Me and Mine - February 2016

This month was our yearly trip to Scotland over half term. It felt like the perfect opportunity to take our pictures for the me and mine project. Unfortunately these are the only two pictures we took of all of us together.

I was convinced we had taken at least 10. I am glad we managed to capture these tho. I'm not gonna lie my wife is a little bit obsessed with snapping away which yeah can become slightly annoying but I know I will thank her for creating such beautiful memories of our littles growing up.

Our trip this year was very busy and we went on a few adventures with the girls. The first picture is of us getting ready to head up Aonach Mor at Nevis Range. Although very cold I am delighted we decided to take a little trip up there.

The second picture is of us heading over to the Isle of Mull on the Cal Mac boat. We had a very relaxing day this day. Swimming, Spa and gorgeous food.

The last time - Siblings

I believe these three will always be best friends.

I hope they will always care for and be there for each other.

They will always have each other for reassurance.

To cuddle, to squeeze and to laugh with.

The look from one and other that just fills their heart instantly.

This picture I know for sure will be the last time that we will ever get the opportunity to dress them the same. With our eldest nearing 10 its not such a cool thing to be wearing the same as your little sisters.

As we had our little trip to Scotland this couldn't be an outfit that was left in the wardrobe at home.

 

They could spend hours in each others company!

This picture if full of attitude. Do you ever try and get the perfect picture and have complete epic fail? This is what happened on our trip to Mull. Our littlest lady was in her element here as she loved being on the boat. The other two were just more interested in their lolly pops (holiday treat.)

Her little hand reaching out for her sister.

There is no better friend than a sister.

Our Oban adventure #2

We're coming to the end of our week away in rainy Oban so many good views, so many good foods, a few cheeky whiskeys and Moo has fallen over so many times her poor head looks like a Zapp lolly and she wasn't even the one enjoying the whiskey.

We're now sat in Glasgow at K's uncles a little stop off on the way home just to break up the journey home and I'm just thinking back to the things we've done this week one of our big days out we decided to take the cable cars up to the Nevis range mountain so the girls could do a bit of sledging and play in the snow. 

Later in the week grandad, the girls and I decided to take a walk up to McCaig's tower and throw parachute action man off to see if he would survive, one of grandad's wacky ideas (that's what grandad's are for) and just have a little walk to get some fresh air ( happens to be a lot of that here.) 

On the way back down, with one very muddy and grumpy girl due to slipping down the hill,we had a little stop off at the Oban distillery something granddad and I could enjoy, then walked back down by the sea front and managed to grab some shells for the girls to paint sometime next week when we need to fill the void left by Scotland. 

Another one of our big days out and a first for Moo was taking the ferry over to mull for a bit of swimming. 

She was so excited to go on the big boat and spent the whole time either on deck or looking out the window at the sea, she even managed to spot a little island that she now believes belongs to her and is where she is going to live when she's a big girl. 

Once off the boat we took a slow walk which turned into a run once the rain picked up to a nice hotel which had swimming for the girls and an outside jacuzzi for mum and dad to enjoy, so after an amazing swim and lovely lunch/dinner we went back to the ferry where the girls were a bit too sleepy to enjoy there second ferry ride and got back just in time to see the sun set over the beautiful back drop of Oban. 

Our week in Oban has been full of amazing sight, amazing food ( little too much ) and amazing adventures all in all a great week and can't wait till next time. 

Our Oban adventure #1

Once a year we try our best to make the sometimes never ending 8 hour trip back to K 's ( the wife ) home town of Oban Scotland. Most of K's family still live in Oban and this becomes the only time in the year she gets to see them so no matter what's going on in our lives we will set the one week in February half-term as our week in Scotland.

Oban as always is a beautiful place surrounded by snow covered mountains and amazing ocean views for me growing up in a big city Oban is like a completely different world and I walk around completely amazed by the sights. 

We spent the first day or so making are way around family members, saying a few hellos and drinking a few Irn-Bru. 

Being Valentine's weekend and very rarely getting the chance wife and I decided to go for a nice meal at the Oban steak house, now I've had many steaks in my many years but this one 

definitely goes straight to the top, I've never had a steak that actually melted in my mouth and I could eat it over and over again. 

Being a small town of no more then about 20,000 people everyone seems to know everyone, Something my wife seems to hate but to me is a breath of fresh Scottish air, I come from a place were I could walk for days and not bump into someone I know where here a 5 minute walk to the shop with K's dad can take up to an hour where along the way everyone's got a new story to tell and I love it. 

Day 3. We decided to get the cable cars up to the top of the Nevis range at Fort William and do a bit of sledding. 

We fully expected to freeze being at the top of a mountain and kitted ourselves with as many layers of clothes we could possibly find, poor Moo could bearly move her arms and made eating a packet of crisps the worse experience in her little life, but the weather was mild and with the sun shine some times even warm. 

Our fun up high was short lived when one by one the girls started to complain about cold fingers and toes and one of them even suggesting that they had frostbite, it was by no means that bad but we decided that we all had had plenty of fun and made a move back down to ground level where we could get some much needed dinner but promised ourselfs that we would be back in the near future this time in full ski gear goggles included. 

Moo makes us laugh #1

From day to day our youngest who we like to call "Moo" is able to come up with new ways to make us laugh out loud.

So I've decided to document some of these moments starting with "Moo's bathroom words."

All business in the bathroom, for reasons we don't yet understand has to include the word " bloody " "MUM, I need a bloody toilet " " someone get me bloody toilet roll " " dad I drop my bloody pony down the toilet ". We don't know where she picked the B word up,  we don't swear around the girls and her big sisters have never used it, we have one suspicion good old Nanny Scotland. My wife and her family moved from Scotland to England a little over 12 years ago and Nanny Scotland like many scots loves a good swear and is even able to come up with her own swear words on a daily basis. But luckily for us and anyone that may visit, Little Moo's B word seems to be refined to the bathroom. 

A little trip to the park - Ordinary Moments #2

Its amazing how many memories you can make as a family by just having a little trip to your local park. Sometimes something we all take for granted.

I adore these pictures, my girls never fail to amaze me with their sweet kindness and cheeky smiles. Something I will always cherish.

It takes ordinary moments like this for us as parents to just slow down and enjoy and embrace the sweet laughter, cheeky smiles and open arms and hearts of our little ones.

Nothing in the world beats spending time with my girls.

Linking up for my second ordinary moments post of 2016.

http://www.mummydaddyandmemakesthree.co.uk/family/the-ordinary-moments/the-ordinary-moments-16-6-not-so-picture-perfect/

Family day out at 4 kingdoms

Apologies I've been meaning to do this all week but we've had a busy week, but last weekend, the wife and I both with days off and with not much to do, we decided to pay a visit to 4 kingdoms family farm and adventure park and I just wanted to write a little review of our fun filled day.

 4 kingdoms was highly recommended to us by a friend a few weeks ago and we also can't recommend it enough.

On the day the weather was just what you would expect in February " wet and windy " but that didn't stop us enjoying the day, with both indoor and outdoor activities we found lots to keep all three girls entertained and all the actives are included in entry fee so we could make a day of it without having to spend too much money.

We started off on the little go-karts doing a few laps on the indoor part of the track, our youngest sat on my lap and drove us around the track while our girl in the middle piggybacked her mum around the track.

Then we took a walk round to the farm area where the girls got to see the horses, pigs and also got to hold some bunnies that were only a few weeks old. We moved our adventure outside where the girls spent a good hour chasing each other round the climbing frames and playing in the kids play village.

Being out of season a few areas were closed but we still found so much to do we played outdoor football, wall climbing and crazy golf before heading back inside for some fun in the soft play area while my wife and I enjoyed a nice coffee.

At just £20 for a family of 5 we cannot recommend this place enough. We had an amazing day full of fun and adventure and if your looking for a place to take the kids this half-term I fully recommend 4 kingdoms and can't believe we hadn't been there sooner and look forward to going back there as soon as the weather improves.

A little video of our time at 4 Kingdoms Adventure Park.

Me and Mine - January 2016

As gloomy and miserable as January can be we still managed to capture a moment of happiness as a family of 5. This day in particular we were loving wooly hats, welly boots, muddy puddles, big jackets and hot chocolate.

Quick review ( Ready Player One - Ernest Cline )

Ready Player One was a pleasure to read from start to finish, and a must read for any gamer or 80's pop culture fans, USA TODAY sum the story up perfectly with " Willy Wonka meets The Matrix."

We get a relatable young hero, ( Wade / Parzival ) an evil corporation, ( IOI ) a believable love interest ( Art3mis ) and a quest to find a golden egg and take control of the OASIS a virtual utopia, users can be anyone or anything they desire, it's an almost perfect world and an escape from the miserable reality of real life.

Set in the year 2044 a time where thanks to James Halliday the OASIS creator the world has become obsessed with 1980's pop-culture  and Cline has filled his story with some many different reference from music, films and games each time putting a smile on my face and a memory back in my head.

With references from the famous " back to the future " DeLorean to Monty Pythons and the Holy Grail, one of my all time favourite films and of course the Atari 2600.

For me "Ready Player One" is an easy 10/10 and definitely one of the best books I've read in a long time and off the back of this I have already ordered Cline's second book "Armada."