It’s not often that I get to start a post on here talking about a stretch of glorious weather; it just isn’t something which happens on a regular enough basis in the UK, especially not when you live in the rainy North-West of England either but oh, my! The weather just recently has been so beautiful.  I can’t think of the last time we had such a long stretch of sunny days all in a row and although there is now rain on the horizon, I hope we have managed to make the most of the sunshine whilst it has been around.

We kick-started this sunny spell around the May bank holiday; which may just have been the hottest May bank holiday for years (don’t quote me on that!) and to make the most of it we spent the Monday of that long, wonderful weekend at the beach.

If you’ve been around here for a while then you’ll know that one of the reasons I fell in love with where we live was our sudden proximity to the beach.  We moved quite abruptly almost 5 years ago (eek!) and where we lived before we were as landlocked as it is possible to be in the UK, so suddenly having golden stretches of sandy beaches on our doorstep was a real novelty, and one which has yet to wear off.  That said, I think when you live anywhere long enough, you don’t always take advantage of what you have right in front of you and we didn’t visit the beach nearly enough last year.  We really wanted to change that and the past bank holiday seemed like the perfect excuse to do so.

It turns out that James was pretty serious about making the most of the day and had plans for us to leave the house just after 8.30am.  At the time I thought he had quite possibly lost the plot but given the amount of cars already parked up when we arrived just before 9am, I’d say he was on to something.

formby beach

books to read at beach

looking over beach

We walked about 15 minutes away from the main car park and were treated to a wide expanse of empty beach, perfect for setting ourselves up for the day.  Often when we head down to the beach we just throw a few bits and pieces in the car and hope for the best but this time we had come fully prepared for a long day.  It took James a couple of trips back and forth to the car but once we were set up, we were good to go.  The fact that the beach was so empty meant that I was happy for the kids to run down to the water and explore as well as climb the dunes because I could hear, and see them quite easily.  Once it got a bit busier (and boy did it get busier!) we didn’t really have that luxury.

There is something so wonderful about the simple pleasure of being a kid at the beach and I love how enthusiastic both Meg and Eli are about spending the day paddling in icy cold waters, building sandcastles, being buried in the sand and even eating lunch with a good old dash of sand thrown in because let’s be honest, no matter what you do, sand gets everywhere!

I will never get over how fearless both Meg and Eli are when it comes to the sea either.  James did go for a little dip but he said it was absolutely freezing and he had no idea how on earth the kids played in it for so long.  Kids just don’t seem to feel the effect of the cold the same way that adults do.  I loved standing on the shoreline (with just the tips of my toes cooling off…) listening to them squealing and shrieking with delight as they chased down waves and tried to spot jellyfish.  Bliss.

building sandcastles

wave jumping

jumping the waves

running from waves

watermelon beach towel

We managed to stay and entertain ourselves for around 6 hours before we noticed the crowds beginning to creep ever closer; we decided to make a move when we found ourselves surrounded on either side and it didn’t feel so much like our own private slice of beach any more.  It was surprising heading back how much busier it was, people were literally piled on top of one another and to walk back to the car you had to step across people sunbathing…British people are crazy when the sun comes out!  Had they just walked 10 or 15 minutes further along they could have had a nice section all to themselves.  Madness!

We rounded off our wonderful day at the beach with a wander up to the main car park which housed an ice cream van.  We’d promised the kids ice creams so we dutifully stood in the queue for 20 minutes before walking back down to the car and heading home.

sandy toes

As you might expect, we were all pretty worn out from the day but it was that delicious sort of tiredness where it feels like a day well spent, do you know the kind I mean?  We may have had to sing silly songs and talk really loudly to keep Eli awake on the way back in the car but it was worth it for the memories we made.

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I mentioned in my last ‘Us’ post that we had gone into the year thinking that 2018 was going to be a quiet one.  If that wasn’t true in January then it certainly hasn’t been true this month either!  We have ended February with some big changes on the horizon, the most significant of which is that I will now be working four days a week rather than three.  I’m taking on some new challenges at work and although I’m excited at the prospect, I’m also not sure how it is going to affect the very fragile work-life rhythm we have just managed to get into.  For the next couple of months it is only going to be on a trial basis so we will have a chance to see the impact before I have to fully commit to anything.

canal walk

leeds liverpool canal

sitting alongside canal

February was also a month of crazy mixed weather.  At the start of the month we had a beautifully mild day which we took full advantage of and went for a stroll alongside the canal, one of our favourite walks.  This was quickly followed by some of the worst weather we have experienced in a long time.  Storm Emma arrived with a vengeance and we spent a lot of the rest of the month huddled in the house or rushing from house to car, trying not to get blown away in the process.

We did manage to squeeze some fun out of the month though.  We ventured into Liverpool a number of times.  I took Eli to the Clip and Climb centre and was amazed when he scaled each wall with absolute ease.  I’ve always suspected that climbing would be his ‘thing’ and it turned out I was right!  I’ve managed to find an outdoor climbing club which is local to us and takes place during the summer so I’m looking forward to enrolling him in that as I think it will be right up his street.  Although he seems to think parkour is more his speed; I’m not so sure.

clip and climb liverpool

climbing wall liverpool

albert dock

drawing mattel play

There was also the launch party of Nearly There Yet? which was hosted by Mattel Play.  We had a great morning watching the kids play and then afterwards we headed into Liverpool for some exploration and lunch.  Mattel Play is on the docks, which is one of my favourite places in the city.  When the sun is shining, even if it isn’t warm, the docks are just such a stunning location and I am totally there for it.

The rest of the month was, as I mentioned, spent in hibernation.  We made some travel plans for when the weather is warmer, talked about progress on the house (or lack of!) and basically tried to keep ourselves occupied whilst it was bitterly cold outside.  I don’t think we did too badly, but I will say I am definitely looking forward to the real arrival of Spring.

And that was February for us in a nutshell.  I am desperately hoping that we get a longer stretch of mild weather so we can properly get out and about again but with the unexpected flurries of snow we had again this week, I’m just not too sure!

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Let’s be honest, chocolate and flowers are nice but they aren’t for everyone.  It might be that you enjoy giving and receiving more unusual gifts or you just might not be into the whole ‘standard’ Valentine’s Day celebration.

If you are looking for something a little different this year, then I have put together this handy gift guide to help you along.  With 7 days to go, I’ve picked up a variety of items for a range of budgets so I’m sure you will find something that you like!

Personalised Our Song/First Dance Poster

This poster is such a sweet and unique idea.  It costs £9.99 for an A4 size and although you’d probably also want to purchase a frame I love that you can choose something which would be a nostalgic trip down memory lane.  You can also get A3 versions and there are different colour options too.  It’s going to sound incredibly cheesy but The Scientist is a significant song to us because when we were first going out James sang it to me and played the guitar.  Clearly I had dreams of marrying a rock star!

Itty Bittys

Who doesn’t love a cuddly toy to celebrate all things romantic?  Hallmark have just released three new couples in time for Valentine’s Day: Belle and the Beast, Miss Piggy and Kermit and Lady and the Tramp.  If those don’t grab your attention however they do a whole range of well known and loved characters and the miniature size means they make a sweet but thoughtful option.  Prices start from around £6.

We are very familiar with Itty Bittys is this house with the kids having a number from the Star Wars and Disney ranges and I think these are some very cute additions.

Rock and Ruddle Hairbrush

If you truly want to think outside the box then why not buy your loved one a Rock and Ruddle hairbrush?  These brushes are made using boar bristles which are strong and resilient and they pull through the hair incredibly smoothly.  You can buy them in a range of different styles and a handbag size brush costs £20.  We tried this brush out on James’ hair as he has incredibly thick hair and we were interested to see whether it lived up to its claim of brushing through without pulling and I can honestly say that it did the job perfectly.  The bristles also have microscopic scales which release and drag the natural oil from your scalp along your hair to keep it healthy looking.

The Perfect Mug

Whether your loved one’s beverage of choice is tea, coffee, hot chocolate or just good old plain hot water, there is something about drinking from a nice mug which just takes your experience to the next level.  I wouldn’t say I’m a mug connoisseur but I definitely know a thing or two about having an obsession with nice mugs!  I adore this Tinkerbell one from Find Me A Gift (£9.99).  It’s quirky, perfect for Disney lovers and would make the perfect receptacle for a Valentine’s morning brew.

A Good Read

It wouldn’t be a gift guide written by me if I didn’t include the option for a good book to read!  If your partner is anything like me then I’m sure they will have a wishlist just waiting at the end of their fingertips with books they are dying to own but if not then I was sent a copy of H.O.Charles’ first book: City of Blaze which James has been reading and enjoying just recently.  It’s the perfect option for anyone who loves Epic Fantasy with a good dash of magic and some romance (it is Valentine’s Day after all…)

I was provided with the items in this post for the purpose of the gift guide.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I feel like it’s as good as giving something the kiss of death to say that I am starting a new, regular post on my blog but that is certainly what I intend with A Little Bit Of Us…

I have enjoyed dipping in and out of Morgana’s Little Loves linky each Friday but find that I join consistently for a period of time and then lose my rhythm and this has certainly been true since I began working three days a week in October. For that reason, I can’t promise that these posts will be weekly but that is my aim. My true purpose though is to give you an update on where we are at, and the things we have been up to which don’t warrant their own individual post.

This week, James and I returned back to work (boo!) and the kids went into a holiday club. It was a bit of a shock to the system for all of us following the Christmas break. I don’t know whether it’s because Christmas fell on a week day this year but it just didn’t feel like we had that much time to spend together. Once we had visited my family and James’, we only had a couple of days before it was back to the grind.

It was no fun for anyone come Tuesday morning when we had to leave the snug warmth of the house and head out first thing in the morning; I’ve been drinking far too many cups of tea this week and the kids looked completely bewildered when we headed outside and it was still dark, although I think they have enjoyed being at the holiday club, simply for the opportunity to do something slightly more exciting and with different faces. We were perhaps heading towards that level of cabin fever which sees them bouncing off the walls and falling out over every teeny, tiny thing.

Going back to the weekend, we did manage (James and I) to get out for New Year’s Eve which felt like a major achievement; being the first time in 8 years that we haven’t sat at home, watching the clock and wondering whether we are even going to make it until 12am! We were invited to three different gatherings which we popped into and it was lovely to spend the evening with friends, knowing the kids were being well looked after by their Nana and Grandad.  It’s a terrible picture, I know, but the only one I captured of the whole evening!

The biggest news this week for me was the announcement of a new book club I am helping to run: Bookish Mamas. You can see the full story here, but we have picked The Power by Naomi Alderman as our first book and I am currently racing through it. It isn’t such a long book to begin with but the premise is very interesting, if a little dark! I’ll let you have my full thoughts in due course, naturally.
This weekend we are away on a review trip in Dorset which I am very excited to share about with you; I’ve been invited to vlog it so there will be a video following once I’ve had time to wade through and edit the mammoth amount of footage I am sure to come home with. Fingers crossed that Storm Eleanor doesn’t rear her head and ruin the plans we have for our time there.
I am also making the solemn promise that I will share some house updates here next week; we are putting some final touches to Meg and Eli’s rooms and then they will be completely ticked off and done and we can move onto other rooms in the house. I’ll also sort out full room tours both here and on Youtube in the coming weeks although I’m sure there will always be bits and pieces I want to add in. The trick is going to be in stopping myself long enough to sort out the other parts of the house which are crying out for redecoration!
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Last year I was oddly quiet when it came to sharing my resolutions on my blog. I filmed a chatty video sharing about some of the things I wanted to achieve as we headed into our busiest year for quite some time but oddly left this space a little blank.

If you follow me at all on social media you will have seen that we had a crazy busy year.  We are talking my 30th birthday, our 10th wedding anniversary, two family weddings, a number of BIG trips, the need to move out of our rented house hanging over our heads and so much more to squeeze into the 365 days which made up 2017. Even knowing all of that, we decided to take the plunge and move areas, buying a house which needed a lot of work doing to it…I think we have some kind of issue with keeping things simple! I recently made a highlights video and just looking at all the things we did (and I didn’t film every last thing!) reminded me just what a mad year we’ve had.

By comparison, 2018 is going to be a little more tame. I’m sure that we will somehow manage to fill up our spare time and weekends but the main focus of this year has got to be on renovating our newly purchased house and turning it into the kind of home we are proud of. It needs a lot of work to get it there but with some hard graft I think we could manage some serious progress in the next 12 months. Of course that means forgoing trips away and holidays, but I’m looking forward to spending next Christmas in a lounge which isn’t a deep purple and perhaps cooking in a kitchen which is fully tiled!

All that being said, I do think it is important to go into a year with some idea of what you want to get out of it. Otherwise one tends to procrastinate, don’t you think?

The house is a major endeavor, obviously, but there are some other things I would also like to achieve. I would like to fully settle into the new area by getting the kids back into their after-school clubs for one; I know that Meg has really missed being a part of a gymnastics class and when the nights get a little lighter I’ve heard there is a great outdoor climbing club which I think Eli would adore.

I’d like to blog a little more regularly: I’m going to aim for at least two or three posts a week with my focus being spread between family lifestyle, books and travel. I was, at best, a sporadic blogger last year with much of my focus being on building my Youtube community. I’d like to try and find more of a balance between the two and with some forward thinking I should be able to manage this (famous last words perhaps!)

I always have itchy feet when it comes to travelling but, as I mentioned, that’s likely to be off the cards this year with the house, although we do have one short break coming up which I am very excited to share with you all. I’d love to be dreaming about an upcoming week in the sun but I very much doubt we will get there, although I always have my fingers crossed for the UK weather to finally get its act together! A girl can wish…

I’d also like to read more.  I know someone, somewhere, is falling off their seat at that as I read 61 books in 2017 but I’d like to push myself a little bit more to read some bigger books that are currently sitting on my shelves and intimidating me.  I’d also like to buy less books and read more of the ones I already own but we will have to see how that one turns out.  Every time I put myself on a book buying ban, I just seem to purchase more!

Other than that, it will be the usual standard family events. I am currently pretending that I will not have a 9 and 7 year old by the end of this year because frankly, I don’t see how on earth that has happened. I’m sure they will both want to celebrate with a bang and given that I spent my 30th birthday with my head in the toilet bowl, we are also planning a 30.1 party for me so I can celebrate being older than I’d really like to be. There is something about being 30 which feels significant, although don’t ask me if I have my act together because I still really don’t have a clue. If someone knocked on the door tomorrow and congratulated me on giving adult-ing a good try but they were here to take over now, that would make perfect sense to me!

But enough waffling. I hope to have enough interesting content to share with you, particularly as we make progress on the house, and I hope you will come along on the journey with me. Despite putting a lot of effort into making vlogs and discovering that I have a real love for it, I also still adore the written word and hope to continue writing here this year. I’ve committed now so do feel free to remind me of it!

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