"It's impossible to be unhappy in a poncho"

I spent yesterday complaining about the weather as it was chucking it down all day and like a big kid I wanted to go and play outside. Today the sun came out which was great but after the arrival of a fun package around lunch time we found ourselves hoping for rain, typical. Scooting is big business in our house, it takes up the bulk of our outdoor play time and I love it just as much as the boys (if not a little bit more, shhhh...).

Today before making the most of the glorious sunshine, Opeie excitedly opened our lunchtime delivery to find inside a Micro Waterproof Jungle Croc Poncho and he couldn't wait to get it on. It was clear from the get go that the large pocket upfront was only going to be used for one thing, comfortably ferrying Opeie's best friend Rose about. As expected the delivery was the catalyst for and afternoon of scooting (like we needed an excuse).

We were hoping for a light shower to put this stunning piece of Micro-Scooter genius to the test. But apart from a light dribble it was dry and sunny, not that we were complaining as dry floors mean safer scooting. Opeie loved wearing a top that wasn't restricting his movement and he said he felt like a colourful batman. The Croc print (also available in heart print) on the poncho is adorable and it matched Opeie's Scootersaurus safety helmet  perfectly. As Seth now has a matching helmet too Opeie asked me to wear one of them as he was worried about me hurting myself. It actually never crossed my mind that I wasn't setting a very good example by not wearing a helmet myself, so I think its about time I got one too, I'm thinking the new Bern Matte Black helmet , maybe with the Elk Coolcase over if it fits (well I've got to embrace my inner child).

Our matching helmets received quite a bit of attention from passing dog walkers which was great. One elderly couple even stopped us to compliment Opeie on the Poncho, it was definitely an afternoon of stylish scooting and he was loving whooshing around with his new "cape" on.

The most important feature about the Micro poncho's aside from the adorable kitsch print is how the entire thing can be folded in to the front pocket and zipped away for when its not needed. If that wasn't awesome enough there are three velcro fastening straps to attach the small bag to your scooter (Yes! Micro-scooters are amazing and they think of EVERYTHING).

We were a little disappointed at the lack of rain (I can't believe I'm typing that), but there will be many, many scooting adventures to follow and I'm sure we'll put Opeie's new fashion accessory through its paces. Until next time fellow scooterers (still not sure about that word haha).

"A friend is what the heart needs all the time."

Opeie is a HUGE fan of cuddly toys and the bottom bunk of the boys bed has become home to most of them. Although they all get attention when there is a teddy bears picnic going on or if barricades are needed for some form of war reenactment, only a few make it to the A-list. They may get a single outing if they are lucky but to be part of the scooting crew,  to hang out with the likes of Rose (the head honcho), you need to be something pretty special.

When Mic arrived through the post from MicroScooters a very excited Opeie couldn't wait to get him strapped up and out on an adventure fit for a monkey. I wasn't sure if that would be the only sunshine Mic would see though or more importantly how Rose would react to another toy riding up front in her spot.

Turns out that the two had a lot in common and hit it off straight away. Mic's long arms and legs were perfect for holding his new friend firmly with no fear of either of them getting lost. Since Mic's arrival he has been on many scooting adventures and has also Opened up the front spot to other cuddly toys wanting to join in on all our two wheeled action. 

Hooray for Mic!

Warning!!!  

Micro Scooters are extremely addictive and if used correctly are very exciting! Over use can leave you looking like this... 

 

 ... So get scooting!

“When life brings you mountains, you don’t waste your time asking why; you spend your time climbing over them.”

I spend pretty much all day every day with a big smile on my face. Getting to hang out with Opeie and watch him develop into the tower of awesomeness that he is is so rewarding. Although I am completely smitten and smiling from ear to ear, some days my little side kick takes that smile of mine to the next level.

We'd not had a great session at Opeie's Rock climbing last week, there was lots of moaning and "I can't do it". I'm not the sort of parent that pushes and pushes but I will continue to encourage him until it's clear he doesn't want to go any further in whatever he was doing. As I listened to a parent in the car park outside from the class before, telling her child he was basically useless, made no effort and they won't be coming again it just reinforced that I'm doing the best for Opeie. I put the session down to an off day (we all have them). He was still looking forward to the following session though which was great.

When this weeks session came round Opeie was feeling pumped but was a little deflated when he found out his climbing buddy had chicken pox. When we arrived though it turned out that we were the only people there which was great. There were no distractions and Opeie was like a climbing machine, up and down each wall with not a single "i can't do it". he was having so much fun that as he was climbing he started humming himself a James bond style theme tune which was so funny.

With all the children's climbs done there was still time to spare so Neil asked Opeie if he would like to try the grown ups wall which Opeie was very excited about. I didn't think he would climb that far but he was in the zone and just went for it, it was so lovely to watch.

Starting climbing has been one of the best things we have done so far as it has given Opeie so much more confidence. Its great seeing his determined little face as he makes his way up, assessing his position and thinking of each move. I'm really hoping it is something he sticks with as i would love to give it a go myself at some point soon and it would be s nice to be able to do it together somewhere down the line.

"You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself."

Opeie has never really been the physically adventurous type, he loves to run about and is one of the happiest children I know but he's never really shown interest in attacking the climbing frames at the park or shooting up trees. Obviously that's never going to be an issue but secretly (and it seems ridiculous to me now) I had always wished he was a little more that way. As I lay in bed writing this it has come to my attention that my reason for feeling like this is because of how I was when I was younger, what I am only realising now though is that this memory of myself like that is around the age of 7 and Opeie is still only 3 (for a couple more weeks anyhow).

We had tickets to go to the theatre for us all yesterday but Mrs M had to work and Seth wasn't with us so we asked our friends Emma, Wilberforce and Waldon if they wanted to join us. Emma mentioned that Wilberforce had his second rock climbing class and would Opeie be interested in joining in? My first thought was 'there's no chance he'll do that!' But I booked it anyway on the off chance.

I told him all about it and he'd seen the pictures of Wilbs on Facebook high up the wall the week before. He was really excited about going (I was sure he wouldn't make it two feet off the ground though). We arrived at the climbing place and Opeie entered with a loud 'Wow!'

Wilberforce and his troops followed us in and the fun began. Neil the instructor was a top bloke and really made Opeie feel at ease as he attached the harness. Opeie was chatting away which was great as usually he would seem a little anxious at going out of his comfort zone. I on the other hand was getting very anxious. It looked like so much fun as Wilberforce shot up the wall and I really hoped Opeie would give it a try.

Opeie's turn and as he climbed up the wall I was left at the bottom in complete awe, thanks to Neil's support and motivational words Opeie clearly felt at ease and made his way up without over thinking what he was doing. It was amazing to watch and his enthusiasm and strength blew my mind.

Opeie didn't quite make it to the top on his first attempt but for the second attempt Neil put a monkey at the top and explained to Opeie that he was stuck and Opeie was the only one that could save him. As Opeie climbed, Neil told him to say things like 'don't be scared monkey, I'm coming to save you' and before he knew it he was right at the top clutching the monkey, I was so proud of him.

It wasn't quite the save the monkey had hoped for when Opeie threw him down and then landed on him on his descent, it did make us all chuckle though.

The class was for 30 minutes which was more than enough time for a couple of hardcore rock climbing three year olds. 

Opeie had completely shocked me and I was left thinking 'what else can I throw him into' because as a doting parent I got as much out of the experience as he did. The best part of it for me though was the excitement afterwards and how much throughout the day I heard "daddy I've had such a fun day" and "I'm so proud of my rock climbing". 

Children are amazing! And Opeie had shown me a side of him I'd never seen before, I couldn't be more proud. We're all looking forward to class next week and it's another chance to hang out with his partner in climb (ba-dum tis) Wilberforce.

"Adventure is not outside man; it is within."

Usually when we have an item to review i aim to get the post written within a week or two but some items deserve so much more. I had a fantastic idea for this review that for a change didn't work out but I'm still going to aim to write it, maybe during the summer. We've been in limbo for quite some time now with how Opeie gets about while we are out. He hasn't wanted to be in his pushchair since he was about 14 months old (although we did had a week a month or so back when he requested it). He always seems happy perched on my shoulders and although i love him being up there its good for him to be doing his own thing.

The great thing about having children is their uncontrollable sense of adventure, its contagious. Thanks to Micro scooter the bridge between pushchair and the void we were in was sorted and having wheels to get around on was the start of even greater adventures. The reason it took me longer to write this review was because after receiving the two amazing scooters i really wanted to get out and about making the most of them. I used to love throwing Seth's balance bike in the boot when he was younger to take out places with us, but as the kids get bigger so do their bikes which throws a spanner in the works. Micro scooters amazing design though means i was back to loading up the boot ready for action. In fact they pretty much live in the car now as we take them everywhere we go.

Opeie was sent the Mini Micro scooter T-Bar in a lush orange colour (which is one of Micro Scooters new colours) and i was sent the adults black Micro scooter. Seth looked rather jealous when he saw us wizzing around on them and although he is loving his skateboard at the moment i think that with his muscle condition and limited mobility he found using the black micro scooter (which is great because the handle bars adjust for different heights) easier to control and has now been eying up the Micro Sprite Scooter, surprisingly in Pink which i love. After seeing how confident he was on the Black Micro Scooter and having the brake there to slow himself down its something i need to consider getting him soon.

As i said before the scooters have been everywhere with us and everywhere we go we ALWAYS see other Micro Scooter owners. On our recent weekend away visiting friends in London we walked through a park in central London and i counted at least 30, which sounds crazy but after owning one myself i can see why these Scooters are so saute after. This is a company aiming for world domination.

One of the great things about having the scooters is that even if we're not heading out just 'Scootering' ,its a way for us to get where were going when the car has taken us as far as it can. Which again for Seth's mobility limitations has been amazing. When we want to go tree climbing, which is our recent flavour of the month with Seth, the walk from wherever we park to the trees we are climbing is made that little more interesting and the journey that little less exhausting for Seth now having wheels on our feet. When we arrive at our destination we just park up and go about our adventures. Having scooters gives the boys a great sense of independence which i remember feeling myself when i had a scooter back when i was younger (it was no where near as classy as these though).

Because they fold up so well even if we plan a day out to the beach and have a boot full of picnic stuff theres still more than enough room for the scooters, helmets and probably more scooters for when we decide to include the other members of our team. It was great to see Mrs M having a go too and i know that secretly she'd love to join the scooter gang with us, i think sometimes she feels a litle left out, i could definitely imagine her on the Micro Floral White Scooter, we could go on some awesome family adventures.

There really isn't a bad word i can say about Micro scooter, this is a company that is giving the customer exactly what they want and giving us and our boys the sense of adventure and freedom they crave daily. Micro scooters will be dominating much of our summer i can see, so there will be many more posts coming soon.

"Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us."

It doesn't happen all that often but every now and again you can find a gem when rummaging through the charity shops. Today i popped to the chemist in Ironbridge for a packet of wet wipes for my messy little boy. On the off chance i decided to pop in to the only charity shop on the high street, mainly to look through the books for Opeie as hes really starting to get into his books. I did find a Maisy book that he didn't have but the Gem was staring at me as i walked in amongst the naff board games and a pair of tatty roller skates.

I'm not a massive Transformers fan but Seth occasionally likes to watch the cartoon, what he does love though is masks and he doesn't really care what they are, the only specification is they cant be girly. In Seth's words today "i wish i had every mask in the world".

It was just me and Opeie that had gone to the shop so after we headed down to the park to Mrs M and Seth. Seth had gone on an adventure in the woods with auntie lotty so when he got back Mrs M told him that the Pirates had sent it express delivery to the park for being so good.  He was  a very excited little boy and it was by far the best £2 i had ever spent.