"Miracles can happen, even to those who are small, flammable, and dressed all in black."

Its a family tradition on Christmas eve before bed to read a new Christmas themed book together as a family, which tomorrow we will be enjoying together on our Christmas eve. Tonight though it would have felt wrong to not have read a festive book, despite the fact that Seth wasn't with us. So tonight, as we tucked Opeie up in bed we read my second favourite Christmas story.

THE LUMP OF COAL by Lemony Snicket isn't your average Christmas story, there are no happy elves and a clear lack of the usual cheer. The story though is beautifully written and is everything you want in a festive story, leaving you feeling all warm inside.

 the lump of coal wants nothing more than to be an artist and spend his days creating abstract art. If that's not possible though he would settle for helping out on a Barbeque, cooking vegetables and meat. This story is set in winter though and a good BBQ is hard to come by. Sadly the people that cross his path end up being quite rude and attempt to shatter his dreams until he has a chance meeting with a pharmacy hired Santa clause handing out coupons, who sends him on a new path.

 A present in the stocking of an naughty child doesn't sound like the best place for an artistic piece of coal to live out his days but that chance meeting sets him on the path to happiness and the Lump of coal fulfills all of his wildest dreams. The lump of coal has a great message and is a brimming with some of the magic which surrounds this exciting time of year.

Our bed time story added a little extra excitement for Opeie and we're all looking forward to the big day. Merry Christmas all.

"It is better to have burnt and lost, then never to have barbecued at all"

The sun being out makes all the difference to everything. The weather has been terrible this week and with Opeie and Mrs M being unwell we haven't done much and because of that i had no motivation to write a post. Today has been a great day though and has really made up for the eventless week we have had. After Seth's Tae kwon do class today we had a potter around the shops (where i found a Dr Seuss book for 5p, Amazing!) before heading to the park, both me and Mrs M had left our phones at home though so no way of getting any shots. After the park we did a little 'Meat run' as we decided today was going to be our first BBQ of the year (finally). I love a good BBQ and after cremating some sausages(it wouldn't be right if i didn't overcook something)...

And masking the taste with the good stuff...

We sat down to eat. I love being able to just sit out in the garden and enjoy the weather and the boys love chasing each other about.  I'm yet to get round to any of the weeding in the garden and i will continue to use our 'British weather' as an excuse for as long as i can get away with it.

After food Mrs M decided it was time to clean or pirate water table off ready for the (fingers crossed) great weather that is hopefully on its way. Opeie loves the water table so it was nice for them to finally get to play with it. We should really have put it in the shed after last summer but it had remained turned upside down on our garden table (which also should have been in the shed) all through the winter. Being made by Little Tykes though it made no difference because it scrubbed up like new and apart from a little fading the boys were happy and getting wet withing half an hour. This is the third summer we've had it and it's still going strong.

This year we decided that the pirates needed a Nemesis so Seth went off in to the house looking for suitable archenemies, he came back soon after clutching our Nuby Octopus which i thought fit in great. He may look cute but this smiley tentacle wielding bully managed to kidnap and hold Spider-man against his will.

It's been months since Opeie last had a dummy, he was never really that interested in them so our dummy case served as a great holding cell for our friendly neighbourhood Spider-man and could be suspended from the mast making their story that little more dramatic.

Spider-man was soon rescued though by the jolly pirates, the pirate table kept the boys occupied all the way up until we went out, we literally had to drag Opeie away from it. I think it will get loads of use again this summer (weather permitting).

Late afternoon we headed over to see Auntie Lotty for a few hours to make the most of the last bit of sunshine for the day. we went to the park, had a rolling down the hill contest and played an epic game of Ackee 1.2.3. It was a great end to a fun afternoon with the boys and Lotty had a great time too which is always good. Its lovely knowing we have such great family round the corner.

 Hopefully today's weather is the start of things to come (but i wont hold my breath). More importantly the sunshine has given me reason to start writing again.

Help us plan our Summer!

Hey! It's Mrs M here.

I've been thinking alot about getting out and about more with the boys this Summer, and have been compiling a list of things I'd like to do: A 2013 Summer wish list. Exciting hey?

Somethings on our list.

• Seth wants to make some huge den's in the garden. (He wants to make a tree house but our tree is too puny)
• Visit Windsor Legoland 
• Throw a family BBQ
• Go Camping with the boys to Shell Island and St Ives. 
• Go hiking to a waterfall in Wales
• Go camping near the beach for Pauly's Birthday
• Visit Warick castle so Seth can see the knights
• Play lots of cricket  for fun with the boys and our family 
• Visit the theatre, can you recommend anything good for us to see? 
• Have a big family picnic( after all we have so many Nuby products we can use ) 

 Seth is so excited about going camping! SO SO excited. Opeie on the other hand shouts ''Tent!!''
( which he learnt from Peppa Pig , when they get a tent too small and Daddy Pig has to sleep in the car) which leads me to ask... have any of you been camping with a 2yr old / 6 year old for a few days? Is it fun? Or is it stressful with two little ones? Can anyone recommend a tent for us??? One that doesn't take long to put up / take down / store?

Since we were invited by Lego to  Lego Manchester Legoland we've been so excited , and can't wait to go to the Windsor outdoors LegoLand attraction, have any of you been? What were your favorite parts for little ones? Did you stay in any of the hotels near by?

What are you planning for your Summer? I am so hoping for good weather as we really want to get into camping with children and share our adventures with you! Can you recommend any good campsites for families? I really hope you can share your experiences with us!