Hens & Stags

Fast forward a few months from our engagement and here we were, just a month away from the wedding!

Friends started to raise the 'are you having a hen/stag do??' question. Once again, as far as we were both concerned, we just weren't going to bother. I for one felt like a geriatric bride and the thought of being dressed like a knobhead, drinking through a willy straw, really didn't do it for me.

However...after a bit of persuasion, I thought why the hell not?? I was still having a wedding day so why not a hen do? I'll get mt chief bridesmaid onto it. Oh hang on..I'm not having any bridesmaids.

As for the Stag Do..well, the Best Man was supposed to organise that. Steve's Best Men were our sons aged 8 and 4..not really up to arranging a pub crawl.

So, there was only one thing for it. I had to organise BOTH.

At least I could keep control over my own party plans. The Stag Do on the other hand was being planned in secret as a surprise from the boys for Daddy.

July 18th and the boys had kept the Stag Do completely secret the whole time (it was the adults that nearly gave it away!!) The gave Daddy a card first thing in the morning to announce it and Steve was thrilled.

In honour of the decade in which we first met, we were going for an 80s theme for both. Double Denim for the Stags and 80s neon for the Hens.

The boys (with the help of Uncle Disco) took Daddy out to a beer garden (I brought the little stags home at teatime before the big stags wandered off into the evening)

There was a shopping trolley involved at one point, a couple of splattered pizzas and a big bruise but on the whole, it was a good night.

July 25th and it was the hens turn. Derby Rollerworld was supposed to be our first destination but unhelpfully (and it almost cocked up the entire hen do) the place was closed to the public for an event...despite having emailed me weeks before to say that we could skate that day. I was furious.
Thankfully Steve & my lovely hens came to the rescue. We could use the train tickets we'd already bought and got to Nottingham instead and go ice skating.

We found the centre of Notts had a beach!! We also bumped into the Pride parade and the city centre looked beautiful in rainbow colours.

The skating was ridiculously difficult!! My hips protested after about half an hour...realised I hadn't actually been on the ice for about 30 years!

Back in my hometown and we met up with lots of other friends and family members for a meal. There were 24 of us altogether and I felt very loved.

There may have been some drinking, a dance routine and 'someone' fell off a stage...but we'll leave it there!

Engagement Shoot on the beach

I mentioned in an earlier post that we GOT MARRIED! oh yes...we finally did it after 17 years.

You can read the whole back story...why it took us so long, the rollercoaster journey, to the decision to 'get on with it, on our wedding blogger friend Alison's Plans & Presents blog (aka Mrs PandP) here

I was Alison's 'blogging bride' since our engagement in February! (With a haribo ring, on another beach...but that's another story...)

Back in May, once we'd booked our photographer (Harvey & Harvey), we had an engagement shoot as part of the wedding package.

I felt a bit silly about all this...we weren't the young couple we once were. There were two other little people involved now and Steve wasn't so keen either.

However, in the end we decided we would go ahead - it would be a nice keepsake anyhow.

The thought of having our photos taken anywhere near home where someone might see us trying to smile and look natural filled me with dread. Thankfully our photographers thought our idea of a seaside shoot (our wedding theme after all) was a great idea.

The morning started with glorious sunshine as we headed off to Mablethorpe - a big stretch of unspoilt sand, perfect for us to disappear into the background.

Once we'd got going and had relaxed a bit, we started to have fun.

The boys got a day at the seaside so they were immensely happy and were completely unfazed (possibly because Mummy has taken a million photos of them both since they were born!)

We ended up with some really fun shots and glad we went ahead.

All Grown Up

Charlie started school.

He only turned 4 in June...how on Earth did this happen?

Last time I looked, he was still my baby, giggling and toddling about, finding his feet and pulling all the things out of the cupboards.

Now look at him. He's reading, he's doing sums, he can say discombobulated. He was more than ready for 'big' school.

He's looks ridiculously cute in his uniform and he is loving it.

He's already collecting Rocket points and Golden Tickets and making lots of new friends.

All grown up...but always the baby.

A Summer of New Beginnings

I wasn't sure I would be writing any more blog posts after my 'can't be arsed' phase but actually, I've missed this. Writing to nobody in particular, keeping a record of our life.
I decided to give it another go. I feel calmer, happier and quite chatty again if I'm honest.
Lots of things have changed over the Summer...I've met new people, I've been getting out and about and really enjoying new experiences again, our littlest boy started school and, oh yes, we got married!

I started reading other blogs again, something I've not done for a while. It's made me realise that even if not a single person reads this blog, I will enjoy it nonetheless.
I haven't got any great subjects to discuss. It's just me and my family and a slightly deranged cat.
I had to start again somewhere, so I guess this was it.

Next time I might eve have something nice to share.