I have liked doing this review post for the past few years, rounding up all of our adventures of the past year. It is a good way to reflect and look back on all that has happened. And yes, I am constantly just saying ‘as if that was nearly a year ago’. Time is flying and it certainly does when you have children!
January
It is our anniversary in January and 2016 marked our seventh anniversary – seventh?! We didn’t do anything particularly special to mark it, but just had a date night out. I think most of January was sent trying to get my head around my Macbook that I got for Christmas last year – posh problems to have!
February
We redecorated Chloe’s bedroom and she got the side of her cot off then then. She did surprisingly well and slept right through – I remember expecting her to be a terror and climb out all of the time! We also had our first trip of the year with my side of the family, to Disneyland Paris. There were six kids and then eight adults, so it was busy but lots of fun. We hardly had to queue for anything so although it was a little cold, it would be a good time to go!
March
March was quite busy with the blog, with lots of different projects and reviews on the go. I enjoyed a lovely Mother’s Day with everything set up and arranged with the husband, curtesy of Tesco. He and I had a rather fancy night reviewing one of the restaurants in the Dorchester Hotel in London. We even spotted Ant and Dec that night – one for the books! I also enjoyed a day at the Ideal Home Show in London and started a collaboration with Tefal.
April
April was a month that I will never forget. I had lots of fun experiences, as well as having mine and Chloe’s birthdays. I got to visit my sister in Chicago before she moved (and, of course, seeing my nieces and nephews over there). I last saw the quadruplets when they were four months old so it was crazy to see them walking around and chatting. I flew via Iceland so that was a fun experience. After seeing my sister, I flew over to Denver and went skiing for the first time ever! I had such a fun week skiing and would love to go again. Don’t get me wrong, I was terrible at it. But it was such a gorgeous resort and it was fun (even when falling over). My birthday was spent snowmobiling and eating burgers, so pretty much winning at life.
May
We had a quiet month other than a trip to Bluestone Resort in West Wales. We had been before but we did a lot more off site this time. There is so much to see and do and it really is a stunning part of the world. If you have not been before then you need to!
June
The highlights of June were going to Ascot races for the first time, as well as having a glamping trip, as part of a review, in West Sussex. Both were firsts and really enjoyable. I must add that the Queen was at Ascot when we went. So I saw her and Prince Phillip being pulled along in a horse-drawn carriage. I have never been that ‘close’ to the queen before, so that was a fun experience.
July
We had our annual trip to the in-law’s villas in Spain in July. It is nice to visit there as we know the area well, so it makes it easy to travel with the kids. They both were amazing on the flight and both enjoyed swimming lots and being out in the sun. Max did get chicken pox while we were away (which Chloe contracted when we got home). But at least it is out of the way and I think it was pretty mild for them both.
I had my first time at the BritMums blogging conference again. I enjoyed meeting fellow bloggers and did enjoy the day. Though I am not sure if I would go again – I have much preferred Blogfest out of the two.
Max also ‘graduated’ from preschool this month which was actually much more emotional than I thought it would be.
August
August was lovely to just enjoy the summer holidays and loving the Rio Olympics! We went to visit my family in York for a few days, but were mostly just at home and going local things. The husband’s birthday is August so the highlight was going to Harry Potter Studio Tour for it. There was quite a lot of us so it was a really fun day out and I was surprised just how much the kids loved it too! We met up with my sister and her husband and my niece and nephew in London, to hunt down some of the BFG jars that were in the city. It was a really fun day out.
September
The main thing that happened in September was my son starting school! I’m still in shock about it (or maybe just at he fact that I have to be up and at it by 8am five days a week)!
October
As well as enjoying all things autumn and pie related, we enjoyed a trip to Cork in Ireland for the half term week. It was a short but sweet trip but lots of fun – I even got to kiss the Blarney stone, so now I only speak Blarney and not baloney haha. We lucked out with the weather too. One of my friend’s got married a few days after we got back and we saw Trolls at the cinema. It was so good – I really liked it!
November
November consisted of lots of party planning, as Max’s birthday is at the beginning of December. It was his first ‘big’ party so I wanted it to be just right – perfectionist problems. I did have a big work event with Lidl and Mumsnet involving a day of filming up in London. I also stopped working at my part-time job in retail, as I have been earning enough form working at home. So now can say that I am a full-time blogger, which is quite crazy but amazing. So I just work from home now and am loving it. I went to BlogFest for the second time and had a fab day.
December
Max was five on the first, and his party was two days later. It was a fun party and I think that everyone enjoyed it. I did need a bit of a lie down after having a party with 30 kids! The husband and I enjoyed a quick trip to Paris for the day, as we had Eurostar vouchers, thanks to being delayed when we went to Disney in February. Now we are just enjoying the Christmas time for a much deserved rest and some quality family time.
Not all has been rosy this year, of course. Still trying to get a firm diagnosis for my health issues and at the beginning of the year I was sure I would have been pregnant again by now. But still working on being positive and enjoying the things that we can do as a family of four.
What were your highlights of the year?
Aww, this is such a lovely thing to do. I might have to right a post like this myself xx
Fab post- lovely idea. Sounds like a great year with some great travels x
What a great year for you with some amazing collaborations!
You’ve had such an amazing year!!! You have travelled so much, I am very jealous. It sounds like you’ve had a lot of fun. x
Chloe Ciliberto recently posted…IT’S STARTING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE #NETFLIXMAS
Aw what a great idea for a post – you’ve had a lovely year by the sounds of it x x
Harry Potter and Disney! Sounds like an awesome year with lots of travelling and fun. Hope 2017 is as good to you 🙂 #ShareYourYear
How have you managed to fit so much into one year! You’ve done loads, and so many trips! I remember you writing about meeting the quads in your round up last year! I’m glad school hasn’t been too traumatic for Max either! Thank you for linking up!
Lauren Belle du Brighton recently posted…Stuff on a Friday
What a busy year you’ve had! I need to do these round up posts, such a good way to track memories. Yay for Disneyland and Bluestone! I’ve loved trips there in the past 🙂 x