Our lives are busy, too busy at times if I'm honest. I work 4 days and Tom works 5 days plus all the extra bits that come with being a teacher - evenings spent lesson planning, parent's evenings, weekends marking coursework. Add all of that on top of life with a 1 year old, fitting in time to blog, creating recipes, making and editing videos for my YouTube channel, endless DIY while we try to convert our house in to a home and making time for each other as a family and a couple.... it often feels like there are not enough hours in the day.
Last Sunday was the Bank Holiday weekend and we were fortunate to wake up to the sun shining. Over the past 6 weeks Tom has worked hard to clear all of the rubbish from the garden (thanks to the previous owners), he's ripped down the old shed, built a new one and sorted out the bedraggled lawn.
The gardens in our past two rented houses haven't been great so to finally have a decent outdoor space is amazing. Ethan now has somewhere to play, we have somewhere to enjoy as a family and I can actually hang washing out!
With the sun shining we decided to get out in to the garden and make the most of the nice weather while it lasted. We lit a disposable barbecue, cooked a few burgers and sausages (that we then had to transfer to a camping stove as the barbecue was useless) and enjoyed time together as a family.
As it was Half Term the following week we were able to make the most of the weather without the lingering need to plan lessons for the week ahead. Tom could truly relax while I sat back and watched my boys together.
Our garden isn't large but it's the perfect size for us. We treated ourselves to a new dining set as we can't afford a summer holiday this year with the hope that we can enjoy plenty of time in our little outdoor space.
It was a simple Sunday but one that I'll remember for a long time. We put up Ethan's tent and tunnel, brought his slide out of the shed and laid a blanket on the grass. I lost count of how many times he had us pushing his toy aeroplane down the slide whilst he burst into laughter every time it hit the grass.
He played among the new gravel stones passing them back and forth to us while I watched him like a hawk, paranoid that he would try and eat them. When it was nap time we popped him in the pram and took a walk to the petrol station to pick up a few beers as we live in a tiny village and the only other shop is closed on a Sunday. While Ethan snoozed Tom got busy with the barbecue and I relished 10 minutes peace in the sunshine.
It was a quiet yet lovely day. We both relaxed and enjoyed our time together as a family. The household jobs were forgotten in favour of time spent outside and I'm so glad we did. Tom even said it was the best Sunday he's had in ages.
It felt like the first glimpse of summer and I'm really hoping we have lots more of these days to come. Lazy days in the garden - is there anything better?
