A rather tipsy weekend!

OK, so it's been a while....I'm going to promise to check in at least once a week whilst I try to get my life back on track after the craziness of life and where it's taken me over the past year!

Coming back home on the Friday and trying to recover from the week at Newquay, the following weekend passed in a bit of a blur!

Freya had her first performance for Stagecoach on Saturday afternoon and she really did herself proud. It was great to watch and we were all so proud of her. The musical was called EVA Kids and was written by one of the teachers and centred around a group of kids from London who were sent to live with families in the country during WWII. Some great songs and performances. I can't wait to see the video of it which apparently comes out in September.

Being her first performance I was stoked that she was given a speaking part. Her report for her first term was glowing too. She was apparently a 'delight' to teach and have in class, was totally focused.....if only she was as focused on tidying her room eh? Her best report was for her singing though for which she got all 'excellents'. Of course as a mum your always going to be biased and think the sun shines out of your kids whatsits but it's nice to hear how well she's doing. I wish i could carry on sending her but after next term i'm going to have to look for an alternative as the cost involved is hideous, especially seeing as her dad has now dropped his child maintainance contributions to a pitiful amount. I've been looking into a few other places for her to go and she's on the waiting list with one which is only up the road so fingers crossed she may get a place there next year.

It was HMS Torbays Ladies Night on the day after we got back from Newquay. With such a manic few weeks I'd not managed to get a new dress for the occasion. I really didn't want to wear the one I had as I've worn it to the last two functions for the same boat so in desperation I looked down the local town centre......believe me when I say Saltash is not a hubbub of activity! Theres a shop I always take the mick out of for looking like an old granny shop but as it was a full gown I had to buy I thought i may just brave the musty smell and have a quick look. To be honest i was really surprised and managed to find myself a lovely dress with 20% off. The fact that it was red was a little scary as both hubs and myself both hate Liverpool and Arsn*l respectively and although wearing a red top or having a few red accesories for me is fine, the thought of wearing ALL red (or ever driving a red car for that matter) goes against my principles. So principles were put aside for the evening!

Well, after attending several of these mess functions, i've got to say that the night was one of the best organised I'd seen. Not least for the amount of little pressies us poor wives got. Not only did we get the obligatory little box of thorntons, but we also got a cute little teddy with a rose and a gorgeous keep sake tin with our names and the event details printed on the back. Certainly beats the crystal clock from the last one. The centrepieces on the table were divine and I managed to swipe one of those for the kitchen table LOL!

The evening was held at Borringdon Hall which for anyone that's ever been there will know it has tons of character. As with any Mess Dinner, it was quite a formal affair until the speeches when everyone has had a mountain of port and it becomes exactly what it truly is.......a mass of drunken matelots behaving how a mass of drunken matelots ALWAYS behave....much banter, much dad dancing, many passed out sailors slumped on chairs....although unusually there was little nakedness as often happens at these kinds of do's.

We also won on the raffle again. The first mess dinner for Torbay we won half a dozen bottles of wine, 3 bottles of spirit, a vase, something else and the top prize of £200 cash. The second we won £100 Dixons vouchers and last night we won an iPod! Well as this house is MP3'd up to the eyeballs I've given the new one to Freya to replace hers and she's chuffed to bits.

Since then we've had a couple of weeks to sort things in the house....screw this, mend that etc before Pete went back to work. He sails again at the end of the month though so no time as such to get his feet under the table.

Still not done any scrapping which is shameful to say as I've had some of the most gorgeous Bad Girls kits come through. So tonight, as Pete is duty, I'm playing with paper and deciding what photos to print out so that i can start with gusto on Monday when he's duty next. Poor sod has to help my sister move tomorrow so i'll probably be nursing his legs tomorrow.

They say you should try to learn something every day....well having just spent the last five days in Newquay, here are five things i've learnt.....

1. Don't believe the weather forecasts - If they say overcast, expect to come back with sunburnt legs.

2. If you don't rub your suntan lotion in properly, expect not only burnt legs...but BLOTCHY burnt legs which looks even more ridiculous.

3. If you burn said legs, do make sure that when you rub in your after sun......it is actually aftersun and not fake tan, which if applied in same manner as point 2, will make your legs look even more ridiculous, very like pork and chilli sausages.

4. Never start potty training just before a holiday........going to the toilet every seven minutes isn't the ideal way to spend a holiday, especially when the toilet is a five minute walk from the beach.

5. Get over this stupid complex about having your photo taken and you may not come home with 150 photos of which you are in the grand total of 0!

So there you go, lessons learnt for the week. Having said that the girls seemed to have a great time. It was only one of those Sun Holidays for £15 a head so i wasn't expecting much, especially as we didn't get into any of the parks we requested but we went to Trevelgue by Porth beach and I must say I was very impressed. There wasn't a huge amount to do during the day, just a little kids club from 10-12 and a large indoor swimming pool but that was more than enough coupled with the beach. The staff that laid on the evening entertainment were really friendly and engaging with everyone and if there's one thing that all the girls love doing, it's dancing and there was plenty of that.

Last night, Emily and Freya both had their faces painted....they are still a funny colour now.....much like my poor legs.

The beach there wasn't the greatest in Newquay as it was really thin and long which meant that if you wanted to get near the water there was a good ten minute hike, plus as the tide seemed to come in really quickly it did mean having a panic stations moment and hoiking it all up to the top again.

We did bury pete and made a fool out of him with crocs as ears and a bucket hat, we then put bread all around him hoping that the seagulls would come and have a peck whilst he was incapacitated but they didn't seem that interested to be honest.

Natasha had a good paddle and run around with her fishing net but then it all got too tiring after the late nights and she fell asleep for two hours! She wouldn't even be roused for ice cream.

So I got to dust down the camera, which i've really neglected lately. Infact, i've neglected most things lately.....wallowing in self pity i suppose, something that i've got to snap out of. Pete's home, although not for long (is he EVER???) so that helps relieve a bit of the pressure. We're going to a mess dinner tomorrow night. It's being held at Borringdon Hall which is where we had our first official date as a couple so i'm hoping it may stimulate a few fond memories and rekindle a little magic. At least having to wear a floor length gown means that I won't have to flash around my burnt sausage legs.

But the diary for next week looks good. Petes home on leave for another week, the girls aren't at nursery til Friday when Freya breaks up and leaves to go and spend three weeks with her dad in France (who may be able to knock a bit of pre teen attitude out of her whilst she's there). So i'm going to scrap to my hearts content next week. I've done a load of jobs recently so I've not really had the time, or to be honest the inclination but now armed with some new photos I'm going to get at least two layouts done next week, maybe even dust off the bind it all and do a book of Trevelgue. Hope everyone else is enjoying our crappy summer weather!