"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.

"Wine is bottled poetry."

I love a nice bottle of wine but as Mrs M doesn't like it and i hate drinking alone the opportunity to partake in a little tipple doesn't present itself very often. yesterday however my two buddies Tabiitha and Dawn were having a little mothers meet and i decided to join the two raging wino's.

Mrs M clearly had some secret plans for my Birthday and couldn't get me out the house quick enough. So my Friday night wine tasting session worked out perfectly for everyone.

These pair of trouble makers have been so much fun to be around since i started hanging out with them. I love popping over for cups of tea, having a chance to put the world to rights with our important intellectual topics. 'Which is better a rich tea or a malted milk?'. Serious stuff!

It was a great way to kick off the birthday celebrations with some awesome (and maybe slightly unhinged) friends.

"But you made a mistake, Robin. It's not easy you know. They've got the power, they've got the weapons. All we've got is a Raster, a Wally and a Bearded Avocado."

I love being able to arrange play dates with our friends throughout the week and we had a blast adventuring around some woodland we'd never been to before with our buddies Emma and Matthew. It was baking hot and we were desperate to get out and do some investigating so we arranged to meet around lunch time for a picnic in the woods and some good old fashioned rambling. I love living in Shropshire we are surrounded by beautiful greenery, some of it right on our doorstep.

The boys were full on entertainment from the get go and using what they could find on the forest floor they quickly formed a high intensity Rock band. First head banging with their stick guitars before grabbing a large piece of bark for a keyboard/mixing desk and smaller sticks for drumming. Opeie's favourite song is Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak and Matthews is Def Leppard - Pour some sugar on me. So as you can imagine being such hardcore rockers they were quite the super group. Matthew even played with one arm behind his back for an authentic Def Leppard feel.

The first thing I had spotted when we had arrived (apart from Emma and Matthew of course) was a rope swing and I was itching for a go. It was two steep a drop for the boys to go on so being the very grown up, safety conscious adult that I am I offered to go on so they could experience it through me haha. Couldn't get Emma on though, maybe next time.

The boys quickly changed from the Rock and roll lifestyle and became a pair of pirate hunters, naturally that meant I became a nasty pirate/human piñata ripe for a good stick beating. Emma was desperately trying to be a princess but was told 'no mommy YOU ARE NOT a princess!!' Harsh!!!

The story unravelled and after being made to walk the plank  and be repeatedly hit with twigs the boys explained that maid Marion had been captured and they had to find her and marry her. As lovely as that sounds it sparked a bit of a woodland dispute over who was actually going to take her hand, serious stuff!

Emma pointed out that i look like "Harry Potter gone rogue!"

The Ercall is steep and there were a few moments where I was sure someone was going down on their bum. I say 'someone' but I actually mean myself, I'm such a clumsy bugger and wearing a pair of grip less boat shoes probably wasn't the best move.

Emma had bought some books along for our adventure so we found a safe spot high up to sit down and listen to some lovely stories...

We've met some great people over the last few years and I feel so lucky to be surrounded by other parents that have similar views to the way me and Mrs M parent the boys. As the boys swung their sticks around and played, me and Emma talked about all those pressing parenting issues, household roles, co-sleeping and breastfeeding it was great to be chatting to another parent on the same page.

We eventually found maid Marian which started some bickering between the boys about over who was going to be taking her down the aisle until a very diplomatic Emma jumped in and explained that maid Marion actually had a sister 'maid Mary Anne'. Order had been restored (well after they had decide who was taking the blonde and who was taking the brunette anyway! kids!!).

The Gifts from the Pirates LEGO London adventure.

Hi it's Seth and this is our London LEGO adventure.

"When you reach the top, that's when the climb begins."

Last year i had every intention of a LEGO themed 52 weeks photo project on the blog, I think I made it to week 4 and went completely off course and it never continued. We recently received a LEGO rock climber minifigure through the post from some LEGO i had been swapping online. When Opeie explained his master plan for a fun photograph. So i may pick up the project again, not every week though, clearly i have commitment issues when it comes to something like this.

Great shot Opeie x

"I hear the pitter patter of a dinosaur"

There will probably be a few short posts pop up over the next couple of days as Opeie has declared it 'Dinosaur week'. It seems that the new Jurassic World LEGO kits kick started something laying dormant that we thought was extinct. Then a great surprise delivery from Nintendo just got this week of dino appreciation started. 

To celebrate the release of Yoshi's Wooly world on Wii U, Nintendo have created these adorable knitted Amiibo's which started the conversation of 'what other Dinosaurs do you think Yoshi would be friends with?' Opeie informed me that as Triceratops (his favourite dinosaur) is a Herbivore, so they would be great friends as they wouldn't eat each other! So as the package came full of craft items also we decided to kick of 'Dinosaur week' with a Triceratops mask.

After creating our masks we had lunch while watching Walking with Dinosaurs on Netflix. I had to turn it off after one episode though when a dinosaur stuck its nose in another Dinosaurs nest and ate its baby. There was a genuine look of distress on Opeie's face, luckily there was a great selection of dinosaur themed shows so we replaced that bleak (but interesting) look at the prehistoric era with Jim Hensons 'Dinosaur Train' (much more appropriate for a four year old).

All that was left then of  'Dinosaur week' day 1, was to strap a Triceratops puppet to front of his Micro Scooter and head out on a Dino hunting adventure.

Note: While watching walking with Dinosaurs Opeie asked " where are they filming this? because we don't have dinosaurs in this country!!

Love that innocent little angel.

Yoshi's woolly world is out now and we can't wait to give it a play, until then though Roooooaaaarrrr!!!

"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!