Making the most of the sunshine!

We've enjoyed some glorious days recently and have taken advantage of the sunshine at every opportunity.  One of my favourite places to go is the beach, no matter what time of year - you may remember our visit to the beach in November, where we wrapped up against the chill and enjoyed the fresh air regardless!

As soon as it shows signs of being a lovely day, the children always ask to go to the beach.  On our latest visit, there was barely a cloud in the sky and the temperature had reached 20 degrees - now that's warm for us here is Scotland!  We are so lucky to have lovely beaches like this within a short drive of our home - we can decide last-minute that we're off to spend the day there, and once we are packed up we can set off and be there in next to no time!  None of the "are we there yet?" questions from the back seat of the car!

On this occasion we'd packed a picnic and spent the day making sandcastles, digging in the sand, collecting buckets of water and just generally enjoying the fresh sea air and the sun's rays.  A healthy dose of vitamin D and family time together - you can't go wrong with that!  Lizzie even braved a dip in the sea (and let me tell you, the water was freezing!!) and didn't blink an eyelid.

Of course we ended up with sand all over the car, in all our bags and shoes, covering the picnic blankets and lining the bath at bathtime - but it was all worth the clean-up operation to have the chance to soak up some time outside together!

I hope you've been enjoying some sunshine wherever you are!

Best wishes
Debbie

A Proud Mum

Little Lizzie took up a new hobby this month which has been keeping us really busy.  After deciding that her previous career aspiration to be an X-Factor contestant is no longer for her, she's decided she wants to take part in Got to Dance instead.  Fair enough - she is only seven, after all - and the world is her oyster!  So dance classes it is; she's enrolled in a local dance school and has thrown herself wholeheartedly into mastering the works - ballet, jazz, contemporary, disco.... to name but a few.

This week I had the opportunity to sit in on one of her lessons and I realised - as I watched her throw herself about, twirl and spin, pose in dramatic fashion and hang off her teacher's every word - that I had a lump in my throat and tears threatening to fall.  Not at her skills and dancing capability - yet - she has a long way to go and is very much at the Bambi-on-ice stage of learning to dance.  

I felt emotional watching her as I realised I was proud.  

Proud of my little girl, who joined a class full of other girls aged from younger than her right up to late teens, and didn't bat an eyelid at saying hello and making new friends.  Proud of my little girl, who had no hesitance whatsoever in launching herself across a room, swinging her arms for all her worth, running as fast as she could and exactly as she had been told to, without a shred of self-consciousness.  Proud of my little girl, who has quickly idolised her dance teacher and listened intently to every instruction, trying her hardest to please.  Proud of my confident, outgoing, determined and enthusiastic daughter...  All the qualities that frustrate me at times but ultimately I wouldn't change for the world.  

She may not end up with a career as a singer, or a dancer - she may change her mind a dozen times over before she even reaches her teens - but the qualities and attributes she has now, the confidence and interpersonal skills she's developing at seven I am certain will take her places in life - wherever she may wish to go.  

And that made me proud.  A very proud mum indeed.

Best wishes

Debbie