Over the past few days, we’ve been getting back into a more normal routine after a lovely holiday at Bluestone last week.

I know people say that children need routine in their lives, but we’ve never really been that sort of family. The children go to bed at loosely the same time every night, with exceptions where something fun is going on in the evening. Lia usually has an afternoon nap too, but this sometimes slips if she gets a better offer.

We quite often do the same things on the same days, and Libby goes to nursery every afternoon, but if we get an opportunity to do something different, we almost always say yes. I personally feel that this has made the children more adaptable. Like us, they’re always up for trying something new, breaking from the norm and going somewhere different.

After getting back from Bluestone on Friday, Libby had a busy day on Saturday with a birthday party and then an afternoon at a little local music festival with us all. Lia wasn’t very well after the music festival, so we had a bit more of a lazy day on Sunday, before Libby started back at nursery on Monday.

Tuesday was unusual again due to a hospital appointment for Libby, and she’s very excited that she’s got to have a new pair of glasses. Yesterday, we took Libby to the park, where I spent half an hour running after her as she bombed round on her bike. The stabilisers only came off when we were up in Scotland, and her first experience without them was when she cycled at Loch Leven.

Since then, she’s ridden a couple more times, gaining confidence each time. Then yesterday, something just clicked and she was off. We’re both looking forward to her being confident enough to ride her bike along with me when I’m going for a run, it will be a lovely way for us both to get some exercise and spend some time together.

This morning was Libby’s second and final taster day at school. Thankfully she loved it again, and can’t wait to start in September. Whilst Libby was at school, Lia and I did something a bit unusual – all will be revealed on my blog over the next few days – but suffice to say it was a nice morning out and will probably never be repeated! When we got home, I went to let the dogs in and Lia strolled into the lounge to play with a huge balloon that her dad had blown up for her this morning.

Before I’d even managed to unlock the back door, I heard an incredibly loud bang, followed by a slightly smaller bang and some screaming. Once she’d calmed down enough to speak, Lia explained that she had laid down on top of the balloon and it had popped. The second bang was her head hitting the floor, and teaching her a harsh life lesson – never lie on a balloon.

This week’s Thursday Photo #113 was taken on Friday when we were still in Bluestone. I wanted to use it both to remind myself that it’s not even a week since we were on our fabulous holiday (it seems like a lifetime ago), and because it reminds me of a lovely morning of outdoor fun.

Thursday Photo #113