On Friday I managed to get down to Shoreham Port where the Galeón Andalucía ship had been docked over the past few days. It had arrived earlier in the week and Una and the kids had managed to get on and see it already, so I decided after work to pop down and have a look around which was impressive to see. From their website, the Galeón Andalucía is described as a historically accurate, full-scale replica of the Spanish galleons that sailed the Atlantic, connecting Spain with America and the Philippines between the 16th and 18th centuries. It's an impressive 55-meter-long, six-deck wooden vessel functions as a floating museum, touring global ports to showcase Andalusian maritime heritage and attract visitors for self-guided walks and interactive exhibits.

Saturday was a grey and rainy day here, so indoor bound for the morning and then we headed over into Worthing for a few hours at Splashpoint to tire them out which the kids always enjoy. With the weather still raining in the afternoon, we weren't able to get out and about in Worthing, so headed back home, in time for Ian to join Everleigh's party. That evening I made my way over to Portslade to Dennis' 40th birthday party at their place which was good.

The weather had improved yesterday with the sun coming out, so after a day at home and a bit in the garden, we then headed over in the evening to Brighton Marina for a walk around there before grabbing Five Guys for dinner and then making our way back home.

It's now the last week of school holidays for the kids, but looks like we're in for a wet and damp few days to end the summer break. We can't really complain about the past six weeks being warm and dry, but would've been good to finish it off with a last few hot days...

Since our previous camping trip was so good, we were all keen to go again, so that's where we've been the past few days, this time at Stoneywish Nature Reserve. It was the late August bank holiday weekend here, but with Una out at the Symphonic Ibiza Brighton concert on Friday night and the kids having birthday parties on the Saturday, we decided on only the 2 nights at Stoneywish. So on Saturday morning I headed off there on my own, while Ian had Luna's party and Ellen had Malia's party, which gave me time to set up camp and get things ready, so by the time I fetched them and returned that afternoon, we were all good to go.

The weather was good to us, which is always a bonus especially when camping. On the Sunday we took a walk over to the playground and watched a bit of cricket at the Ditchling Cricket Ground. And then a bit of chill out time around the camp with a well deserved campfire each night :)

Yesterday was our last day, so after getting everything down and in the car, we headed on back home but with the weather being really nice and warm, we wanted to make full use of the long weekend so drove over to Kingston Beach for some evening sun and paddleboarding with the kids.

The weather is meant to turn for the worst later this week, so glad we got to make full use of the weekend outdoors!

This past week was our summer holiday break, which I had booked off work and similar to last year, I timed it well with the heatwave coinciding with my time off :) After finishing up at lunch time last week Friday, we had a nice chilled afternoon at home and in the garden. Then on the Saturday it was the Southwick Community Centre Summer Fair and Open Day, so we took a walk over there for a bit of a wander. We landed up bumping into Ben and William, so after a bit more time at the Centre, we made our way over to The Cricketers for some lunch and the kids all convinced us for them to head back to William's place for a playdate. So with little objection, they headed off there and myself and Una decided on a couple of drinks down at The New Port Arms before heading back to pick them up and head on home. On Sunday morning we had a Skottel fry-up for breakfast, followed by a late afternoon visit down to the beach and then got the projector out that evening for a movie night with the kids.

On Monday we decided to take a drive over to Littlehampton for the day which was good to go somewhere new. We enjoyed a paddle boat (pedalo) ride on the water, lunch on the beach followed by a swim, then some time at the Harbour Park Amusements before grabbing fish and chips for dinner and heading back home.

Then from Tuesday to Friday we were away camping at Wowo Campsite which was really nice, never been there before and as much as we were super impressed with the place, more importantly, the kids had an absolute ball. Plenty of entertainment for them, plus it was near to the Bluebell Railway so we took a walk over there on the Thursday. But in between that we were just around the campsite which the kids got to explore and head out on their adventures, and then some cooking and campfires in the evening, so the best of both worlds :) We were back Friday afternoon, so after the task of unpacking the car and sorting things out, we drove over to Hove for dinner at Marrocco's.

Yesterday was just a chilled out home day and in the garden, then today we headed down to Southwick Beach in the morning for low tide then this evening to Worthing Pier for an ice-cream, some time in the amusement centre and the hopeful attempt to see sunset from the pier, but the sky wasn't on our side, so not the best sunset.

Like I said at the start of this post, the weather was really on our side for the week, so we timed it well and had a really nice relaxing week off, and even though the kids still have a few weeks left, I'm back to work and the real work again tomorrow...

On Saturday, since the weather was nice and mild, we just had a home day and in the garden, but then that evening I headed up with Ellen and Ian to the playground with them on their bikes for a bit of a ride around and playground time.

Yesterday we had organised a lunch time picnic with Greg, Kim and the boys over at Box Hill which I had last been to back in my mountain biking days, so quite a few years ago! After meeting up with them and having had our lunch, we took a walk through the woodland walk, with every log and fallen tree being a stopping point and playtime opportunity, so the kids certainly had a great time :)

Not too much planned for this week, I'm off from Friday afternoon and all of next week so looking forward to that. The weather is meant to be good and we're hoping to get a few days camping in, so between that and the beach, should be a nice week off work :)

On Friday I had my work summer party which was in the afternoon at Boulebar near Waterloo. I had never played it before, and probably won't be taking it up professionally :) But a good afternoon there with the work crowd, even though it was rather humid in the sun. That evening, once our timeslot there had run out, we headed over to Between the Bridges for a couple of evening beers before I headed back home.

On Saturday it was the Shoreham Raft Race which is a fundraising event and sees teams of between four and eight craft their DIY raft before testing it to the limit on the river. Fortunately the weather held off and it didn't rain, so we managed to watch a bit of the race (despite the large crowds everywhere) and then walked over to St Mary de Haura Church for a picnic lunch and then headed home.

Then yesterday was a chilled out home day, just in the garden and a braai for dinner.

Last Thursday a few of the guys had organised a night out in Worthing and we decided on the Thieves' Kitchen which has a decent sized games room at the game with pool, smart darts and shuffleboard. It was myself, Adrian, Ben, Lee and Rob for the night and other than a few rounds of beers, we had a good number of games of darts followed by shuffleboard which was good fun. After a few hours there we moved onto The Egremont Pub for a couple until closing time and then all headed back home.

On Friday it was the last day of the school year, but also Ian's graduation at Busy Bees which was really cute - can't believe it's the end of nursery school for the little guy. The graduation was a picnic in the afternoon in the garden, where all kids leaving were presented with a leaving card and small gift. It was very cute and very well done for each of them :)

This past weekend we were mostly housebound due to the heavy rain and gusty winds. So Saturday was a rather lazy indoor day here. Then yesterday had similar predictions of heavy rain and wind and flooding, and we were supposed to meet up with Greg, Kim and the boys but decided to cancel it - no enjoying driving in that weather or trying to find a place to picnic after heavy rains. So again a day at home, but luckily it did subside by the afternoon so we managed a braai for dinner which was good - wasn't a complete weekend washout :)

The weekend before last was a fairly grey and dull and rainy one here, especially after having had such nice weather for a while, we weren't quite used to the dreary dull sky. After spending the Saturday mostly indoors, we headed out to the rec on the Sunday with the kids' new bikes which we had picked up on the Friday after getting their checks and service done. So that was great excitement. It didn't take Ian long at all to master the pedals on his bike and was happy to zoom off on his own. Ellen thoroughly enjoyed her first time on a bike and fairly quickly grasped the steering and pedaling which was great.

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The weekend just gone was a lot better weather at least, so on the Saturday we had smash burgers on the braai for lunch and then headed down to the beach in the late afternoon. On Sunday we had the morning at home, had another lunch time braai, this time with prawns and scallops, and then in the afternoon made our way over to Hove Park for the Summer Fiesta Party there which we've been to the past couple of years as well. After the Fiesta we drove down to Hove Beach for takeaway chips on the beach for dinner before heading home.

Yesterday I had taken the day off work which we had originally planned to head down to the beach, but it landed up being quite windy so I popped over to the skatepark in the morning with my RC car for some racing and jumps there (always good fun) and then the rest of the morning and early afternoon chilling out at home before heading up to the school for pickup in the afternoon.

Over the past couple of weeks we've had a mild heatwave here, which has been great for the temperatures but also so dry everywhere. We've managed to make some pretty good use of the good weather, with a lunch time cycle and swim down by Carat's Cafe, as well as a lunch time swim by Kingston Beach. Ellen also had her end of year assembly which was very cute to go and see.

On the Friday before last, I had booked the day off work, so after dropping the kids at school, I took my RC Car out for a spin around the skate park which was long overdue - I had always wanted to do a bit of skate park bashing with it, so that was good fun :) After the early morning there, Una and I headed down to the beach for a relax, swim and paddleboard before picking school pickup and heading out to the Marina for dinner that evening.

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The next day on the Saturday, myself, Ben and Lee had organised a bike ride over to Goring-By-Sea, stopping in at Sea Lane Cafe for coffee and pastry before heading back to Southwick. Round trip and brunch took a bit over three hours, which was good to be on the bike doing a smallish group ride. That afternoon, Una, myself and the kids headed down to Southwick Beach where we landed up bumping into a few others and then that evening stopped in at The New Port Arms for a few evening drinks there along with the live music. At least Sunday was a lazy day at home with a lunch time braai :)

The past few days have been Glasto Weekend, so Una has done a fantastic job of getting the house festival ready. With the projector set up for the Friday night headliners, the kids had a fantastic time 'staying up late' and enjoying the entertainment. On Saturday morning, Una and Ellen headed into Brighton for William's party while Ian and myself took a bike ride down to the beach, lunch at the New Port Arms and then all home in the afternoon for Saturday's headliners. Ben, Alice and William came round that evening too.

With Friday and Saturday nights being rather late ones, yesterday was a bit more subdued with a beach visit in the afternoon and Glasto in the background on the projector, but I think we were all rather knackered after the previous few days :)

Yesterday we had a rather busy and active day out at the Balloons & Tunes Festival at Fontwell Park Racecourse near Arundel. The festival was based around some live tribute music acts, family entertainment and then hot air balloons in the evening. Unfortunately the weather wasn't ideal for the balloons, with the wind a bit too strong for them to launch, but the rest of the day was good fun.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed the music, the food, the entertainment and the wrestling, which was a hit with Ian. They also got to enjoy some of the carnival rides as well as see Lilo and Stitch characters, plus two of the Transformers.

With today being Father's Day here, the plan was for a garden picnic at home, but Ian hasn't been feeling well today so we've just had a pretty easy, chilled out day at home which has been great after a full-on day yesterday and home rather late!

Last week ended up being quite busy here, because no sooner had the Irish girls left, we had Tommy and Patricia at ours for a few days, from Tuesday to Thursday. We managed a good catch up with them, while on the Thursday I headed into London for work and had a few afterwards at the King's Stores, before grabbing a curry at Preem in Brick Lane with Tim who had stopped by earlier to catch up with everyone again.

Then on Saturday afternoon, after Ellen's PQA lesson, we all headed over to Splashpoint in Worthing for a late afternoon swim session. Ian had said he wanted to go to Splashpoint for his birthday but decided since it might be too rushed on the Sunday, we went through the Saturday afternoon while the weather was rainy and dull. After our session there, we made our way back to Longshore in Lancing and stopped in there for dinner.

Yesterday was Ian's actual birthday, so we started the day off with great excitement with his new gifts and then after lunch we got the train into Brighton, stopping first at Sprinkles for an ice-cream then down to Brighton Palace Pier to the softplay and arcades.

After a while in the arcade and along the pier, we walked over to Pizza Pilgrims for dinner (and some football downstairs) and then got the train back, getting home rather late but we think he thoroughly enjoyed his birthday day out :)

This past weekend was rather busy with family and friends visiting. We had Greg, Kim and the boys over at ours on Friday which was nice and sunny, so had a good afternoon outside with them while the kids had a great time catching up. After lunch (and a kids picnic) at home, we decided to head down to Hove Lawns and promenade for a walk along there before they had to head away back home.

On Saturday, Una had the Irish girls Margaret, Lorraine and Gillian over for a visit. So she headed into Brighton in the morning to meet up with them and after Ellen was finished with PQA, myself, Ian and her headed out to Lancing where she had Elodie's party. Since it was a drop and go, myself and Ian popped over to the TeamSport Go Karting track for a little watch of the karting and then over to Brooklands for a little while there in the park. That evening we were all back home at ours for dinner and drinks.

Yesterday morning we all had breakfast outside at ours before the three of them headed into Brighton for some sightseeing and shopping. The rest of the day was rather chilled and was mostly an outdoors garden day making good use of the nice weather. Then last night Una headed into Brighton for dinner with them, where they had a hotel for the night and flew back out to Ireland this morning.