October has been a busy month for us. Barry and I have had various different nights away, and we’ve managed plenty of family time together too. And now at the end of the month we have finally made it through to half term and we are at the beginning of a few days away in a lovely cottage in the Lake District.

The beginning of the month saw me spending a day on a cruise ship for BlogCamp On Board, and while I was away Toby swam 5 metres on his own and got his first swimming badge and certificate. The following weekend Barry met up with some old friends (and some people he couldn’t even remember!) at a high school reunion.

The weekend after that I had a night out with my friend Claire in Chester – I drank more than I have in months but I survived relatively unscathed. Which was good because the next day was Claire’s twins fourth birthday party…at a trampoline park! I was bizarrely worried that one of the boys was going to end up getting injured but apart from Toby having one slightly awkward fall and hurting his back a little bit they were both fine and really enjoyed themselves.

The next weekend we had a quiet weekend at home. Toby was getting increasingly tired, and grumpy – the first half term of full time school has definitely taken its toll and a bit of rest and quiet was what everyone needed.

Gabe has just been getting on with things this month – his four back molars are all in various states of eruption at the moment but he’s actually coping remarkably well. He’s been sleeping relative well for him and in fact he even slept through for four nights in a row last week. Last Tuesday though he managed to slip and catch his top lip on the sofa (don’t ask how!) and rip the little bit of skin that held his top lip to his gum. There was a lot of blood but he recovered quickly and it seems to be healed fairly well already.

On Saturday night we went to see the Blackpool Illuminations (we live nearby so it was only an evening out). You can see a couple of pictures on this week’s Living Arrows. At the end of the evening Toby was in tears because we wouldn’t buy him a light up sword and apparently the whole day had been boring – but by yesterday he was telling us how much he loved it! Kids eh?

And so we are now in our half term, a week later than  a lot of the rest of the country. We’ve headed up to the Lake District for a few days in a cottage. It’s Gabe’s first time sleeping in a proper bed, and after a bit of a shout at bedtime, as I write this both boys are asleep. Fingers crossed it stays that way. On the way up here we called in at Sizergh Barn for some lunch and to meet up with Barry’s parents.

That’s where we took this month’s Me & Mine picture – it’s a bit of a nightmare trying to get Toby to put a sensible face on for a photo these days but I think this one turned out OK!

Until next month…