Stress free summer hols ...

Apparently you can get stress free summer hols. I reckon if you keep the kids in school then, yeah, or perhaps you keep them in straight jackets, or you only have one so they have no-one to bicker with. Three .... all I can say is thank goodness I went to the doctors to get meds before they broke up from school! I'm trying to pace the days out (money) and last week we visited Monkey Forest near Trentham Gardens at Stoke. I thought it was fabulous, the kids enjoyed the first hour I think but after that they were like 'oh yeah, another monkey ... when are we going home?' I got some lovely shots. It was wonderful to see the monkeys unfettered by glass, wire or other cage and of course they looked so cute, especially the baby ones!





Tomorrow is my birthday but the only thing planned is that I have to take the car to get new tyres. Oh yep and on the subject of cars ... I took Len and the kids to Pride Park to watch Derby County v Nottingham Forest last week, went to Asda for a browse and a little shop (only place open that time of night) and this guy reversed his car into mine. I got a good witness and the man was (seemed) genuinely sorry. It made a right mess of both the passenger side door front and rear so that will have to go in sometime when the insurance gets sorted.

What else? Oh yes, I have booked for us (me and the kids) to spend the night at the Inn Keepers Lodge at Dudley Thursday night. So Thursday and Friday can be spent going places. West Midlands Safari Park for definite and probably the Black Country Museum for the second day. I love that at WMSP you get to go back for free another time before the season ends (a BOGOF in other words!). I will surely be wondering why I am putting myself through sharing a small room with three bickering kids YET AGAIN when every time I swear it will be the last :D I just hope that we get some enjoyment for some part of the trip.

And thanks for the kind comments (on here and on the DC forum) about my last class - I didn't really explain it very well before. The Design Collective is a group of talented UK designers who have got together to present a variety of online scrapbooking classes. It's a subscription based service (paypal, UK cheque or direct bank transfer) and for just £10 you get 12 classes sent to your email box over a four week mailing period. There is a community forum for discussion and questions and a gallery to share your work. Plus there are other extras available to members. We have subscribers from all over the world too. It's free to register as a member on the forum and that is the place to find out more about how to subscribe.