Sunday 25th October. H was desperate to ride her bike, so we headed to Beddington Park. Actually, Shaun and H did, and I had a lie down as I felt achey. I drove up there and we stopped in the park for an Ice Cream (as you do in October), H was happy as they had Candyfloss Ice Cream.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 25, 2015 at 9:40am PDT

Monday 26th October. A Rainbows Bear Hunt day which started well, but soon got a bit chaotic (and scary) when we were evacuated from Centrale in Croydon. Fortunately most girls were just worried, though one was scared. We got back into Build a Bear within 30 minutes, the girls chose their bears (and dog in H’s case) and got on with their party. I love this Princess Leia bear – I’d have bought the costume too, but it had sold out. Obviously popular…

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 26, 2015 at 3:42am PDT

Tuesday 27th October. We did a daytrip to Dover today to visit Dover Castle. The journey was an hour and a half and clear, once we were parked and inside the castle there was tons to do – including a Ghost Walk suitable for kids which was particularly hilarious when we were stood by the trebuchet and Shaun decided to wander off to a tower which looked interesting, while H and I stood and listened. Just as Shaun was about to enter the tower, an actress dressed as a ghost came running out (as part of the walk) and scared the living daylights out of him. Fortunately I did not see this as I’d have laughed for the rest of the day!! It was an awesome day, a fantastic castle, and we’ve many more to visit now!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 27, 2015 at 5:20am PDT

Wednesday 28th October . I can’t go for long without buying stuff. At Dover Castle found this excellent book which covers historical people – and has some H is doing at school at the moment. It was selling for £9.99, plus Shaun gets a 15% discount with his CSSC membership at English Heritage shops – and it’s brilliant! A great book, and now H has read up on Guy Fawkes, ready for tomorrow at school. I should also add, our Dyson v6 cordless arrived today – and Shaun, H and I have been fighting over who gets to use it. So far, so good (and so dust-free)!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 28, 2015 at 2:30am PDT

Thursday 29th October. We headed to London Bridge to The Golden Hinde for a Tudor Fun Day. Lianna had spotted a deal via Little Bird where tickets were £3.50 each, and it was great fun. Mostly for the kids, but adults got involved too. Almost two hours of Tudor-based games and a good laugh, although it took H a while to warm up.

Friday 30th October. A day off doing anything, just relaxing at home. I posted this picture from the day before on Instagram. H is pulling a “Mean Explorer” face.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 30, 2015 at 6:31am PDT

Saturday 30th October. Halloween, and H is all dressed up. We never did Trick or Treat-ing when I was younger. Actually, that’s a lie – we did it once but my mum got cross and made us take the sweets back, so we never did it again. H does it with her friends and I don’t really know what to do apart from dress her up. Fortunately she didn’t want me to go with her at the last minute (as I wasn’t dressed up and felt a bit fragile), so she headed out dressed like this and had a ball. That’s my kind of night. I stayed in the house and watched the Rugby World Cup Final and tried not to depress Shaun too much.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 31, 2015 at 7:59am PDT

Sunday 18th October. I was sent some Snazaroo Face Paints via Mumsnet to try out some Halloween faces. While I’m sure the face painting brigade won’t be calling on my services any time soon, H loved her vampire face. I thought I did okay, but I need to work on getting the white paint thicker.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 18, 2015 at 2:38am PDT

Monday 19th October. Good sisters (me) buy Seagull Droppings chocolate from Seasalt for presents (for my sister).

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 19, 2015 at 10:52am PDT

Tuesday 20th October. My sister in law no longer lives in China, she’s in Viet Nam. However, my mother in law did get around to posting some things for us she picked up when she visited. Pee Pee Boy now has a friend.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 20, 2015 at 9:17am PDT

Wednesday 21st October. My serious skater child. The top she’s wearing is an age 4-5 – possibly the first and last time she’ll wear it. She wanted to wear it with just tights, and I had to persuade her otherwise. While she has lovely long legs, it was just that bit too short… looks cool with denim shorts though!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 21, 2015 at 8:37am PDT

Thursday 22nd October. Caught on my train journey into work on Thursday morning, over Mitcham.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 21, 2015 at 11:39pm PDT

Friday 23rd October. We had an inset day! I had booked us a hotel in Warwick a while back, so got a good £30 deal, so we decided to drive up to Warwick Castle, in the hope there might not be too many other Inset Days, plus the Halloween activities weren’t due to start until the following day. The gamble paid off – we got to Warwick Castle at 11am and left just before 5pm and it was really quiet. We did almost everything – though missed a few presentations around the grounds. H’s topic at school has been about castles this last term, and we still have another castle trip planned this half term too. With our Merlin Passes it was free to get in, the food came to around £15 (all you can eat buffet), and our hotel had a food deal on in the evening too.

Saturday 24th October. We had a Shakespeare Day. Stratford Upon Avon was just up the road, no more than ten miles at most. While H is still young, she’s had a fabulous book of Shakespeare which breaks all the stories down into cartoons, which she reads from time to time (current favourite Romeo and Juliet). We bought a Five Houses Pass to visit as many of the properties as we could, and managed three. Fortunately Vouchercloud had a deal where you could get a ticket free to the same value of one you’re buying, so H got hers for nothing. This saved us around £50 and meant we got to Shakespeare’s Birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Mary Arden’s Farm. All of them were wonderful, and we all learned a lot. I’ve been in the past but didn’t remember a lot about it – so it was good to revisit.

Sunday 11th October. We borrowed next door’s carpet cleaner and gave our front room some much needed attention. It needed it. Look at all that space, which of course would be taken over with “stuff” again once it dried. It worried a few FB friends, wondering what was going on.

Monday 12th October. And so starts our theme for this week. My sister sent some birthday money for H a bit late, and after chatting with Shaun about it, we thought we should get her some roller skates as she had wanted some for a while. At the moment she’s just indoors while we wait for her knee and elbow pads to arrive, but she’s taken to it really quickly. So this was pre-Rainbows.

Tuesday 13th October. After school.

Wednesday 14th October. After the Very Tiring School trip. But she wasn’t too tired to skate.

Thursday 15th October. Still skating…

Friday 16th October. A break. We had the dentist after school followed by a haircut in Carshalton Village – H has her school photo on Monday. Seeing as I cut her hair last time, it needed someone who knows how to do it. We stopped at our local Costa before haircut time, and had a much-needed treat. Extra bonus, the abscess I thought I had isn’t one. I had an x-ray done, and asked the dentist what those two suspicious looking black holes were on the image. My nostrils, apparently. He may have laughed at me.

Saturday 17th October. I was sent some Snazaroo face paints via Mumsnet, so this is a pumpkin skater.

Sunday 4th October. We had our Harvest Festival for Rainbows, so popped along to that. W had a quick stop in the park afterwards, where happy child enjoyed the swings.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 4, 2015 at 4:09am PDT

Monday 5th October. The latest Anorak Magazine arrived – and now it’s just finding the time to read it.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 5, 2015 at 9:51am PDT

Tuesday 6th October. So at church on Sunday it came to light H has never heard the Lord’s Prayer. She doesn’t go to a religious school so there’s no reason why she should – but it did get me thinking, as the majority of her Rainbows friends do know it, as they do attend a religious school. When my mum gave me a load of my old books, one of them was Lucie Attwell’s Little Book of Prayers – and I dug it out for H. So now she can learn it, and I don’t feel quite so bad for not being religious enough. Or something.

Wednesday 7th October. Had a fabulous delivery at work today from Disney – a box full of Star Wars goodies and books for Star Wars Reads Day on the 10th October. A damn fine delivery too – as some of the blokes at work said “I wish maths was as interesting as this when I was at school” – they’re not wrong!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 7, 2015 at 6:22am PDT

Thursday 8th October. When your pals all have Star Wars costumes but you don’t, there’s only one thing you can be at a Star Wars event – a Star Wars kid. These leggings from Next help – a LOT.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 8, 2015 at 11:38am PDT

Friday 9th October. Having a Star Wars fun night with H’s friends in preparation for Saturday. We love this pic of her pal M “reading” his book!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 9, 2015 at 4:27pm PDT

Saturday 10th October. H’s football was on first thing, followed by me going to South Kensington to Dyson’s showroom, to see the Dyson v6 and what it was capable of. I tell you one thing it is VERY capable of – getting glitter out of the carpet. Even our 12 year old Dyson can’t do that (although it is probably due a bit of TLC what with being that old). A very enjoyable afternoon, which I spent the entire time wearing a badge which should have been given to another blogger called Jo. I’m so dozy I didn’t realise until I got home. Whoops. Early night for me then! 

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 10, 2015 at 9:27am PDT

Sunday 27th September. Sunny day, and a stay at home one after our busy Saturday. So we sat outside, ate ice lollies and toasties and played Bananagrams.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 27, 2015 at 7:20am PDT

Monday 28th September. Mastered the Rubiks cube. Way back in the 80s my dad had a book which showed you how to solve it, which was MASSIVE. Online, it’s one page and easy.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 28, 2015 at 12:28pm PDT

Tuesday 29th September. H’s Street Dance after school club started, so I got to go shopping to pick up more Clarins bits I needed as they were about to run out. Clarins are doing the Feed 10 deal again, where you buy two full sized products and get some large sample sizes, same as last year.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 29, 2015 at 7:00am PDT

Wednesday 30th September. Autumn Treasures – conkers and more. One was a double conker which H was really excited about.

  A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 29, 2015 at 9:11am PDT

Thursday 1st October. H’s Halloween outfit is sorted thanks to H&M.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 1, 2015 at 9:07am PDT

Friday 2nd October. I went out tonight with three friends to a local pub which we really like – and it happened to be karaoke night. We stayed till almost midnight, starting with Bohemian Rhapsody and finishing with ABBA. I was grinning for most of the next day! (and quite hungover) Look at this choice though – Pixies and PJ Harvey! Saturday 3rd October. Hangover day, took H to football and stayed at home tidying up all afternoon. This giant spider decided to make a web in our yard.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Oct 3, 2015 at 4:37am PDT

Ahh, I got my week numbers mixed up, but back on track this week.

Sunday 20th September. We had plans to go to Madame Tussauds today, but I was ill overnight, a rotten stomach ache so we’ve put it off until next weekend. H wrote her Christmas list instead, which was pretty handy.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 20, 2015 at 4:03am PDT

Monday 21st September. I cannot find a photo for today, which is weird as I knew I took one.

Tuesday 22nd September. I took this photo for the blog post below. My two Nijntje maps from Amsterdam and Utrecht, plus the Centraal Museum guide for the Miffy 60 Exhibition that’s going on at the moment. 

Wednesday 23rd September. H’s outfit on her way to swimming. Stylish! 

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 23, 2015 at 10:07am PDT

Thursday 24th September. I like this picture as it’s the first time in ages my phone hasn’t taken a grainy photo. Bought H a wig from Poundland, which she added her light up head thing we bought her a couple of years ago. A bit We’ve Got A Fuzzbox and We’re Going to Use It I think.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 24, 2015 at 9:13am PDT

Friday 25th September. Spotted these in Tiger Stores yesterday. Did not buy. Remarkably restrained.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 25, 2015 at 8:30am PDT

Saturday 26th September. So when in the West End, you must make the most of everything. So after football we got the tube up to Madame Tussauds, followed by a bus to Covent Garden to see all of the Shaun the Sheep statues for one last time (which makes up for us not getting to Bristol to see them – talk about lucky), and finally a last minute decision to go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with H. A late night, but a busy one. Which photo to choose though? Why the one sheep we wanted to find but couldn’t – Mr Shaun. See, way back when we first got married we’d refer to each other as Mr Shaun and Mrs Jo, before we became Mummy and Daddy. So H was particularly excited to find a sheep with the same name as daddy!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 26, 2015 at 9:39am PDT

Sunday 30th August. Put on my Seasalt socks I bought in Cornwall. Felt happier for it. You can’t beat fresh socks and good patterns. We went to Decathlon and bought H a new bike for her birthday.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Aug 30, 2015 at 7:01am PDT

Monday 31st August. Went to the Carshalton Environmental Fair – and it was rainy. Wellies on, we were fine. They had a coconut shy – H had a couple of goes and won a coconut – she even managed to hit the coconuts a few times which was good to see – her hand-eye coordination is good!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Aug 31, 2015 at 7:52am PDT

Tuesday 1st September. I realise this probably looks ridiculous. This is PeePee Boy. He is a device from China for checking when your water is warm enough for tea. You soak him in cold water for ten minutes, boil your water and pop PeePee Boy in there. If it’s just right then yep, you guessed it, he does a pee. Shaun’s sister (who lives in Viet Nam but lived in China) sent us a package over!

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 1, 2015 at 8:06am PDT

Wednesday 2nd September. At 11pm I was hastily stamping up H’s school things with my Stamptastic stamp kit for the following morning – I cannot go on enough about how brilliant they are – this is our third year using the stamp pad and it’s still going strong.

A photo posted by Jo Brooks (@mumfriendlyjo) on Sep 2, 2015 at 2:49pm PDT

Thursday 3rd September. Back to school – so here’s the obligatory Year 2 picture. Shaun took this in the morning, I took my usual gate picture and compared them against previous first days – she’s grown an entire head!!

Friday 4th September. We had a lazy movie day after school today – watching Grease for the first time. My daughter being the reader she is, found the lyrics to the songs just as Greased Lightning was on. It was swiftly confiscated… the original photo didn’t take, annoyingly.

Saturday 5th September. Birthday Party prep – as in, making frozen icing Lego bricks for H’s birthday cake. Shaun takes all birthday cake responsibilities very seriously, and after browsing the internet found the cake he wanted to make. All H wanted was a Lego cake, and somehow I had the foresight to buy moulds – so we had dairy free chocolate moulds of Lego men, and icing Lego bricks – which only work if you freeze them.

So instead, have two pictures for today.