"The most important educational vehicle in all life is a parent figure."

I love mothers day, probably more than Mrs M's birthday, but then shes the kind of person that stresses about getting older so that may be why. Mothers day and fathers day have been huge for me since having the boys as they are a celebration of parenting, the thing that is most important to me. Becoming a dad changed everything for me and having children makes everything so much more amazing. They are hard work at times and demand a lot of attention, so I have always made it very clear how important it is to say thank you to mommy for everything she does for us.

The boys don't need any prompting when it comes to this time of year, when the words 'Mothers Day' are mentioned they spring in to action. What can we make her? can we buy her something nice? To be fair though, being such caring thoughtful children they are like that all year round, always wanting to put a smile on Mrs M's face (and i know how they feel).

After waking mommy up and presenting her with lovely cards we asked her what she wanted to do and she told us she fancied a walk up Carding Mill Valley, so we wrapped up and headed towards our mothers day celebration. I think as soon as she opened the car door she instantly regretted her decision as it was freezing. But we ventured up the valley and it was a lovely way to spend the special Sunday morning.

After an hour or so we we all craving a hot drink so we headed to the cafe and Mrs M made a bee line for her table, situated right next to the log fire. So we all sweated having our lunch before heading home for an afternoon of family time together.

We're so lucky to have Mrs M looking after us and it was great getting to spend some quality time with her considering she has had so much work on recently. 

To all my mom friends out there...

I hope all you moms out there had an amazing Mother's Day.

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."

This week has been the first chance we've had to venture outside of the car around the new area we've moved to. We've done a lot of driving in and out over the last few weeks but I really wanted to get a feel for the surrounding area.

A few days back I realised Opeie's library books were a few days overdue. As we are only about a mile away from the library me and Opeie packed a backpack, got the Microscooters out of the boot and went on a mission in search of new literature. It was a a lovely scoot down there and everyone was smiling at us scooting together which was really cute.

Yesterday we decided to go for a drive to Carding mill valley, our popular summer hang out. The sun was out but the wind was fierce and it was freezing and when we arrived and realised that between us we had failed to put a big coat in the car for Opeie we hopped back in the car to drive home. Despite the disappointment We were still in the rambling mood when we got home so after kitting Opeie out with the correct winter attire we walked away from the house with no plans on where we were going (just the sort of adventure I love).

It turns out that if you walk 5 minutes from our road in the direction we hadn't been before there are miles after miles of farm land and a 6 - 8 mile woodland walk, it really is quite beautiful and i love having that on our doorstep.

It was cold and wet but the country walk was keeping us in great spirits. It was like being in a completely different part of Shropshire. Originally I'm a Birmingham lad but this is my home and the place I've always felt most comfortable.

Opeie is a huge fan of that classic toy 'the stick' and no adventure goes by without a new stick joining him along the way (well how else is he going to fend off trolls and hold back brambles?).

There was no shortage of animals along the way and Mrs M and Opeie fell in love with an adorable donkey we passed called Penn. Despite the weather (my hands were freezing), it was the perfect afternoon stroll and it is great to be a little more familiar with the surrounding area.

A chilly walk through the hills at Carding Mill Valley

It's Mrs M's last few days of freedom as she told us this morning, She goes back to work Monday to Friday next week so she wanted to get out and do something. Seth on the other hand just wanted to stay in and wait for the postman as he is expecting some packages. But as Mrs M is the boss in our house we got ready for a day out. Seth decided that he wanted to go to Carding Mill Valley so we made a packed lunch for the car, wellies and everything we needed for wrapping up warm. The sun was bright and shiny and the sky was blue but it was rather nippy.

It was a nice drive down there and it didn't take too long, just long enough for Opeie to have a quick nap before the brisk walking commenced. Opeie was adamant that he was going to be wearing my hat and seth's gloves (quite the fashion statement). As we got closer to our destination we started to notice the snow and knew we were going to be in for a chilly mini hike.

We had a spot of lunch in the car when we arrived and then wrapped up warm for our rambling adventure. Seth finds it difficult to walk to far because of his muscles so the 10 minute walk from the car park to the reservoir took more like 40 minutes with the stopping for rests. It was lovely to be out and about walking though and the boys we're really enjoying themselves. Seth was desperate to get his wellies on so he could go splashing in the little stream and Opeie was just mesmerized by the sheep casually walking around.

We reached the Reservoir and Seth was looking a little tired so we all sat down. It was such a beautiful view...

After a 15 minute rest we headed back towards the car, the litre of water i had drank on the journey there was telling me that i needed to find somewhere before i burst, so we headed down to the coffee shop for a nice hot drink and a slice of cake, Seth for some crazy reason opted for an ice lolly?? Strange boy.

Seth by this point was itching to get back to the car so he could put his wellies on and go splashing but before leaving the coffee shop we popped into the gift shop next door and brought the boys a net each so that they could go hunting for little animals. Mrs M and the boys changed their footwear at the car and we headed to the stream which luckily was on a few meters away. Sadly i don't own a pair of wellies so i sat on the grass and took some snaps. Opeie slipped over while in there but luckily Mrs M managed to hold him up before getting a wet bum.

After the splashing in the stream the troops changed their footwear back and we headed home. Seth looked exhausted bless him. We were back home in no time and in the warm so we all went and had a cuddle on our bed. It was so nice to be out and about even with the chilly air. Seth's not with us tomorrow but we're planning on heading out somewhere nice for a walk again.