What the Davies' do: Liverpool central library...

I don't understand why we've never had an afternoon here before as a family.  The only reason I can think of is that it's the place where they go with my Dad.  When he has the kids every other Saturday afternoon for a few hours, like he has done for a good few years, they switch up between Liverpool Library, World Museum and the Walker Art Gallery.

I'd only set foot inside the library for a few minutes before this day.  Think I'd picked up a coffee at the Costa situated at the entrance.  But I'd not spent any further time inside.  

This day was one of those 'lull' days through the Christmas holiday when you have absolutely no idea what day it is.  In fact I think this may have actually fallen just into New Year - maybe the 3rd or 4th of January.  My Dad is on a long holiday until the end of next month and has been away since New Year.  So when we were thinking of places to go together as a family, and I won't lie - trying to avoid costly entry fees and overpriced food, we finally decided on a trip to the Library and the Walker gallery.  The kids were happy as they know the places well and they also got excited that they could show us what they usually get up to on a weekend.

The Library is great.  I love libraries anyway.  I'm one of those people who loves the smell of books.  That combined with soft whispers that go hand in hand with library etiquette and the option to actually enjoy a coffee too...?  Winner!   We only ventured into the kids area, which is pretty big.  Plenty of activities for all ages; colouring in, obviously plenty of books, computers for the older ones to study and research on.  All in all - it's a wonderful way to spend a few hours of family time and that is what we did.  

And so here are a few images that accompany our afternoon.

Thanks for looking ~ Fleur x

(As always, click into the images for better quality viewing...  Thanks!)

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In the garden with the Wildman family... memories of summer.

It seems that we've hit September and autumn has settled itself right in weather wise.  Now, I'm not one to moan - I love autumn; the colours of the leaves, the smells of spiced foods and drinks, the tv dramas set to air in the darker evenings.  And my birthday is the end of September too - so what's not to love?... Ahh....

But,  I do spend a little while - maybe a couple of weeks or so once the cooler weather arrives, to mourn the summer.  As I fold away our t shirts and shorts, our dresses and sandals, I think about how much I'll miss days spent in the garden, afternoons at the park and evenings at the beach in the warm air.   What is wonderful though is that I document so much in the summer - all our days out and family time in the sunshine.  And I have also been blessed this year to document other families too.  The Wildman family being one of them.

It has generally been a warm summer with a few odd showers here and there in August.  One of those months were you wake up to cool, and sometimes damp breezes, to arrive at lunchtime with the sun cracking the flags and you're getting desperate for an ice cream.  The day I visited the Wildman home was just like that.  The evening prior had been wet and windy.  The rain didn't really go off until the early hours on the day of our session together.  And fortunately for us the contrary weather last month was on our side.  I arrived mid morning to a sun filled back garden and I was invited to document the fun the family had together.  Watering the plants and flowers.  Visiting the playhouse.  Watching the bees collect pollen and running and jumping together.  Altogether a wonderful time spent preserving a little bit of summer for a lovely, fun loving family.

Here are a few of my favourites from their session.

Thanks for looking ~ Fleur x 

(as always, click into the images for higher quality viewing.)

What the Davies' do: Studio time with Miles.

A little collection of my son and his favourite slogan t shirts.  Some more relevant than others. Ha!

I love that I am able to capture him and all his expressions.  Kids do pull the funniest of faces and don't even care and I love that too.  So we spent a short while in my studio a few weeks ago taking some photos for his room (and for my memories).

I bet your kids are full of character...  Make sure you capture them as much as you can.  Remember and preserve those expressions and funny little faces they make while they're still little.   

Thanks for looking.  Fleur x

(click into the images for better quality viewing...  thanks!)

A Mother's Dream : Team Davies visit Speke Hall...

A Mother's Dream:  Team Davies visit Speke Hall.

We used to be Chester Zoo members.  We loved it.  We had begun our membership there when our eldest turned 1 and as our family grew we watched the already impressive zoo go through big changes and show brilliant exhibitions.  We'd spend days at the zoo in the summer and go for short trips on Sunday afternoons in the winter.  We were lucky to be able to do this and that the zoo was only a 25 minute drive away.  But in the last 12 months our kids have begun to enjoy time there less and less.  Not that it still isn't a wonderful place, but they knew it like the backs of their hands, we all did.  And the time had come where they would ask to go to different places and try different days out.  We needed an alternative.

So in April this year we decided to cancel the renewal of our zoo membership.  I felt sad about it, and I hope that someday, maybe in a couple of years we'll pick it back up again.   While we were making the decision about our cancelation we knew we wanted to find something that was just as cost effective for our family of 5 as our zoo membership had been.  Enter the National Trust.

Last summer we'd visited a couple of places within the National Trust, Formby beaches being one of them.  We'd learn that on that day where we'd paid £5 to park in the NT carpark for the area that we could have been monthly paid up family members for under £10 a month and the car parking would have been included.  Amazing value.  So as soon as we left Chester Zoo behind we walked into a family NT membership.  And we haven't looked back as of yet.  We've visited Formby beach (again), Chirk Castle (great place), and a few weeks ago Speke Hall.  What a wonderful day it was!  We couldn't believe how much time we spent there.  We actually could've stayed a lot longer than we did.  

Our day was filled with outdoor play areas, walks in the woods, admiring the main gardens, picnicking on the lawn, exploring the house, learning about the history of the Hall, discovering the secret garden and much more...

Not a lot more to say now other than to hand you over to the photos that accompany this post.  We had a great day and we're thoroughly looking forward to many more within our National Trust membership.

Thanks for reading peeps.

x Fleur x 

PS - the NT haven't paid me or anything for this post.  Just think their membership is pretty great!

Oh and when you're done viewing the following photos, you can pop over to the next post in the 'A Mother's Dream' blog circle by clicking HERE.

(as always, click into the pics to see them at best posted quality.)