Saturday 2 August 2014

August

And so another summer holiday week has flown by, in the blink of an eye.  It was a good one, although somehow the littlest boy and I managed to catch heavy colds.  I can't imagine where we got them, we've hardly been inside with other people at all.  I don't remember the last time I had a cold in the middle of summer, it doesn't seem right somehow.

But we've been doing all the proper summery things, meeting with friends from afar, going on picnics and splashing in various bits of water in the sunshine.  Somehow I don't seem to have any photos of it all.  I don't know what's happened, it used to be that I'd take a photo every day, just little reminders of the small everyday things that make up our lives.  Things that were once so familiar, but now when we open the albums we say, "Oh yes, remember when we used to do that all the time."

Looking at old photos is a favourite thing to do.  Every so often, after a meal, we'll sit round the table and pull out an album and spend some time exclaiming over the pictures.  "That's when you fell in the mud", "That was that ostrich that bit dad", and "Remember Baby Jail!" (the biggest boy would occasionally put the littlest boy under the table where, confused by all of the table and chair legs, he would be unable to get out and he'd sit there and cry).  Oh how we laugh.  (Now, not then.  Although one or two of us may have laughed back then, before being told off).

I need to get back to having those photos in our lives, so I think I might try Susannah Conway's series of prompts, The August Break, to get me started.  I cut down on the amount of photos, initially, because some days they just weren't particularly interesting, but it was a gradual slide from there to suddenly realising I've stopped taking all of those pictures that record our lives and preserve our memories.  I missed yesterday's prompt, but I'm writing down the list, I'll stick it in the kitchen, and I'll give it a whirl.  I like to look at a list of days and ideas and wonder, what will I find, what will we do, what memories will we have by the end of it.  I do so love an adventure, and what are the summer holidays if not an adventure.

A post with no photos doesn't seem right though, so I'll share the shots I do have.  Strangely they are all inside ones.  Again, I think the boys were finding it hot outside until mid-week.  Card houses have continued apace, albeit with quite a bit of scrapping.  A downside of card house building is how easily they can be knocked over in a moment of brotherly annoyance.  Yesterday the marbles came out, as they do from time to time.  This tends to get a bit shouty after a while too, but to start with everyone enjoys it.



It's been nice to see the Playmobil boat played with as well, sometimes it sits for ages without being touched, and I think, should I get rid of it?  But no, I don't think I should, not quite yet.  When the holidays arrive and there is time to play and be imaginative, all of the old toys come out.  It's good to see.


This is the little old Lego house that I used to make over and over again when I was little.  Still looking good, although they've forgotten the television aerial and the trees.  It's not really finished until the trees are up.



We went for a little walk yesterday to take the biggest boy to a friend's house.  All along by the streams that criss-cross the town.  We picked up hazelnuts and sycamore keys and saw more cats than you could shake a stick at.  The littlest boy told me there was a hole in his shoe and his toe was on the ground.  There was!  How on earth did that happen??  I knew it was wearing through, from all of the running and jumping, but I had no idea it was that bad.  We made an emergency trip to the Mall to buy trainers.  Oh my.  The first shop didn't have his size, so we had to go to a second.  We waited twenty minutes, and the counter only turned from 04 to 05.  We went for a wander for a brief quarter of an hour.  When we got back the counter said 23.  We were number 12.  Did we step outside of the space-time continuum???  (We did go to the Wallace and Gromit shop, so it's possible we did.  If anywhere is in a bit of a loop, it will be there.)  It was about a hundred degrees, my head was pounding, the children were tired and hungry and the littlest boy spent the next twenty-five minutes climbing on me and standing on my feet while we waited for our new number to come up.  I briefly lost the will to live.  When it was our turn, the littlest boy picked fluorescent green trainers.  I tried to steer him towards the muted blue.  A meltdown ensued.  But she who pays the piper picks the trainer colour, so he has blue.  I fear it won't always be that easy, if I can barely hold the line against a six year old.  Let's not think about that though, right now I'm still in control.  Almost.

Today is the start of football training, can you believe.  It's raining, I have a cold and I will be required to stand outside in the wet.  It almost feels like...  No, I won't say it.

21 comments:

  1. Brilliant and so realistic! I am in awe that you are in control even of a 6 year old I fear I lost control long before except for really dangerous things when I insisted on having things my way! Do hope your cold will soon be better - it never seems right to have a cold when it's too warm for snuggling up with hot drinks does it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. hope you feel better soon xxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope your feeling much better soon, Summer colds feel so strange don't they! Look forward to seeing your pictures from 'The August Break' photo prompts. xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Counters in a shoe shop was it so busy? Good for you coming away with the blue ones. You are so right I couldn't contemplate a post without a photo. Get well soon.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Argghhh, shoe shopping in the summer holidays, I feel your pain. I used to hate going for school shoes before the start of the new school year, so many frazzled looking mums in the shop, yet the kids still had boundless energy. Glad you remained in control, that must have taken some effort, especially with a horrible summer cold. Hope you feel better soon.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Life is always harder with a cold. Hope you are feeling better soon.

    A Wallace & Gromit shop you say? My son would be in there FOREVER! We love Wallace & Gromit.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I took four kids shoe shopping last year..... and I am still traumatised. There is nothing worse than the number line in Clarks, your number hours away, the children all over you and the shop assistants in a foul mood, too. Even worse with a cold. I hope you soon feel better. Photo albums are fun, we have quite a few, even my own baby ones. I am ashamed to admit that I stopped making them a few years ago. Enjoy your next week of the holiday. Cx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Getting a cold is rotten at any time but it always seems worse in in the summer so I hope that you both feel better soon.
    As for standing in the rain watching football that's not my idea of fun at all. Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
  9. We had baby jail too! Ours was a swing-gate at the bottom of the stairs, where they'd pull up on the bars and stand there screaming, unable to make themselves bend to sit down again. They'd rattle the bars like little prisoners. Haha. I love your little Lego house. I would have enjoyed it when I was little too, very excited for CJ to invite me over to play. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. HA! You briefly lost the will to live....did I mention that my 2 year old puts me in this state quite frequently when we are out and about! Thanks for the chuckle! Those are the mom moments that we don't get credit for but SHOULD!!! I too have struggles at the shoe shop as they present my beans with the most obnoxious colors and styles and me...how about gray?!?! Glad you all are having a lovely break though I do hope the cold passes quickly! And you have reminded me that we need some legos in this house as the beans are getting older. Have a great weekend CJ!!! Nicole xo

    ReplyDelete
  11. Somewhere I still have all the Playmobil, including an entire circus. I've no idea who I'm saving it for, unless it's future grand kids. Endless Sylvanian Families and their accoutrements are in the loft too. But the photo record gets thinner the more kids there were. I was always just too busy keeping order among the four of them to take photographs! And I miss the history the missing images would have contained, so those prompts sounds like an idea I wish someone had had then. Have fun with them. And feel better soon x

    ReplyDelete
  12. I totally remember building that house. I was very obsessive that my houses had to be all in one colour, unlike my brother whose were random aaarrrgghhhhhh and my children must take after their uncle because they make lego things all randomly too, v frustrating ......
    I've added you to my blog list btw, I thought I already had, but it seems I was remiss!!
    Jillxo

    ReplyDelete
  13. A cold? No fair! I hope it gets over fast. I avoid them like the plague as they go into bronchitis *always* and last for 3 months. I think you should keep that boat forever. I have a little farm set that I'm afraid to let the boys play with.. lol! It's mine! You need to print up some pix of the guys and put them in albums. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm reading this with a big smile, despite having a summer virus, too! Isn't it so annoying? Summer and illness just don't go together...hope you feel better soon. I relate so much to this post, though with the girlie version - Sylvanian Families instead of Playmobil (thank goodness I didn't give it all away, it's a big rainy day activity!), glittery rainbow light-up trainers (I'm surprised they don't sing or leave a trail of fairy dust)...though we never had a baby jail, that's hilarious! Chrissie x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Real life or what! I hope that the cold has been shaken off or will be soon. I love your lego house, I always wanted one of those when I was little but never had one. I think that it was the trees that I fancied - and the little fence too! xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think that children and lego building is always interesting :) We are slightly obsessed with Lego and have been for about 20 years... now days it's pink for my daughter!
    I'm sorry you have a cold in the summer :(
    I do hope you have a great week,
    Tammy x
    PS My blog address has changed to tlcukjourney.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh how time can fly, where did July go? I hope August lasts a bit longer. I have a playmobil carpet in my living room right now, all those little bits and pieces to impail my feet on........along with the the lego! Hope you feel better soon :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hey CJ,
    I have been rather absent and enjoying holiday adventures of our own. I was thinking the same about photos the other day. I didn't take one when I met you or Gillian. I think it's about getting the balance right of being constantly behind the camera, and jumping into the shot to have fun. You have also reminded me that I shall soon be joining the Clarks queue with Alf and Olly at the end of the month. It is a annual trauma. And I pity you The Mall on any day of the week.
    Leanne xx

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm really feeling the oncoming of... shhhhh....autumn. I'm to brave the first (I imagine of many) pre-school term shoe buying trips shortly! We love looking at old pictures. BigR is amazed to see pics of me as a little girl. I have a plaster on my knee in one and she can't stand the fact I can't remember what I did to myself!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am so glad that my three have entered teenage years when school shoes seem to last a little longer or can be replaced mid year instead of the summer hols! Having said that, the Princess needs new school shoes so I rather expect I shall be braving a shoe shop near me sometime soon!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a lovely post CJ I always enjoy reading your posts, they make me giggle, but also they are just so 'what happens in our house!' and I really like that. I am so sorry to read that you were both poorly, I do sometime wonder where these things come from, but they usually hit us when we relax and most probably not a bad thing as its a good time for our bodies to deal with healing. I use to be the same with photos, but now I am pretty dreadful, I am forever using my phone, which is generally always too full of photos to cope and then I grumble that the quality just aren't the same. I just find there is always so much to carry and adding a camera, well, it just doest always happen. I like the idea of flicking through albums after meals, what a fun thing to do! It looks like your boys, like my kiddies have enjoyed some indoor shade when its been too hot, and who can blame them, after all we are not use to all this gorgeous weather (well some of us anyway), but we could seriously get use to it. We also had a trainer dilemma this week and had to buy some new ones, ironically mine settled for blue and luminous green, how funny! Anway, enjoy the rest of your holidays and take care xoxo

    ReplyDelete