Project 365 – Weeks 27-31

Wow, it appears I have been AWOL for a whole month.

End of term shenanigans, PTFA stuff, work and a trip to Camp Bestival has put me really behind.

Here is our last month:

Sunday 7th July

I worked Sunday for some extra money for our trip to Camp Bestival at the end of the month, but this solar wind chime was reduced to clear and accidentally got added to my end of shift shop.

Monday 8th July

The end of term leavers celebrations have begun and today was Sebby’s first performance of Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies. Sebby played the part of “Dancing Dave” to perfection, with his catchphrase being “shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, jazz hands” – I will leave his moves up to your imagination, but he has perfected it perfectly.

Tuesday 9th July

Our 19th wedding anniversary, so we headed out for breakfast to celebrate. Sadly our favourite cafe was closed as their oven was being repaired, so we ended up at Urban Reef which is an old favourite restaurant set on Boscombe beach.

Breakfast was delicious, but sadly all plans for a walk along the beach got rained off.

Wednesday 10th July

Sebby’s second performance of Robin Hood and this time they got to pose for photo’s after the show.

Thursday 11th July

One of my favourite parts of working as a Community Champion is getting involved with community projects and being able to help local charities. Today we presented a cheque to Beacon Church preschool which will help them provide their outdoor provision.

Friday 12th July

Another reminder that Sebby is entering his last week of primary school – the “too big” leavers jumper!

Saturday 13th July

Another school leavers pic – this time both boys. Sebby leaving Year 6 and Isaac Year 11. I think they will be living in these for a few weeks.

Sunday 14th July

Sadly we couldn’t afford to take my F1 (McLaren) loving Isaac to Silverstone, but a work colleague went and brought him back a t-shirt and a keyring, so I had one happy boy.

Monday 15th July

If you follow my instagram, you will know I love a postbox topper and we finally have a local one. How good is this tribute to Wimbledon?

Tuesday 16th July

I haven’t seen a poppy field for a couple of years, but there is one full of white poppies on the way to my Mum’s near Dorchester, so had to stop for a photo.

Wednesday 17th July

My last ever shift at pre-school as I have made the difficult decision to leave as Sebby won’t be at the primary and Lilah is also heading to a new school in September. They made it a fun shift, with a party atmosphere and lots of dancing. Lilah requested her favourite song from the day on the way home – my ex-colleagues have a lot to answer for LOL

Thursday 18th July

House Festival for Eliza, where they get to paint / glitter their faces for two days of sporting fun and the chance to win a trip to Thorpe Park.

Friday 19th July

It is the start of our summer food collection at Tesco, so spent the day building units and packing donation bags.

I have tried to do a few different ones with a mixture of products this time, which seems to have gone down well.

Saturday 20th July

The dreaded COVID seems to be back and I did a stupidly long shift at Tesco to help cover as so many colleagues are off with it.

In the evening, Isaac and Eliza headed off to their end of year charity dinner for their musical theatre company, JLDA. Both suddenly looking very grown up!!

Sunday 21st July

Another work day for me, followed by a belated works meal out for my birthday. Sadly a few had to drop out through illness, but it was a lovely evening nonetheless.

Monday 22nd July

I swapped my shift at work as it was Sebby’s Leavers Assembly.

All the kids got certificates on their “most likely award” – Sebby’s was to create a video game, which made me chuckle as it is what Kian studied at university. We always joke that they are clones of each other.

I’d love to say I held it together but I cried. 23 years with kids at one school is a long time and it’s sad to say goodbye.

Tuesday 23rd July

Sebby’s last ever day at primary school and Lilah’s (and mine) at preschool.

End of an era…….

Wednesday 24th July

My leaving do for preschool and thanks to the generosity of our parents, we all had afternoon tea at Bournemouth Hilton.

It’s a shame the weather wasn’t better as it’s a lovely view over Bournemouth from the Level 8 Sky Bar.

Thursday 25th July

The packing has commenced, Camp Festival 2024 we are heading for you.

We have booked Camping Plus, which is a reserved camping spot, so we decided to stay home Thursday as the weather was torrential rain all do and we didn’t fancy setting up camp in that.

Friday 26th July

We made it to Lulworth nice and early to set up camp. This hill is affectionately known by Camp Festival attendees as the “hill of death” – it’s steep with no luggage, but factor in tents, trolley’s etc, it’s a killer.

Thankfully, taking teenagers (and having another friend camping close by), meant I had help putting the tent up and we were ready to start exploring in no time.

The boys headed off to explore by themselves, whilst Eliza, her friends and Sebby got their bearings with us before heading off by themselves.

The highlight of the day was definitely McFly who really know how to put on a show.

Saturday 27th July

The weather is certainly on our side, with glorious sunshine. The girls were keen to relive their childhood by seeing Mr Tumble. His set has barely changed in all the years (11) that we have been going to Camp Bestival, but the kids love him!

Next up was Brainiac Live and then family favourites, Dick n Dom, who drove the crowd wild with a DJ set and an obligatory game of BOGIES!

The kids left us at the Main Stage after that to explore, whilst we stayed to enjoy music by the Amy Winehouse band and Gospel Choir, but we met up with them later. We did manage some celeb spotting, with Big Brother winner David doing some filming and Alison Hammond supporting her DJ son at Bollywood.

Sunday 28th July

Eliza has definitely developed her festival style over the last few years and today’s was my favourite outfit.

The highlight of my day was Sophie Ellis Bextor and Pete Tong’s orchestra, but the girls all adored James Arthur. This photo is of them filming him!!

Staying until the firework finale is a must as they make projections on to the castle as well as fireworks in the air.

Monday 29th July

Back home with a bump, a shed load of washing and a bearded dragon happy to have some company again!

Tuesday 30th July

We booked Mean Girls tickets for Eliza’s birthday in January, not realising they were right on top of Camp Bestival, so we abandoned the washing pile and headed to London. Our first stop was the Theatre Cafe.

It was good fun, but pricey for what it was. We weren’t impressed with the quality of the food, but the singing was good and they did a few of the songs we requested.

Mean Girls, on the other hand, was amazing. The cast were incredible and we were sat behind Mel B – not that Eliza knew who she was!! Eliza was more excited to meet some of the cast and get their autographs afterwards.

Wednesday 31st July

Back to work for me and I got a surprise when I got home – Callan had popped down to see us with Barney.

Thankfully they stayed a bit longer so I got some playtime on the swings and some cuddles, although he is happier exploring these days.

Thursday 1st August

Another trip to London, this time to see Hades Town. We always leave the car in Richmond and with Isaac and Eliza recently discovering the delights of Ted Lasso, we went off to find some filming locations first.

We had a drink in the pub, bought some merchandise in the shop and had a walk around Richmond Green before heading into London on the tube.

Hades Town was amazing, and we have definitely started something by getting autographs at the stage door, this time meeting most of the cast.

Friday 2nd August

Back to work for me and I found out that I have won a “Food Waste Warrior” award from Tesco, after being nominated by a charity we work with regularly. I often think our charity work goes unnoticed, so was really honoured.

Saturday 3rd August

Another long day at work as we still have lots of people off.

We have had some POS in for our community boards to make them more uniform. It does look smarter, but I have had to take lots of charity event posters down, which is a shame.

How have you all been?

I look forwards to catching up on all your posts