Butterflies and Scary Slides

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This morning we woke up for the last time in our little cabin. I want one of my own, I'm not going to pretend I don't! They are the most gorgeous, relaxing and luxurious places to stay when self-catering. Check-out was 10am so we rushed around madly packing up. I tried to be efficient and dropped the plug for baby monitor on my big toe. I screamed, I cried, I sobbed, I wailed. There was blood, tears and swear words. Hubby tried to help by giving me an ice-pack: an 8×4 inch ice-block for my big toe. He got sworn at and returned with a cold, wet, flexible compress instead.

After we waved goodbye to the stunning Forest of Dean we headed to Butterfly World at Symonds Yat. I'd been there as an 11/12 year old and remembered it vividly. I wanted The Boy to experience it. We were the only people there and it wasn't that hot in the tropical house, so the butterflies were quite sleepy at the time. Turns out this is a good thing as it appears this is where my phobia of moths/flying things might have stemmed from. I assumed my memory of it was a happy one; apparently not. After the first butterfly flew within two feet of me, I fled back out and returned with a net and hat over my bonce. The Boy was initially disturbed as he wondered who this monster was and what she'd done with his mother. I'd post a photo but I look stupid so instead admire the prettiness of a newly hatched (1o minutes old) butterfly.

After I'd recovered from a near heart-attack (I managed 30 minutes in there, but then I had to flee whilst trying to pretend to the owners that I'd had a lovely time!), we drove back to Cardiff and stopped off in a soft-play centre that I'd wanted to go to for a while.

Jump is a fabulous play-centre and I now understand the peak prices. However, we went mid-week, mid-term so adults were free and 1yr olds (how convenient?) were only £3! A complete and utter bargain because we could easily have spent a whole afternoon there. There was the most amazing dedicated under 5s area I've ever seen in one of these places: a sensory room; a puzzle, dressing up and construction room; climbing equipment; a trampoline; a ball-pit; and ride-ons. In the main play area, there was three different climbing 'frames' with huge ceiling-floor helter-skelters (I rediscovered my 12 year old self who wasn't frightened of flying objects), bouncy castles, ball pits, bowling alleys, trampolines and air-hockey! We had a really good quality lunch served by helpful and friendly staff.

All in all a good end to our mini-holiday!

My Top 5 Good Things About Having Children

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Whilst reading twitter earlier, I realised that I hadn't put any posts on my blog for over a week. When your blog is not very old anyway, a week is a long time! Then I saw a tweet from @MetalMummy about a listography from @KateTakes5. Kate's idea is along the lines of the Wordless Wednesdays, Silent Sundays and The Gallery (all of which I'm pretty rubbish at remembering to do) but is a list with a topic.

So this week's theme is as follows:

My Top 5 Good Things About Having Children

1) Bearing in mind the time of year, it's got to be be Christmas hasn't it? The Boy's little face when he was 'ope'-ning his presents was priceless. He got a little excited and wanted to 'ope'-n every present he saw from then on in. He also adores the 'Chris (tmas) tree' and likes to go and examine all the baubles. Aside from the religious origins, it's what Christmas is all about isn't it?

2) Soft-play centres. I love them! Hubby loves them! The Boy loves them! Especially Coconuts, an excellent (if not pricey) local centre. There's an awful lot of wiffy play centres out there though, aren't there? But find a good one (like Coconuts) and wahay! The ballpits, the tunnels, going the wrong way up the slides (and trying to avoid getting told off!), we love it all.

3) Finally the downstairs of the house is constantly tidy-ish. I've managed to train hubby that stuff needs to be put away or it will be eaten or broken. Aside from The Boy's toys everywhere, the place is presentable. This is a major feat in our household.

4) Playing with his toys. The range of toys that are available nowadays is completely unbelievable. I used to have to play with a cardboard box and a wooden spoon (ok not quite, but you get the picture).

5) The look on his face when he looks at me. Absolute unconditional love. He doesn't care how many zits I've got, if I'm wearing clothes that have snot stains on them (his not mine), or if I'm a size or seven too big. I'm his mummy and he loves me. And I absolutely adore him with my whole heart, he is a complete and utter treasure and amazes me daily with all the things he's learning how do to. I grew him, that's the cleverest thing I have ever done!
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Apologies to Kate for two things: one is that I'm not very good at telegraphic writing, secondly I've changed it from kids to children in my list.

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