So this is Christmas...

We're going away for xmas. It's been decided and it's booked. Not just anywhere mind - oh no. It's the  ultimate Christmas destination for a family like ours. We've booked a big lodge with woodburner and playroom. There's a train in the afternoons and animal feed run in the morning, loads of space to play outdoors and inside and there is even a visit from the big man on Christmas Eve. Yes we're back at Coombe Mill for our first official Christmas as a family of four.

Last year we had hoped that the adoption would be signed off before Christmas so Blue Bear would officially be part of our family. In the end it didn't happen due to a tiny technicality. The date was postponed until January. It was pretty disappointing and we had a quiet Christmas at home. We still did all the fun things, but having the adoption hearing hanging over us did overshadow things somewhat.

This year we are all one family and Brown Bear is an old hand with Christmas so he can show Blue Bear the ropes around Coombe Mill too. I imagine that we will take it in turns with the feedrun as Brown Bear isn't really interested in the feeding as much as driving the tractor. The games room might be more his thing now he's older too so I think I might take him there if he's bored.

So preparations have begun in earnest. I've already told Hubbie that now there's a Waitrose in Truro we are definitely getting our Christmas food from there. He always prepares the meal and I keep the boys occupied while he cooks. It's easy to keep busy on the farm so we can go and see the animals or go for a bounce on the trampolines. Or as John Lewis would have it we could watch the animals having a bounce instead !

I'm not great at Christmas - I like the planning ahead and then it all gets on top of me. My lovely in-laws don't open presents until late afternoon and my family open them first thing. When we are with family there is a constant flow of food and we all eat too much and aren't hungry by the time dinner is ready. Being away means I don't have to worry about any of that. We can do things to our own timetable and eat when we like. If the boys are getting rowdy - who am I kidding, if ? more like when ! - there is space for them to let off steam and also a change of scene.

In the last few years I've been making Christmas Eve boxes for the boys filled with things like new pyjamas, a story book, a Christmas DVD and some things to play with. I often include a soft toy and a snow globe too. I know this is becoming a pretty popular thing so I might even do them for me and Hubbie. New snuggly pyjamas, mint thins, a bottle of something festive and a Christmas movie - what's not to like ?

Christmas morning is a pretty laid back event for us - once the madness of present opening is done that is. We love to go for a family walk after our meal and being at Coombe Mill means we get to explore the farm and see the animals or go to the play areas. Last time we visited the llamas - maybe this year we can venture a bit further maybe to see the deer or donkeys ?

Now that we have a plan for Christmas I can get excited about it. We don't have to carry a bajillion gifts but we will take some decorations for the tree that Farmer Nick will kindly put in the lodge for us. I can book some lovely activities for us to do as a family and hopefully even get some down time while we're there. I can't wait.

I think I need a holiday !!

We've just spent a week on holiday with the boys in gorgeous Cornwall. We spent days out and about and even had some lovely weather to enjoy the beach. Hubbie and I are zonked out and in need of a period of recovery and - if I'm honest - some child free time. Except now I'm home with them for 2 months. Yeah 2 whole months with them at home with me and no respite. The exhaustion of being with two belligerant and argumentative boys hasn't quite worn off yet so I won't bore you with details. Instead I'll give you a whistle stop tour of the holiday snaps. Enjoy :)

It was Blue Bear's first visit to Peppa Pig World - he loved it !

Camper Van fun to start the holiday

We always visit Lappa Valley - it's a brilliant day out for the boys (and Hubbie loves it too)

Ruby the steam engine 

The boys wanted to play crazy golf with Daddy - with varying degrees of success 

Blue Bear putting

Brown Bear playing seriously

On a particularly sunny afternoon we decided to go to the beach - great fun 

Beach Boys

Me and Brown Bear tried out surfing for the first time - it was awesome !

Polzeath Beach 

Jiggles the Bear and Woof Woof the Dog enjoyed relaxing at the beachside cafe during lunch

Jiggles and Woof Woof chilling out 

Pizza after surfing was fabulous !!

Veggie and delicious ! 

Brown Bear went for a lovely walk with Stanley the dog - it was so sweet

Stanley and Brown Bear taking the coastal road to Tintagel 

The search for the camper van is now on - we found a few to be going on with

Campervans to end the holiday too

Postcards from Cornwall

I used to imagine that spending time in Cornwall was just what other people did. That it cost too much and would be out of our price range. It was a shame really as on my travels around the country I'd seen some lovely places and wondered how the experience of Padstow would differ if I was a tourist instead of visiting for work. My first ever visit to the Eden Project was in its first year of opening as I was staying in Wadebridge for work so I thought I'd take a rare morning off to go and see it. It was the beginning of a long love affair I have with the place and one I've been able to indulge in since we've been taking holidays at Coombe Mill with the children. We took Brown Bear the first time we stayed in Cornwall and he's been with us a few times since. I've wanted to go back on my own for a while though.

At the weekend I was lucky enough to go to the Eden Project twice. On Friday night I went to watch the Manic Street Preachers with Hubbie. We were absolutely soaked by the rain, but the gig was amazing so the weather didn't matter much. I made a quick visit to the Mediterranean biome where the lovely Nathan told us all about how oats are transformed from a humble crop to a breakfast cereal and I even rolled some oats to take home with me.

The tickets entitled us to go back the next day so Hubbie kindly offered to have the boys while I went off to spend time by myself exploring and enjoying the place without having to entertain or feed the boys. I stopped for a lovely brew and then I achieved a long held ambition to make it to the top of the lookout point to get a stunning view of the rainforest below. A young lad who was also walking up was delighted to share that he'd just overcome his fear of heights. It was a good day for us both.

I've reached the roof of the rainforest !

The view is spectacular 

I ate a delicious lunch - made of locally sourced ingredients - in peace and quiet before going back to the biome to learn the 'story of chocolate.' How it goes from bitter cocoa pod to the delicious bars we consume. (some of us more than others, admittedly). The zipwire was definitely tempting, but I decided that one daredevil act in a day was plenty and - realistically - if I didn't have anyone to cheer me on it probably wasn't going to happen. After checking in with Hubbie I bought a pasty to say thanks for looking after the boys at Coombe Mill so I could have an unspoilt trip to Eden.

The story of chocolate from bean to bar 

These smell amazing 

All that time by myself gave me a chance to ponder how much time we spend doing things that make our children happy that we don't necessarily have any interest in ourselves. Equally why drag them around when they will just fuss about having to do a 'boring grown up thing' ? I've decided to plan what I want to do as the boys grow older and I am able to cultivate my own interests again.

My new ambitions:

Go on holiday without the boys - I don't mean a long weekend or a few days I mean a full on proper grown up holiday with cocktails and going out for dinner and only doing what we want to do. I'm relaxing just thinking about it.

Own a camper van - ok this is obviously a pretty common one, but it's still on my list. I want to be able to take off and have an adventure whenever I want. To pack a yoga mat and some swimming things in the back and just drive away for a few days and not have to worry about anyone else.

Learn to surf - now this is related to the last one as the whole surf culture is associated with camper vans. It's also one of the sports that I haven't yet tried and have wanted to for years. I booked a surf course on Fistral Beach over ten years ago and bottled out of going by myself. Now I have sons they can do it first so I don't feel so daft.

Live in Cornwall - maybe not all the time, but I do love it here. Of course I do have to wait until they have more than the one Waitrose (or live in Truro where that one is). This ambition will make it possible for me to...

Work / volunteer at the Eden Project - it's a place that always fascinates me and I would love to spend a lot more time there. Who knows I might even apply for an apprenticeship.

Care for a dog - I've had an ambition for a while to foster a dog. Blue Bear loves dogs so much and I think caring for a trainee assistance dog would be great for us as a family. He could learn to look after it and we would also be helping prepare the dog for a life helping someone else.

and finally...

Write every day - At the moment I write late at night before going to bed or in the brief moments I have during the day. It's usually in the front room with other things going on all the time - crying children, cat demanding to be fed, hubbie watching politics or sport on the telly. I'm often tired and unable to really concentrate on what I'm doing so all those fantastic clever witticisms that I thought of earlier have retired already. I'd like a space that is mine and where I can just go and write. Without distraction, unnecessary noise or guilt.

I'll let you know how I get on with achieving this list :) 

All I want for Christmas is what I already have - thank you :)

A year ago we had no idea that Baby Boy would be coming to live with us. We were planning our first Christmas away and getting ready for an exciting week in Cornwall staying at Coombe Mill.

Then while were were on holiday we received an email with a profile and a photo and the question - would we consider this little boy ? I showed the photo to Big Boy and he said, "Is that me as a baby ?" I said. "No, it's a little boy who we're thinking about having to come live with us. How would it be if he was your baby brother ?" Big Boy looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'd like that."

I found Wally

A lot happened in between - which I will tell you another time, I promise - and now we are here. We're a family of four (ok, Neo - five) and this Christmas he's here with us. It's the most amazing gift of all and I cannot believe it's only been a year since this all began for real.

So, when anyone asks me what I want for Christmas I can honestly say, "nothing."

Oh we're such fun

I have a wonderful husband, a lovely home, a fluffy cat, a new iPhone (ok, not strictly nothing then).

I told you he's fluffy !

Most importantly of all I have two sons I love and adore. They are safe, healthy and happy.

My boys 

Ok, I'd like to be slimmer, to not have dodgy knees and a gammy shoulder. I'd love to be able to live on chips, chocolate, champagne and strawberries.

For now I'm thankful for what I do have. I had no idea this time last year that it would be so much.

Love...

From chaos to calm - that's why a Coombe Mill Christmas is perfect.

What ? Christmas posts already ? You may well think it's too early to be planning Christmas, but I have a good reason for writing this post about Christmas. You see the lovely Fiona and Farmer Nick of Coombe Mill are offering an amazing prize win a fab festive break at their lovely family run farm. Alliteration aside I want to win this for me and my boys so please bear with me while I explain what is so special about Christmas with the Coombe Mill family. 

I think I should explain that I haven't always been the biggest fan of Christmas. I usually look like this in the run up to it. 

Bah Humbug

As a result I've wanted to go away for Christmas for many years and me and Hubbie spoke about it so many times. We always felt guilty so we didn't do it, then we visited Coombe Mill last Summer and the idea to go there was planted in my head. I mentioned it to Hubbie and we decided to go away with Big Boy as we had such a lovely summer break and we wanted to spend time in beautiful Cornwall again. 

Everything at Coombe Mill is geared toward children and families having a great time and Christmas is even more special. Before we arrived Fiona asked me if we wanted a real tree or an artificial one and when we arrived we found this waiting for us: 

A home away from home - complete with tree 

I brought some decorations from home to make it personal to us and we loved getting the tree ready and lighting the fire. We never really got the hang of this and had to ask Fiona and Nick's oldest son Ali to help us, we are such townies ! Thanks Ali for this - all the family are so very helpful.

A warming fire that we did not make

The great activities that are on all year round still go on with a festive twist so the train that runs every afternoon is transformed with a magical grotto with lights and trees. Guy - the driver - had Christmas helpers to operate the flag and signal and there was even a special visitor who gave gifts to the good children one evening.

The train shed transformed into a twinkly grotto 

We're not terribly religious as a family, but I've often heard mother in law say she'd like to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. To date she's never made it as something always gets in the way (gin usually) so when we were invited to see Guy and Clio (two of the triplets) take part in the Christingle service at the local church I really wanted to go. The service was so child friendly and Big Boy loved being part of it. As a bonus we also saw Father Christmas on his sleigh outside the church before he had to go and give presents to all the children in the world.

We made reindeer food with Fiona 

As a bonus the clear skies enabled me and Big Boy to look out for the International Space Station in the sky (well I told him it was Santa's sleigh actually) and that made it even more magical. The night before Christmas Fiona and Nick host a party for all the guests staying on the farm which is a lovely idea. We could have a drink, not have to cook and Big Boy dressed up as Olaf for the occasion. We both wore our Christmas Jumpers and had a short walk back to our lodge ready to put out a drink and mince pie for Santa and the special food we'd made with Fiona for the hardworking reindeer.

The view on Christmas morning 

If you want a traditional white Christmas you may not appreciate the view that greeted us on Christmas morning. We, however, were delighted to see sunny, blue skies. The highlight of any stay at Coombe Mill is the feed run and Big Boy is an enthusiastic volunteer tractor driver. When he knew that Farmer Nick was going to dress up he decided to make a special effort as well. If you've not seen Father Christmas driving a tractor with Spiderman as his assistant you just haven't lived !

Santa Nick and Spiderboy

Spidey feeding a donkey Christmas breakfast

The feed run on Christmas morning is the perfect way to start a day that will descend into chaos, presents and overeating. It's refreshing in a way that you can only know if you have woken up to this view from your bedroom. When it comes to animals it's pretty hard to beat waking up to see Alpacas outside your window. Baby Boy has been delighted to spot these and it makes missing our cat Neo much less harrowing.

I spy with my little eye an Alpaca

I asked Big Boy what his favourite things about Coombe Mill are. Unsurprisingly he drew a tractor, the sword in the stone and the train rides every afternoon. If I asked Baby Boy I'm pretty sure he'd say, "animals, animals, animals." Big Boy drew those too.

It's our first Christmas with Baby Boy and one of the things that his birth family really wanted was for him to celebrate Christmas. I can't imagine anywhere else that would be more perfect to spend with my boys who love everything about being here.

Baby Boy's thoughts 

We're no different from any other family in wanting our children to have a wonderful Christmas. The thing that we really want them to remember is not opening presents, but the experience of waking up somewhere beautiful, being in nature and enjoying time as a family. That is what we come to Coombe Mill for.

This post is my entry to win Christmas 2015 at Coombe Mill for my family. If you want to enter you can find out all about it here: Win Christmas at Coombe Mill

With a "Quack Quack" here and a "Baa Baa" there...

Waiting to feed the impatient birds

We love Coombe Mill as a family and taking Baby Boy there for the first time last week was a delight. He loves animals so we were pretty sure he'd love staying on a family farm where the feed run is a daily activity and there is also plenty of outdoor play space for our boisterous boys to wear themselves out in. This was our 3rd visit and we've stayed in a different type of accommodation each time. This visit we stayed in Honeysuckle, a three bedroom stone cottage with a lovely small garden out back and right next to the miniature railway, pirate ship and trampoline. I even managed to have a few bounces on the trampoline which made Big Boy very happy and we sneaked off for a go whenever we had a chance.

"Chickens !"

Of course the whole point of going to stay in Cornwall is that we love to spend time outdoors and the boys really did take to the whole farm routine. Me and Hubbie take it in turns to do the feed run with the boys so one of us gets a morning off to relax or go to the gym. As soon as we arrived we picked out some gear for the boys to wear. As return visitors we know that the reception room has plenty of waterproofs in all sizes that we can use during our stay. We also took advantage of the range of puzzles, story books and dressing up costumes which kept everyone busy.

My little tractor driver

The boys really enjoyed helping Farmer Nick and Farmer Amber to feed all the animals. As an old hand Big Boy also knew that he could volunteer to drive the tractor so he was first in line most days. It's a great incentive to behave if he thinks he won't get a turn to drive. Baby Boy was not keen to drive at all - hopefully on our next visit he might pluck up the courage to help with the tractor. Both boys really love to feed the animals and this visit Big Boy fed Sprout the baby goat with a bottle of milk. It's a responsible job and he was also very good at sharing the duty with other children.

Feeding Sprout

Baby boy has learned a lot of new animal sounds and keeps making loud 'quack' noises when he sees bath ducks which is amusing if a little ear splitting in the morning when I'm barely awake yet. There are a lot of birds including chickens, ducks and geese and some peacocks and a peahen - who was sitting on eggs while we were there - hopefully they will hatch before long. Last year they were stolen by an invader, possibly a badger.

"Quack quack"

One of other activities that really captured Big Boy's imagination was searching for and collecting eggs. He was so upset the first day he brought one back when it rolled onto the floor just outside the door and broke. He even asked Hubbie to replace it with one from the fridge so I wouldn't find out what had happened. To make up for it he found a duck egg the next day and was very proud of his special find.

Sunny feed run 

Of course being on holiday isn't just about working and we did take the boys to the beach on a lovely sunny afternoon. It was Baby Boy's first time walking on sand and in the beginning he found it a bit strange. He wasn't too keen on the wet sand and absolutely didn't want to go in the water, but he did like the feeling of sand and throwing it around. Until they both got carried away and it became a bit of a mission to get it out of his eyes that is - oops ! 

Beach boys

I hope that they boys have lovely memories of our family holidays in Cornwall - I know I do. 

This post is being shared with the #countrykids linky hosted by the lovely Fiona of Coombe Mill

   

Skateboarding, sunshine and searching for dinosaurs...

I've mentioned before that big boy really wants a skateboard. Ever since he watched Firehouse Dog the first time and he saw Shane (Josh Hutcherson) riding on one he has asked if he can have one when he's older. When we were staying at Coombe Mill he saw skateboards belonging to the bigger children and desperately wanted to have a go on them. I've always said he has to be at least 8 before we'd consider it, but I may reconsider this previous decision. 

On Saturday there was a skate demo in a local park where children were invited to try out skateboarding and to have a go at doing some tricks. The idea was to introduce them safely to the skills, but also to show them how to use the facilities in the park including ramps and jumps. 

Scooterboy

As our boy is more used to his scooter he tried that first then had a tutorial on the much longed for skateboard. He did really well and continues to amaze me with how incredibly brave and daring he is, trying new things without fear. I think he really looks the part doesn't he ? 

My little skateboarder

What a professional !

Then on Monday I took both boys to Crystal Palace park to see the dinosaur trail. Big boy has been to the park before, but he hasn't seen the dinosaurs so he was quite surprised to see so many of them lurking around the park. Little boy was less impressed, but he still enjoyed being outdoors on a sunny day with his brother. 

Dinosaurs in the water 

Dinosaurs hiding amongst the trees

As you will know from previous outdoor kids posts big boy is really into climbing trees right now so he made an attempt to climb onto this one, but it was too high up for him to reach.  He still enjoyed trying and I suspect it won't be long before he is tall enough to reach. 

Big boy - bigger tree

It's not only the boys who have been enjoying the sunshine this week - Neo has also been making the most of the weather and taken to sunbathing on the front doorstep most of the day. Here is a rare image of him awake and communing with nature.

Nature cat

This post is being shared with the fab #countrykids linky hosted by the lovely Fiona of Coombe Mill