I’ve been quiet on the blogging and social media front this week as we’ve been enjoying our last term-time family holiday. We started with a weekend in Birmingham (as I needed to be there last Sunday for my HR workshop) before heading down to Butlins in Minehead where we’ve spent the rest of the week. I’ve been here a few times for Spring Harvest (the last time was when I was pregnant with Jessica) and the last time we were here as a family was when I was pregnant with Sophie so there are always lots of memories being relived as we make our way around the site.
It’s been wonderful just being able to focus on that time together as a family and to watch the girls having so much fun – there are so many things for them to do and see on site and they’ve loved it. Good for me too to switch off for a while too and step away from the blog. As much as I love it, it can be all-consuming at times and having a bit of a break is always a good thing. This week has just been about having fun, being together as a family and making memories.
Things I have loved this week:
- Having fun and eating lots of chocolate on a day out at Cadbury World.
- Finally getting to meet the rest of my group in person at the HR workshop and getting good feedback.
- Finishing the HR workshop early enough to be able to spend the afternoon with hubby and the girls and take Jessica and Sophie on their first narrowboat ride.
- Breaking up the journey from Birmingham to Minehead with a walk around Cadbury Camp.
- Seeing how excited the girls were at meeting various children’s TV characters at Butlins.
- Jessica making up a story on the first night at Butlins and telling it to us, then insisting we tell it back to her every night for the rest of the week!
- Hubby hitting the jackpot on his first go on one of the machines in the arcade and winning 2000 tickets.
- Jessica’s story being featured in the Sunday Post.
- Seeing how confident Jessica has suddenly become in the pool and wanting to try and swim by herself.
- Watching Sophie going down the big slide in the Tots Funfair over and over again.
- Watching hubby taking photos of the girls on the ride and having a moment of being acutely aware of how much he adores them and his pride in the things they do.
- Watching the girls dancing along to the various shows in the Skyline pavilion.
- Spending an afternoon at the beach and watching Jessica and Sophie having fun building sandcastles, collecting shells and pebbles and paddling in the sea.
- The four of us walking along hand in hand, with the girls swapping over as to who was in between me and hubby, taking it in turns for us to swing them up in the air.
I hope you enjoyed Birmingham, I live so close to Cadbury World I can log in there on Facebook while sitting on my settee 🙂 I think it’s time I took my kids to Butlins, I’m sure they’d love it.
Wow that is incredibly close! We had a lovely weekend in Birmingham and loved our day out Cadbury World – would have liked more time to take a walk around Bournville though.
Ahh! It sounds like you have had a lovely week….Lots of good times and adventures x
Thanks Kim, it was lovely – feeling a little sad our holiday’s over now! x
Sounds like an awesome time! In addition to the photos I can see you in my head really really enjoying this holiday! Thanks for sharing. #wotw
Thank you Merlinda, it was a wonderful holiday 🙂
What a wonderful week! Sounds like you’ve all had a brilliant time and it’s so great to just switch off form time to time and be completely present to enjoy family time. Glad you’ve all had a good one x Thanks for sharing with #WotW
I really enjoyed taking that step away and being able to focus without any blogging distractions – it’s so nice to be in the moment and not be mentally blogging about it! 🙂
Ah glad to hear you had a lovely holiday. Definitely does you good to have a break sometimes 🙂 xx
Thank you Caroline – the break was definitely much-needed! 🙂
What a lovely week Louise!! 🙂 It’s good to have a break from it all – even the things you love doing. The girls look like they had a fab time (as did hubby!) I’ve never been to Cadbury world so I think this needs to be on my to-do list! x
Thanks Rebecca, I did enjoy having a break and we all enjoyed having family time together 🙂
Your post is so warm and heartfelt, as always. It’s so lovely to get away from it all at times and all (most) of the things you’re loving this week revolve around your family being together on holiday, and just enjoying moments with your girls, and it’s these everyday moments which are so special.
I do miss the opportunity to go away in term-time; we’ve been locked into going away during school holidays for a year (we were more flexible when Mademoiselle was in her Foundation Stage years) and it’s not the same!
Glad to hear everyone is doing well and Jessica is smiling xx
#WoTW
Thanks Tracey – it will be strange to have our lives so completely focused around term-times once September comes so definitely trying to make the most of it now! 🙂
I’ve not been to Butlins since I was a child myself. I plan to take the boys one day though. What are those swimming bands that your girls have? Thanks for linking up to #HappyDaysLinky x
The swimming bands are Sevylor Puddle Jumpers – I saw them recommended on Downs Side Up’s blog and they sounded great – they definitely helped give Jessica more confidence in the water and were so easy to put on and use.
What a brilliant week! Such lovely memories from your week away. We too are making the most of term time holidays! I love the photo of them in their swimming outfits. X
Thank you Laura – it will be strange once our girls start school won’t it? Definitely making the most of the time I have with Jessica now before she starts.
That sounds like a wonderful week! Nothing like a holiday to fill up the bank of happy memories is there? And I think it’s well worth taking a blog break too – I didn’t touch the blog while we were away last week and I think I’ve come back much better for it.
Love Jessica telling you the story and then you having to read it back – she’s testing that you were listening! #happydayslinky
I think it is good to step away from it all every so often – I feel so much better for it and it was so nice to focus on that family time without feeling any pressure to blog or post on social media.
Looks like you’ve had a lovely week Louise. Buttons looks like a great place to spend some time together as a family, I’m sure it was lovely to get a break from the blog and just focus on having fun as a family. I could do with a break!xx
Thank you Lauren – it was a fab place to spend our holiday and I really did enjoy taking that step away and being able to focus properly on it all 🙂
Oh how lovely, it sounds like you had a fantastic break away. My girls adore Butlins and the character shows, the swimming and the funfair are their favourite bits too. It’s nice to have a break from blogging sometimes isn’t it? I’m forcing myself to scale back how much time I spend on it for a few weeks while I work out what I’m doing with it and how to get a balance xx
Finding that balance can be so tricky sometimes – I know I struggle with it at times. Having a break is always a good thing 🙂
Wow what a great week, filled with fab highlights. So glad you have had a wonderful time x
Thank you Aby – it was lovely to have that family time together 🙂
Oh Louise what a lovely week, filled with special family moments. I really loved: “Watching hubby taking photos of the girls on the ride and having a moment of being acutely aware of how much he adores them and his pride in the things they do.” I felt this today watching hubby in the swimming pool with the boys, it is magical! ❤️ So glad you had a great holiday
Thanks Catie – it is magical isn’t it when you suddenly get a glimpse of seeing your hubby as a wonderful dad and having that moment of awareness of the love they have for their children. I so often take it all for granted, but every so often I have that moment of really noticing it and seeing him fully as both hubby and daddy and it is wonderful x
Ah I wish we had made the most of more term time holidays before Sept, time has just flown though! Hope you are all rested after your holiday, sounds fab! Thank you for sharing in #HappyDaysLinky x
Thank you Katy – always lovely to link up and thank you for hosting 🙂