"Life is either a great adventure or nothing."

For us there is adventure around every corner, its easy to initiate adventure though when you have young children. Everything is new and fun for them, i would love to be that innocent again. A couple of days back, before picking up Mrs M from work we drove to a random field and went for a walk. The next field over was filled with long grass so Seth was really excited about running about in there.

Seth was being the big scary monster and chasing after me and Opeie snarling and grunting. Opeie laughed and screamed all the way through the grass. We came out the other side and over the hill in front of us was an old derelict rail track. Seth was so excited he could barely catch his breath it was so cute. Seth did his usual and fired a barrage of questions at me which as a father I'm sure I'm supposed to be able to answer, sadly I'm a Birmingham boy and still not that clued in on Shropshire yet. Luckily I nearly always have my best friend Google to hand to save me from any embarrassment when it comes to Shropshire trivia.

I had told Seth that maybe it was for transporting coal (being big business here back in the day) and luckily my BFF Google confirmed I was correct, giving Seth faith that I continue to be the oracle of random information. We didn't have long to Investigate the area but now I know it's definitely derelict we will go for a walk along there in the holiday. The track was the topic of conversation for the remainder of the evening and I'm sure Seth is already planning what will be going in to his adventure backpack and what him and his little sidekick will be getting up to.

Building a custom DC Lego Aquaman iPhone casing (because how else am i going to spend my spare time?)

Both my creative side and inner geek were working overtime last night when I spotted a Lego mini figure I hadn't seem for some time. Yes a small Lego figure does tend to do that to me. The house was tidy(ish), Mrs M was busy on the phone working and the boys were tucked up in bed so I did what any 33 year old would do in the same situation, I got the Lego out.

The mini figure I had spotted was Aquaman, he had been hiding in the Lego Batman Tumbler that me and Seth had built a while back. He's not one of my favourite super heroes but I have always loved the colours on his costume so I decided to revamp my phone after the Yellow Lego protective phone case I built a few weeks back. Crazy really that I would even go to this trouble over a phone I'm the one in the house that uses it least. I had time to kill though, what else was I going to do?

I'm no Tony Stark but we'll call this phone armour 'Mach III' as I'm in a nerdy mood. I didn't end up using Mach II (The Cat in the Hat case) as it was a bit much. I used the shape from the last build and did half orange and half green but it didn't look right so I added in a yellow belt, changing the phone wallpaper made it look more Aquaman esq but it still didn't look right, I really wanted to include the mini figure so I hollowed out the back to make a little home for him. Not meaning to toot my own horn but it came out far better than I had envisioned it so I was really pleased. I really should knock the phone covers on the head though and get Back to building bigger and better things, it is a head turner though when I'm out and about using it.

"Probably one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken."

In our house we were always lead to believe that Hello Kitty was just a cheap imitation of that well loved rabbit Miffy and that the two were arch nemesis'. Being a huge Dick Bruna fan me and Seth were not even allowed to mention that hussy's name in the house. Turns out though that the arrival of our youngest member of the family would change everything. I'm not sure how it started but Opeie, for quite sometime has become slightly obsessed with she who should not be named. When he first started talking he would just point and say 'cat' if he saw her out and about, but now her name is brought up many times in our daily conversations with Opeie.

Opeie's other obsession is really bizarre but the two go hand in hand. Again I'm really not sure how it started but he loves watching videos on YouTube of people opening surprise eggs, in fact Opeie has become a Youtubeoholic. He could sit and watch one video after another and because of it any shopping trip we have is dominated by Opeie searching for his precious Hello Kitty surprise eggs. Usually I wouldn't waste money on things like this, kinder toys arnt what they used to be and these are much the same but they make Opeie really happy, he gets so excited and who am I to deny him a huge smile!?

As you can imagine we have quite a collection of empty plastic eggs and many mini hello kitty toys, the eggs will come in handy though for future craft ideas. I think that Mrs M is still dubious in regards to the little tarts impact on the family and is protective of her dear Miffy buy i think Hello Kitty has been fully integrated into the family whether she likes it or not. I'll agree I'm not a big fan myself but i do like some of the other Sanrio characters.

When you have children its so easy to mould them at this age into miniature versions of yourself, Ive definitely done it with those two comic book character loving boys of mine and i love it, I get to watch Spider-man cartoons and dress up with them, reliving my own childhood in many ways and although it makes me a little jealous shopping for super hero attire is lots of fun and quite rewarding (if only the made the same things in big boy sizes!!!). It is really great though when they start to find things them self that they really love and what i love about Opeie's love for Hello Kitty is that i think part of the reason for it is all the pink, i think like his dad he's a big fan of the colour (ever since picking those famous Peppa pig wellies of his).

It'll be interesting to see what Opeie gets in to himself next, i find his love of things really interesting and whatever the flavour of the month may be we will always do out best to get involved too.

Spins a web any size, loves the swings and the slides, watch out, herecomes the Spider-man

I love it on days when we leave the house and Opeie decides he wants to take a specific toy with him, the kind of day where that toy goes everywhere with us. It was Spider-Man's turn to be on buddy duty which I love because the red and blue poser is very photogenic plus he was always one of my favourite characters growing up (and still is). After dropping Mrs M and Seth off at their destinations we headed off to the park, it was a warm and bright morning with a slight breeze (just the way I like it), plus we didn't want to head straight home as there was housework to be done, booooo....

Spider-man was in full spirits and joined in with all of the activities, He joined Opeie on the swings...

 He had no choice but to tackle the slide when Opeie launched him down from the top...

He then got a little bit cocky on the rope climbing frame, come on Spider-man nobody likes a show off!!

 He even took part in a spot of hide and seek but lets be honest that costume is hardly the peak of camoflage attire.

Opeie was most excited that we found a giant spiders web for him to take a rest on after his hectic morning playing, The wall crawler looked quite at home.

It was a great way to fill a couple of hours and Spider-man even came with us book hunting after the park, I'm thinking we should have done the park after though as the boys found a lovely story time chair in the park. Its lovely watching Opeie treat his toys like their his best friends, he's such a caring and thoughtful little boy, it reminds me of how i used to be with my toys.

Sketchbook memories #2 - Opeie at 9 months sitting on Eames chair with Fisher Price ball

I found myself with half an hour to kill last night, Mrs M was in the kitchen making chocolate, the house was tidy and Opeie was fast asleep so i quickly grabbed my sketch book and pencils. Since stating my doodling again I'm taking every spare minute i can to do a quick sketch. Most of my favourite photo's are on the iPad, i have them on there because i like to have Opeie's early pictures easy to access, us parents always have nostalgic moments and sometimes i just need to see his little face as a baby. 

Today's sketch was from when he was around 9 months old, I had brought Mrs M an Eames chair for Christmas and we had placed him on there with various toys for pictures. There was a lovely one of him with Spider-man but the shot with the vintage Fisher Price musical ball seemed to have more character.

It's been a while since sketching faces and i really need some practice so hopefully they will get better with time. When Opeie saw the picture he said 'Baby Opeie'  so it cant be all that bad.

Previous Sketchbook memories posts...

• Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

"Children are educated by what the grown-up is and not by his talk."

Yesterday at the end of school Seth came out and asked me if I wanted to see his work, the classroom was open for parents to come in and have a look at all the great work the children had been doing. I love looking through Seth's work, it's always nice to see what he's been getting up to. His reading and writing is fantastic and he is in all the top groups, we couldn't be more proud as parents. The things that really interest me in Seth's work though are the way he expresses himself through drawing and his imagination when I read the short stories he has come out with.

I was in school for quite some time going through each of his subjects and reading his work, kicking myself with every page turn that I had left my phone at home as I wanted to take pictures of most of it. One piece of work was so cute and also really made me chuckle so when I dropped him in this morning I asked his teacher if I could take a quick photo of it.

In his science lesson Seth had been learning about how we change in our appearance throughout our life and had been asked to draw three pictures of himself, as a baby, how he is now and also how he thinks he will look when he is older. What made me chuckle is that firstly he's not expecting to have any hair but that he also feels that the bold head, beard/curly mustache combo is what its all about and is what he will be going for in his adult years, Never really pegged myself as a trend setter but clearly this is a strong look.

 When i asked Seth about it he laughed and simply said "I'm going to look cool like you when I'm older". Seth is too cute for words.

Sketchbook memories #1 - Daddy and Opeie at 6 weeks old

Just over a week ago i wrote a post about finding an old sketch book and how i used to doodle pictures relevant to the start of mine and Mrs M's relationship (click here to read the post), it was my way of dealing with the time we had to spend apart because of our living situations and being in different counties. I hadn't drawn in there or at all for quite some time but really wanted to get back in to my sketching. For my birthday last week Mrs M brought me a new sketch book, i thought it would be nice to sketch for Opeie, photos of him that i love and funny things that happen on this journey of being a dad.

It already seems that finding time to do this is not going to be easy as i always seem to have so much other stuff i need to be getting on with. Being a stay at home dad is a full time job after all. Last night though while Mrs M was busy in the kitchen baking cookies and the boys were in bed i found myself with a little time for a quick sketch. I'm thinking of making this a permanent fixture on the blog, hopefully meaning ill motivate myself to find time to draw and squeeze the quick doodles in where i can. My first sketch is from a photo of me and Opeie that was taken when he was around six weeks old, I thought it was fitting to start the sketch book where in many ways i feel like my life really began.

"The family you come from isn't as important as the family you're going to have."

Since our day out to the beach last weekend I had been counting down the days until yesterday. We had made arrangements with Mrs M's parents last week to go to the seaside again (weather permitting). Although we get to see them a fair bit it's always round at either of our houses so going out and spending the day together was a really nice change. We woke up early to prepare a picnic and sort out what we needed, things are so different when you don't have children you can pack a small bag and your sorted, we ended up with four bags heaving with 'stuff', Opeie woke up soon after, sat up, rubbed his eyes and said "see nanny and grandad" which i thought was lovely, nanny and grandad came around 7:30ish and we all piled in the car and headed off on our journey to Llandudno. I'd never been before so didn't know what to expect but I was excited about going out for the day.

The weather was glorious as we'd come to expect from the last few days, I was so greatful for the air con in the car the five of us would have been baking without it. We arrived at Llandudno around 10 and after driving around looking for somewhere to park for a bit we parked up and headed down to the main strip. I was having a great time being out and walking about (a bit like a dog), but Mrs M and her folks seemed a little disappointed, it was quite run down and very tacky but the sun was out and it was much better than another day lounging in the back garden. Opeie managed to spot the hello kitty ride as soon as we got to the pier and Nanny Roo couldn't help but get in on the action too.

 After a brief walk along the pier we headed over to the beach, but it was a little dirty and covered in hundreds of dead jelly fish (gross), Mrs M didn't look amused so we left the beach for a walk along the sea front and then found a bench so that Opeie could have some strawberries and cuddle and kiss his new inflatable spider-man that nanny and grandad brought him.

We had a potter around the shops but it was really hot and Opeie was getting quite sleepy up on my shoulders so we headed back to the car for a spot of lunch. It was obvious we had all had enough of Llandudno but none of us were ready to go home as it was still mid afternoon so Grandad mentioned a place we could go that was kind of on the way home called Betws y coed so we all piled in again and went about our adventure, Mrs M dropped off not long after setting off closely followed by grandad so me and Nanny had a nice chat on the way down with Opeie joining in where he could.

Betws y Coed was beautiful, clean and quite picturesque with a few shops, ice cream parlour and surprisingly a vegan / gluten free restaurant (Mrs M's eyes lit up). There was greenery everywhere and everyone seemed happy to be there. Mrs M got to feel 5 years old again when a worried Nanny and Grandad started to apply suncream to her (this parenting job clearly never ends). I think having nanny and grandad in the car had got Opeie quite excited so he missed his afternoon nap, but as soon as we sat down in the park and he had a feed he was out like a light so we sat in the shade under a tree while he slept chatting and watching the world go by.

 It was only a short nap, after about half and hour he woke up and was concerned that Nanny and Grandad were not with us so straight back on my shoulders he got and off we went to track down those elusive grandparents. We soon spotted Nanny Roo so Opeie was happy, Mrs M was desperate to have a look in the Vegan restaurant and Opeie was pulling me through the restaurant and out the back door because he could see trains. My cute talking satnav guided me over the railway bridge and to the gift shop where we brought tickets to go on the miniature steam train. Opeie wasn't sure about it at first but once we got going he had a great time chugging along and waving at Mrs M, Nanny and Grandad every time we went past. Opeie got just as much excitement from the train tickets we were given and was talking about them all the way back to the restaurant.

Time for a much needed sit down and drink, the weather seemed to be getting hotter and hotter (not that I'm complaining) so we sat and had a drink and some snacks. Opeie kept saying 'Bottomly Potts covered in spots', being a little hot and bothered it took me a minute to realise that our very excited boy had spotted a dalmatian sitting by us and it had triggered off Opeie's love for Hairy Maclary and his spotty friend (such a clever boy).

The drive home was relaxing and Opeie's contagious laugh kept us entertained on the journey back as he waved his feet around and we took it in turns to say 'ewwww stinky'. We had managed to go the day without an awkward toilet break being needed by Opeie while travelling, well that was until half the way home when Opeie announced 'Chocolate Pooh' and i had to sit on the side of a lay by with him on his potty (I'm so proud of Opeie's potty training he's been amazing).

We had such an amazing day and it made me realise even more how lucky we are to have Gary and Ruth in our lives. I really don't know why we don't have days out together more often but i guess its so easy to get wrapped up with all the other things that are going on. With the weather the way it is though hopefully there will be chance for us to have another fun day out very soon.

Thanks Nanny and grandad we love you very much xxx

"The fruit derived from labor is the sweetest of pleasures."

Time for one of my lazy posts i think,  It was another sunny day in shropshire this morning and although i was hot and bothered and in an irritable mood because i was tired we decided to go out for a few hours down to Essington farm for a bit of pick your own fruit and veg. We only got to pick Strawberries and Beetroot as the other things we wanted wont be ready for a few weeks, Opeie had a great time though and it was nice pottering around the farm in the heat. Enjoy the pics because its dinner time and this is all the writing for this evening as i have comics to catch up on...

The strawberries were delicious!!!