"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did."

I am always so positive on the blog as my writing is for Seth and Opeie to read in the future. Its easy to stay positive when you have two extremely well behaved boys, who are happy most of the time and have impeccable manners. Sadly though no family is perfect and every now and again those sunshine rays of happiness are over cast my big dark clouds (if only for a few hours).

Ive probably made that sound so much worse than it actually was but at the time i wasn't a happy boy. Opeie's sleep has been all over the place recently and a few nights back he kept me awake for all but an hour and a half. It was a nightmare and the knock on effect for the following day was awful. which wasn't a great set up for the following night where i finally got him (and myself) down properly at 5am only to be woken up at 6am by a him, full of beans and ready to play.

I cant really describe how i was feeling that day, if you had have asked me in person you would have most likely received a mix of slurred words that didn't make much sense, it really knocked me for six. I decided that morning that enough was enough and he needed to be worn out in preparation for the following night. 

Physically i didn't think i had it in me, but i decided a walk up the Wrekin would do us both the world of good, crazy i know but it was for the greater good and all that. So i packed a bag with a picnic and water, gloves and hats and we headed out. On the way Opeie almost pushed me over the edge, i knew it was going to be freezing at the top so i packed Mrs M's (crazy expensive) ear muffs, which Opeie has worn many times This day though while in his hands in the back of the car i hear a SNAP! while driving a long. He didn't do it intentionally but i was already feeling crappy and now that had turned to furiosness (spell check says that's not a word haha).

On the way up Opeie shouted "CROCODILE!!!!" when we saw a tree trunk that looked like a crocodiles mouth...

... Followed by "Daddy the hills look like mommies boobies!!!" at this point i was starting to cheer up a little.

The fresh air was clearly doing us both the world of good. Considering Opeie didn't go on my shoulders once and tackled the whole thing on his own we shot up and back down in no time at all. We did attempt to have that picnic at the top but i think that was just wishful thinking, red freezing hands and being slapped about by the wind, soon stopped us in our tracks and we ate back at the car.

I'm so glad that these days don't happen very often, in fact it was actually the first time i have felt like that with the boys, it's amazing how bad a little sleep deprivation can make you feel. I'd love to be able to say that a walk up and down the Wrekin sorted Opeie out and that night was a breeze, but that would be a lie!!! I have no idea whats up with his sleep routine at the moment but i am hoping that it'll pass swiftly. Until then... YAWWWWWWWNNNNN!!!!!

"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.

"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb."

After dropping Mrs M off at the gym earlier we had an hour to kill before picking her up. I had noticed somewhere that looked like a hillside walk a few days back while driving and had no idea what it was so we headed there for a little walk. We walked a bit of the way up and stopped and asked a lady walking her dog where we were. turns out we were walking up the Wrekin. Ive lived in Shropshire a few years now but i still don't know where a lot of places are.

Opeie was happy walking for all of 5 minutes and as he has never liked being in his pushchair our relaxing walking turned in to something that resembled Luke's Dagobah Training from The Empire Strikes Back. Opeie had a big smile on his face though so i was happy.

We didn't walk to far as i didn't want us to be late picking up Mrs M, plus Opeie was stopping every few minutes to find rocks that he wanted me to put in my pocket for his apparent new collection. The ones he decided he didn't want got Hulk smashed (that's my boy). I'm one of those strange people you see in the street that says hi when they walk by, Ive always been that way. After passing a few people tackling the hill and saying hi Opeie started saying 'afternoon' to people too. It's nice to be friendly to people you don't know but i do get some funny looks sometimes.

I explained to Opeie that we couldn't take all the rocks home with us so he had to sort out his favourites, the rocks that he had become more attached to, Then we filled my pockets and we headed back to the car to get mommy.

What shall we do with the rocks, any ideas?