The Cupcakes Go to Cambridge ~ Beyond The Ice House 2017

Every 2 years we venture up to Cambridge to visit family and listen to local music at Beyond The Ice House on my Aunt and Uncles land. We meet up with cousins from Cambridge and Portsmouth plus Grandparents, several aunts and uncles and a lot of friends of the family including a real friendly bunch from Mount Dora, America, who were camped out in the meadow we were in.

The Mount Dora Crew

The ice house is an invite only event my Aunt and Uncle run every couple of years. There are drinks, live music, loads of food based on the bring and share theme plus laughter, games and plenty of people to chat to. The main aim of this event is not just about having a good time but raising money for Camfed, a charity that works to educate girls and support young women in rural communities in Africa. My Uncle worked in Zambia years ago and saw first hand the lack of education for girls. Ever since then Beyond The Ice House has raised money for the charity. The total I've just seen for this year is £6550.15 which is AMAZING

The Holiday

As usual we had ourselves a little caravan, it was difficult to be here given this was our first holiday as a single parent family. The kids took a day to adjust too. By Saturday we were all much happier. We had bacon in the field in the morning, then went in to Cambridge (that was a near disaster, thankfully my friend rescued me!) we managed to catch up a bit whilst the children played but didn't spend nearly enough time together so have decided to do a girls day out somewhere in the near future!

When we got back it was pool time which is probably the highlight for all the children. Mr K met us at the house too which was so wonderful. We all got to chill out together with the children getting to know him a little before going back to swimming. We listened to some local bands and some American groups (including those folks from Mount Dora who got people in the spirit!)

Here are some photos from the holiday:
With thanks to my sister 

 I asked the children what their favourite bits of the holiday were:

Midge: "My very favourite part of the holiday was having loads of fun in the swimming pool, especially when I swam on my own! I loved seeing all my cousins so much"

Little A: " I liked the swimming pool and eating 'macon' (bacon) in the morning."

A successful event and a successful first solo parenting holiday for me!

Cupcake Mumma

Our Week that Was ~ Week 35

Another week and it was the last one of October. Last week was half term and we spent 4 days of it at Trevella Park. On Monday we finished packing up and tidying the house. My mother in law collected Peppa and then my aunt arrived to collect us! We arrived just after half 3 to our home for the half term. We settled in pretty quick. Mr B checked out the on site shop and cafe while the children and I battened down the hatches for a rough night! Our first night wasn't great because I'm not used to the noise and A was unsettled (as expected away from his room and bed).

It's okay though because on Tuesday we all got showered and dressed and headed to Newquay. We lunched on the beach, drew in the sand then went to the aquarium. We all loved the aquarium, I want to visit the Plymouth one next year I think. I loved the turtles and the fire bellied frogs, Mr B loved the Sharks and giant turtle, Lils loved the sea horses and turtles and A loved the Sharks and getting splashed by the ray! On Wednesday we went to a Halloween party and on a spooky walk at the park which was great fun. We also played crazy golf in the morning which was really good fun for us all. Wednesday was the best day of the holiday for us all I think!

On Thursday it was my birthday! I opened my cards in bed and my presents. I got notebooks, decorations for our home, new welly boots and a hamper of yummy goodies from my Gran and Aunt. I may have sneaked a free from rocky road slice for breakfast. We sorted a taxi in the late morning and headed off to Newquay Zoo for the day.

At the zoo we saw loads of different animals, the children got to pat the goats, we saw the zebras and lions and the Penguins being fed. I checked out the gift shop and bought the most adorable little teddy plus some postcards (naturally) which I am very happy with. We ate out at the cafe (Mr B wasn't happy, he thinks you need a mortgage to eat at these places, he is kinda right to be fair!) and after our long but fun day we went back to the caravan for chips and birthday cake. I also had to sadly start packing for our early leave the following day.

Over the weekend we unpacked and did all the boring chores you have to do. The children dressed up for Halloween and Mr B took them out to the neighbours for trick or treating while I stayed home to dish out some of our sweets. As I get older I find I'm getting more mixed emotions about many things and one of them is Halloween which I've always loved! The children had a great time anyway and we also made cupcakes for our pudding, yum!

If you've blogged about your week, share it with me in the comments below!

Cupcake Mumma