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.

Funnybones

This week,at school,we did all about the book Funnybones,the skeletons that lived in a house on a dark dark street,on a dark dark hill,in a dark dark town and as I read the story to the group of enthralled four year olds it really reminded me of my eldest boy. 

Back in the day,my eldest son loved this story. I used to read it to him time after time. Infact when I was reading the book this week I could so remember the story....where we used to laugh when the dog was put back together all wrong,where we used to sing the bones song and where we used to be scared of the crocodile skeleton. 

Ah the memories....of a golden haired little boy,
who was my only child then,
how loved he was. 

These were the days when we lived in our first house. Tiger used to have a gorgeous lemon bedroom decorated with a pink and blue bunny rabbit theme. It was quite a big room and I made him a proper snuggly book corner,with a comfy yellow Forever Friends beanbag and loads and loads of books. 

 We would also read downstairs,cuddled up on our little two seater settee in the winter and read book after book after book. 

Just before Tiger turned two years old we took him to Blackpool
 to see the illuminations.
 It was the October half term holiday,so Blackpool would have been busy and I bet it was extremely chilly,the wind really has a nip at Blackpool. 
 As we walked through the bustling,crowded Pleasure Beach towards the ghost train,Tiger proclaimed "It's a Loo-Loo."
 After some puzzling moments we realised he meant the skeleton on the front of the ghost train ride.

This caused lots of smiles and the name stuck.
Weeks later I was on my dinner hour when i spotted a book with Loo-Loo's in it and of course I had to buy it for him.
It quickly became a firm favourite. 

And the memory is still in my head.

I pick up a Funnybones book and I think of those days. 

The days of skeleton stories and a little boy who meant the world to me. 

And he still does. 

Saturday

It took Chips under 4 minutes to fall asleep tonight,it's been a busy day.

 Up at eight,after a week of settling into his new school,and then a trip to the library,breakfast out,the weekly shopping trip and that was just the morning.

 In the afternoon we had swimming lessons and then a family party at five,busy,busy busy but good too. 

I've spent most of the time people watching.
 Catching smiles. 
Taking in the interaction between members of the family,the chatter,the laughter,the casual way they sit together squeezed two to a chair made for one,perched on the arm of a settee,sat on the stairs,sitting on the floor colouring and rolling cars to each other,taking crisps so carefully off a party plate that consisted entirely of crisps,stood in a line holding plates of party food waiting for a chair to become available and then diving to get it. 
Some people got chocolate cake all over,some people ate two dishes of chocolate cake.

It was noisy and voices drifted all around the room,voices of family,the people I love. 

Sometimes,when you are quiet you end up seeing and hearing a lot.
 And the memories stick in your head.
 You feel the vibe of the room.
 And that's what happened today. 

Swimming Update

Today was Chips first real time to swim at a level five stage.

In the blue hats group.

Chips has been venturing into this group for the past two months,

but today he was officially a member of the group

and was able to wear his new blue swimming hat with pride.

The blue hats swim in the deepest part of the swimming baths.

The deep,deep water.

Where you cant touch the bottom of the pool.

Even if you try.

So you have to be a pretty competent swimmer,

And thats what you are,Chips.

We have come a long way from the teaching pool.

We are now swimming at the deep end.

There is no stopping to take a rest.

You stop swimming now Chips and you will go under!

So please dont stop,will you,your mum would jump too much if you did.

So the group comprises,at the moment, of three boys and two girls.

Five is a brilliant number.

Enough to make a proper group but still get a lot of individual attention.

We have not met the new teacher yet as she was on holiday.

Today Chips did front crawl,which is probably his favourite stroke.

He swam for half an hour and did some pencil jumps to finish with.

The new swimming trunks looked good.

The new goggles were a complete pain.

They just kept letting water in no matter how we tried to adjust them.

Not so cool.

But apart from that it was cool.

Well done Chips.

Mummy is so very proud of you. 

(as always)

 

The Weekend Post #1

Yipes I know the weekend seems far,far away,

but here are some snips and snaps from our weekend

 It was very damp,showery weekend.

But that did not matter too much.

What did matter was that we had four days off!

Yep,four days!

Four days to relax and be with our family.

We got the homework out of the way on the first night off.

 This was a first!

Then we spent the whole weekend relaxing.

 I wish there were more four day weekends!

 Linking up to A Rush Of Love 

And Write Like No One's Watching new linky ~ The Weekend Post.

 

What We Are Reading #1

I have been wanting to join in with this linky for ages.

It is hosted by Carie from Space For The Butterflies 

Every Tuesday she invites people to link up and tell each other what books they are reading.

Last night was quite special here.

It was the night the bedtime stories began again.

 After a break of four months!

Due to my eye operation bedtime stories had been put on hold.

Well any reading has been put on hold.

And for bookworms like me and my son,this has been hard.

I have wanted to read and he has wanted to listen.

We had not abandoned books entirely.

 Chips carried on reading Harry Potter.

Doing a sterling job of reading book five The Order Of The Phoenix

And then starting book six The Half Blood Prince.

And we spoke about books.

And I kept up with supplying Chips with good reading material.

Because as you might already know,bookworms devour books at a rapid speed

But nothing is quite the same as a bedtime story.

And the story I chose was 

Four Children and It by Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline Wilson is an author that I really like.

I have not read many of her stories to the boys mainly because 

usually her main characters are girls (don't hate me for saying this)

but at a certain age my boys preferred books where there were more boy

characters or at least a good mix of boy/girl roles.

We did read Cat Mummy.

It made me weep buckets!

What I remember about Jacqueline Wilson 

is that she writes about the nitty gritty stuff of life.

Which may be a bit uncomfortable to read sometimes

but also throws up brilliant topics for discussion and this is 

happening already as this book touches on the subject of blended families.

This is the main reason 

that I chose to read this book to Chips.

Its contemporary and miles away from magic and wands

 (I'm starting to grin now as I could be very wrong about the magic)

Don't get me wrong.

I adore magic and wands.

But we have been reading that in abundance.  

And I thought something different might be just the thing.

Right...the characters...

Rosalind 

Rosalind is the eldest child and she tells the story.

She does not really like being the eldest child.

She really misses her mum and dad being together

and she likes to read - a lot!

Robbie

Robbie is Rosalind's brother.

He seems quiet.

He is scared of his step sister 

and likes to carry a collection of toy animals around with him.

Smash

Smash is Rosalind and Robbie's stepsister.

She is trouble!

Loud and brash and totally aggravating

She seems to be desperate for her mums approval

and has a real soft spot for her baby stepsister.

Maudie

Everybodys step-sister.

The baby of the family

and much loved by everybody! 

 Alice

Smashs' mum

She seems a dubious character!

She does not seem to like children or walks or mess.

Will she change?

Dad

Rosalind and Robbies dad -married to Alice.

He tries hard to bring all the family together.

Will he succeed?

 The Story So Far

All the children are staying at Rosalind's dads house.

Its overcrowded and much to Rosalind's dismay there is no privacy at all.

Smash is already causing trouble...

biting Robbies precious animals and provoking Rosalind into pushing her over.

Their dad decides that they should go out together on a walk.

And so they all trek to a local wood.

And that is where we got to!

Isn't it amazing how much you can pick up from just one chapter!

I'm looking forward to seeing how the book develops.

Linking up to What We Are Reading