Cliff Richard can go hang

It's week three of the holidays or maybe four I've stopped counting. It's frittering away in a gulf of nothingness. I had such idealistic fluffy plans in my head of how the summer was going to be. Long summer nights of family loveliness playing, kids outside laughing and excited. Hot days of fun, frolics and interesting amazing excitement. 

For a start, we have all developed hacking coughs which results in sleepless disturbed nights and bleary eyed sore chested knackered days. 

Every morning Millie wakes up extremely upset that I dare get out of bed and go to the toilet. She sobs uncontrollably whilst I pee at top speed and spends the next hour having milk and then refusing to sit on the potty whilst she poops. EC has gone. The whole world is Millie's toilet just now. She is refusing all forms of receptacles or offering. 

The next few hours are spent persuading the girls to get dressed whilst they lounge about naked on the sofa watching endless oompah loompahs and scooby doos. I'd love to show you a video of Ellie dancing along to the Oompah Loompah songs but she is always naked!! She does make the living room look really tidy though as she sweeps her stage clear, sweeping everything under the sofas!!

I sort the kitchen out from the bomb dropping the night before, whilst the girls refuse everything I suggest for breakfast and I day dream of foreign humid nights whilst Millie shrieks like a banshee at my feet utterly indignant that I dare to do anything except sit with boobs out on tap.

Should I successfully manage to get out the house with three dressed children, we then spend the next few hours in the woods with the girls whinging they are hungry or want to go to a play park whilst Millie pins me to the forest floor for milk in the woods. 

Once home, the girls go straight back to the tv and Millie empties every dog water bowl in a one mile radius. Poor RileyDog has been housebound after cutting his paw badly. So he's been moping around the house knocking children over with his cone of shame. Not the frolicking summer he was hoping for either. 

On a plus, I've become a hot shot farmer from playing farm frenzy whilst pinned to the sofa. I've made millions!!! 

On that note I'd like to say a MASSIVE thank you to those of you who helped RileyDog find a sitter. We can now go on our family camping holiday. I'm really looking forward to my Cliff Richard type hollibags kicking in! 

Meltdowns - late nights make for grumpy kids
Losing the Plot - not much
Breastfeeding - E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E

Summer update

I haven't had a chance to post much as we are trying to keep as busy as possible. Last week we had Maia's 5th bday party and a trip to see the octonauts at the sea life centre and some den building in the woods and a few NIN trips. 

We also just came home from a weekend Nurture in Nature camping trip which was just perfect. The sun shone, the pond invited, the woods shaded, the tent didn't leak. All in all it was super!! Communal living round a fire is just my idea of perfection. The sun helped of course. 

Ellie found her niche in the pond and was there 3-4 times a day. Maia enjoyed her independence and being able to come and go as she pleased and not have to traipse along with me all the time and Millie had an absolute ball travelling from tent to tent interacting with everyone. So much so that she has tried the same at home out the front going from door to door but to no avail!! Everyone was busy to the max and even Rileydog was comatose by mid afternoon with so much exercise! 

Myself, I just loved the freedom and the open air and having people around all the time. I am really lonely and sad without it and I think the neighbours washing is not enjoying my fire burning l, which I had wanted to continue. I love building and sustaining a fire and a good pokie stick is a must. Maybe next year I won't burn so many potatoes though!!

We are hoping to go camping as a family for a longer time in August but need to find someone to look after Rileydog. If you want to help us go camping and give me a proper break, you can donate here: http://www.gofundme.com/3lxpv0 

Thank you in advance and my stressed out plot losing self thanks you too!

Meltdowns - not in nature 

Losing the plot - so many places to go to calm down if needed

Breastfeeding - by the fire, by the pond, in the tent, in the woods, under the night sky, all over nature!!

Don't tell the SS

First Monday of the holidays and I have great intentions to get out the house but its already nearly midday and I've been asking/nagging the girls to get dressed since 9.30am. They actually were dressed then but whilst I was making breakfast, they decided to have a bath???!! 

I had had a discussion with them last week about the fact that the dog WILL need walked every day and because we are no longer dropping Ellie at school, it means we need to make the effort and actually get dressed and go out. 

It would be SO incredibly easy for me to say 'fuck it' and not bother, stay at home, veg on the sofa with the girls and chuck a ball in the lane for the dog but I want things to be different over the summer. I want to make the effort even though I'm exhausted. I want the girls out and about in nature.  Even though they are moaning and refusing, I *know* they will love it once out. 

I chat to my friends online about what's happening and they suggest various ideas....just go to the door and say I'm going everyone in the car...good idea, but they are in the bath! Next idea is grab their clothes and say the same thing. This, would have actually worked but given the issues we have had with the SS and nakedness, I am under strict instructions from hubby not to take them out naked again :(

Eventually after reminding Ellie of our discussion, she gets dressed, I get Millie dressed and as Maia realises she won't be staying home alone, she does too. 

And we're off to our first Nurture in Nature of the summer. Our first NIN as a family of four for months and months. The girls have a ball, rolling down hills, climbing trees, hugging trees and playing in the wonderful outdoors.  THEN, the sun comes out! 

No sooner had the sun peeked out of the clouds and filled the park with warmth, than the whole group was naked and the girls took full advantage of the situation!!! YAY for NIN!!