As the hubby is off work this week and the days are fast running out, we suddenly decided to have a family day out and went to Cardiff for the day yesterday! It's about an hour away....I went to Cardiff University (best years of my life! pre-children..of course!!) and then also ended up living in a flat in Cardiff Bay overlooking the water whilst working on a fraud trial in Cardiff Crown Court (ahh...memories!!) So we decided to go to the bay.
We didn't tell Avie where we were going....she was so excited!! We got there and went straight for lunch at Bella Italia. Lily had fallen asleep in the car 5 mins before we got there (isn't that always the way?!! It's like they are programmed to do it!) but luckily we managed to transfer her still asleep into her pushchair and she stayed fast asleep all the way through the meal! I have to admit it was pure bliss to have a meal out where; we didn't have to constantly entertain this little being who was intent on trying to escape out of her highchair; or to try and shush her yells when we wouldn't let her bang the huge knife and fork on the table or try and eat the salt and pepper pots; or offer a thousand and one toys,books,mobile phone,watch,menus etc to keep her amused!!!! And then when she did wake up, she happily sat in a highchair and ate beautifully (what Avie had left on her plate!).
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| (Guess who forgot to pack baby wipes?!!) |
It was then time to go to TECHNIQUEST!!
Techniquest is an amazing hands on science discovery centre for children. Mr David (geeky science teacher nerd) has been on at me for the past year to take the children there since taking his classes on a school trip there....and I am so glad I finally relented! It was brilliant....so much for the kids (and us oldies) to do and I even took Avie to a planetarium show whilst the hubby entertained Lily (who by this stage in the day had reached hyper mode and was running all over the place, so I was secretly happy to hand her over for half an hour!!)
Look here I am in a photo with the girls..in a fish tank! The hubby is a bit rubbish at taking photos..I'm going to have to start training him and encourage him to take more with me in them...it is so important and through Embrace the Camera I have realised how few photos we have with me in them!
After all that fun, it was time to leave and go home....but not before stopping for ice cream at Cadwaladers!
It was one of those lovely family days out that went without a hiccup - no arguments, no meltdowns, no tired grumpy crying children...just happy well behaved children who were a joy to be with all day. Love it!
**(Can anyone reading this take pity on me and suggest a preferably free online photo editing program that would liven up my photos??!!! I have serious blog envy when I see everyone else's lovely photos...with writing on them, curved corners, collages etc. Can anyone shed some light as to how I too could do his with my photos???? Thank you!)**
try Picnik, it's free and if you like it you can pay for the premium use, which just means you get offered more. Just google. Upload a photo and you can put curved corners on a click of the button, add text, brighten, and all sorts of other tricks. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeletespontaneous family days out are the best! looks like fun! I'd also recommend picnik or picasa for photos (but not sure if picasa is free...)
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh this looks like such a fun day! I love being spontaneous!! If you are ever in Austin, be sure to visit the Dell Children's Museum!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun day. Those are the best when everyone behaves, just makes it so much more smooth and easier on us parents.
ReplyDeleteFor your photos, try using Picnik.com. They have all sorts of fun things you can do with your photos for free, and for around $25 a year you get even more options.
Looks like a fab day! Makes it so much better when there are no meltdowns involved too! Nat
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