August or did we jump to October??

So it's August, not that you'd notice......

..... by the grey, miserable weather. It really is rather unseasonal!

21 years ago it was a beautifully sunshiny day.

The most perfect day to marry your best friend.

And look how happy we are, 21 years on x

It wouldn't be our Wedding Anniversary without a bunch of sunflowers in the mix.

We've marked the occasion by booking our flights for next years holiday! 

It feels good to know it's all booked and paid for.

We are doing things slightly different next year to try to please everyone. Previously we've booked a package holiday through Thompson's, partly for the peace of mind if anything went wrong and partly because it was just easier to tie everything together in one go. But on our last family trip to Ibiza, the sunbed dash in the morning was just awful and I vowed to never do that again. Last year holidaying in Sorrento with Sophie confirmed that, as although we had a hotel as a base, we went off to do other things rather than be tied to a sunbed spot. So this year we have booked a private villa with a pool and then arranged our flights separately. We're going to somewhere we've been before - Puerto Pollensa, but we intend to see more of the local area as we won't have to bagsy a sunbed for the day or be tied to meals with an all inclusive set up. I now have a year to save up some spending/food money and have something to look forward to on these grey, miserable August days.

Day three!

Yesterday was my Granny's 94th birthday. 

We celebrated a day early, with a Cornish cream tea (always cream on the top!)  

before we headed back home.

I took this pic of Sophie and Sam with Granny just as we were leaving, then remembered I'd taken a pic previously in the exact same spot. When I got home, I found it.....

What a difference 3 years makes.

Sam, stop growing!!!

Day Two!

Day two and we ended up back in St Ives. With a questionable weather forecast, we decided to go for a walk rather than have a beach day. It was supposed to be 7k but we somehow missed a turning and cut it short by 2k but it was good to see the views from the top of St Ives and will definitely do it again, with the missing bit next time.

Some of us enjoyed it more than others!

And some us became the 'big kid' again!

Fab views from the top and once you are at the top....

....you have to come down hill!

Sheltering from the odd drop of rain.

Reward at the end of the walk - Cornish cream tea.

Such skill and patience.

Extremely low tides at St Ives

The Boy!

Passing the time of day - perfect people watching spot.

Have to have an ice-cream at the beach.....

.....and fish and chips!

Just have to keep watch that the St Ives Seagull doesn't get to it first.

Chasing the sun!

We're not able to go on a proper family holiday this year and with everything going on in the 'kids' lives, there are just snippets of time to do anything together. Fed up with the recent weather, we saw a reasonable forecast and a couple of free days, so decided to head down to Cornwall to stay with my parents in search of the sun.

Blue skies and bunting greeted us in St Ives......

.......and a busy Porthwidden beach. 

The boys contemplated for a while......

....but eventually went in for a dip!

A little chilled after their swim.

Proper Cornish pasty has to be eaten on the beach for lunch.

St Ives has always been my favourite place in Cornwall. As a child I remember coming down in an evening, en mass with all my cousins, crab catching along the harbour wall, eating fish and chips before the seagulls could, milling around the shops - still open at 8pm, treated to a bag of fudge or pebble sweets and loving the busyness of the place, people watching at it's best. It's still my place to go when we are down. I still love the hustle and bustle, although it was very busy this year. This pic is the view from our favourite place to eat 'The Hub' - we were lucky enough to get a table overlooking the harbour and what a view. 

The 'kids' are growing up fast and aside of the moans and groans, I love them dearly! Quality family time together is going to get less and less and I savour these times together, even if most of the time, they'd rather be somewhere else!

The Hub at it's best!

Chased the sun along the cliff road on our way home, to capture the setting sun.

Will share day two in another post!

Miserable!

The week started off with such promise - a sunny afternoon in Bath, eating gelato,

reminiscing about our trip to Italy last year.

Compared to 'this' - grey, wet and totally miserable.

My mood is really affected by the weather. I could quite happily pack my bags and head off to find some warm sunshine - this really is quite miserable for July.

On a positive note, we do have a raspberry! 

We only planted the raspberry canes this year and they take a while to bed in, so next year I'm expecting great things.

A quiet week

It's been a quiet, non eventful week - Sam has been on his 'Work Experience' week up at Jeff's school in the IT department (not allowed to take a pic of him!). He has no idea what he wants to do and this was a good placement, if only for the working alongside other adults, rather than the actual doing, if that makes sense. He's quite a quiet boy, so general chit chat with a load of adults would be challenging but he's been fine and he's enjoyed loading software on to laptops and fitting a hard drive etc. Sophie has enjoyed having the car to herself, so a good week and there is only one more to go, before schools break up for Summer.

The garden is doing it's thing! 

There is always a time when everything, suddenly, grows madly and....

....we have peas ready for popping!

Annoyingly we had a lot of rain one day and the daisies, I'd meant to string up and support, did battle with the elements. I've now strung them up and they'll 'do' but now not at their best. Next year I must buy proper supports.

I've watched a little tennis....

and enjoyed a coffee, catch up and film with a friend.

I have made a few decisions about my on going weight management. I notified my lovely Slimming World consultant that I wouldn't be returning to my fabulous Friday morning group. I've not weighed in months and as a target member, you are supposed to face the scales monthly. Work and Uni open days have got in the way and I know it'll be hard to get there over the Summer, so I am taking the summer off. I'm not going to weigh, I'm not going to post daily pics of my food over on Instagram - I'm just going to relax and enjoy the summer and if necessary, join a new Slimming World group in September (there is one directly opposite my house on a Saturday morning) if the scales dictate I should do so. The weight isn't going back on, I'm determined to keep it off, so I will see if I can do this on my own now and if not, I will happily go back to group if I need to be accountable to someone.

We have booked our holiday for next year, so I have the perfect motivation to keep the pounds at bay. I know it's early but I found this 'affordable' villa (I've been looking for ages), with it's own pool and considering everything everyone wants from a holiday, a private villa was the way to go. I hate the whole getting up early to grab a sunbed routine, Sam spends most of his time up in an air conditioned room, as he hates the heat, so this way he can be still part of things and with a private pool, could go for a swim at 10pm should he wish. We are literally 50m from the beach and resort centre and we've been there before in half board accommodation, so know there is plenty to do. We have agreed to eating out every night (that's my perk of the holiday) and I'll happily do breakfast and lunch. It may be our last family holiday, as Sophie will be off to Uni (fingers crossed she gets the grades!) so I want to ensure everyone is happy. Just the flights to keep an eye out for now and book. I love something to look forward to and with no holiday this year, this will seem even more like a treat.

We're done....for now!

So for the past two months, Sophie and I have been visiting various University Open Days, in her quest to find the one and chose a close second, as an insurance choice and we think she may be done!

Exeter was our first stop - highest grade entry requirement of A*AA 

She liked it, great course, nice campus but we need to return to see Exeter itself.

  

Birmingham was not far behind, requiring AAA

She LOVED it - great course, really nice campus, short train ride into the city

Surrey was very underwhelming and we left early, so we're forgetting that one but may well need to find an alternative in the September Open Day sessions to fill it's slot.

Cardiff requires AAB - was in competition with Southampton for the insurance place slot! 

Great city, friendly atmosphere, campus a little more spread out within the city, rather than completely campus based. I really liked it but ...... 

Southampton pipped it to the post in insurance place position. 

Requires AAB or ABB with an A in an EPQ qualification.

She liked the campus set up and the course was still good, so Southampton is her insurance place option with......

....Birmingham in top place!

Of course the small matter of passing her exams still needs to happen and I guess her AS level results will be a good indicator of what she could potentially achieve at A level. I guess by doing these Open Days, you have more of an idea of what you are working towards, on the other hand it can be hard to dream of where you want to go and ultimately not get the grades to achieve it! Who knows what will happen but she's a hard worker and if she puts in the work, her dreams may become a reality.

I've loved these Open Days - so much to see and take in - great people watching too x