Can you believe it is back to school already?

The start of the summer holidays feel like such a long time ago now as well as that glorious never seemingly ending heatwave!  Unfortunately we had a dark gloomy morning yesterday and lots of rain just in time for the return of the school runs.

Today I will share with you my monthly family roundup for August 2018.  Time as always with kids is flying by faster than we could ever imagine.  Reuben now starts his preschool year and Bella is in the last year of infants – year two.  Madness!

August did not seem as hectic as July for some reason.  I think we had a lot more day trips and holidays in July, but we’ll see now as I look back through my photos and calendar to see everything we did in August.  Perhaps it was more hectic than I remember, it usually is!

Ben took the first few days of August off as it was the end of his two week annual summer leave, then everything was sort of back to normal.  I work full time from home and it’s impossible to get any work done with the children here, so Reuben was put in for some extra times at nursery and Bella went to their holiday club four days per week.  I kept them at home on Wednesdays for a home rest/play day.

Read on to see what we did as a family in August 2018.

Welcome to my latest monthly family roundup.  Once a month I look back through our photos and my planner to record the highlights of the previous month.  It’s a great way to create an online scrapbook that I, hubby and the children can look back on for years to come.  I always think that even if the rest of my blog fails somehow one day, I’d still write these posts and use my blog as an online memory book for me and the children.  I bet they’ll love reading through this category when they’re grown up!

Center Parcs

We started the month at Center Parcs.  We went at the end of July and first couple of days of August.  It’s a lovely place and we had a great time, but it was very expensive!  I picked the most expensive week of the year!  I’d return, but with enough spending money to make the most of lots of the activities and I’d try to avoid such an expensive week for accommodation (£300 per night).

Even with limited budget there are a few things to do.  Read my blog post 7 free things to do with kids at Center Parcs Longleat

My birthday

Whilst at Center Parcs, it was my birthday. All the threes.  I’m now 33.  I’m never very fussed about my birthday and just like a nice day out with my husband and children along with a tasty meal in a restaurant.  We were planning on going to Bella Italia which is in the park itself and didn’t book as we usually go for dinner really early with the kids.  Big mistake as we ended up going for a huge walk round the complex and arriving at Bella Italia much later than anticipated, so they were fully booked!

Center Parcs do dining in though so we ordered some Indian to the lodge.  The Indian vegetable curries are vegan!  Yum!

We did pop to Bristol when we got back home as we had to take our Bongo to be fixed at a specialist garage, so we popped to Peppeneros for some of our favourite vegan pizza!

Ben went to Poland

As soon as we got back from Center Parcs, Ben went to Poland for three days with work!  He must have been sick of going away – two camping trips in a row, Center Parcs and then Poland, one after the other!

Hopefully enjoyed a break from the kids and a stay in a hotel by himself!  I got to stay up late blogging without feeling guilty!

Victoria books dental work

My braces and false teeth saga is coming to an end!  I had two consultations in August back at a private cosmetic dentist in Cheltenham after I was massively unimpressed with the denture I received from my usual NHS dentist.

So I decided to go to a specialist dentist with more of a cosmetic focus, as that’s a big part of the reason I had the braces, and I have a date at the end of September to fit two bridges which will in effect give me six false teeth in a row!  But they should look amazing!

Catch up on my blog post here:

Braces at 30 experience - only 5 weeks until I get my bridges!

Vegan Campout 2018

We went to Vegan Campout which is a small vegan festival in its third year.  I believe it changes location, but it was in Nottingham this year and will be again next year.  I’ve already booked my tickets for next year!  Though I won’t be taking the kids next year and I explain why in my review below.

Read what I thought from a family point of view here:

My Very Honest UK Vegan Campout Review­ (as a family)

Marriage anniversary

Whilst at Vegan campout it was our wedding anniversary!  We’re honestly not too fussed by our birthdays and anniversaries.  We just enjoy spending the day together perhaps a family day out to an attraction and meal out.  We didn’t buy each other presents and remembered after about three days to give each other the cards we had bought!

Cotswold Wildlife Park

I had the kids on Wednesdays in the holidays and we booked to go to Cotswold Wildlife Park with my mum and sister (aka Nana and Auntie Jess to the kids).  I really love it at Cotswold Wildlife Park.  There’s a lot to see and I can happily spend the whole day there.  I’m never 100% sure how I feel about zoos, particularly when you see some of the smaller cages and tanks, but I think when animals have been rescued from captivity and are being rehabilitated then it can be a great thing.  Many of them I understand cannot go back into the wild, so at least they are being well cared for, I hope.

Cotswold Wildlife Park is somewhere we’ve visited with the children each year by ourselves or with family members, so it’s becoming a yearly family tradition.

Stratford Park

Another place I visited with the kids and my mum was Stratford Park in Stroud.  This is a place my mum took me and my sister too regularly as children.  There’s a lake, ducks to feed, bridge to play Pooh Sticks, woodland, arboretum, museum, lido, sports center, café, fields and then a huge playpark with a zip wire!  It’s a great place for a few hours to play, walk around and stop for a picnic or pop into the café or pub across the road.  It was the first time I’ve been with my mum and my kids, so it was quite a special day to have three generations at the park that’s always been loved.  Even my mum was taken there as a youngster so it’s a special place for her.

So we did get up to a fair amount in August, but not as much as July!  It felt like a pretty normal month really as the kids were in holiday club four days per week and I worked.  Our summer holiday was mostly the last two weeks of July.  We also had some family visits, play dates and kids birthday parties as is normal.  We also go to the gym 4-5 times a week and the kids go to kids club there, but that’s just a standard part of our weekly routine now.  Life is busy!