1.

I saw my first ever ballet.

It was the English Youth Ballet production of the Nutcracker and for a production consisting of lots of very young boys and girls as well as a few older ones and 6 professional dancers it was brilliant. I went with my sister-in-law-to-be and my Mum and it was a lovely afternoon out (bar the fact that the backs of our chairs were kicked endlessly throughout the performance by the girls in the row behind…*grumbles*)

This all coming from the girl who said without any pussy-footing around that she hates ballet. I actually now quite fancy seeing a proper professional one some time – maybe I was a little hasty in my judgement afterall…

2.

I have discovered a love for cooking.

Meal planning, combined with my Day Zero challenge to cook every recipe in my My Daddy Cooks recipe book has lead to me trying out lots of new dishes recently and I have discovered a sort of calming peace in the chaos of cooking. I am not a tidy cook, nor am I particularly refined – my chopping is often ‘rustic’ and my presentation leaves a lot to be desired – but the results of my efforts are generally tasty and well recieved. Even when I’ve cooked things one or the other of us aren’t too keen on. We’re on a food discovery journey and it’s all good fun!

3.

I had a lovely afternoon out with Arthur

On Sy’s day off I took the opportunity to go out just me and Artie whilst Daddy had a day with Tori. We went and did a bit of shopping (Tori needed a new swimming costume) and then enjoyed a beautiful stroll along the side of the River Severn. We saw butterflies, bees, lots of pigeons, fish, a flock of Goosanders diving and fishing, some ducks, a very lovely Akita doggy and a friendly, spotty pony (who licked me. Twice.) It was very calm and peaceful and, as much as I love her to pieces, I enjoyed my couple of hours without Tori endlessly babbling away and needing to be entertained.

4.

Tori has rediscovered swimming

I used to take Tori swimming every week before Arthur was born but I’ve never felt brave enough to take the two of them together (I need at least one extra pair of arms before I try that) so she hasn’t been for quite a while. Now it’s the Summer Holidays though, so my Mum offered to come with me to the Tots Swim so we could take them both. Arthur wasn’t overly convinced but Tori (who was squeezed into her 9-12 month sized swimming costume – Bad Mummy!) absolutely LOVED it. To the point where her answer to ‘shall we get out now?’ was a loud, clear ‘No!’, over and over again!

She was doing a tiny bit of kicking and ‘doggy-paddle’ and loved bobbing around chasing the balls and floats that were provided in the pool. I can’t wait to take her again next week just because she seems to love being in the ‘splish-splash’ so much! (Not bad for a child who invariably used to scream the second she realised she was headed for a bath…)