Toby and My Trip to Bangor (NI)

In the week after Easter, Beth went off to the East Coast for a Brownie sleepover.  She and around 15 other Brownies spent three nights near Mablethorpe at a Girl Guide owned house, Seagull House.

From the sounds of things they had a fantastic time, visiting the seal sanctuary and spending time on the beach.  She came back more tired than we've ever seen her so that must mean they had fun (and I don't envy the Brownie leaders!).

Since Steve was at work and Toby and I had no plans, I thought it would be a good time to go over to Northern Ireland and visit my Grandma Ruth for a couple of days.  

We flew from East Midlands to Belfast City airport, Toby taking time to boot the pilot out of the cockpit and try the headphones for size!

We were extremely lucky that the weather was beautiful - by NI standards it would have been good for mid summer let alone April!  On the first day we walked from the house, down Stricklands Glen to the shore, then along the shore to the centre of Bangor.  We spent quite a while perfecting our stone throwing skills and stopped for an ice cream at Pickie Funpark before walking back up the Main Street home.

I had been a bit worried that Toby would be bored - active as Grandma Ruth is (at 91) and willing though she is to play games, etc. there is still an awful lot of sitting and tea drinking going on!  I needn't have worried, she has a fantastic network of friends who leapt to our aid.  Her neighbour, 14-year-old Stevie was amazing and came by every day to play football with Toby, wearing him out nicely before bed.  Peter, the 5-year-old son of her friend Carolyn also came by to play football and generally chase around the place.  

Another day we got a taxi to Crawfordsburn Country Park and took a very slow walk along the beaches and bays back to the house.  

Again the weather was fantastic and I felt like a very bad mummy for not having thought to take a towel for paddling/swimming.  Personally I still didn't fancy it as the water was still somewhat chilly, but I suspect Toby would have been straight in there.  Despite my failings in this department we still had fun skimming stones, watching the ships in Belfast Lough and drawing pictures in the sand.

On our wander back to Bangor we bumped into our local vicar, Julia, who was also over in NI for a few days break!  Makes you realise what a small world it is.

Despite the three days flying by, we had a brilliant time and Toby managed to show his best side, charming everyone he met.  I suspect I'll be back over there later in the year as Beth won't want to miss out on any of the fun!

(Belated) Happy 7th Birthday Toby

I've been a little remiss about keeping the blog up-to-date but I'm trying to get a few done now before it runs away from me!

Friday 20th March was Toby's 7th birthday and he managed to have a weekend of celebrations.  

On Friday he had a fuss made of him before school with lots of presents including a green book bag that he had set his heart on.  At his request we had a McDonald's tea where we bumped into one of his friends - an impromptu mini-party!  He wasn't too impressed that in the evening we had to go to Beth's athletic club's annual presentation evening - see more about that at the end of the post*.

On Saturday all the grandparents came at one point or another to see him, bring the all important presents and out for another meal.  Sunday was the grand finale with a animal-inspired party with all his school year group.

There was great excitement as he hasn't had a big party since he was four and he had Oreo and Friends coming. 

They brought a selection of animals ranging from a cute rabbit to the rather breathtaking 'Banana' (see if you can guess which one he is?!?).  

A few parents stopped for glasses of wine and to check that their children weren't gobbled up . . . some even were brave enough to hold a snake!

Unfortunately I was in charge of the hotdogs and food so couldn't possibly be available to hold anything!

All in all, Toby had a fantastic weekend and I think thoroughly enjoyed his birthday.

*Beth has been going to Retford Athletics Club since she turned seven.  We didn't make the awards evening last year but were tipped off by her coach, Helen, that we might not want to miss this one.

We're very glad she did as despite a very long wait, Beth was presented with the final award of the evening, 'Under 9's Athlete of The Year 2015'.  Well done Beth!