two weeks ago, mummy and daddy had the opportunity to go on a weekend break with a group from church. mummy was excited - she's easily excitable that one. they decided to let my little big sis stay over at my godsister's  house. mummy did try to fob me off to my godmother tinashe but she was having none of it. she said "who? that one! errr...i have plans friday, saturday, sunday, infact i'm fully booked until his wedding day."  so, i tagged along. as we set off from Ivana & carmen's house, mummy was feeling excited. she had some decisions to make and she felt that this time away to reflect, pray and relax would be just the ticket.

but before she could get to enjoy the weekend, she had to do her part of the long drive to the back of the beyond aka Alfriston aka yes, i know....alfriwhatnow? phone batteries held on for dear life, then eventually died and all that was left was the temperamental satnav which seemed to be leading us deeper and deeper into thick  woodland. mummy woke daddy up to discuss whether he had a will and that they really need to sort out what happens to the kids should anything happen to them. as mummy's mind began to picture the chaos of people fighting over my little big sis after we got swallowed up by the darkness, we saw the pub that everyone was gathered at and dad heaved a sigh of relief. #dramaqueen

we greeted, we ate, we slept on a bunkbed and had a fun night.

the next day some activities had been planned. mummy had signed herself and dad up for a group of activities that kept her feet as close to the ground as possible: mountain biking / canoeing / archery and........ there was high ropes but she wasn't up for that. she thought we'd be done in a couple of  hours then she'd get on with the relax & revive she longed for.

2 hours later mummy was standing at the foot of a tall tree about to climb up a ladder and walk across a log to another tall tree. (basically she hadn't thought through what i'd be doing whilst she was mountain biking and canoeing - no baby carries on canoes!)



so here we were, me and mum, in the group of activities her nightmares are made of : high ropes, log walking, abseiling, archery. mummy had initially said a flat "no" to the log walking. then she stood there and watched as one after one, the other members of her group climb up and triumph. she started to feel like she could do this. i mean honestly, some of them were positively skipping across the log and came flying down the rope to ground level. when, aunty anna, who mummy was hoping would be her partner in not going on the log, went up and triumphed, mummy decided to give it a go. how hard could it be?



mummy was fitted with the ropes and stood at the foot of the tree. she took about 3 steps up the ladder and froze. "I can't do it!" she shouted to the guy who could probably still smell the sausages from her breakfast in her breath! she was that close to the ground!

"Yes you can!"  - everyone shouted back.

"no I can't, I really can't!",

"YES YOU CAN!!".

so off went the reluctant Obama up the ladder. once up there she hugged the tree. then wouldn't let go. she hugged that tree and asked to come back down.

"take a step!" , they shouted.

"no! I can't!".

she was petrified and really wished she had never decided to come here. she stood there and really wondered about that will. this could be it.

"take that first step!" came the shouts from below. "you won't fall, and even if you do, we've got the rope, you'll just dangle!" .

she knew they meant well, but the idea of dangling was almost worse than walking on the log. mummy thought about all the fears she had brought with her on this trip, the ones she really wanted to face. if she could do this, she could face those fears too. she took the first step, and the guys cheered!





then she went on and on. she said the middle was the most petrifying but she made it to the other side. she was then too scared to go to the next level and the instructor allowed her to come down. when her feet touched the ground the group cheered for her & she felt great.





here's what mummy said she learned from that log walk:

1 - things always look easy when others are doing them : it's so easy to shout at that apprentice on TV who gets it wrong, or scoff at the blogger with a million followers on instagram. you try it & lets see.

2 - it's easier to face your fears with people who believe in you by your side: i love the guys from Hillsong Oxford for being so kind to me. i could never have done that without them.

3 - God's got your back : what's the worst that could happen if you face your fears? if i had slipped, i would have been ok. and i could have gone back up if i wanted to.

as mummy was busy climbing logs and getting deep revelations about life, i was getting revelations of my own! mud tastes soooo good! mmmm mmm! i really cannot wait till we get a garden - that stuff was good! it was such a revelation!





we all enjoyed our time away and had a most fabulous reunion with morayo-hope who had had a fantastic weekend with her new bff's Ivana & Carmen. i'll let her tell you about it herself but here's a sneak peak of her weekend sleepover.

at the beginning of the summer, when hope was truly alive and a strong wave of optimism swept over my daddy, he promised my mummy we'd go on holiday as soon as we had completed on the house purchase. 3 months on and no progress had happened when mummy was threatening to go into our vendors agents office and throw her toys out of her pram. (i didn't know mummy had a pram). daddy suggested maybe we should all take a short break somewhere to take our minds off the house move stress. mummy didn't need to be asked twice. she looked for a break somewhere with water: Lake District was the obvious choice! after a few days of searching it became very obvious that this was the wrong time of year - fully booked! ok - a beach location. sandy beach thought mummy. Bournemouth was the obvious choice so it was bound to be fully booked. and we've been there before. no go.  Brighton was out - pebbles. Eastbourne! mummy was E X C I T E D! she had visions of herself relaxing on the sandy beach, the gentle sea humming in front of her as she drifted into a delicious afternoon nap. judah and i would supposedly be building sandcastles with daddy. yes, it was going to be awesome!

we arrived at our sea-front boutique hotel. mummy looked at the shore. pebbles everywhere.







she went into the boutique hotel. hmm. they stuck a bathtub in the corner of the most averagely average room and called it boutique. mummy was annoyed but determined nonetheless. if there's one thing mummy can't stand it's hotels that pretend to be something they are not & charge you through the nose for it.

the next day we went to the beach to live out mummy's fantasy. she spent the morning stopping judah from eating the pebbles.
























after that we found a sandy patch. judah was delighted and proceeded to eat the sand. mummy and daddy soon gave in and we vacated the area. we went to a highly rated local italian called Solo Pasta that was super yummy!  we ate till we nearly popped.













on our way back mummy saw a lot of second hand bric a brac and furniture stores. like a moth to a flame she ran into one and we all knew we wouldn't be leaving empty handed. she spotted a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a mirror, a chandelier....she looked like me in a candy store. daddy didn't mind because he knew we couldn't take any of it home - so she couldn't buy it! until she saw a dolls house and fell in love. yes, if she couldn't have a real house just yet,
she was he was buying this house & she'd renovate it for me and judah. she was ecstatic. daddy tried to tell her it wouldn't fit in the car. she told him it could. he was adamant. she was adamant. they bought the dolls house. daddy brought the car round and the dolls house didn't fit. sound familiar?







so the shopkeeper loaned daddy a screwdriver and he dismantled the whole house as passers by stopped to admire it and marvel at the bargain price they got it for. mummy cheered daddy on, who doesn't like attention on a good day. buses were stopping at the ever-red light and passengers were enjoying watching the mini spectacle. a local italian grocer came out to help supervise the operation. mummy told daddy she keeps life exciting with all these little curveballs she throws into the mix. why buy it off amazon when you can have a story to tell the grandkids in years to come eh?! too soon? ok.....

as they finished packing the house into the boot, mummy said "i told you it would fit!". daddy shook his head and jumped in the car.

we left eastbourne the following day so we could come home and start packing up the flat ready for our buyer to move in.  we got home and everyone slept. mummy said she needed a holiday after that mini break. so we slept the next day and the day after that. i don't know when mummy will learn to stop fantasising about what can and can't happen now that we are here.

by the by, mummy has been telling daddy we need a bigger car so we can fit all the babygear. translation: we need a bigger car so we can fit stuff i want to buy when we visit faraway places. we are onto you mummy.

we stayed at the waterside boutique hotel which was generally average. breakfast was included in the price.

we ate at Solo Pasta - The bestest and yummiest pasta we've ever had. It's a small independent restaurant with the friendliest staff. We had sea bass, lasagne and spaghetti all of which were  thoroughly enjoyed.

we ordered dinner from Thai Terre which was really yummy but a bit sweet and not as spicy as mummy had hoped. she had the massaman curry and daddy ordered the Yellow curry with chicken. i ordered egg fried rice but decided i wanted just white rice when it came - because that's how i roll!

anyway, i'm off to plan my bank holiday schedule. i'm actually free - first free weekend in a long time! maybe i'll catch up on some peppa pig - we all know mummy and daddy will be sleeping!