Blogcrush week 81- August 31 2018

Hi guys!!!!

It’s there….can you see it ???

The end of the holidays is in sight. A funny one here as I now only have 2 children left in school! Teen boy the younger smashed his exams so he’s off to sixth form to do his A levels and the eldest is away dazzling the world of finance!!.So I’ve just the 2 girls left in school , feels very strange!

BIRTHDAY SHOUT OUT

It is my youngest nephews birthday today ,he’s the littlest of all the cousins so his birthdays whizzing by make me feel so old!

Happy Birthday Ollie!!

I love BlogCrush -The kindest linky in town ,sharing all the lovely blog love.

Here you get to not only share your post but a fave you’ve read recently too!!

About BlogCrush

This linky will take blog post submissions from 6am (BST) Friday until 9pm Sunday. At that time, some thumbnail pictures will appear at the bottom of the post and each one will be a link to a different blog post.

– If you’re a blogger, add 2 posts (1 of yours AND 1 by someone else) by clicking the blue “add your link” button

– If you’re here just because you’re my friends and family and are supportive of my blog , well wait up ,stick around and have a browse. We have some very talented bloggers here.

Hosting this week is

Lucy At Home @lucy_at_home

and me!!!Daydreams of a Mum @daydreamer_mum

If you’ve ever come across an amazing post you want to shout from the rooftops about , this is the linky for you!!

If you’re here because someone has nominated you -huge congratulations !!

Feel free to pick up our pretty badge!!

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk/" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/blogcrush-featured.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

The Rules

• Join in with 2 posts:
  • 1 post from your blog (personal) – no linkies please
  • 1 post from someone else’s blog (your #BlogCrush)

• When you add your BlogCrush (post written by someone else) to the InLinkz form, put “BC” at the beginning of their title

• Tweet your BlogCrush (& us) to let them know you’ve added them to the linky and share their link (@lucy_at_home and @daydreamer_mum) Please tweet us your own BlogCrush posts too so we can share them for you.

• Comment using the #BlogCrush hashtag on at least these 4 posts:
  • 1 post from Host 1 (personal or BC)
  • 1 post from Host 2 (personal or BC)
  • 2x personal posts from the rest of the link up

So that’s a minimum of 4 posts.

Don’t forget to add our beautiful badge

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/badge.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

We get to choose our favourite posts to be featured each week.

This week Lucy has chosen super hero super inappropriate

My fave post last week was this post it made me so nostalgic about small girl and I’s rituals before she started school

Host Post

This week I’m linking up a post about the person I never expected to become

Have a great week everyone can’t wait to read your posts!!

Kelly xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Imagine -Blogtober20 day 9

I’m taking part in Blogtober which involves blogging every day in October.

Todays prompt is Imagine . For a daydreamy person like me who does a lot of imagining it’s quite easy to link a post. This post is all about me imagining what my younger self would have thought of my life!!

Having a reflective moment I  thought to myself “imagine what 18 year old me would have thought if she could see 40 year old me’s life now ” I’ve been kind of pondering it ever since .

Back when I was younger I had a grand plan. I would study politics at university , I would be a diplomat and I would travel all over the place in my high flying career (original plan to become a physiotherapist having been ditched because A Level biology was HARD!). I would never have children but I’d probably at some point meet a man with an equally high flying career and get married.

Then life happened .

I became so many things I never thought I’d be .

I became a mother .

This was never in the plan. I didn’t like kids. I certainly didn’t want to have to look after one all the time forever.

So glad I did though. Being a mum has opened me up to so many feelings I don’t think I ever would have felt otherwise. Not because I’m saying you have to be a mum to feel , just I’m quite emotionally repressed as a person anyway (or was for a long time ) being a mum gave me access to emotions that were locked away.

I became a mum of 4 .

Now I never would have seen that one coming , but you know each one of these amazing humans I think were necessary in moulding me into the person I am now. I see little parts of myself in their behaviours and there’s something reassuring in that . Even when it’s teen boy the younger and I having a stubborn – off because neither of us will back down!

I became best friends with my sister

Younger me would have sniffed at the idea of that. We had nothing on common , she was a pain in the arse .

I’ve spoken on the blog before about how losing our mum made us closer and here we now and she’s my favourite human on the planet.

I became a anxious ,slightly mental mess

See this one I probably could have predicted. I’ve always had ridiculously unhealthy coping strategies. I didn’t like strong emotions . I turn myself off to them. I think it’s a tactic I used when my dad died. I just turned off the sad . It seemed to work so I then did it for any uncomfortable emotions and I never had to deal with them.This ‘skill’ was particularly deployed during the abusive relationship.

Obviously mature , wise 40 year old me in hindsight can see this was only going to end one way , and only now with years worth of therapy under my belt do I have better ways to cope. Slightly.

I became a survivor

I’m not the biggest fan of that tag. I don’t know how else to describe it though. I don’t want to use victim. I don’t want to speak about ‘suffering’ domestic abuse. 18 year old me didn’t have a clue the abusive relationship was going to happen. 20 year old me though, 25 year old me ,28 year old me they’d never have believed they’d be free of it. They used to make themselves a promise every single new years eve that this would be the year she left. The first time she absolutely believed it but as time passed she’d accepted this awful life was her fate and she’d never be free. Those younger , damaged versions of me wouldn’t have known or believed that one day something would change . A switch would flick and there would be a day in her life that she’d be free.

Yet here I am!!!

I became a blogger

This IS an interesting turn of events.

I am (or was) a closed book. I don’t talk about my feelings (see earlier reference to being emotionally inarticulate and a little bit nuts) I’m a listener more than a talker and I don’t really like people knowing my business. I just find talking about my feelings really tricky and uncomfortable (my therapist struck gold with me eh?) Writing down my thoughts and feelings though that I can do. There are numerous notebooks in my room to prove it , and always have been really. I can’t verbalise emotion well but writing it down I can do.

Writing it down though ,for other people to read well that’d scare me to death. People knowing what goes on in this topsy turvy head of mine -terrifying.

Yet I did it.

I do it , and it helps the topsy turvy head so much.

So this 38 year old mum of a whole tribe , who escaped a terrible situation and is less mentally well than she’d have expected because of it. This woman who writes down her innermost thoughts and experiences and shares them with the world. 18 year old Kelly wouldn’t have expected this is where she’d be , I don’t even think she’d have approved.

40 year old me though is quite content , and very excited to see where the next 20 years will take us.

Mummy in a Tutu

Blog crush week 80 – 24th August 2018

Good.morning everyone!!!

Welcome to blogcrush and thank you.for joining us!

I’m currently on holiday Edinburgh and unfortunately having a bit of a blog related technological nightmare. I have a crack team of experts dealing with it but until they banish the gremlins could you please link up via Lucy’s website just here

Many thanks and hope to be resolved super quick

Kelly xxx

A trio of tummy flutters …

It’s almost upon me !

That child free holiday with the current crush….

A few days of theatre and culture and GnTs and no one needing me for anything. A time to just be me . Kelly. The woman who adores the theatre, who loves chattering and visiting new places . I don’t get to be her very often.

Mostly I am mum. The one who nags about pots being brought out of teens rooms and spends way too long of each day deciding what we are going to eat . I love being mum I do. I haven’t always but these days I do. It’s nice to have that little break though isn’t it . *Wankery term coming up klaxon* It’s nice to have sometime to reconnect (told you) with yourself and remember who you are aside from mum .

So here I am , case almost packed . Spending way too long choosing what outfits to take and here they come . The trio of tummy flutters . All with their own individual twist.

Tummy Flutter number 1 – mum guilt

The big bad mum guilt. How bloody annoying is it ?? There’s just that unease in the pit of my stomach , telling me what kind of mum ditches her kids to go away with her fancy piece ?? That I’m not going to see the kids at all for ten whole days because of plans I’ve made.

Logical brain kind of covers for me here because small girl is away with daddy for a fortnight anyway. Whether I was here or not I’d not have seen her . As for the elder 3 well I’ve barely seen them these hols anyway as they’re all busy with friends and social lives and work.

There’s no need at all for me to feel bad but yet there it lingers … I’m not going to pay it the attention it wants though , not this time.

Tummy Flutter number 2 – anxiety

That feeling when your tummy drops because you’ve forgotten to do something really important.

My mental health these days is a pretty stable , predictable thing. Anxiety is always hovering around on the outskirts of my consciousness. Doesn’t impose too often but occasionally just knocks on the door of my brain to remind me it’s still there . Anything that needs planning and organisation is always going to roll out the red carpet for my anxiety. It’ll be stood there saying “go on then , balls this up? I’m waiting!! You know you are rubbish at plans ”

I’ve got to be on a super early train for my trip . I’m worried I’ll sleep in. I’m worried I’ll miss the bus to the train station. I’m worried I’ll forget my tickets , get the wrong train .

That I’ve messed up the dates , that anxiety will decide to show up in its strongest form whilst I’m hanging out with someone I really like.

Thing is , these are all legitimate concerns and ones I can do something about. I can cope with this kind of anxiety. The kind when all of a sudden I convince myself I’m going to faint in Sainsbury’s , triggered by nothing that’s an absolute pain. This kind though with at least a couple of toes dipped in reality I can cope with. I can set 3 alarms , double check bus times and dates and pack tickets.

I can beat this kind of anxiety.

Tummy Flutter number 3- crushing

Though the nicest of all the tummy flutters by far the most excruciatingly embarrassing and kinda pathetic.

Oh I am crushing like a teen with the anticipation of our hols. I am grinning like a loon at each message , tummy flipping reading how exciting he is too , daydreaming of all the great things we can do.

This is so unlike me. I am Kelly , Ice Queen , the girl who simply does not get giddy over boys. Never have …thank you universe for hitting me with a teenage crush at almost 40 most decent of you!!

Ah….hurry up hols , I am ready !!

BlogCrush week 79 – August 17th 2018

Happy Friday everyone!!

So I officially now have a grown up son!!What a week!

Small girl is off on hols with her dad this week with the elder 3 soon to follow. I have a week without the kids eeeeekkk …..I’m not showing off I promise but in all honesty I am sooo ready for it ! Particularly as I happen to be heading up to Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Long time readers of the blog will know how much I loved it last year so I’m very excited and this year I’ve a very handsome fringe buddy joining me !!

Blogcrush has been one of my absolute favourite linkys from the off.

The kindest linky in town ,sharing all the lovely blog love.

Here you get to not only share your post but a fave you’ve read recently too!!

About BlogCrush

This linky will take blog post submissions from 6am (BST) Friday until 9pm Sunday. At that time, some thumbnail pictures will appear at the bottom of the post and each one will be a link to a different blog post.

– If you’re a blogger, add 2 posts (1 of yours AND 1 by someone else) by clicking the blue “add your link” button

– If you’re here just because you’re my friends and family and are supportive of my blog , well wait up ,stick around and have a browse. We have some very talented bloggers here.

Hosting this week is

Lucy At Home @lucy_at_home

and me!!!Daydreams of a Mum @daydreamer_mum

If you’ve ever come across an amazing post you want to shout from the rooftops about , this is the linky for you!!

If you’re here because someone has nominated you -huge congratulations !!

Feel free to pick up our pretty badge!!

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk/" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/blogcrush-featured.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

The Rules

• Join in with 2 posts:
  • 1 post from your blog (personal) – no linkies please
  • 1 post from someone else’s blog (your #BlogCrush)

• When you add your BlogCrush (post written by someone else) to the InLinkz form, put “BC” at the beginning of their title

• Tweet your BlogCrush (& us) to let them know you’ve added them to the linky and share their link (@lucy_at_home and @daydreamer_mum) Please tweet us your own BlogCrush posts too so we can share them for you.

• Comment using the #BlogCrush hashtag on at least these 4 posts:
  • 1 post from Host 1 (personal or BC)
  • 1 post from Host 2 (personal or BC)
  • 2x personal posts from the rest of the link up

So that’s a minimum of 4 posts.

Don’t forget to add our beautiful badge

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/badge.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

We get to choose our favourite posts to be featured each week.

This week Lucy has chosen Culture shock in Italy 

My fave post last week was Parenting Little Girls 6 things I’ve learnt by Old House in the Shires

Host Post

This week I’m linking up a post about How amazing my little sister is

Have a great week everyone can’t wait to read your posts!!

 

Kelly xxx

 

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Blogcrush week 78 – 10th August 2018

Happy Friday everyone !

How’s the week gone ? We surviving the holidays?

Big week here as my first born turns 18! How can that be ?? The boy who taught me how to be a mum is going to be an adult!!

Blogcrush has been one of my absolute favourite linkys from the off.

The kindest linky in town ,sharing all the lovely blog love.

Here you get to not only share your post but a fave you’ve read recently too!!

About BlogCrush

This linky will take blog post submissions from 6am (BST) Friday until 9pm Sunday. At that time, some thumbnail pictures will appear at the bottom of the post and each one will be a link to a different blog post.

– If you’re a blogger, add 2 posts (1 of yours AND 1 by someone else) by clicking the blue “add your link” button

– If you’re here just because you’re my friends and family and are supportive of my blog , well wait up ,stick around and have a browse. We have some very talented bloggers here.

Hosting this week is

Lucy At Home @lucy_at_home

and me!!!Daydreams of a Mum @daydreamer_mum

If you’ve ever come across an amazing post you want to shout from the rooftops about , this is the linky for you!!

If you’re here because someone has nominated you -huge congratulations !!

Feel free to pick up our pretty badge!!

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk/" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/blogcrush-featured.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

#BlogCrush

The Rules

• Join in with 2 posts:
  • 1 post from your blog (personal) – no linkies please
  • 1 post from someone else’s blog (your #BlogCrush)

• When you add your BlogCrush (post written by someone else) to the InLinkz form, put “BC” at the beginning of their title

• Tweet your BlogCrush (& us) to let them know you’ve added them to the linky and share their link (@lucy_at_home and @daydreamer_mum) Please tweet us your own BlogCrush posts too so we can share them for you.

• Comment using the #BlogCrush hashtag on at least these 4 posts:
  • 1 post from Host 1 (personal or BC)
  • 1 post from Host 2 (personal or BC)
  • 2x personal posts from the rest of the link up

So that’s a minimum of 4 posts.

Don’t forget to add our beautiful badge

<a href="https://lucyathome.co.uk" title="Lucy At Home"><img src="https://lucyathome.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/badge.png" alt="Lucy At Home" style="border: none;" /></a>

We get to choose our favourite posts to be featured each week.

This week Lucy has chosen It’s ok to take a blogging break by The MumAffairs

Wendy’s fave post last week was The agony of being fat shamed in public by 3 little buttons

Host Post

This week I’m linking up a post about my eldest turning 18 and how being his mum made me who I am

Have a great week everyone can’t wait to read your posts

Kelly xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Sweet Child of Mine – Blogtober20 day 3

I

It’s October and I’m very excited to be taking part in Blogtober 2020 which involves blogging everyday through October using prompts.

Todays prompt is Sweet Child of Mine. I’m recycling an old post today. Said eldest about to turn 18 is now 20 but all still pretty much applies !!

When your first born child is about to turn 18 there’s a lot of room for soul searching.

18 , that’s huge right ? I have grown a human to adulthood. Me , the girl who can’t keep a plant alive and who loses her purse weekly. Yet there is a man in the world that I grew in my actual body . Who I gave birth to despite my freakishly low pain threshold and who has managed to survive living with me for 18 years and still be relatively sane.

Is this the end point then? What we’ve been leading up to all this time. Can I look at this man and decide whether or not I did a good job. This man I made ?

Except , I didn’t make him or shape him really. The first born well he kinda did things his own way from the off. I’m sure some of my influence has to have rubbed off somewhere and there are genes in there I’m certainly responsible for. However I didn’t make this person.

He made me.

That sweaty August day when we first locked eyes , I was looking at a teeny tiny human who I needed to look after , all the time , forever. He was looking at a 20 year old girl who didn’t have a clue . Not. A . Clue.

He turned me into a mum ,that tiny baby.

He taught me resilience. He suffered horrid colic for months. Every night bang on time the screaming would start . I just felt helpless, he was in pain and I couldn’t help what kind of mum was I??? Every night I was sure I couldn’t get through it , every night we did and the next day , and the one after that.

He taught me how much my mum loved me. My mum died a year , almost to the day , before my son was born. I didn’t fall in love with J the second our eyes met. I’d have been so ashamed to admit that once , but it’s true . That rush of love I’d read about….well there was nothing much there. Weeks later though , during a night feed it just came. In a rush and completely overwhelming . I literally gasped …”I’d die for you ” I told him . “I’d kill for you ” it was massive and so intense and in that second I realised this was how my mum must have felt about me . I’d never been able to comprehend it before. That was an eye opener.

He taught me selflessness. I’m sure some people know this without having to have a baby . I needed it though. Putting another person ahead of yourself for every decision you make. It’s a biggie . I never would have known it if my son hadn’t taught me.

He taught me creativity. Nothing like your first World Book Day to make you learn how to think on your feet. His first ,he went as Harry Potter. I made glasses , I took ages drawing the perfect scar. I made a cloak of invisibility and believe me had I the know how to have made it actually work I really would have done. We won by the way . Not that it matters ….but WE DID!!!!

It’s more than just the big things though.

It’s the little things that have changed me , the tiny blink and you’ll miss them things.

I care about Hull City , like really care and Formula one and Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. I knew episodes of The Tweenies by heart , I was into Balamory !! His enthusiasm for anything is so infectious I can’t help but invest in it myself .

My son took a terrified 20 year old and over 18 years of love and work and tweaking made her into a mum. For him she could get through the bleakest of times . For him she could look an impossible situation square on , put her head down and just take it on. For him she could be braver than she ever thought possible .

All the children have left their mark on who I am , probably way more than I have them.

The first one though , he taught me to be a mum and I am forever grateful.

Also. One day when he was 4. I saw Doctor Who was making a comeback. I had never seen it before but I had a feeling this was something my son and I should watch together(also have the Billie crush). Oh didn’t we just , haven’t we just. I’m not sure how much of series 1 he took in but that’s ok because we’ve revisited it many many times!!

Doctor Who is ‘our’ thing. He can pick out an episode to suit my mood , we can spend many a day binging and not get bored. One day J I promise I will watch The Angels Take Manhattan RIGHT to the end without weeping .

Because of my son I was introduced to another love of my life in Doctor Who and I hope that we’ll always be able to squeeze in an episode or two .

He moulded me that amazing boy , and thank goodness for that.

I’m taking part in the Mummy Monday linky with Becca from Becca Blogs It Out

A bit of a role reversal

I talk here lots about how great it is that the kids are all getting older and how much I love being a mum to teens (I know I never expected it either ) The thing is ….. I’ll whisper it …sometimes I miss them.

Sometimes I miss the noisy chaotic house , the being in demand . Our house is pretty calm these days , people come and go and I can notice a whole role reversal going on .

What was once a “What’s for tea” x4 from the second they opened their eyes , has become me asking “Who’s in for tea” because likely one or two will be out .

What was once “What are we doing today?” usually uttered around 6am every day of the summer holidays… relentlessly is now my asking “what are your plans for the day?” as a gauge to see if anyone is likely to want to do anything with me .

What was once , in the 3 under 3 days , me silently begging for just 5 minutes peace or silence or calm. Is now me asking does anyone want to watch a movie or play a board game like some kinda needy woman desperate for company .

What was once me counting down to the kids going away for a week with grandparents is now me syncing diaries to find a couple days when we are all 5 of us together .

Days out need meticulous planning with small girl spending half the time at her dad’s and the middle two having teenage social lives and the eldest’s work rota.

It’s not all bad though , the time we do all spend together is precious in its scarcity , no one is so fed up of one anothers company so we can actually have fun.

I’ve raised kids who have their own place in the world , that’s the goal right ?

They don’t reject hanging out with mum , it just needs scheduling…could be worse .

Things are evolving as they always have. That’s parenting.

The danger is looking at the past with rose tinted spectacles….would I go back to the 3 under 3 days of no sleep and no quiet and the hardest work ever. Not a chance .

Let’s face it , if I told you I hated being the first person up in a morning , getting tea and taking it back to bed with a book and enjoying an hour of quiet to start my day in the summer holidays , I’d be absolutely fibbing .

It’s just different…and that’s ok.

7 highlights of a family trip to York

Just to say this not an ad or sponsored post. We paid for everything ourselves I just wanted to share some fun activities with you

Anyone who reads this blog or follows me on social media knows I love Yorkshire. I’ve lived away 10 years plus but I do miss home , Hull specifically obviously, but Yorkshire on the whole too.

So myself and 3 offspring ,poor glorious first born was busy working, found ourselves on actual Yorkshire Day heading for my favourite place in the world – York.

We only had a couple days (KNEW I should have added an extra night !) but we packed a fair bit in.

Can I share the highlights?

1) A trip down the river

There are a few ways to get onto the river and explore the scenery.

There are the cruise type boats which hold a fair few people and have variations on the river cruise theme afternoon tea cruises , floodlit cruises . I’ve been on cruise boats a few times and it’s a lovely way to see the river and had the additional bonus of commentary pointing out places of interest.

This time though we decided to hire our own little boat .

We appointed teen boy the younger as driver ? Sailor ? Captain?….he was in charge anyway and did a stirling job . Manoeuvring by the much bigger boats would have panicked me but he was cool as a cucumber. We did find hiring our own boat a lot more fun that the bigger cruisers and had a great time.

2) The Shambles

Small girl is a Harry Potter nut at the minute. Glorious first born has managed to pass down his love for Potter so she was desperate to see the ‘real’ Diagon Alley . What you and I would know as The Shambles.

We visited a Harry Potter themed shop. The Shop That Must Not Be Named . It was so popular you had to queue to get in but it was magical!!!

There is pretty much nothing you can’t buy in there but we stuck with a set of Harry Potter top trumps cards and a pin badge for each of with our house on.

Glorious first born’s souvenir

3) Street Performers

There are so many talented folk on the streets of York. Musicians , puppeteers , singers. Even a sword swallower that teen girl and I were way too squeamish to watch.

Our highlight here though was a fab escapologist . He was engaging and funny , roping in the audience to help and just a fab entertainer. When anyone asks small girl if she had a fun trip she tells them about him!!

4 ) Sol Ast pop up bar

We love Dean’s park next to the Minster anyway. Anywhere I can sit and look at the stunning York Minster is good by me . As we went to go sit in the sun on the evening of our first day though we saw this pop up bar. Gorgeous tipis complete with outdoor day beds and cushions to sit on and get cosy. We had some delicious burgers and mum even sneaked a little cocktail in the sun. I highly recommend the Minster Martini.This is only open this month though so you’ll have to be quick.

5) Dean’s Park

The park by the Minster which holds the pop up bar is also really lovely itself. We’d walked miles and miles on our first day ,so on day 2 we took some games and just hung out in the sunshine in the park.

When you play Harry Potter Top Trumps and get the Dumbledore card

6) A walk on the walls

Bad planning on mums part meant we didn’t get to the walls till just before we came home and tired legs were a bit of a prob , so we didn’t get a long stroll. I have done it myself many times though and there’s not a nicer way to take in the beauty of York.

7) York Youth Hostel

Last but by no means least. This was the most amazing place to stay. I’ve dithered about going away staying in Youth Hostels before , having a whole crew of children it can often be tricky to find rooms away to fit us all in. Ones that don’t cost the earth anyway.

I took the leap and booked the Youth Hostel , a bit concerned how it would be , but I honestly couldn’t fault the place. The staff were helpful and friendly , the room was clean and cosy and there was a nice bar area with a pool table and nice outdoor space. I honestly couldn’t have chosen a place more suited to us . There was a 15/20 min walk from the train station but when you can walk directly along the river it seems much shorter . I’m planning on a trip back to York , childless (see extra point below) and found YHA so nice I’ll probably stay there again on my own!!

Bonding moment alert , teaching your little sister pool

We had the best time in York ,it’s often tricky to find activities that both the teens and the 10 year old will like can be tricky . I also sometimes doubt myself taking everyone away on my own . This is silly I’ve been a single mum 10 years plus!!! However we had the best time and lots of fun.

One Extra Point

Something I didn’t get to do this time that I really want to is visit the pop up Shakespearean theatre Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre. It’s only around for the summer showing a selection of plays and has me written all over it .

You guys know how I love a little solo trip so will hopefully get back to York in a few weeks on my own to see a play here.

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