Family Fun: The Newbold Comyn Arms

I got a visit from this little pickle last week...

Whenever he comes up, we always go out for lunch rather than cooking something 

(you'd understand why I never want to cook at uni if you saw the state the boys leave the kitchen in)

I've lived in the area for nearly 3 years now, so we've done a lot of the main places around here.

One place I'd not ventured to, though, was the Newbold Comyn Arms - a pretty little pub/restaurant in Leamington Spa.

It's lovely and light inside, and looked fab on that sunny spring afternoon.

Absolutely starving (my lack of funds MAY have prevented me from eating properly recently) I chose my dish straight away. Mum chose shortly after, but it took a good 15 minutes of battling with Louis before he made a decision.

We waited and chatted, and Louis and I cuddled and snuggled and kissed and squeezed.

Aaaah, I miss him.

Then the food arrived...

Mum went for the warm pancetta, toasted pine nut and avocado salad, with balsamic dressing...

Which looked pretty tasty.

Not willing to hold back, I'd gone for the burger.

It was bloody good.

I'm gunna say it's the best I've had outside of London.

Couldn't fault the burger at all, and the only thing I'd say about the chips is that they were very potato-ey (is that a word?), but crispy chips are a personal preference and everyone's different.

Louis had chicken but the pictures pale in comparison to ours.

It was a really lovely lunch.

I can't wait for more family time this summer. I'm taking 3 months out of work to spend it all with my boy. This academic year has been a real struggle for us and I can't wait for it to be over. I just want to be with him every single day.

I mean, who wouldn't?

Before it's all over, I just wanted to say that I hope all you brave and beautiful mothers out there had such a special day today.
We spent most of ours snuggled in bed recovering from the norovirus outbreak that struck our household on Thursday.
It was bliss to have a break from vomiting just to calmly hold my baby's hand.

Happy Mother's Day.

My two pennies' worth on reactions to 'parent bloggers'...

It really bothers me when I see parenting bloggers being put down in online forums/in comments on other blogs etc.

Say, if a mother posts something everyday - maybe it’s a few photos, maybe it’s a lengthy text - I always see people slating them for ‘not enjoying their children away from the internet’.

Seriously? Are people that narrow-minded that they think putting together that post was an entire day’s work, or was all that parent did with that child that day?

I think some people need to remember that these kind, strong, brave and beautiful mothers are choosing to share a PART of their life with the world. They are entitled to their privacy as well. Just because they don’t post everything online, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. That one post that they chose to share with you might have been just one minuscule precious part of their day. Still, they’re sharing something beautiful with you, and that should be celebrated, not slammed.

Please, I urge you all to be kinder in your words to other mothers. Spitefulness can make these women feel like bad mothers, and that truly is a horrible feeling.

To all the blogging mums out there, keep doing what you’re doing. You’re all inspiring.

(for the record, this is in no way a reference to myself - I definitely don’t post frequently enough for this to refer to me!!)

Half Term Fun; The Tower of London

We continued playing the tourists last week and paid the Tower of London a visit. Louis had the best time - being a typical boy, he loved all the suits of armour, swords and cannons. It was a pretty miserable day, with on-off showers, but that didn't stop us queuing outside to see the Crown Jewels! Louis watched Johnny English over the summer and since then has been quite fascinated by them. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take photos inside, but we got plenty in the White Tower (where most of these photos are taken). Louis particularly liked the massive dragon made out of various weapons.
It's actually really nice to do the touristy things in London. I'm so used to being in the city for work and study that I often forget to visit places that aren't galleries or libraries. Once my dissertation's done, I'm going to make more of an effort to see more of England, I think. There's so much I haven't seen, not just in London, but throughout the entire country. Road trip anyone?

Half Term Fun; The Science Museum

This week just gone was Lou's half term, so we all hit London for some fun.
Cecilia works at the Science Museum at the moment, so we headed there on Monday to meet her for lunch and to see some cool stuff.

Lunch time came around pretty quickly, so we headed to the cafe to wait for Cecilia.
Louis took my camera, and this was his attempt at a selfie...

(I steadied it for him)
Then he went a little bit mad taking photos of me, all of which were unflattering and came out like this...

But I don't care. Every funny photo like this holds a memory of a great moment between us, and I love that.

After lunch (and a long chat with Louis about why he couldn't have a brownie AND a piece of chocolate cake) Louis and I headed off around the museum on our own.
We hit up the da Vinci section first, where we learnt about Leonardo's flying machine.
Louis actually stopped me mid-sentence when I was reading out the description and went 'Wait, I thought he was an artist?' I've never been so happy in my life I swear. I didn't think he ever paid attention when I spoke about art.

We moved over to the planes and engines bit after that, snapping lots of photos to send to Daddy (he's an engineer)

Louis was an angel, and we had such a lovely time together. He held my hand the entire way round, and didn't run off or scream and shout like the hundreds of other kids there. I was so proud.

^^^What a cutie, I love him so much.^^^

Today I am missing this little sausage, but it's only about a week until I get to run around London causing havoc with him.
Lots of fun planned, watch this space.

Newtown Creek

The Island is such a beautiful place. There's so much there that is just out of this world crazy amazing, it's kind of unreal.

One such out of this world crazy amazing place is Newtown.

What was once a thriving borough is now a tiny hamlet located on a large natural harbour.

Since I'd never been before, Mum suggested I take Louis on a wintery walk over there. 

And so, we went exploring...

There's a gorgeous church there - Holy Spirit Church - so we pottered around it for a bit

We even spent some time in the graveyard - Louis has a thing about trying to read gravestones. No idea why, although I guess they are quite interesting from a historical point of view.

There's an entire family buried there, with all their graves lined up in a row. It's quite moving really.

Anyway, eventually we moved on from the church and took to exploring the surrounding nature a bit more.

Look how beautiful that view is! ^^^

Just as we got to a particularly muddy part, Louis decided he wanted a go on the camera too...

But he soon lost interest, and we left the muddy path to cut across a field instead.

Saying that, the field too had its muddy parts - Louis actually ended up nearly losing a wellie.

After a while, we got to what Mum calls 'the treacherous bridge'.

It didn't look that treacherous to me, but apparently it never used to have a side or something, so you had to be careful not to fall off.

Despite the new structural reinforcements, Louis showed that bridge what he was made of...

It may not lead to much, but you find yourself somewhat overwhelmed by the scenery as you walk along.

A stroll across some stones...

A couple of attempts at moving through mud...

And a couple of snaps by a six year old later...

And we were basically back at the car. Like I said, Newtown is teeny tiny!

It really is a stunning place. It's so peaceful and you can see for miles around.
The Island surely must be one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

'She calls it 'The Island', as if there were no other island in the world'

There certainly is no other island that compares, in my eyes anyway.