2018 Highlights

This probably would’ve been a better blog post for the end of last year, but I figure before the end of January is still pretty good going. Last year disappeared in the blink of an eye. People with babies and toddlers, remember life speeds up as soon as kids go to school and you start planning life in 6 week half terms! Enjoy the slow days while you have them.

We’re currently in the stage where after school sports have completely taken over our life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sydney’s gymnastics improved tremendously. I showed her a video of her comp routine from this time last year and even she can’t believe how far she has come. Keep your fingers crossed she has another good year, as it’s definitely not an easy sport and she works incredibly hard.

Zak’s swimming is coming on brilliantly too, he has lots more county times this year, but next year will move up an age band making it harder.

Hannah gave up gymnastics at a high level, but is doing well at swimming now and enjoying musical theatre.

Charlie is doing so much better health wise. His allergy rashes have completely gone and he is finally gaining weight. he did have some not so great blood tests recently though, so we still need to keep an eye on him.

All in all, I’m so proud of my little team.

January

We kept the Christmas spirit alive for as long as possible with some Christmassy winter walks and made the most of Christmas babygros whilst they still fit!

Zak and Sydney both changed schools and Hannah eventually got a place at the end of February. The school change meant we could walk to school, which has honestly been life changing. If anyone is planning on buying a house with preschoolers, make sure you investigate schools first. Our catchment school was heavily oversubscribed meaning I drove to a different school for 6 years, before finally getting a place in catchment!!

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February

Sydney had two gymnastics competitions and did amazingly well. I find it slightly terrifying watching her and my heart beats so quickly especially for beam and bar. I really don’t know how she keeps her shaking little legs on the actually not very wide beam, but somehow she gets through it with a smile on her face.

March

Charlie spent most of last March banging bowls with a wooden spoon and mixing things.

Sometimes big sisters like to join in too.

March was also the month where Zak turned 11!! His birthday was in the school holidays so we didn’t actually manage to organise a party until the end of April!

Another big highlight of March was SNOW! We had 2 days off school which is unheard of, but was lovely as all the kids were out on sledges or building snowmen together.

We made family Vanstone in snowmen, which might be one of my favourite things ever!

April

Charlie turned 1!!! We decided not to have a party, but instead to spend the day fully concentrating on him rather than entertaining party guests. He loved his birthday messy play and cake smash, although didn’t actually smash the cake, but instead lifted his leg over it and crawled off to chase balloons.

April was also the month that I stopped breastfeeding him and his eczema cleared up, we still don’t know if/how those two things are related.

May

Zak did his SATs at school which went well and were blissfully not too stressful for him or us. We visited Nets Kingdom in Half Term, but didn’t do much else as June was holiday month!!

June

We went back to Mark’s Warner’s wonderful Levante Beach Resort for Charlie’s first summer holiday abroad. It was a blissful week of watersports, great food and relaxation!

July

July brought another gymnastics competition for Sydney where she finished 5th in Hampshire and 1st on vault. I still remember being so thrilled for her as gymnastics competitions are very tough and she’s had her fair share of disappointment over the years.

Charlie finally started to walk and got his first super cute shoes gifted to us by Bobux. Zak left Primary School (sob ) and we all very much enjoyed the start of summer with some fun day trips out.

August

The summer started to feel quite long in August as we didn’t have a holiday planned, but we tried to make the most of the good weather with trips to Bletchley Park and some National Trust sites.

Charlie had his first go at feeding animals at Wellington Country Park and thought it was hilarious!

September

Zak started Secondary School and the girls entered Year 4 and 5 of Primary. The rest of the year is pretty much a blur from here onwards as we entered a new world of lots of homework and even more sports with over 20 hours of gymnastics and over 10 hours of swimming a week.

October

We were all very ready for October half term the highlight of which was trip to the amazing Efteling theme park in Holland thanks to Hannah winning a competition. More about Efteling coming up later this week.

November

I struggle to remember much of November, it seemed to disappear in a flash, but we did manage to take Charlie to see his beloved Gruffalo at Alice Holt Forest.

December

December was an even crazier month with gymnastics shows, and seemingly endless swim galas, but Zak finished the year with at least 10 country swim times so it was worth the effort.

We finished the year with a magical trip to Center Parcs and a fun filled Christmas with family and friends.

All in all 2018 was pretty amazing. Charlie has changed so much in a year and the big kids seem so more grown up already. It’s a cliche, but time really does go by faster the older you get.