"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

It was one of those weekends which started with three out of the four of us being ill. I had a raging headache, Mrs M had been peaky all week and Opeie has had a snotty nose and bad cough for the last few days. As always though Seth (the possible carrier of all the lurgy) was fine. We all slobbed around the house for the first few hours of Saturday morning but I was getting a little stir crazy and The boys clearly wanted to get out in the glorious sunshine.

It's one of our many family traditions each year to comb the local area looking for fruits to steal (I mean borrow) and we'd yet to visit a lovely abandoned orchard this year that is only a short drive away. Its a beautiful Orchard with apples, pears and cherries. It also has elderberries, blackberries and hazelnuts in the surrounding area. Sadly a bulk of the fruit seems to go to waste each year so we always fill at least a couple of large bags up to make good use of them.

The boys were really excited about picking the apples but when we got there all the low hanging fruit had perished from bees and other insects. Even sat on my shoulders the sweet looking Rosie red fruit was still out of reach. It was time for the very grown up adults in our apple picking party to show the little ones how it is done. Gracefully Mrs M mounted my shoulders and away we went like an apple picking tornado.

It very quickly became one of those days where me and Mrs M had a great time giggling and acting like big kids while the boys sat and watched, oops.

We ended up with quite a good haul ready for a week of pies and sauces and despite feeling a little groggy the vitamin D did us all the world of good. On the drive home we passed through Ironbridge and stopped off at a fruit and Veg honesty stand on the side of the road. We've picked up eggs from there before but this time a lovely pumpkin and some blackberry jam for Seth came home with us.

It was the perfect unplanned spontaneous day with my three favourite people and the amazing weather really added to the quality family time we spent together. Now to get peeling all those apples.

"It' easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top."

I lived in Birmingham for most of my life but for many years prior to moving to Shropshire I just didn't feel comfortable there. With many family issues outside of Mrs M and the boys I just didn't really want to be in that city and environment anymore. When I moved to Shropshire I felt like a weight had been lifted and it was when my life really began moving forward, so it will always be a special place to me and in many ways this is the only time I've felt at home and part of something special.

I feel so lucky being here, since my life changed and I became a parent there's no need for the busyness of the big city, that side of socialising has become obsolete and I've traded all that in for beautiful scenery and people that I adore. For just getting out and about, Shropshire is perfect for long walks, It's full of greener attractions and has a really interesting history surrounding it, especially in and around the Ironbridge area.

Last weekend was odd, the weather was all over the place. Lots of rain and bleak looking skies but by Saturday afternoon although it was still very cold, the sun had come out and it gave us the motivation we needed to get out for a spot of exercise after a large but incredibly tasty lunch. We had planned to head over to our favourite farm for a wander but it was too wet and there is lots of long grass there so we found ourselves making our way towards the Wrekin.

The Wrekin is a fair and steep walk especially if you have children. Try multiplying that considerably if you are also carrying a tired and semi grumpy 3 year old (who is at the moment refusing to take naps) on your shoulders. Saying that though, I love him perched up there so although it was a slight struggle, it's always a pleasure being the 'daddy horse' as Opeie calls it. The further up the Wrekin you climb the more you are rewarded with beautiful views of the surrounding landscape. 

Mrs M told me how much it had changed since she was a little girl and how much of a shame it was to see the local area so built up and with even more building sites popping up.

While on our up hill climb Opeie spotted some giant footprints along the hill so he followed the trail to see where they would take him.

When I was a child I was fascinated by clouds and the top of the Wrekin was a great spot for cloud spotting, yes I guess that makes me a bit of a nerd.

As idilic as the Wrekin is, When you reach the top you are unfortunately greeted by this monstrosity which is a real shame as its not really in keeping with the aesthetics of the surrounding area...

...but you soon forget about that when you take in all the beautiful views around you. It was so windy at the top and I don't think Opeie was really enjoying it, luckily mommy had her ear muffs with her though which soon cheered him up.

After a little time taking in the view it was time for us to make our way back down the hill. It was a lot easier carrying Opeie back down to the car and we had loads of fun counting and messing around. It was great exercise and it really helped with that stir crazy feeling from being stuck in the house.

Shropshire is a beautiful place to live, made even better by the beautiful people I surround myself with.

"The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, iscuriosity."

A bad review can sometimes be really damaging. I've spoken with friends in the past that own business' and companies that we have worked with about how a single bad review can really slow down the sales of a product. This can also be so true with simple word of mouth. I'm usually the sort of person that prefers to make my own decisions about things, unless it is regarding an attraction, the thought of paying to get into somewhere, being disappointed and basically stuck there doesn't appeal to me at all. After this recent experience I've realised to again, make my own decisions about such matters.

Here in Shropshire we are lucky to be surrounded by great attractions, including many museums, one of which is a science museum called Enginuity, I've known it was there since I moved here but because I had been told it was no good I never gave it another thought and I feel a little stupid about that now. Last week our friend Lucie, who I have referred to as my Shropshire oracle in the past due to always steering me in the right direction of local events and attractions, said that she had taken her children and had had a great time. So I decided me and Opeie were going to give it a try, we arranged to meet Lucie and the kids there as they wanted to visit again and had an annual pass to all our local attractions (there's quite a few dotted about). The morning we arrived Shropshire was in the midst of what I can only describe as 'freak weather' heavy snow and strong winds, it came out of nowhere and it had put Lucie off driving there so me and that inquisitive sidekick of mine ventured in alone.

I was hooked the second I walked through the door, the place looked amazing. I can't believe it was literally on our doorstep and it had taken us this long to give it a try. Opeie took one look at what was there, Spotted a Bee hanging from the ceiling and got very excited, and rightly so.  Enginuity is colorful, educational and very interesting, the sort of attraction that will get you thinking and asking questions (which i love). Although the actual building itself isn't huge it's wall to wall activities that could keep you occupied for hours. 

You can learn all about how dams work and how to power up a small town using its natural water supply with this scaled down model where you can open and close the dams yourself, cause the clouds to rain down and control the water flow to complete the task of the exercise (water proofs provided for over excited little ones)...

 

There is a remote control (Scan It) that you can point at different sections of the museum marked '?' Which then brings up informative videos on screen relevant to the piece you've pointed at...

There's no shortage of things to build, buttons to press and wheels to turn, the whole place is completely interactive.

I didn't want to get round the exhibits to quickly so after an hour we made use of the small soft play area that is inside. There was a school trip there but as they were a lot older than Opeie we ended up getting the soft play area to ourselves. There was a big soft train and a soft helicopter to climb on. Us being us though decided to pull them apart and build a base to hide in. Opeie was struggling to climb over the barrier so we also used the large foam Lego bricks to build some steps.

We even got to meet Pacman...

All the excitement and running about had made me thirsty and Opeie wanted a snack so we popped to the coffee shop just outside for a drink and a bite to eat. It gave us another great chance to use our Oxotot Snack Disk which has been a life saver for storing snacks when venturing out.

And then it was back for some more investigating...

Enginuity is full of curiosities and products from days of old, i love looking at things like that but Opeie much prefers the big machines, especially the ones you can play with and physically work yourself.

Opeie's favourite part seemed to be the robot that could play the piano and build the Eiffel tower. 

We spent a good 3 hours there and could have easily spent longer but it was lunch time and Opeie was starting to get tired so we decided to head home. We had a great time and decided to go again a few days later as Seth was at school first time round and i knew he would love it. It just goes to show that you shouldn't always listen to peoples comments, sometimes its nicer to investigate and find things out for yourself. The experience has now got me looking into all the other local attractions. Shropshire is such a great place to live and i will be fully taking advantage over the next few months of every thing it has to offer

"Friday. The golden child of the weekdays. The superhero of the workweek."

 Finally the sun is back, it's been a pretty grim week weather wise and its really put a dampener on our plans. But Friday i wanted to make sure we spent our afternoon in the sun. Mrs M unfortunately had to work so I packed a huge bag of books and some snacks and we headed over to the abbey for a reading session (or the "ohhh.... Castle" as Opeie calls it). There was only one other family there so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It was lovely and quiet so we found a spot and threw our blanket down. We read a few books and ate some fruit but Opeie was itching to be chased around.

After we had exhausted the abbey we jumped back in the car, rolled down the windows and headed towards Ironbridge as I wanted to get Mrs M some flowers for date night (Even though Opeie didn't go to bed till late and Mrs M dropped off soon after him, there's always next Friday i guess). Opeie helped me pick some 'pretty flowers' and some for Nanny Roo too as we had been reading about them in one of his books. We pottered around a couple if shops and then made our way to the park as Opeie was informing me that he wanted to go on the swing.

I needed to pop to a couple of shops after the park,before we picked Mrs M up from work but opeie had other ideas and fell asleep , which left me sitting in a car park taking in the view of the back of a Renault Clio, beautiful. I'm really Hoping the Met office is right and we have a few days of this so we can get out and about.Opeie was full of beans once he woke up so it was straight in to the garden when we got home. A pretty perfect afternoon.

I am just like any other girl, a sucker for bromance.

We had a great afternoon yesterday with our good friend Chris. Chris writes a photo blog called Gingerjamphoto.com and can always been seen about with his camera attached to him, its like an extra limb. We love spending time with him because he is a genuinely nice guy and is very thoughtful. He always makes a lot of effort playing with the boys and they love it when he visits too. One of the other reasons i love catching up (as selfish as it sounds) is that because he always has his camera with him he always gets some great shots while were out and about. They are natural shots too, most of the time he is snapping away and you don't even realise, he's like some sort of photographic ninja. Its not that I'm a poser just that not having access to photo's of myself when i was younger anymore i crave great family pictures of us all and Chris knows how to capture that.

We headed down to Ironbridge, the plan was to have a walk about and take Opeie to the park and we thought that Chris could get some pictures of the Iron bridge itself. The weather was amazing and it was such a nice way to spend a bank holiday. Ironbridge is one of our favourite places and its perfect for those sunny days.

After pottering around the bridge we headed down to the park as Opeie was itching to get the ball out and Chris being the lovely bloke that he is had brought the boys some bubble camera's and old school planes for throwing. Laura used this as an excuse to get hold of Chris' camera which gave us chance to fully embrace what Mrs M calls our 'Bromance'. I love the guy what can i say.

Opeie was having a great time running round the park, throwing aeroplane's and blowing bubbles.

After an hour or so of park fun we headed back to ours for a spot of lunch made by that lovely lady of mine while us three boys ran around the garden, read books and played with the rabbits. Mrs M was booked in with her personal trainer after lunch so after dropping her off us three boys headed off for a walk up the Wrekin. Opeie resumed his favourite place on my shoulders and away we went.

While we were walking Chris spotted some Bluebells and asked if me and Opeie could go and sit in them while he took some photos. Me and Opeie being the posers that we are were happy to oblige. Who's going to turn down lovely father and son pictures? not me that's for sure. Opeie loves flowers so he was in his element, Although the cute sniffing and picking soon turned in to 'Hulk Smash", he's definitely my boy that's for sure, Oops.

We had such a great day with Chris. Not having a family outside of Mrs M and the boys means that i really appreciate the friends that go the extra mile to make the effort. The boys love him too which is great. We've been friends for quite some time but its only been the last year that we've all become close and i feel so lucky to have a great friend that's always there for a chat and loves spending time with us.  Our Bromance is sure to blossom!!

To see more of Chris' great pictures be sure to visit his blog gingerjamphoto.com, it's always nice for us to read about our days out from an outside perspective.

Here's Chris' take on the afternoon... http://gingerjamphoto.com/bankholidayfun/