Strawberry Meets World: A Week Housesitting at Mama's.

I'll be honest. We couldn't afford to go on a proper holiday this year. We chose this and we don't feel too bad about it. However, any opportunity for a 'holiday' will always be grabbed at, so when my mother-in-law asked if we could feed her cats while she went away, we took the opportunity to house sit, and spend a week in Derby, my husband's hometown.

The boys and I left on Tuesday night after a day playing with friends, and the boys slept the whole way.

Peace and quiet for a whole two hours.

On arrival, we found that Mama had (as promised, because the boys tend to break things) put most of the breakables away in one of the bedrooms, but still there was a lot of trinkets and things to worry about in all the bedrooms, so we decided we'd be safer if we all slept together on the living room floor. Plus, my husband and I find it difficult to sleep on a soft mattress, so we knew the floor would be better than Mama's bed.

So, we gathered together some bedding and built our camp.

Sleeping beauties.

On our first day (Wednesday) we met up with an old friend of mine, L and went to Markeaton Park for a play in the adventure playground and a little wander.

Steam was burnt off, sticks were found, ponds were investigated, fun was had by all.

Ed & Bean at the top of
the crow's nest.

Bean trying to copy his older
& braver brother.

Ed enjoyed going down the slide backwards, but when Bean tried it he panicked and got stuck. Daddy had to go rescue him, which was hilarious because no-one realised his trainers wouldn't hold him on the slope so he slid straight down to Bean. Bean burst into laughter and forgot why he was worried.

The pond in Markeaton Park gardens.

On Thursday, Daddy took us all to his childhood haunt, Allestree Park.

We had a wander through the woods, along the lakeside and up to the old derelict house. It took hours and poor Bean's little legs struggled, but we had a completely lovely time.

'Sweeping out' the 'stick tent'.

We found a great den, which the boys insisted needed a bit of a sweep out, so they grabbed some sticks and scraped away at the floor.

Popping seed pods.

Daddy showed us all these crazy exploding seed pods. I think it's this but I'm not sure.

They were too much fun, and the boys & I found we just couldn't stop popping them!

I pocketed some seeds, so maybe we'll grow them, though obviously with such a prolific method of spreading, I may regret that!

On the hunt for bugs.

Found: millipede.

We had a little hunt to see what we could find. It took milli-seconds to find a millipede, which was then lost, but then found again.

In Allestree woods with Daddy.

Bean looking for fishes.

Ed & Bean in a tree.

Happy Ed.

Ed, just before he realised
he couldn't get down.

Ed got stuck up here.

Call me mean, but it was hilarious.

Ed will climb anything he can get a foot hold on. He climbed up onto the fallen tree, along the trunk and then up to the top of the root ball. He can jump really far and from really high, but it turns out over 6 foot is too high for him (I would've worried about his little ankles anyway). So I stood underneath and offered to catch him, until i realised there was a little notch of a broken root just in front of his crotch. If he had jumped, he would've scraped his man bits right off (!), so between us, Daddy & I had to lift him over it somehow, then catch him. Ridiculousness.

On Friday, Daddy had to drive back home to go to work for the day, so we went back to Markeaton Park for a paddle in the pool. The boys spent an hour in the cold water having a whale of a time. Then they got dry & dressed and warmed up while playing in the adventure park.

Markeaton Park paddling pool.

Ed in the paddling pool.

Bean stomping through the paddling pond.

Ed. Rocking.

Playing on the slide together.

On Saturday Daddy went fishing on his own all day, so we had a chill day, watching TV, playing in the garden, playing board games and doing some workbooks.

Mama's house is pretty pristine, so the clean up operation had to begin on Saturday.

The boys found it impossible to eat anything without spilling it, so we had a hell of a time cleaning up after them.

There was one horrible moment when Bean sat at the table eating pizza.

Everything was protected from spillages, etc, when all of a sudden he dropped his pizza on the silk curtain behind him!

Holy crap!

Thankfully, science gave us baby wipes, which are of course incredible at getting any stain out so long as you get there fast enough.

There is no trace of Bean's boo boo.

The bathroom was a tad skanky, after having little boys in it for a few days. I'm sure anyone with little boys knows what they do to the back of the toilet....

Plus I have the thickest, blackest hair which unfortunately falls out everywhere so I felt inclined to tidy all that nonsense up. After all, who wants to come home to find their bathroom full of someone else's hair? Yuck.

Breakfast at Mama's.

Naked vacuum cleaning.
Of course.

Playing in Mama's garden.

Jumping off Mama's garden wall.

Bean enjoying Mama's cat, Kiwi.

Ed brushing Kiwi's fur with a
handmade lego brush.

Both my boys love all kinds of animals, so of course Mama's cats were over loved and chased around the garden. Many hissy fits were had when they managed to escape into next door's garden. Thankfully, they are very easy going cats.

But man, we missed our little doggie.

Sunday was our last day, but a full day it was.

Proud boys showing me the ladybird they found.

The boys and I went to join Daddy where he was fishing with Uncle D & his two children.

Harlequin ladybird

Walking through
Allestree woods.


Spotted! Daddy fishing on the other side of the lake. But how do we get there?

The lake's overflow hole.

After a mammoth walk around the whole lake (should've gone the other way around), we finally found Daddy.

The boys weren't nearly as interested in fishing as Daddy had hoped, but Ed managed to make himself a fishing rod using a stick he'd found, with some old line tied on. He was pleased as punch when I tied and old screw to the old so it gave him a good plopping sound when he cast out.

Bean simply enjoyed 'stirring' the water and throwing random leaves in.

Ever the homeschoolers these days, we of course had a quick game of 'will in float or sink, and why'.

While I was holding Daddy's rod, I accidentally caught a fish.

Yes.

I haven't a clue.

My fish!

Fishing with his stick.

Fishing with his new rod.

When the boys had had enough of that, we left Daddy and Uncle D to it and went to the park with Auntie L and baby Nile.

Ed doing something Bean just can't
bring himself to do - the fireman's pole.

Then we went back to Mama's, packed up the car and headed to Darley Park, where Derby Live was hosting a classical music concert. It's on every year and when we lived in Derby we usually went.

Ed's oreo eyes.

It's always a fantastic evening, which culminates in some awesome fireworks set to some epic music. I can't remember how many times we've braved it with two little boys who can't sit down for more than 5 minutes, but we were nervous about how they'd behave. They proved to us we needn't have worried and behaved delightfully. No-one ran off, or wee'd themselves, or anything too horrid. They did however eat too many biscuits, but it was nothing a little walk couldn't solve.

Gorgeous pink sunset.

L had bought them both a glow-in-the-dark sword, which was a massive hit. I had intended to get them something glowy, knowing there'd be flashy light up toys for sale from expensive vendors, but it had slipped my mind.