I’d love to say I am playing catch up because we have been sunning ourselves in some exotic location, but sadly my husband and I have both been working and can’t afford to even think about going away.
We have managed to enjoy some lovely days out though.
Here is our weeks:
Sunday 13th August
A hop across counties to Devon to visit Splashdown Quaywest.

Kian worked at Splashdown Poole for a few years and it’s one of the kids favourite days out. We have been promising them a visit for ages, as the Splashdown Quaywest is all outside. Sadly we didn’t pick the warmest day for it and Sebby only lasted an hour as he was cold, but Isaac and Eliza would have kept going all day!

Monday 14th August
After a lovely day out the day before, it was back to work with a bump and my only photo of the day is that of my food bank stand.

The scheme is working well as we have more than doubled donations since we have been running it.
Isaac also started his summer school, putting on the show Legally Blonde in under a week. He was over-the-moon to be cast as Callaghan.
Tuesday 15th August
Whilst we were at Camp Bestival, the kids wanted to make tie dye T-Shirts but we ran out of time. My lovely friend Tracy runs workshops, so invited us up to make some at her house.

They all donned fetching bin bag aprons and got creating their perfect t-shirts.

To get the best results, they have to be left overnight, so the kids were eager to return in the morning to see the results.
Wednesday 16th August
T-shirt results are in!!

I am pleased to reveal that they are all happy with the results.

Once we had finished the T-shirts it was off to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.

We love Beaulieu, especially in the summer as there is so much to see and do. They have the motor museum, an Abbey, beautiful gardens, Beaulieu House, the monorail and a stunning river walk, plus car parades and bird of prey shows.

I was very excited to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Thursday 17th August
I popped over to take my Mum shopping and we were delighted to see that the local postbox topper had been changed, this time featuring Wallace and Gromit.

We were also looking through old paperwork and came across her old school reports. I have to say that the things teachers say in reports haven’t changed much in 60 years!!
Friday 18th August
We were invited to do the Pierzip on Bournemouth Pier to take some images of families using it. It was the first time for Sebby and Eliza as both were too small last time we did it and both literally ran off the tower and flung themselves into the air!

I haven’t got the photo’s yet, but I am sure they are grinning from ear to ear.
Saturday 19th August
We travelled up to Sussex for Callan and Chelsea’s baby shower.

Instead of a traditional baby shower, we had a barbecue on the beach for the chance for both families to meet, which was a lovely idea.

We raced back home for Isaac’s performance and were blown away by the whole cast as they put on an amazing show in just 6 days. I am slightly relieved not to be listening to the same three songs over and over again as he practised.

Sunday 20th August
Kian’s birthday, although we didn’t get to see him as he was out with friends.

Also a work / World Cup Final Day. I proudly wore my England shirt to work and managed to watch most of the second half on my break. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be and we lost 1-0 to Spain, but the women did brilliantly to get to the final.
Monday 21st August
Our house backs on to a local park and we have had some issues with anti-social behaviour over the summer months, including kids racing around on motorbikes.

They were so fast I couldn’t even capture a picture of them!!
Tuesday 22nd August
It was bike night on Poole Quay, so we headed down with the kids to see all the bikes on show and to treat them to a chippy tea.

It was a lovely evening and its sad to think that summer is almost over.

Wednesday 23rd August
We enjoyed another local day out, this time to the Tank Museum.

During the summer holiday’s they host tank shows, with battles and explosions in the arena, which is lots of fun. This time, we watched during a thunderstorm, which was even more spectacular, if a little damp!

We also enjoyed a ride in. a tracked vehicle, which was fast, loud and very bumpy!!

Thursday 24th August
The dreaded school shoe shop!!
After people raving about Deichman and their buy one pair of school shoes and get one half price offer, I thought I would brave it.

NEVER AGAIN!!
It was awful. It was very much like Sports Direct, with shoes piled high in boxes that you had to rummage through to find the size you wanted. My kids all have H width fittings, which means that most out of the box shoes don’t fit.
Isaac and Eliza both eventually found a pair, which we then discovered weren’t part of the offer. Next time I am definitely going back to Clarks or Startrite.
Friday 25th August
I covered the early shift at work to cover holiday and it was clear that some of the bank holiday visitors were starting to arrive.

I was sent some cocktails in cams to review and they were needed after a busy day!
Saturday 26th August
Another early start at work for me.
It was an interesting day at work as we had torrential rain and thunderstorms, which were so bad it flooded the carpark.
How has your school holiday’s been?
I will catch up with comments once the kids are back at school 🙂
Oh no! So sorry you have been working. It does sound like you’ve had some lovely days out though.
Splashdown looks like so much fun and I am glad the food bank scheme is working well.
The baby shower sounds lovely! What a great idea to have a barbecue.
Ugh! The shoe shopping sounds awful. x
Damn, work always gets in the way of holidays. Sounds like the days out were good. I reckon N would like the tank museum – it’s not somewhere we managed to go to when we stayed that way, but he was a bit younger then. Nice idea for the baby shower, and lovely cake. We had an hour’s wait for shoes this year in the children’s shoe shop. The owner has cancer treatment so isn’t working, and her staff are holding the fort with limited hours, and no appointment system this year, so it was likely hard for all of them. But at least we got shoes and fast once it was our turn. I’m not a fan of Deichman, we’ve never found a pair of shoes although haven’t looked for school shoes.
The kids look like they had a wonderful time at Splashdown Quaywest even if it wasn’t the warmest day for it. Well done to Isaac on being cast as Callaghan in Legally Blonde and glad the show went well – it’s amazing how much a show can come together in such a short space of time. The tie-dye T-shirt looks good – we’ve been tie-dying T-shirts this week too. Love the Wallace and Gromit post box topper. Having a barbecue on the beach is a lovely way of doing a baby shower. It is sad to think that summer is almost over. I do love the summer holidays. Sorry that you didn’t have a good experience shoe shopping with Deichman. I’ve not tried them and I think I’ll stick to Clarks based on your review. #project365
I remember going to Beaulieu as a child but we still haven’t managed a visit 🙁 I have no idea where the summer went 🙁 The tie due looks amazing, I’d love to try it one day. #project365
The weather has been varied for you, shame it was too cold at the water park, but looked like it cheered up for Beaulieu and Poole trips. The tie die looks great fun