We don't have classes we have pods,we don't have a headteacher we have a principal,we don't have English,maths or PE instead we have enigma,strive or flourish and we have our learning nandos to help with the homework. Like I said,a completely different language. 

And,I miss the school run. 

I used to love the school run,even in the rain.
 It was such a mummy thing to do,go and pick my little boy up from school. Once a week my mum would walk down with me and we would look at all the gardens on the way and she would marvel at all the outside play equipment the school had. Now the nursery has had a whole new garden planted with some gorgeous plants and I know my mum would have loved to look at them but we don't walk that way any more.....no more school runs.
 I miss the people I used to see and the chatter we used to have but most of all I just miss walking to school and waiting at my spot and then seeing Chips come out of school. On a couple of occasions I have walked past the school at picking up time and it's like a different world,so busy,so congested and pretty frantic looking,a stage of my life well and truly over. 

This is the wooden fence that I used to lean against - how I miss you wooden fence.

This window was Chips year six window,ahh the memories...

Sharky has returned to uni and although we see him at weekends he works and we don't get a lot of time with him. 

Life is changing for sure. 

I have managed to read a couple of books lately.

Firstly The Lie by C.L Taylor.
 This was such a good book I started reading it on Tuesday and by Thursday evening I had finished it. I would totally recommend it.
 Then I read Lullaby Girl,this was a trickier book to read and might not be everyone's cup of tea,I enjoyed it though,even if it did unnerve me at bedtime! I'm now starting Gone Girl and I have a couple of books on order at the library ready for half term. 

I can't wait for half term! A break from school for Chips and me and we have got a trip to seaside planned,this is exciting me! 

Last week we celebrated my mums 70th birthday. We all went out for a meal and Sharkys girlfriend made this lovely cake

  It was as chocolately and delicious as it looks. We all had a great time and it was lovely to watch our family celebrate my mums special day. 

Now lets hope that half term is just as enjoyable as the
summer holidays were.