It turns out he was having a bit of a sleep regression and he has cut his first two teeth. No wonder the poor mite was so upset. Thankfully we have turned a corner (for now!) and I actually have some time on an evening to blog. I've really missed it. I've some family posts to share, a few recipes and I want to tell you all about our most recent cake club event.

For now I want to share some photos from last weekend when my parents and younger brother came to visit. Mum and Dad wanted to come and stay as it was Mum's birthday that weekend and as my brother Stephen is studying for his PGCE down in London he decided to come up for the weekend too. Now we live in a tiny two-bedroom house so 5 adults and a baby was a mighty squeeze but I loved it. I come from a big family who are always in an out of each other's pockets but living across the water means I miss out on that family time. Now don't get me wrong, Mr T's family are lovely but there are a lot less of them and well, it's just different. They are a lot more normal compared to the loons I'm related to!

Since Ethan came along we can no longer spend a lazy afternoon in the pub or just mooching around the house. Our little man needs to get out and now he is starting to get more mobile we have to think carefully about where we go with him. That boy may be little but one fell swoop and he can clear a table full of hot drinks!

We wanted to go for a walk but it had to be somewhere not too long as Dad can't manage long walks these days but I'm getting a bit bored of Otley and Ilkley's parks. I had always wanted to visit Valley Gardens in Harrogate and with the weather forecast looking dry we decided to head there.

Myself and Mr T both remarked that it really felt like autumn had arrived. Recently the weather has either been quite mild or raining but that day the air was fresh and crisp with the distinct sound of leaves crunching underfoot.

Valley Gardens is a wonderful place to visit and I can't believe we have never been considering how often we are in Harrogate. A 10 minute walk from the town centre (or 5 minutes from Bettys!) and you will find yourself in a beautiful park. It felt in many ways like we had stepped back in time but I find that with many parts of Yorkshire. So many buildings and streets have been so well preserved that you can almost imagine that it's not 2016 (until you spot someone taking a selfie, that is).

The playground was utterly fantastic and somewhere I think we shall be frequenting as Ethan gets older. If you have any little people I strongly recommend you take them there. We find some parks can be quite busy with children everywhere but everything was well spaced out with plenty of choice for the wee ones and older kids alike.

I loved watching Ethan interact with his Grandparents and Uncle Stephen. They only get to see him every 1-2 months but he's such a sociable and happy baby that he adored the attention that they lavished on him. From pushing him on the swings to taking him down the slide and giving lots of "kisses for Ethan," we all had a lovely family afternoon. It would be nicer if we could see more of my family but I find that having them further away makes me appreciate the time we do spend together so much more.

Some photos from our afternoon...

The hat, it just cracks me up!

Proud Grandparents. 

My boy. Honestly, we are so so lucky!

I just love his face in this picture. He's either laughing at me or with me...

Slide time with Uncle Stephen

"Why must you put me in this crazy hat??"

"Kisses for Ethan..."

I think we are having more fun than Ethan. He does not look impressed!

My boys...

This tree is just stunning, I had to stop and take a photo of it.