We've had such a lovely weekend!
I wish I could do it all over again!
Saturday morning started out as usual doing a few chores. Simon had to run some errands and we had planned to go out later that day so I kind of wanted to get most done.
When he got back we all got in the car and headed Canterbury way.
It's a twenty minute drive from us taking us on winding roads and past fairy tale houses and its a drive I always enjoy.
It was quite a windy day but luckily we were sheltered from the wind in the busy shopping street.
The boys decided to stop off at a Thai noodle stand while Emily and me walked on to go visit Cath Kidston and Lush.
I wanted to buy a new mug but then I remembered how cramped our kitchen cupboards already are..maybe later this year when we have moved. Look at that pink dotty one though.
Emily also fell in love with this shop and I don't think there's one (breakable) thing she didn't touch.
We passed a Hardy's sweetshop so naturally we had to go in.
It took Emily a good ten minutes to choose a small treat, constantly changing her mind. I also found this big selection of tea's in cute tins. It's funny really because over the Christmas break my family visited us and we were looking for some English tea in nice packaging they could take back home to Belgium. Typical isn't it. At least now we know where to go.
Lush was just as inviting as always. It's one of those shops I just have to visit, and if I'm honest it's the reason we went to Canterbury. Shhh.
Simon always jokes we've been in there for hours, when really it's just ten minutes or so, hahaha.
Emily has become a real little Lush addict as well and we each picked out two new bath bombs/ melts. I chose the unicorn horn and my favourite rose jam. Emily chose the french kiss and big blue. She always chooses big blue as it reminds her of a funny moment from a few years ago. You see it's packed with small pieces of seaweed and I was in the bath having used this bomb and when Emily walked in, she took one look at the water and said "eww what's that, did you shave your legs?!" I had to reassure her it was seaweed and I was in fact not a gorilla!
Another place we always visit is Patisserie Valerie.
Their cakes are just heavenly.
Emily opted for a Belgian waffle with ice cream drizzled in chocolate sauce, Dylan really fancied the chocolate and blueberry ice cream and Simon and I both had a gateau slice.
Delicious.
With our tummies all full we decided to slowly head back.
Even on blustery cold winter days Canterbury still manages to look pretty.
Simon had to babysit our niece and nephew on Saturday night so we had our dinner quite early, a really tasty curry. The kids had a game night which meant I had the TV to myself but typically I couldn't find anything I wanted to watch. Instead I ordered a groceries delivery for Sunday afternoon.
Sunday was a fairly quiet day which started out with sunshine, a bit of a change from the previous day.
I pottered around the house for a bit doing some chores and then we headed out to do some shopping.
I needed a new collar for the cat and some fresh bread for our lunch.
Emily can't get enough of all the animals in the pet store, bunnies especially are on her "can we have one" list. I must say that little guy on top is quite a cutie.
In the afternoon my little niece came over to play with Emily. They always play so lovely together.
Dylan was x-boxing with some buddies and Simon went out to meet up with one of his friends.
I took the opportunity to read through my Sainsburys and Asda magazines. They always have the nicest recipes in them don't they!
Once my grocery delivery arrived and was put away I made some maltheser blondies. The kids were going to help me but in the end they were too "busy". Soon after baking it was time to start preparing dinner which was gammon with roast potatoes, red cabbage and leeks. It was rather nice, but dessert, dessert was epic!
Right now Emily is reading her book (she's reading Harry Potter at the moment) and Dylan is in the shower. It will be their bedtime soon.
For Simon and I the weekend will most probably end with a few episodes of Orange is the new black, which we have been watching for the past few weeks, and maybe another slice of maltheser blondies.
I'm so not ready for it to be Monday tomorrow.
So this weekend was the one with all the cleaning.
I tend to do ninety percent of my housework over the weekend anyways but this Saturday I did a bit of a deep clean, tackling the kitchen and bathroom in particular. I scrubbed, bleached and polished until everything sparkled and shone. In between all that I also put in some washing, folded clothes away, received and put away a shopping delivery and mopped the conservatory.
I never realised how fast time goes when you're cleaning until a rumbling stomach made me look at the clock and I was surprised to see it was nearly two!
Simon had left quite early that morning because he had to work and the kids had made themselves comfy on the sofa's. When their programmes had finished they had both migrated to their rooms but they too had rumbling tummies and came down asking for lunch.
These little milkshake drinks were quite the hit!
Milo remained very unfazed by all the cleaning and crafting going on, spending his Saturday afternoon "cat style".
This weekend it was Dylan's turn to go for a sleepover at his friend's house. We packed a little bag and he left just before three leaving just me and Emily. Emily had been very busy crafting. Last weekend she made a house for he Littlest pet shop animals and this weekend she made a new improved version.
How amazing does this look!
She's such a crafty little nugget.
We ended up having a movie night while munching on chocolate. I love cuddling with my girl.
Over the past few months Dylan has entered that stage here he thinks everything I do is uncool or embarrassing so it's nice to still have Emily cuddle up to me and think I'm pretty amazing. I know one day she'll feel the same but hopefully by then Dylan will have realised that mum is actually not that bad...or so I hope. Teenagers eh!
Sunday was a lazy day, which was welcomed after the busyness of Saturday.
Dylan came home just after nine and he was exhausted. His first words when he walked through the door were "I only slept for three hours".
Needless to say he kept himself quiet all day, spending most of the time on his bed listening to music or watching videos.
My sister in law, niece and nephew visited us in the morning and we had a lovely catch up. They are moving away to Oman in a few weeks time so it's nice to still be able to spend some time together. My little niece when straight up to go and play with Emily and she ended up staying until mid afternoon. It was so fun to hear the girls play. They started of playing pet shop but then they made up a game called mailbox and husky dog. They had taken over all the rooms upstairs and the hall was where the mailbox was. It was actually hilarious to listen to.
It all got a bit too hectic for the cat so he decided to go and hide in the only peaceful room in the house.
Simon headed to the kitchen and started rummaging around. I went to have a look at what he was doing and it turned out he was making cheese and bacon bread rolls.
They were beyond delicious!
After Simon had taken Nina back home I headed up to help Emily tidy up and I wish I had taken a photo! Yes, it was that bad.
Soon after it was my turn to rummage around in the kitchen and we had a roast followed by strawberry and cream meringues for our dinner.
It was all very good.
As usual the weekend went by way to fast.
Monday is just one sleep away.
Boo.
If I had to describe this past weekend in one word it would probably be "blah".
Not because the weekend was blah, far from it, it was just how I felt.
You see I hadn't been feeling well since Wednesday afternoon. It was one of those viruses you don't see coming, one minute you are absolutely fine and then BANG...horrible feverish cold.
By Friday it had well and truly got hold of me and I was sent home early from work. Normally I would treasure these extra few hours of weekend and get a head start on chores and washing, but not this time. I basically spent the rest of the day curled up under a blanket.
Normally I'm the first one awake on Saturday mornings, but when I came down Dylan was already up and had made himself breakfast and a drink. He's such a good boy.
Simon had to go to work so it was just me and the kids for the day.
I had a long list of chores in my head but not the energy to match. By late morning I actually did manage to polish and tidy up a little bit.
Emily did crafts for most of the day, she watched a video on you tube where someone made a house for their littlest pet shop toys and she wanted to make on of her own. We rummaged around a bit and found a decent sized cardboard box and some craft bits.
She did quite a good job so far I think.
Dylan played wiiU in his room, and every now and then he came down to check if I was OK. He kept asking me if I needed a drink or something to eat and I felt really cared for.
I had made myself comfortable on the sofa with a blanket and a book, it was all I had energy for.
Emily was actually quite excited all day because she had a sleepover to go to. We packed her bag with everything she needed and wanted to take and when Simon got back from work he surprised her with some cute new pyjamas. She was one happy girl.
When evening came I started feeling better and I thought I'd actually turned a corner.
I hadn't.
Sunday I felt even worse and on top of that I'd lost my voice!
My husband joked it was going to be a quiet day.
Dylan got up early again, he'd made plans with a few friends to for a bug out. Basically they spend the day outside in the woods behind his friends house doing camping and scouting and they always have a great time. We picked Emily up by lunchtime and found out the girls only fell asleep around two in the morning! Naturally she was a bit tired in the afternoon, early bedtime it will be.
The afternoon has been quiet. We watched a movie and ate cookies.
I really didn't have the energy for anything more.
Right now there's a chicken in the oven and I really need to start prepping the vegetables and potatoes. Dylan is back home and all played out. Emily is getting more inspiration for her littlest pet shop house by watching another video. She should really do her homework instead!
Simon is watching some super hero movie.
the cat is asleep....I feel I should be too.
We've had such a fun filled weekend!
Last week was my brother in law's 40th birthday so his lovely wife arranged for us all to have a big family weekend away so we could celebrate together. She booked a lovely house in Ramsgate, which isn't too far of a drive from where we live, but still far enough to feel like like we were away from home.
We left Friday evening. Normally Dylan would catch the bus home after school, but we went to pick him up instead and drove straight there. The kids were quite excited and so were we. It's always nice to get away isn't it! We were second to arrive and the kids immediately went to check out the rooms. I must say, the house was beautiful, spacious and lend itself exactly to what we needed it for...a big family get together / birthday bash.
Once everyone had arrived and settled in we decided to have pizza for dinner, we all knew the next day would be hectic, with more family and friends popping down, so we just wanted a fairly stress free evening. It was the birthday boy's choice and he couldn't have made a better one!
Afterwards we all headed up to the cosy lounge and chatted until late while the kids were playing.
Saturday started out in style and as all good Saturdays should...
with an amazing cooked breakfast!
We had sausages, mushrooms, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, tomatoes, bacon, toast, fruits, and croissants...and it was GOOD!
More family arrived in the course of the morning and we all sat around the huge dining table, chatting, drinking cups of tea or coffee and generally enjoying family time together.
I think the big kitchen / dining room is what I loved most about the house. Wish we had that amount of space in our house!
When our bellies were full we all went out for a beach walk.
We wrapped up really warm, it is after all January, but the weather treated us well. It was quite chilly but we had blue skies,sunshine and smiles on our faces.
The little marina we walked past was very quaint and charming, with little restaurants, art galleries and tiny shops. Dylan and Emily were looking at all the boats and pointing out which one they would want. I might have even seen one I wouldn't mind sailing away on.
The funniest bit though was watching the kids when we reached the sandy beach...it's like they were let loose for the first time in their life! Dylan ran straight towards the water line, Emily stopped half way to start building a sandcastle.
little cousin Lily soon joined in
And then they found a jelly fish
I would like to say Dylan didn't get wet feet, but I'd be lying!
Even the dogs were enjoying time on the beach
More friends joined us and a after catch up we headed back.
After a lazy afternoon just lounging around it was time to start prepping for dinner.
Stuart used to be a chef so knows his way around the kitchen and even though it was his birthday he still wanted to cook for everyone. Dinner was once again amazing!
We had steak (cooked to perfection), with peppercorn sauce, chips, onion rings, fried onions, mushrooms, homemade garlic bread, salads and coleslaw.
There were fifteen of us all gathered around the dining table, I told you it was a huge table!
My sister in law had a few surprises up her sleeve for her husband, one of them was a really cool / emotional / funny "this is your life" presentation. Even family and friends who live all the way in South Africa and America had contributed to this with pre-recorded messages and video's.
We also had cake and an array of other desserts
It was such a fun evening and some of the conversations around the dinner table were absolutely hilarious! I think the tequila that was had might have contributed to that just a bit too.
But the nicest thing of all was to be able to spend time together with our family. After all that's whats most important.
I think Stuart had a brilliant birthday and my sister in law did an amazing job organising this all.
It's now Sunday. We're back home. Work tomorrow and I'm not ready to let go of the weekend just yet.
When can we do this again?!
I cannot believe it's already Monday.
This weekend has just flown by. I'm sure I just left work on Friday, blinked, and now I'm writing this!
Anyway...
Saturday started out with croissants. We love croissants in our family, especially Emily, it's her favorite breakfast. I had mine with butter and jam...and boy was it good.
We had our breakfast while watching cartoons, which seems to be the norm around here on the weekend. I could have sat there all morning but unfortunately I had quite a few chores to do and errands to run. We all got ready quite quickly and even Simon commented when we were in the car at how early we were all out for a Saturday. I really wanted to go the the Range to buy a new diary, I can't believe we're nearly half way through January and I still haven't got one. I didn't quite find what I was looking for but we did pick up a few other bits and pieces and Dylan and Emily had one of those pick and mix sweets cups which they love. We also found Minion Tic Tacs!
We also hit the supermarket and as we were in the neighborhood we decided to pop around Simon's sister house and have lunch together. It was lovely to have a catch up and Emily loves playing with their dog Rocky. She kept putting a blanket on him and pretended he was wearing a cape, it was really funny the watch. They also had a little tug of war with one of his toys.
Their living room was so cosy with that little log burner, It made ours feel quite cool when we got back home.
We gave Milo a little toy we'd picked up earlier in the day and he became quite obsessed with it, it must be all the catnip inside of it. He's such a crazy cat.
The rest of the day was spend pottering around the house, you know, polishing, hoovering, folding clothes away, preparing dinner and we are all happy just doing our little things. Simon was trying to fix something on the computer, Dylan was playing on the Wii U and Emily had made a whole set up in her room and was playing an adventure with her Littlest Pet Shop animals.
The evening came quick and the kids asked for movie night so we watched Inside Out. While we were watching it Emily got out her crayons and drew all the characters but as cats, she "catified" them as she calls it! Her drawing is really brilliant.
Sunday morning was a lazy one and no of us was in the mood to move or do anything for a long time.
We had chocolate bread for breakfast and it was just divine. That kind of breakfast is right up my street! Must be the Belgian in me.
This is a shop bought one (Aldi in case you were wondering), but I have a recipe ready that I might just try out one of these following weekends.
We did eventually get up from the sofa and Simon took Emily swimming while Dylan and I went to into town. I had a gift voucher to spend and I knew just what to get with it.
I have been a Soap & Glory fan for quite some time now and only just used up all my bit and pieces from last years box. Bath time will be amazing once again.
We still had some time left before swimming was over so we went into Starbucks and it was just so lovely to have Dylan all to myself. He told me all about a game he'd been playing and all the rules and he was so passionate about it. He really is growing up before my eyes. He's such a sweet boy as well and when we went to his parents evening a few months ago his teachers were full of praise and it made my heart swell with pride.
Our afternoon was very quiet.
Nothing beats a lazy Sunday afternoon really.
We watched a movie, the kids played and Simon fell asleep and had quite a long nap.
The most eventful thing that happened was roast dinner. It was a good one too.
Even if I did burn the Yorkshire puddings ever so slightly!
