log off, shut down, go outside!

We've been getting out so much more recently because of the weather being nicer. It has been great adventuring all over the place but the writing has taken a bit of a knock so I'm now playing catch up. after our trip to Bournemouth a few weeks ago, I thought it would be quite some time before we got a chance to scoot along the beachfront again. Last week though we found ourselves in one of those situations where it was just me and Opeie for two nights with no responsibilities keeping us in Shropshire. This also came with the added bonus of the sun being out and us having the best weather we have had this year. We've been itching to get the tent out, so we packed up the car and headed out on a spontaneous adventure.

I had asked my friends online for recommendations on where we should go and thanks to many of them we now have a long list of places to visit over the coming months. One town that popped up several times was Ynyslas. I'm not sure if it was the multiple mentions or the interesting spelling, but I knew that that was where we were going to be heading the following morning. Being only 2 hours drive from where we live it was the perfect destination for us if there was a sudden change in weather and we had to get back.

When we arrived we tried a couple of campsites but they were closed for the season, I was thinking maybe we had been a little too ambitious trying to make the most of the first real bit of summer sunshine that we'd had, but the third site we tried came up trumps and it was an added bonus that although they only had an 8 pitch camping plot, we were the only ones crazy enough to be pitching a tent in April. As we had pulled into the site I had to chuckle to myself at the signs they had used to slow down drivers, the wording seemed a little strange but I also loved that for me it summed up our home-schooling adventure as Opeie does have a lot more free range than most children his age.

 The tent was up in no time at all and Opeie had made it very clear from the moment we had turned the engine off on arrival, that he wanted to be on the beach, so we packed some snacks and drinks and headed over to see what Ynyslas had going on on their seafront. The sun was lush but there was a strong cold breeze for the whole time we were there so our jumpers stayed on. That didn't stop us paddling in the sea and spending hours having fun on the beach though. When the wind had got too much we headed back to the tent and went for a drive to see what was going on. Plus we had to find a chip shop. Opeie has his own little tradition that if we go to the seaside we have to have a bag of chips on the beach.

As we drove through Ynyslas and into Borth we were clearly both thinking the same thing as we both said 'This looks great for scooting'. So we knew exactly what we were going to be doing the following afternoon. The temperature really dropped that night but we had plenty of blankets as well as our sleeping bags so we were confident that a couple of seasoned pro's like us were going to be just fine. The following morning was bloody freezing and although we woke up early neither of us wanted to get up because everytime we moved cold air would find its way into our sleeping bags. I wasn't holding much hope for a second night camping but once we were up and about it didn't seem that bad. We had some breakfast and I had a hot coffee to warm me up (my aeropress has become a camping lifesaver) and we were good to go.

Opeie of course wanted to hit the beach up again for a second helping of fun so (with the tide out this time) we hunted for shells and interesting rocks  while climbing under and over the breakwaters. Opeie wanted to create something arty on the beach so he started collecting piles of different coloured rocks. Using white rocks he wanted to make a big pair of eyes on the sand. This then moved on to using redish coloured rocks to make a mouth and then we started lugging larger grey rocks to create a face. We looked around for other things to use and Opeie found some green fishermans netting for the hair wrapped around a breakwater and some seaweed for the eyebrows, it turned out pretty good and we had lots of fun.

After he had reached his peak with the beach adventuring we headed back to get the car and of course the Micro scooters to continue our adventuring on wheels. We couldn't scoot from our campsite as there were no public footpaths so we drove towards Borth and parked up close to a seafront walkway. It's lovely to go somewhere like this and have so much free parking about. The scoot was great, investigating Borth and making our way to the high cliffside that we could see in the distance. When we reached the top the views were breathtaking and as we looked over the sea, we chatted about how lucky we were to be in a position to be able to have this kind of midweek fun.

 Later that afternoon the temperature really dropped but we still squeezed in a BBQ on the beach before it got far too cold. I couldn't see us sleeping in the tent for the second night so when we arrived back at the tent we had a little chat and Opeie said that he felt too cold to camp so we packed up the tent and put it on the front seats with all our other bags. Then we dropped the back seats and padded out the back with airbeds, sleeping bags and blankets. Opeie was so excited about sleeping in the car, I'd love to be that age again for a day.

The great part about packing up and sleeping in the car was that when we'd woken up and eaten, we were ready to go. I asked Opeie if he wanted to hit the beach before heading home but I think he had had his fill. So at 7am we were driving back to sunny Shropshire. It may have been freezing but being outdoors and adventuring around a new part of the UK for us, was 2 days full of home ed fun and we can't wait for our next camping adventure.

"My dreams were at once more fantastic and agreeable than my writings."

I've started so many of our blog posts off with "Home schooling is amazing" or words to that effect. When we first made the decision to educate Opeie from home I knew it was going to be the right decision and I had my romantic ideas about what it was going to be like, but nothing really prepared me for the fun and excitement that was going to happen from that first term. Having control over how your child learns is really empowering and although I still have my 'Should I be doing more?' moments occasionally, Opeie's interest in everything and his happy, confident personality says it all, we definitely made the right decision.

Last week was one of those awesome opportunities and Opeie and I jumped at the chance to spend a few days in Bournemouth. I'd never been before and I love going anywhere new. Opeie, like myself, really enjoys our 'adventuring in a new city' routine, spending a day or two before researching the area to find out where we can visit. It doesn't always turn out how he plan and we definitely aim to cram a lot more into our days than we can physically achieve but it is always good to have a list of places to hand that are of interest to us.

It was our first time staying in an Airbnb and to be honest I was a little nervous. I'm definitely a fan of having my own space and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about being in someone else's home. It turns out though that Uli and her daughter Eva that we were staying with were awesome and really made us feel at home, we had only been there about an hour and we were Micro scooting along the promenade with Eva, which was great.

Our plan (as always) was to make full use of those amazing wheels of ours and have a Micro scooting break. We had planned out rough routes between all of the places we wanted to visit and after chatting to Uli added in a few more that didn't pop up on '20 things to do in Bournemouth'. It's always handy to chat to the locals. I wanted to take full advantage of being on the coast with the scooters so on the first evening there I decided to venture out alone to see what was going on. Turns out nothing was, Boscombe was so quiet. I scooted along the promenade for 5 miles and then up a hill and 5 miles back along the street, it was so peaceful.

The following morning we kicked off our itinerary with a visit to Oceanarium which was great as it was on the seafront and was surrounded by lots of space to scoot. Opeie is a huge fan of penguins and could have happily sat there for the afternoon watching them. There was something about visiting an aquarium right next to the sea that made it that little more magical for him.

Opeie had never been on a pier before so being able to scoot along it, out over the sea was really exciting. The weather was a little overcast but nothing was getting in the way of our fun.

One of the great things about Bournemouth and the surrounding area is there are so many places to take fun pictures. Everywhere you look there is something that can be used as an interesting backdrop.

While chatting to Uli on our first night there, she told us that Mary Shelley was buried at St. Peters church in the centre of Bournemouth. I was surprised that that hadn't popped up on our Search when researching the area. That night as Opeie fell asleep pretty early I lay in bed and read up on Mary Shelley and her interesting life. As we were scooting through the town I filled Opeie in on some macabre stories and we visited the tomb. I'm not sure it was the highlight of Opeies scooting adventure but he was definitely interested in the story of her husbands heart.

We had made the mistake of driving into the main area of Bournemouth in the morning after, getting stung by the parking charges. What we didn't realise until we got back to Boscombe that afternoon was that we could scoot from Boscombe pier to Bournemouth pier (roughly 1.5 miles). So that's exactly what we did that afternoon, stopping off at the beach to build sand castles and splash in the sea. That evening we went out to dinner with friends which was great. Opeie was shattered by the time we got back and went straight to sleep, surprisingly I followed soon after.

The following morning, after a recommendation from our friend Duncan we drove over to Hengistbury head. Opeie had packed his Binocs (as he likes to call them) for a spot of nature watching and while heading there we drove past a juggling shop, so we popped in and picked up a frisbee (I used to love playing frisbee when I was younger). Hengistbury head was very windy but it was beautiful. I'm not sure Opeie was impressed by the 3.3 mile walk and in hindsight, we should have grabbed the scooters to take the edge off, this was made worse when we saw our only other Micro scooter of the trip whizz past us (I think we need them permanently attached to us).

By the time we got back to the car Opeie had only one thing on his mind, eating chips on the beach (which has become a tradition with every beach trip). We sat on the beach for ages just chatting about all sorts, Opeie as always had a barrage of questions and I did my best to answer them (Google may have backed me up though). With only a few hours left before we headed home, I asked my little sidekick what he wanted to do? "Can we get some nuts please dad?" The day before we had watched a lady in the pleasure gardens feeding the squirrels, who were very tame and climbing all over her, Opeie wanted some of that action so we bought a big bag of monkey nuts and headed to a squirrel heavy grassy area. 

Opeie was in his element and would have happily sat there for hours feeding them one at a time. I tried my best to coax them on to the scooter for a shot but they were having none of it. They were so gentle the way they put their paws on our hands to take the nuts. This was the perfect way to end our three days in Bournemouth.

As always our adventure was amazing and our fun time was magnified by the magic of Micro scooters. I often wonder how we ever got by without those awesome wheels of ours. Well, it's definitely getting warmer which means one thing for Opeie and I... Camping scooter trips. I can't wait to start pitching that tent of ours, so stay tuned for more scooting fun over the coming weeks.

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine."

It's not very often that we get to spend a day with Mrs M mid week so we were excited when she informed us she was going to book a day off for us to do something fun. The heat blasting through the car window driving home that day discussing our possible plans guided this exciting information towards us planning a day at the beach.

The weather had been glorious for days so the idea of lounging on the beach and walking in the sea as the waves crashed against our feet seemed idyllic. Sadly (and I wasn't at all surprised) the weather that morning had other ideas and as we drove towards our destination the weather seemed to get increasingly worse. By the time we had driven on to Shell island the rain was thrashing down, Mrs M didn't look very impressed at all!

We had arranged to meet our friends Emma, Wilberforce and Waldon and despite the grim weather i for one wasn't going to let it ruin our fun. While the girls and Walden went to the cafe for drinks i took the boys along the beach in the rain, climbing across the rocks and splashing our feet in the water. Who needs bright sun and high temperatures? they are just overrated.

In keeping with all of our dinosaur activities me and Opeie had been filling our week with (and i really need to catch up writing about), I buried some dinosaur bones in the sand while the boys were not looking and got them excitedly digging for possible dinosaur skeletons and fossils. Opeie was hoping to find a dinosaur skull and his little face lit up when all that play paleontologist training payed off and he could use his findings to continue his studies.

As much as i didn't want it to, the weather inevitably took its toll on Mrs M and after a few hours of sitting on a wet, windy beach she had had her fill and wanted to be back in a warm car and travelling home. Within 20 minutes of heading off the sun came out and was burning my right arm as i drove along the coast and through Barmouth. We probably could have stopped off at a different beach for some early evening seaside fun but i think some one had other ideas...

The summer holidays are almost upon us and i cant wait to get Seth involved in more of the random outings that we have. I do sometimes feel a little guilty that he's stuck at school while we are out having fun so its time to fully embrace the time he has with us.

"Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you"

Week three of our 52 week LEGO Minifigure project and this weekend was spent at the beach. Sadly Seth wasn't with us but two of our great friends were and it was so much fun. The sun was out, we all got wet splashing in the sea and there was smiles all day it was the perfect summer day.

Opeie's excited words while splashing in the sea summed up our beach afternoon "most fun EVER!"

Check out our previous posts...

Week 1: Meeting the Queen

Week 2: Raindrops keep falling on my head

"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.