Sorry

Hello readers sorry I've not been about :(  This is a very quick post to let you all know we are back in the UK safely. I will be doing a few holiday catch up posts and a post about "Elle" (more on that coming soon). Myself and the boys are going through a pretty rough time at the moment and I ask that you are patient with me for a week or two. All the catch up stuff and a better explanation of the "rough stuff" will come then. In the meantime I am just concentrating on myself and my beautiful boys.

Be Back soon

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Poorly Times

Hello readers just a quick post tonight I'm afraid as the last 2 days have been filled with illness.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning Ben woke up feeling sick. Throughout Wednesday morning and daytime he was sick a total of 5 times. We are pretty sure that he swallowed some pool water on Tuesday and the chlorine upset his tummy. As I write this post on Thursday evening he is back to normal and has not been sick for over 24 hours.

Today we intended to go out however the weather had other plans in store for us. There was a snow blizzard here in Cyprus lol (crazy I know but true). As a result of the cold weather and the fast snowfall affecting my vision I had my first MD attack since April :(
I had really hoped to make it a year attack free but hey if your going to be ill then Cyprus is the place to do it. Even in the snow the views from the apartment are stunning. The attack itself was not to bad no vomiting and no falls although had Lee not been about to keep me upright I would almost certainly have ended up a heap on the floor. Medication and LOTS of sleep later and I'm feeling a lot better now.

The plan is providing no one else gets sick in the meantime to have a very active day tomorrow to make up for our 2 days lost to illness. We hope to do the following.....
Tomb of the kings with a picnic lunch
Loony Land
Watch Paddington at the cinema
Have an evening meal at TGI Friday's

So hopefully tomorrow I will have a much more interesting post for you all.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

Doing nothing in beautiful surroundings

Hello readers I am feeling much better today. I still have the sniffles but a relaxing day in the sun and regular paracetamol and throat lozenges seem to have done me the world of good. As I'm feeling much better we will be having a day out tomorrow Tombs of the kings and a picnic me thinks :)

Today we didn't do much really. We stayed at the apartment and enjoyed sunbathing and playing in the pool as it was really warm. Even I put on my cozzy and sat on the edge with my legs in the pool (the water was still way to cold for my liking to get in completely lol). We took a stroll into peyia in the early evening sun to pick up a few bits and pieces (we ran out of drink, bread, and cereal). I have to tell you readers I absolutely love it here. I love the people, the food, the weather, the atmosphere, everything. If I ever win the lottery I am buying myself a little villa and moving here lol. Tonight I am cooking cheese and ham pie with chips for tea no eating out today.

Here are some pictures from our day.....

Brandons teddies enjoying the sunshine

A few pool shots

Lord of the manor lol

More pool shots

Another selfie in the sun

My little cutie pie

Even Lee braved the cold water today

Beautiful sunset over Cyprus

Sometimes doing nothing is all it takes to feel a bit better.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

Frugal fun day out

Hello readers glad to see you are enjoying my holiday posts :)

Today we took the bus into paphos to a large soft play centre called Loony land. We were very impressed. It is really large has the usual soft play areas as well as a ball blaster zone, large slide, trampolines, and mini ten pin bowling. The best part was the price €5 each for the 2 little ones so €10 total or £8 sterling. For that not only do they get unlimited play but they get their hand stamped so that you can go off and do other things and return for free any time that day. They also have free WiFi so the parents can keep themselves entertained whilst the munchkins are off having fun. The boys really enjoyed this and we was there for about 3 hours altogether so £8 well spent. On Sunday they are having a carnival party where not only will they get the usual unlimited play but will also have games, dancing, face painting, a magician, and a competition for the best fancy dress. All of this is for the same price of €5 per child and the boys have said they would like to do this.

We had lunch at burger king today this is what we had and what we paid.....
4 Large double cheese burger meals
1 Kids chicken nugget meal
2 Portions of onion rings
2 Oreo ice creams
1 Strawberry crunch ice cream
1 Ice cream cone
1 Chocolate souffle with ice cream

Total cost €32 So about £25.60 Not bad for the five of us and the amount we had to eat.

Here are some pictures from our day.....

Waiting for the bus in the sunshine

If you click to enlarge the picture you will see the cafe in the background is called Ben's :)

Me and the munchkins

Such a handsome young man

Brandon trapped in a bubble lol

My cheeky little monkey

He bought this little toy gun from a toy shop for just €0.99 So about 80p

My boy is growing up so quickly

This is the bracelet I have bought as gifts for the folks back home. I have bought various different colours but I of course had to have a pink one for myself lol

Can you tell I am absolutely shattered and have a rotten cold lol

Tomorrow we are going to have a relaxed day at the apartment. As I say I have a rotten cold and although I've not had a vertigo attack for a LONG time now (last one was back in April) I do still have all the other symptoms of menieres disease and I tire easily. So I've taken some paracetamol and throat lozenges and I'm off to hit the hay. Night night from Cyprus my lovely readers.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx

Beautiful sunny day

Hello readers sorry no post last night I was super tired after another busy but fun day.

Yesterday we went into coral bay for a spot of lunch (Lee's treat). It was lovely Lee had freshly caught from the bay fish and chips. I had a taste and readers it was divine. I had a homemade burger and chips the burger was delicious made with herbs and onions it was yummy. Brad had the same as me, Ben had chicken curry, and Brandon had chicken nuggets and chips. For dessert Lee had sticky toffee pudding with icecream, me and Ben had chocolate pudding with icecream, Brad and Brandon had icecream with chocolate sauce. It was completely delicious and indulgent and cost Lee €50.

After lunch we got a bus into paphos so we could have a look in the mall and take the boys to the arcade to spend some of their money. They had a fab time and I even won this little chap for Brandon.....

It only took €4 To win him so around £3.20

We wasn't to impressed with the shops as they were all very boutiquey and VERY expensive so not my cup of tea at all. That said Brandon did need some new shoes and i managed to pick him up a lovely sturdy pair in the sale.

They should have cost €70 but I paid €20 So around £16 sterling and they are very good quality.

Today we have had a relaxing day at the apartment. It has been lovely and warm so I took advantage of this and cleaned the apartment and got all the washing done and hung out to dry. The boys have had fun playing in the pool although the water was a little to cold for me to get in myself lol. This evening we went to a little taverna for dinner. We have been eating out quite a bit but readers the food over here is delicious, fresh, and very cheap. By the time we get back to the UK I will be 3 stone heavier lol. Hey ho we are all having a fab time and not breaking the bank which is always a bonus :)

Here are some pictures from our day.....

I get to wake up to this every morning for two weeks :)

The boys taking a dip

Just because we are away does not mean the washing stops lol

A selfie in the sun

Ben enjoying his pop

I need to have Brandon surgically removed from his kindle at some point lol

And I'm going to have Lee surgically removed from his phone at the same time lol

Brandon watching the football 

Boys playing pool

I really must teach them the rules as they seem to make them up as they go along lol

Brandon was refereeing the match lol

Me with middle munchkin

Me with messy chops lol

Hope you are enjoying all these holiday posts and that I'm not boring you to much.

Much Love
Claire xx xx xx

A rocky start

Hello readers well what a palava we have had with the apartment since we got here. When we arrived Wednesday the apartment clearly was not ready for guests. It was untidy and a little dirty, no bedding or towels set out, no tv, no WiFi, and marks all over the sofa bed. I had to tidy up and clean the place, we had to hunt to find the towels and bedding. After 2 days and 4 phone calls we finally have WiFi but still no TV (sigh). Apparently the TV signal receiver is broken so the manager of the apartment has taken it away to be fixed and won't be back here until Monday to update us on things. So it will be almost a week of our 2 week holiday with no TV. I'm not bothered myself as I don't watch TV much but we could do with it to help keep the boys entertained when we are in the apartment. We have phoned the owner of the apartment to complain as I don't want us losing our damages deposit for things that are not done by us (the satellite dish on the floor of the balcony, marks on the sofas etc). We have been told that the place was not ready, dirty, marks on sofa etc as the manager did not expect guests and the decorators had been in and left the place messy. The owner has offered us a refund of £55 plus our full damages deposit returned. So although we have had a rocky start we are satisfied with the outcome.

Anyway I promised to share lots of pictures of our holiday so here are some more.....

Brad being given the safety talk

My little munchkin

Two of my favourite guys

Me and the Mr

Brandon in the kiddie kart

The three wise monkeys

Just after I took this he crashed into some bushes lol

Ben looking at the pool below 

Our view to the left

Apartment shared pool

Brandons teddy Brother Max catching some rays

Ben preparing himself lol

Holy cow batman this waters freezing

Do I or don't i

Raving mad the 3 of them lol

Me in the apartment we have rented

Yesterday we went for a lovely long mountain walk into town. I'm not sure how far we walked but it took us about 2 hours as Lee managed to get us lost lol. It was all down hill but pretty steep and this morning my legs were in agony lol. Never mind I will take the Troodos mountains over the gym any day of the week lol. Half way through our walk we stopped at a little taverna where they were offering cooked breakfast for €2.90 So about £2.40 give or take a few pennies. For our £2.40 we got the following...

2 eggs

2 rashers of bacon

1 sausage

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Baked beans

2 slices of toast

Glass of orange juice

Not bad hey ? 

We then took the boys go karting. It was amazing and soooo much fun readers. It was a pretty big track and the karts went pretty fast to. In the interests of honesty I will tell you this was not a cheap activity in fact it was quite expensive but we are on holiday and the boys each put €20 of their spending money towards the cost.

I had a double kart for myself and Brandon for 15 minutes €30

Lee had a kart for 15 minutes €20

Brad and Ben had a kart each for 30 minutes €30 each

Brandon had a kiddie kart for 10 minutes €8

This is the most expensive activity we will do whilst we are here and we hope to do it once more before we go as it really was a blast.

Today we spent most of the day at the apartment so we could all have showers and I could get the washing done and hung up to dry. We did pop into coral bay to have a little look around and I managed to source a few reasonable priced activities that we may do (one is a glass bottomed boat trip and the other is a carnival in limissol). I also managed to pick up some frugal gifts for my parents, best friend and God daughter, and S who is house and pet sitting. Everyone has got a pretty handmade Cypriot bracelet each. They were supposed to cost €3 each so €18 in total but the lovely chap charged me a flat €15. So all my gifts are done for the bargain price of €15 or £12 sterling. When we got back the boys went in the pool for a while but not for long lol. They had been bugging me since we arrived about going in the pool but I kept telling them it was to cold. Well today I gave in and let them haha I think they have learnt a valuable lesson today (always listen to mummy). It was freezing cold and within 10 minutes they had had enough and wanted to get out lol.

Anyway off to make tea something quick and easy tonight beans and cheese on toast.

Much Love

Claire xx xx xx