When I was little, I used to love the bluebell season.  I remember every year going on a walk to see if we could find them, and I even remember once my friend having a fairy party in the middle of a field of them.  As a young girl, I remember seeing the beautiful blanket of blue on the ground and thinking it was magical.  I always remember going out walking with my Mum and Dad, with our dog, searching for conkers or looking at wild mushrooms.

So this past weekend I told Mr E and Mads we were off on a hunt for bluebells in a nearby wood.  Mr E looked a little bit unimpressed as there weren't many blankets of bluebells for him being a boy growing up in Manchester city, but he humoured me and off we all went.

They were every bit as magical as I remembered as a little girl.  We went to the same wood about three weeks ago and there was no sign of them, but almost overnight they have grown, and actually are on their way out as they don't stick around for long.

Ok so our journey wasn't quite so magical, it was muddy, we all got covered from head to toe in dirt, we couldn't sit on the ground to take photos because it was so wet, and Mads needed a poo and two wee's and we didn't take a potty with us. (Cue me holding her legs while she did her business- that is a memory in itself!)

But they were worth the journey to go and see them.

I want my girls to have a childhood full of magic and make believe.  

I want us to go hunting for fairies, looking for treasure, make dens in the garden, write letters to Father Christmas and look for the beauty in the ordinary world we live in.

Children seem in such a hurry to grow up nowadays and I feel really sad when I see young girls strutting around town in makeup and aspring to be people like the cast from TOWIE or Katie Price.

While I know my girl's will grow up and while I know I can't keep them innocent forever, while they are little and while they are still so pure and unaffected by the not so nice things in the world, I want to make sure that I give them a childhood full of imagination, fun and make believe.

There will be a time when searching for bluebells with their Mummy and Daddy couldn't be less fun, so I am going to enjoy every single cold, muddy, wet walk that we take.  Even if we do end up covered in dirt and even if I have to hold Mad's while she does a number two!

Because that's what being a parent is all about.  Getting up and out the house at 9am on a Sunday morning to have a little adventure.  Even if we are a bit tired, or stressed, or can't really be bothered.  

It's about making memories, having adventures and making sure they have a childhood they can look back on and smile about.

Because my little girls aren't going to be little forever.

This long Bank Holiday Weekend we mostly have been...

Basking on blankets in the sunshine (or in the shade if your LL!)

Meeting my in-laws in Stamford for the day and going for lunch and playing in the park.

Going down slides with Daddy really fast!

Having a picnic in the back garden.

Mixing paints in order to create masterpieces.

Creating those masterpieces.

Been put in stupid sun hats that completely ruin our street cred.

We went to the park for a walk and of course had to stop for an ice cream.

And we found a 'jungle' that needed exploring.

We stopped for a nice long picnic in the sunshine.

And lay on a blanket and looked up at the sky.

We went to a family BBQ at Grandma's house.

And we shared a joke with the rest of the family.

All in all it has been a lovely, relaxed long bank holiday with a mixture of DIY and house sorting thrown in for good measure.  

Why can't all weekend's be three days long?

I love Spring.  I love Summer more but I love the anticipation of Spring, the first creepings of the sun and the blossom flowering on the trees.  That feeling of knowing that Summer is just around the corner- long, light evenings having BBQ's, Pimms and lots of day trips out. 

This weekend we definitely saw the arrival of Spring and we enjoyed a day out together.  My Mum owns a beauty salon near where I grew up, not far from where we live now, and as it was her birthday we headed over to meet her for lunch.  

The village I grew up in, and went to school in is so old and quaint and I love wandering around there.  I was very lucky to go to a wonderful school, the grounds are beautiful as it is a castle, so after lunch we went for a long walk and enjoyed the sunshine together.

It's kind of surreal watching my little girl running around somewhere where I spent so much time in my younger years...

We climbed trees.  

A tree Mummy climbed many times when she was young.  Where she used to sit and gossip with her friends.

We went flying!

We sat by the pond and cuddled.

Simple Spring Days.

Hopefully we haven't got too much longer left of us being a family of three.  At 39 weeks pregnant I am now well and truly ready to meet the new addition to our family.  My hospital bag is packed, the baby things are down from the loft and we are all looking forward to meeting our new arrival.

However for the last two years we have been a three.  A little family.  Just Mr E, Mads and I against the world.  We have had some incredible times on our journey into parenthood, and I thank the stars every day that I was chosen to be her Mummy.  While I have no doubt our adventures will continue to be as exciting when we are a four, there is a part of me that can't help but feel a little bit sentimental about the fact that we haven't got much longer left as just the three of us.

With that in mind this weekend just gone we decided to have a day dedicated to our little Mads.  Although she won't remember it, we wanted to make sure that we spoilt her rotten, had lots of fun and enjoyed one of our last Saturday's as a threesome.  She can look back on the photos when she is older and see what fun we had.

We got up and went to Baby Ballet- something which we have only been doing for a few weeks but that Mads already loves.  Her little hand clutches mine to begin with as she gets really shy but she soon gets into it and loves dancing, jumping and running with all of the other little girls.

After Baby Ballet we headed over to our local ceramic cafe to do some painting and to make a little something to remember the weekend by.  We chose a star trinket box, that will be perfect for her new room and set about painting it which was great fun, apart from the fact she had a tantrum cause she kept wanting more paint opened!

Painting her trinket box with Daddy.

Our finished trinket box will be ready in a week or so once it has been glazed in the oven.

We then headed out for some lunch in a local pub.  As it was Mads day she was allowed whatever she wanted so of course she chose a fruit shoot, pizza and ice cream!

The pub we went to is in a marina so we went for a walk to have a look at the ducks and the boats.

39 week bump.

Before laughing our heads off on the way back to the car with Daddy being a 'horsey.'

We then came home and relaxed on the sofa while Mads had one of her massive three hour naps.  I certainly will miss those when the new baby gets here!

I love this little girl so much and I know she is going to be the most excellent big sister.  I know that our lives are going to change dramatically having a new baby in the house, but I also know that she will take it all in her stride and while it may be tiring and occasionally tough in the early days, we will settle down into being a family of four.

I can't wait.  But I will also remember one of the last weekends of us being a three forever.

I can't thank my little lady enough for the last two years and for making me a Mummy.

We love you Mads.