House of Humphreys

Instagram: house_of_humphreys4....Mummy to Spencer and Coen, wife to a geeky husband xx

[mummyldub]

Last day of our hol xx Today was our last full day of our holiday, we travel back tomorrow. We visited The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Mark can't quite grasp the name of the place so all week it was been referred to as: The Secret Gardens of Peligan The Lost Gardens of Pendragon The Secret Gardens of Penhaligan The Flying Gardens of Pendragon The place was amazing, it was a huge area of paths and cute things to see, there was a large area called The Jungle which was quite tropical with lots of bridges, walkways and rope-bridges. 
We did so much walking, the kids were amazing! We had lots of stops including a picnic lunch and a bit of time in a play area. We didn't manage to cover the whole area, we got to a point where we were all completely exhausted, Spence was almost crawling he was so tired so we decided to call it a day. We would definitely go back, it was such a lovely place and so nice for the kids!

[mummyldub]

Day 6- day at the beach xx 
As the weather seemed to be back on track, we decided to go for another day at the beach. We loved St Ives at the beginning of the week so decided to go back. 
It was such a nice day, we spent hours on the beach and in the water, the kids were completely covered in sand, Coen is such a little beach bum!


[mummyldub]

Holidays, day 5- Newquay xx 
We woke to fairly miserable weather, we had originally planned to go to the beach but it was cloudy, spitting with rain and a bit chilly, so we decided to take a drive to Newquay. Newquay isn't too far away but by the time we got there, decided what to do then found somewhere to park, we had been in the car for an hour!

We decided to go to the Sealife Aquarium, it wasn't huge and the kids pretty much raced through it. We hung out at the beach for a little while after, the tide was out so there was a lot of beach and we could walk amongst the rocks and caves.

We then drove a short distance away to a 'Little Railway' which was basically a little train ride for kids, it was cute but over quite quickly.
We then decided to head back to our lodge, Coen needed a nap and the rest of us needed a well earned sit down. It was nice to have a bit of a chilled day xx



[mummyldub]

Day 4, pt 2- Boscastle xx After the perilous but gorgeous sites of Tintagel, I needed to calm my nerves. We took a stroll down the small high street looking in all the gift shops, trying to persuade Spencer that he didn't want everything he saw and trying to stop Coen from touching anything in fear of breaking something. We stopped for some food, my favourite so far this holiday: a Cornish pasty- the size of my head! I was in food heaven! After we were all sufficiently calm, fed and watered, we took a short drive to Boscastle. I had visited here when I was younger and remember it being cute. It was quite small, but had a pretty stream and nice views. We visited the museum of witchcraft and magic before hearing back, all completely exhausted! xx

[mummyldub]

Day 4- visiting Tintagel xx


I have loved our holiday so far but I think today might have been my favourite day so far! It combined lots of things that I love: spending time with my family, history, the outdoors and Cornish pasties! 

We got to Tintagel as it opened. The kids seem to be waking early this holiday meaning that we get up and out of the house quite early and seem to be missing the busy crowds at our destinations. I was quite worried about our day, looking at the website and reviews, I wasn’t entirely sure if this place was going to be child friendly. We realised quite soon that it was a parents nightmare! 

We had to walk down a long slope to get to the base of the castle, it wasn’t too bad, Spence managed fine and Coen insisted on being carried for most of it. 
Tintagel castle is apparently the birth place of King Arthur and although I’m aware that he is a myth, I still love anything that connected with him and relates to history. 
The climb to the castle consists of 150 steep and uneven steps which was pretty treacherous on a calm sunny day, I think a rainy windy day would probably result in a few deaths. Again, Spence was ok with the climb but Coen most definitely had to be carried- despite his annoyance!

The ruins of the castle are up high on a cliff, it’s beautiful and the views are astounding, however there is literally nothing to stop anyone wandering off the side of the cliff- any parents nightmare! Mark and I had to take a kid each and watch them like a hawk, herding they away from danger! I sounded like a neurotic mother constantly telling Spence to stop running and being completely exasperated that Coen chose today as the day that he wanted to learn to jump!

We reached the top of the castle where the biggest attraction was stationed- a figure of King Arthur, shockingly just a few metres from a cliff edge with a lot of uneven footing and a British coastal wind! With relief we realised we could head back until it dawned on us that we had to not only go back the way we came but this time we had to go DOWN the steps! Cue lots of mini heart attack’s, a sore back from carrying Coen, stress from trying to prevent someone from plummeting to their death and we made it down.

As if we weren’t idiotic enough to take the kids up a treacherous cliff we then decided it would be fine to go down more steps to the beach below to visit Merlins cave! Hell, we were still alive, if we could get through Tintagel castle we could climb down another few steps! Except the steps didn’t quite go all the way to the bottom…they stopped short and we had to finish the route by….climbing down onto rocks! What..the…hell!

The beach was cute, the cave was rocky, I couldn’t take Coen too far into it so we hung out on the beach while Spence and Mark went inside. The beach had a really pretty waterfall, it really was a magical (if treacherous) place. We managed to get safely back to steady, flat footing, everyone was still alive, my heart could finally recover, it was time for a well deserved pasty xx



[mummyldub]

Holidays, Day 3- the Eden Project xx 
Today we went to the Eden project! Even though I went to Cornwall a fair bit when I was younger, the Eden project hadn't been built so I've never been. 
It took us about 40 mins to get there, we got there just as it was opening and luckily it wasn't too busy.

The weather was so nice and it was lovely walking through the gardens with the kids, even if they did both decide to walk in different directions. There were lots of little paths that took you to 'secret' gardens that Spence loved finding.

There are two huge biomes, one was Mediterranean and the other was tropical. We braved the Mediterranean one first, it was so warm! The plants were all so pretty and there were lots of statues and winding paths, there was a restaurant in there which was so pretty and would be nice to eat at but it would be too hot to enjoy it. I was definitely happy to be out of there!

Straight after leaving the Mediterranean biome, we headed to the tropical one. Which, unfortunately was so bloody hot, so much hotter than the one before! I'm not built for heat but I'm sure the fiery pits of hell is cooler than that place! Throughout the path, they do offer exits in case the heat is too much but we decided to persevere! It's so hot that they have a Cool Room mid way round!

I'm not going to lie...I suffered! The kids seemed fine but I was a sweaty, hot mess! Coen insisted on being carried which just added to the heat that I was experiencing, plus anyone with small children know exactly how...bloody...slow they walk! Which made our time in there so much longer! I was so ecstatic to be out of there and eating an ice cream! 
Despite the heat- I loved the Eden Project and will definitely go back again with the kids xx



[mummyldub]

Day 2 of our hols xx 
Although the second day of our hol, it was really our first proper day! 
The kids don't really get 'holiday lie-ins' so we were up at 7am. It didn't take us long for us all to get dressed, sun creamed up and packed into the car. Our plan for the day was to go to St Ives. I went there as a kid and loved it so I was looking forward to it. It took about 30 mins to get there.

We headed straight for the harbour and it's beach, the little streets are so cute and cobbled (and a little steep) we found a cool spot on the beach but the tide came in so quick that we had to abandon it fairly quickly and move to another spot on the harbour.

The kids had a fab time, it was the first time Coen had been on a sandy beach and the last time that Spence had been on one, he hated it. So I'm really pleased that they both loved it- Spence built sandcastles, Coen smashed them down and they both splashed in the sea.

We left at about 2pm when our car park ran out and headed back to our lodge. Coen had a nap while we played games out in the garden- bliss! I love holidays xx



[mummyldub]

Holiday day 1- the journey... 
So... I wouldn't call the 5 hour drive from Portsmouth to Cornwall a dream journey. Our original plan was to leave at 8am and get there for midday. However by the time we faffed around getting everyone and everything in the car, dropped the cat off at the cattery and returned my Asos order off at the post office it was 9:30 and little did we know that Spence had already drunk his entire journeys drink supply. 
I had such big plans for the journey- Coen would sleep for the majority of it, Spence would quietly read his Where's Wally book, I would chill out, we would stop somewhere cute for lunch. Nope nope nope! 
Within about 7 seconds, Coen had pulled off the window blind and started hitting everyone with it, he constantly kept throwing his comforter around the car and would then cry that he didn't have his comforter and as soon as you gave it back to him, he would immediately throw it!

Within 20 mins, Spence needed a wee, surprisingly. We stopped at the first services we found which had a queue from the toilet almost to the door of the shop! The whole ordeal added 20 mins onto our journey. 
Everything I had brought to relieve the kids boredom didn't work or resulted in arguments. Spence couldn't be bothered to find Wally, Coen chucked his book on the floor. The iPad didn't work out, they both just argued over it and Coen broke the headphones. Another half hour later and we had pulled over so Spence could wee, again! 
I spent the first 2 hours looking backwards to either break up fights or constantly retrieve things that Coen had thrown but then immediately decided that he wanted. And of course, Spence asked how long we had left on the journey...every. two. minutes. 
Then miraculously, Coen finally fell asleep, Spence quietly sat watching the iPad, i could finally face the front and have a conversation with Mark and we even listened to part of a podcast! 
Due to all our pit stops and the 3pm England game approaching, we stopped and grabbed a quick subway for lunch then got straight back on the road, finally arriving at our lodge with 20 mins to spare before the game!!


[mummyldub]

I have been ultra busy these days but have vowed to make more of an effort uploading more blogs. So I decided to blog about a day in our life. I work Monday to Thursday so probably not best to pick one of those days unless you all want to know in detail what an Accountant gets up to, hint: it's not as exciting as you might believe! 
So I got woken up at 6:20, not by Coen but by Spence who had gone for a poo, couldn't wipe his own bum and had been on the loo for so long that he got pins and needles in his leg! I sorted Spence out and we both tried to stealthily get back to bed before Coen woke up, but no such luck. I decided to let Mark sleep and took the kids downstairs, they watched the new Boss Baby series in relative silence for about 10 mins before the usual destruction began!

So three hours later, with an annihilated living room, we were fed, watered, dressed and packed into the car and on our way to the lake: 
Coen: Babbling
Spence: Coen just said 'Spencer'!!
Me: That's amazing!
Spence: Coen just said 'goo-goo ga-ga'
Me: Ahh cute!
Spence: Coen just a 'binoculars'!
Me: Errr are you sure? 
We got to the lake just before 10am, with Coen able to walk quite easily (although a little slow) I let him walk rather than put him in the pushchair, he loved it although it took us a loooong time to walk around half of the lake to the Play area!

We spent some time playing before making the long walk back to the car and home for lunch. Luckily Coen resisted the urge to sleep in the car which means he will have a nice long nap in the afternoon. 
The morning must have given the kids a bit of an appetite, for lunch they had sandwiches, crisps, blueberries, cheese and a fruit bar. Coen went down for his nap at about 1pm and not long after, Spence fell asleep on the couch, which is quite rare! I then had 3 hours of bliss- well kind of!

When Coen naps, I usually take advantage of the free time and get some tidying up done, however with Spence sleeping on the couch, I didn't want to wake him with the sound of chores. Instead, I enjoyed a cuppa whilst watching Pretty Little Liars and catching up on my House of Humphrey work. 
Both kids woke at nearly 4pm, Mark's dad came round just before 5pm to babysit the boys while Mark and I went to our friends for dinner and Cards Against Humanity. This week was both mine and our friend Pauls birthday so we always arrange something. We had so much fun, lots of food, lots of Prosecco and tonnes of laughs!!


[mummyldub]

Happy Easter from the Humphrey Tribe! We have had a fab weekend, we have seen family, friends, been on an Easter Egg hunt and have visited a farm. Now, we are chilling on the couch eating our weight in chocolate! Xx

[mummyldub]

Putting on his face before starting his day xx

[mummyldub]

Monsters!

One of the tough things about parenting is ‘the monster situation’.

I can’t convince Spence that monsters don’t exist if I still 100% believe in them. I have tried, I’m the worst liar, my face is very unconvincing as the words come out and it’s obvious Spencer isn’t believing my lies. If he ever whispered the dreaded words: ‘there’s a monster in my wardrobe’, firstly, I would sh*t myself, then I would bundle the kids in the car, drive away leaving the house forever….possibly burning it down before I left.

Also, on occasion (approx 3 times a week) it takes me ages to get to sleep because something I’ve seen or heard in the dark has led me to believe that there is a monster in the house. Then I have to wrestle with the decision on whether to get out of bed to make sure the kids haven’t been eaten by a monster / demon (and potentially come face to face with it) or secretly hope that the monster / demon is satisfied with the kids and won’t venture as far as my room. So far, I haven’t gotten out of bed- sorry kids!

[mummyldub]

Happy Birthday to my hottie husband who is now officially in his ‘late thirties’!!

[mummyldub]

The Start of the Christmas Season xx I frickin love Christmas! Love it, Love it, Love it! It’s such a great time of year, everyone seems happy, I love buying presents for people and it’s also perfectly acceptable to eat until you fall asleep- in fact, it’s practically in the rules!
The 1st December kicks off the Christmas Season and it’s acceptable to turn into a Christmas nutter! So, firstly, I was so happy that the day fell on a Friday, a day that I don’t have to work! Secondly, I had the proudest Mum moment when I saw how incredibly excited Spence was about Christmas!! He was excited he looked like he was about to explode and it wasn't down to the chocolate from his advent calendar!

Spence is finally old enough to really get into Christmas, I had bought a few things last year for us to do but Spence was a bit young and not really interested in doing them. But this year...is the year! We did them all in the first day! 
We started by making Christmas cards: I bought a pack from ELC last year that had pictures on which Spence could decorate with stickers. He had fun decorating them and picking which family member would receive each one- making sure he kept one for himself obviously!

We then made Christmas paper chains! We made so many that we managed to hang some across the room then put some more up in Spencer's room.

We also had another pack where we could assemble and decorate a foam Christmas Tree. Spence had been pestering me to do it all afternoon, we were about 5 mins into it when Spence announced 'this is boring, isn't it?' It's possible Spence got a bit 'christmas'ed out'! We finished the mini tree then went back to watching Christmas films. 
Once Mark finished work, we put the tree up. Well, Mark and Spence put the tree up while I kept Coen busy so he didn't pull everything down! 
We had the best first day of December, I so can't to see what else we have in store!! xx

[mummyldub]

My last day with Coen xx I recently returned back to work after over a year of maternity leave. I wanted to do something special with Coen on our last day of just us. We wrapped up warm and took a little trip to Petersfield lake, somewhere that we have visited together almost weekly since he was born. We did a few laps of the lake and a cuppa on our favourite bench. It was lovely but also sad at the same time, it was the last of days together of just the two of us xx

[mummyldub]

Pottery Painting xx We usually have a play date with Spencer’s best friend Max about every other week, we usually go to soft play or the trampoline park but this time Max’s Mum invited us to something a bit different, pottery painting. I initially thought it might be difficult trying to concentrate on Spence whilst also trying to make sure Coen doesn’t smash up everything in the shop. Then I decided to ask one of my in-laws to look after Coen. Not only would it make it easier but it means that I would get to spend some time with Spence and solely concentrate on him rather than trying to juggle both kids, something I haven’t been able to do for almost a year. I even decided to paint something as well. We chose what we were going to paint, Spence chose a car and I decided to get into the festive spirit and chose a reindeer. Max picked an elephant and his brother decided on a zombie mug. Spence was a bit unsure of the idea and initially wanted to watch me paint or hand me the tools but as soon as we chose our paints and started to paint, he loved it. Doing things with Max definitely makes Spence more confident and willing to try new things. Spence painted his car red then immediately wanted to paint over everything with black. It literally took all my willpower to let him make his own painting decisions rather than telling him the ‘right way’ to do it. The end result was pretty cute and he was really pleased with himself. We get to pick up the finished products in about a week. I loved spending some quality time with Spence and I so hope we get to do it more xx

[mummyldub]

My First Craft Fair x This weekend was my first craft fair for my new venture, House of Humphrey, selling my teething necklaces. The fair was in my local village and was quite small which I was quite relieved at. I was a bit nervous at doing the fair as it’s definitely out of my comfort zone, I’m terrible at self promotion and talking to strangers so I’m definitely proud of myself for doing it. I did a lot of preparation for the big day, making sure I had a decent amount of stock and making my stall look pretty. I spent tonnes of time on Pinterest getting tips for the day and ideas for my stall. I got to the fair an hour before opening to set up, it took me about 10 mins so I had plenty of time to sit in horror and watch as the other stalls set up massive displays and show off there huge amounts of items! I had a small amount of stock, everything that was on the table was everything that I had! As I had plenty of time, I popped over the road to grab myself a tea which was a big mistake as half hour after the customers started to turn up, I needed a wee and was unable to leave my stall unmanned! The day was all about learning from mistakes! My sister surprised me and turned up to help, which was fantastic! It meant I could go for a wee but I also that I had someone to talk to during the quiet periods! During the day, I had tonnes of support from the family: Marks parents both came to visit, my sister in law Charlotte and the kids, plus Mark came down with Spencer and Coen who I was so pleased to see. The fair wasn’t hugely successful for me, the thing about being in a village is that most of the residents are a lot older, so not really the target market for teething necklaces. I did manage to sell a few though and I had tonnes of fun and I’m so proud of myself for doing it. I immediately started to look at doing more craft fairs, especially baby events. However with this time of year, most of the upcoming craft fairs are Christmas Fairs, so I might have to wait until after the New Year xx