Hey everyone!
Sorry that its been a while since my last post, we've had a hectic few months here at TOAFTD HQ!
If you've been following on Instagram you'll have see some posts about what we've been up to but even that hasn't quite scratched the surface of what's been going on.
So, where do I begin...
Mara has started going to nursery two days a week. She's settled in really well and seems to be enjoying it. The first day that Caroline dropped her off she didn't even get a backwards glance or a "bye mummy", Mara was straight in and off to play with the toy kitchen! I get to pick her up some days if I get away from work early enough and its just the best when she comes rushing over to give me a hug.
She has been there for about a month now and in that time we had hoped her eating might improve a bit, what with her being around all the other children and seeing them eat, but we're still waiting.
The nursery staff have their concerns too, but we made them well aware when we went to view the nursery that she wasn't the best eater, and she's also not the worst in the nursery going by some of the stories they've told us. She'll get there, eventually, but right now we just have to keep doing what were doing.
Mara is also coming out the end of a bout of tonsillitis. The fun just never ends in this house! The coughing, spluttering, screaming, snotting fun... The shoulders on all of my shirts and tops look like I have a pet slug hiding somewhere.
Have you ever tried to get a two year old who is reluctant to put anything in her mouth at the best of times to take penicillin? No, me neither. Daddy got creative though...
Mara thought all of her dreams had come true when she was suddenly getting four milkshakes a day, even being woken up in the middle of the night for one. Little did she know, there was a dose of medicine in there being masked by the taste of strawberries! High fives all round!
We booked a last minute mini break to Chester at the start of August. Caroline has wanted to visit Chester Zoo for as long as I've know her (which is a long time FYI) so we bit the bullet and drove down.
We stopped off in the Lake District on the way. It's only around 90 minutes from where we live now, so we may need to start visiting more often as its a beautiful part of the country.
We stayed at Rowton Hall Hotel which is just on the outskirts of the city in a quaint little village.
An ideal base for getting around and minutes from the motorway.
Chester Zoo was probably my favourite part of our holiday. I understand that zoos aren't everybody's cup of tea as the animals aren't in their natural habitat and whatnot, but aside from Audobon Zoo in New Orleans which Caz and I visited on our honeymoon, this is probably the best zoo I have ever visited. The animals had huge enclosures and free spaces to roam around, each one catered to their specific needs, and there were loads of baby animals too which was unexpected! Mara loved the elephants and ducks - I'm not 100% sure that the ducks were residents of the zoo, I think they just rocked up and staked claim to one of the lakes and shrub areas! She was fascinated by the penguins though. The squeals of delight from Mara as they went shooting past the viewing windows of their pool were amazing. Even the non-animal areas like their cafes and play areas were exceptionally well thought out and designed. It pains me to say but our local, Edinburgh Zoo, could really do with a revamp, it just looks a bit sad in comparison.
We also visited Gulliver's World in Warrington... A theme park for little people... Represented by 6 foot tall mice who greet you by dancing to the Cha Cha Slide on arrival and massive fibreglass sculptures (?!) of slightly terrifying people dotted around the park who probably looked cutting edge when the park opened in the late 80's. Granted there weren't loads of rides Mara could go on, but she fair enjoyed the ones she could, particularly in the Dinosaur themed part of the park. Lots of cries of "Daddy Raaawr!"She loved the Lazy River too, which was the first ride we went on. A massive tyre with 4 built in seats floating along a waterway coloured by cistern blocks and fenced in by concrete animals dotted around the perimeter. If one of us had fallen in to the water, we would have come out looking like a Smurf!
We finished our day here by walking through the ghost house with Mara. Think 1930's horror movies, you know the ones with really dodgy acting and figurines, and you're almost there. Personally, I've dealt with much more terrifying nappies!
Granted, its not the usual type of holiday we'd go on. Usually it would be all cocktails and food and not that acrid smell of fairground donuts that hangs in the air, but these are just some of the sacrifices you have to make for the little ones I suppose. When she's old enough to go on all the big rollercoasters with me I might change my mind! Disney Land - are you looking for any bloggers?!
On our last day, we spent the morning in Chester itself and visited the miniature railway in Grosvenor Park before heading to the Cathedral grounds for the Birds of Prey exhibit they have. Both hits with Mara until she started getting tired. We took that cue to head back to the car and begin our drive home. We took a detour though to a place called Grange-Over-Sands, a different part of the Lake District that we'd never heard of before. We had a late lunch in one of the local diners before buying some bird food and taking a walk around the lake to feed the ducks and geese and taking some nice photos. It was a well earned break for the three of us and we can't wait to plan our next visit Chester Zoo.
On a slightly sadder note, again if you've been on Insta, you may have seen that we had to have Elvis put to sleep at the end of July. Our little bunster just wasn't well. He was special to us in that he was our first family pet, but also with the fact that he only had three legs. He was the most affectionate rabbit I've ever known and was so good with Mara in the short time that she knew him, but as difficult as it was we had to put what was in his best interests before our own feelings and let him go peacefully. Given that he only had three legs, he wasn't able to clean himself enough and wasn't able to use his litter tray properly. We noticed that he was struggling to walk properly, that he wasn't as affectionate as he once was, and that he was starting to shun his food. The vet told us that rabbits are a very proud species and pride themselves on their cleanliness, which we knew, but because he wasn't able to groom himself it was stressing him out and to look at him you could see in his eyes that he wasn't himself. He just looked sad and the sparkle was gone. That's when we knew it was time to let him go, we didn't want him to suffer unduly. It hurt like hell having to walk away from the vets without him, but it was the right thing to do.
Its been six weeks now and I can still hear his little ball with the bell inside being chucked around, he loved to play with that ball.
After his cremation, the day that I brought him back home from the vets, I randomly kept finding little bits of Elvis fluff in every room I went into in the house, even ones he hadn't ventured into himself. It was kind of comforting in a way. Elvis was probably the best birthday gift Caroline has ever bought me. I miss his little lick on my forehead, the way he ate raspberries and our tussles with a tea biscuit though, but I know he's off causing mischief somewhere.
Lastly, I passed all of my training to become a Community First Responder with the Scottish Ambulance Service in our new area.
It was pretty tough going, and I still have a lot to learn, but the team of people I'm now working alongside when I'm able to sign on shift are a great support. It wont be long until I'm out on call myself, which is scary and exciting in equal measure. I've done 3 shifts so far and had one call out, which was pretty harrowing for a first call to be honest but that's part of the job and you have to just leave your emotions at the door. The role of myself and my team is to provide life-saving treatment in those minutes before an ambulance crew arrive, every second counts. I'll do a separate post on my CFR role and try and go into as much detail as I can.
Now that we've caught up, normal service should resume shortly. I'll get back to the sporadic posting that you've come to expect from me of late! What have you been up to?
Laters,
Mark
Kids Personalized Rocking Chair
ReplyDelete