Saturday 29 June 2013

Looking Back...

The rest of Butlins will have to be saved for next time, because I just wanted to come and write about how thankful I am for my life right now! I was reading through some really old blog posts tonight, and wow - me and Berat have been through some shit! Most of it we kept to ourselves, and I had my old, hidden blog which was only accessible to my closest friends to vent in - reading back through those tonight, I remembered how I felt at certain points, how we didn't have a home to call our own and how he lost his job just before I had Onur and then he lost another job just after I had him...

And now he's been in the same job for almost 3 years, promoted twice, we've been living in our own (albeit rented) house for almost 3 years, and we have furnished it from scratch, thanks to help from family, friends and eBay! We have two happy, healthy kids who want for nothing, cupboards full of food and everything at our fingertips, within our reach. I feel SO greatful and thankful.

So many of us go through life wanting more each time we reach a goal, waiting for the right moment to get married, have a baby, change our lives. Berat and I have gone through together with a "close your eyes, hold my hand and fuck it, let's just jump!" attitude, and do you know what? I could not be happier :)

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Butlins Tuesday!





So where was I? Right, Butlins, Tuesday morning! After having woken everyone up, I made breakfast and we wolfed it down, excited for the day ahead. After the obligatory shot on the big deckchair, and picking up our tickets for "I Can Cook", we made our way to Splash Waterworld, which I have to say is one of the things we were most looking forward to. As always, it did not disappoint! The kids just love it there, and even hubby and I enjoy the Space Bowl and Master Blaster rides! We take it in turns to watch the kids while the other goes on the rides, so it all works out. The kids area is great, they go up and down the activity centre with all the water and the slides and they have so much fun! We spent a good couple of hours there before going back to the apartment to get showered and dressed and have a spot of lunch.
Then it was time for "I Can Cook"! I have to say we were all really excited about this as we love the TV show and in fact she was a big inspiration for me doing The Wooden Spoon, and plus we didn't get to see her last time as Katie was ill.
Well, she definitely didn't disappoint! Katie got the whole audience laughing and was great with the kids. Although Onur was sad that he didn't get picked to help, he really enjoyed the show and we all got to taste some yummy shortbread at the end! After the show Katie did a meet and greet, and Kaya ran up to her for a huge cuddle as if he'd known her for ages (which, if you think about it, he must think he has as she's on his TV every day!) and she was so lovely, and had a really cute baby bump!

After "I Can Cook", we headed over to the sports area so the kids could go to the Tots Soccer session. Last time we came in September, Kaya wasn't yet 2 so he was too small to join in; this time both the boys were the right age to play. As always, the coach was fab and the boys had lots of fun.

As it was lovely weather, and the kids were thirsty from all the running around, we decided to make the Beachcomber Inn beer garden our next destination. It was so lovely to sit and relax with a glass of wine for me and a beer for hubby as the kids played in the adventure playground. Even better was the random entertainment, when a guy dressed as a turkey came running past, saying "Act natural!" and hiding among the people, followed by a guy dressed as a chef on stilts who was looking for him - so funny!
The boys had yummy fruit juice cocktails in a cocktail shaker - we did want the Billy Bear ones, but the Beachcomber only had the Lazy Town ones. Basically you pay about £3 for the drink and shaker, then £2 to refill the shaker at any of the bars around the resort. The juices were very tasty:

After a lovely hour or two there, we headed over to the Skyline Pavilion for a photoshoot with Elmo, which the kids loved. Then we decided to head into Bognor for dinner, we'd been told there was a really nice fish and chip shop just opposite the pier, and it was indeed lovely. Fish and chips with a sea view, with ice cream on the beach after for the boys. Just perfect. Then back to Butlins and over to Centre Stage for Sesame Street Live, accompanied by popcorn, hot nuts and more drinks. Sesame Street was GREAT! I am still very sad they don't show it on English TV anymore but I show my boys Sesame Street all the time and indeed our favourite Christmas DVD is Elmo's Christmas Countdown, so they knew all the characters and really enjoyed the show, as did I, it being a blast from my own childhood!

And that was Tuesday! Off we trooped to the apartment, exhausted but happy!
I will have to do Wednesday next time as it's time to wake hubs up for work, poor thing has been working so hard this week!



Monday 10 June 2013

We're Baaaaaaack!

Well once again we're back home after another fantastic week at Butlins! We almost booked our Christmas Fantasy break while we were there, but we have Berat's naturalisation and passport to pay for this year and that's our priority. However, that's not to say we won't book after we've paid for that!

The trip down was good - as usual we stopped off in Portsmouth on the way so I could get my Gunwharf fix - for those of you who don't know, it's where I went to uni and I just LOVE Gunwharf - even more so now that it has a CATH KIDSTON OUTLET STORE! Of course, it was the first place I headed - and I ended up buying a swimsuit, striped and lovely! The changing room was awesome: 
I wanted to live in there! The whole time I was in there, I was praying that the swimsuit would fit me, and promising to be a good girl and eat less if it would only fit me, haha! And it did!! So that purchased, I was happy and made my way to the Nike Outlet Store, where I found the long sleeved, purple, Arsenal away shirt for the bargain price of £16 - strangely enough also what the swimsuit cost! So I was happy, and we went on our merry way to Butlins.
After checking in, we were a bit miffed to see that we'd got a first floor apartment (but then again if we'd wanted a guaranteed ground floor we could have paid £15, but as we got a ground floor last time I guess we just assumed we would this time), and hubby did a bit of a sulk, which was amusing. After much huffing and puffing we got everything in and unpacked. I did notice that the apartment, which was in Oyster Bay, looked a lot more tired than it did last time we were there, but when you think about the sheer amount of people who might stay there a year, it's entirely understandable and I'm sure it will get a lick of paint soon.
By the time we'd unpacked we thought we'd go and get a bite to eat, and chose to eat in Papa Johns at the buffet. I must say I enjoyed it quite a lot, as did the kids!

As you can see, I didn't quite keep the promise that I made while I was trying on the swimsuit...

After a yummy dinner, we headed to the Skyline Pavilion (oh how I'd missed it!) to watch some Bob the Builder, then played on the boys' favourites, the 2p machines! Then it was time to boogie on down at the Tots Disco, which I will admit I enjoy more than the children! I even finally learned the "chocolate" dance!

And after that I think we headed to the room, we were all a bit tired, so showered and got into our jammies and that was that! I watched the Oscar Pistorius stuff on TV and everyone else went to bed.

I will have to come back and update more tomorrow as the cat has made an unholy smell in the litter tray!