Our Year – 2014!

I cannot believe we are now in 2015 as it only seems like yesterday we were welcoming the new Millennium!

Time is going by so quickly – Sebastian is no longer a baby, but a boisterous and mischievous toddler. Eliza is in her final few month of nursery and will start “big school” later this year as Isaac moves up to the Junior school. Somehow turning 7 seems like a huge jump.

This year has also seen Kian start his GCSE’s, Callan leave school and start learning to drive and Abbey turning 21 and heading off to Gambia as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Gold challenge through work.

I look bag at 2014 with fondness despite the year kicking off with the most awful start with hubby losing his job for the second time in a year.  We didn’t feel the pain at the time as we lived off our savings but it hit us later in the year when we had nothing to fall back on, however I think we are now coming back through the other side and other than that we had a year of amazing opportunities and fun.

Here is my month by month snapshot of the year:

January saw the worst storms we have seen in Dorset, with waves that destroyed beaches and terrible flooding locally – just the wrong time to embark on my Team Honk Challenge and scoot the 7 miles of Bournemouth’s beaches.  I did it though, with the help of my friends Tracy, Paul and Joanne who all pitched in for some childcare duties as well as some moral support.

We also had some lovely days out and Eliza has the most amazing birthday party at Lemur Landings where all the kids got to create their own bear!

We had great fun in February as Daddy was home with us.  The weather was still wild and we enjoyed lots of days out to the beach, local parks and Monkey World.  Our teddies even braved the Teddy Zip Wire at Corfe Castle!

March was a big month for Isaac as he started football training and was invested in Beavers.  Both Eliza and Sebastian came on leaps and bounds in swimming and Sebby did an underwater photo shoot with Turtle Tots.  Again we spent lots of time outdoors and learned lots of life skills whilst bushcrafting with Fore Adventure.

We were very lucky to be chosen as Butlins Ambassadors for the 2013/2014 season and April saw all 8 of us heading to Bognor Regis.  We had an amazing time and the highlight was definitely watching Kian and Isaac playing musical splatues on stage with Dick & Dom!  Thanks to my blog we also enjoyed trips to Legoland, Beaulieu and Longleat where we got to meet Isaac’s other idol – Steve Backshall who was there to do a Deadly Adventure!.  April also saw Isaac turn 6 and he loved his Phaser party!

May was the month of festivals, with the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Dorset Knob Throwing, Bournemouth Wheels, Spring Tide and Blandford Food Festival.  We also squeezed in a trip to Peppa Pig World for Olive’s birthday.  May also saw hubby finally find a new job and it was strange not having him home after a couple of months of help.

June was a HUGE month!  Abbey turned 21, Callan 17, Sebastian 1 and I reached the grand 4-0!  I won the chance to go on an actual racing power boat, we surprised Abbey and Callan with a VIP trip to Thorpe Park and I celebrated mine and Sebastian’s birthdays in London for the weekend at the Britmums conference and then visiting all the sites with the family.

We were spoiled with some gorgeous weather in July and spent lots of time at the beach or local splash parks.  We did enjoy a couple of days out to Wookey Hole, Swanage Carnival and the Moscow State Circus.  It was also hubby’s birthday and we managed to sneak out for an evening of bubbles and fireworks!

August was another month of festivals.  We were lucky enough to be chosen as Camp Bestival bloggers and had the most amazing time experiencing our first camping trip as a family.  We also enjoyed the local Pirate festival as well as LolliBop and Bournemouth Air Festival, squeezing Kian’s 14th birthday in there too.

September saw my babies growing up.  Kian jetted off to Paris with the school, Isaac went on his first ever trip out and about with Beavers and Eliza started the Nursery at the school.  I was also lucky enough to win a four-day break with Mark Warner to their flagship site, Levante in Rhodes.  It was the most amazing 4 days and I made some very good friends amongst the other bloggers that were there.  When I returned I bravely flung myself off the new zip wire on Bournemouth Pier!

October was another month of fun.  We spent two weekends with Disney Princesses much to Eliza’s delight and had a holiday in Staffordshire during half term.  Isaac got to release his inner daredevil at Go Ape and we made good use of our Merlin passes with trips to Blackpool, Manchester, Warwick Castle and Alton Towers.

November saw Sebastian finally start walking, just in time for our visit to Bluestone in Wales for their Kingdom of the Elves.  It was by far the best Christmas event I have ever been to!  We were also invited to the RAF Museum in London where Sebby got to indulge in his love of planes and then took him along to Peppa Pig World where he got to enjoy everything for himself for the first time.  I have to admit that days out seem somewhat easier now he can walk.

December was definitely my favourite month of the year. The weather was so mild we had a couple of days out to the beach, took a ride up to the top of Weymouth Sealife Tower and I watched proudly as Eliza and Isaac took part in their Nativity, however the month belonged to our Christmas family holiday to Coombe Mill.  It is not often that we all get together these days but we spent an amazing 7 days in Cornwall all taking part in the activities that Coombe Mill has to offer as well as exploring Port Isaac and Eden Project and taking the little ones on the Polar Express.

December also saw me win a family holiday with Mark Warner, so we have something amazing to look forward to next year!

Thank you to all those who have read and commented on my blog over the years, it really means a lot.

Hope you have a Happy and Prosperous 2015!

ChelseaMamma xxxxx