A new routine

As has been previously mentioned (once or twice!), Jasmine starts school in September.  Not only is this an emotional wrench, but it will mark the beginning of a whole new routine for our family.

For the first 20 months of Jasmine's life, we relished family days out.  Midweek, term time, was our family time and these days will stay with me forever.  I often look back on the time we got stuck in the car park of a pub in East Sussex with such fond memories!

By the time Sonny arrived in the latter half of 2010, the routine was shifting towards a more structured week with the addition of clubs, classes and nursery sessions.  Free time began to be limited and we had far fewer family days out.  This is one regret of mine, though I do see that the children have learnt a lot from the clubs that they participate in.

However, now we have a lovely long summer stretching before us and it is time to redress the balance!  Our first adventures will take place in la belle France where we will be holidaying for two glorious weeks.  We are also lucky to live in Worthing for the sole reason that it is easy to get to so many other places, so the rest of the summer can be spent exploring closer to home.  We are a brief train ride from both Brighton and Chichester and just over an hour away from London and Portsmouth. 

The children and I have talked about the farms and attractions that we would like to revisit and also about places we have never been too.  Jasmine has expressed an interest in visiting "Legoland, Thomas Land and Thailand" though I am unsure how likely the last two destinations will be!  Hopefully, we will make it to the science museum and tick a few more places off the endless "to visit" list.  I have bought the children a scrapbook so that they can document our daily adventures with photographs, drawings and any tickets and assorted memorabilia we may accrue.

Then, when September arrives, we will have many memories to look back on and smile over and will be able to appreciate our new routine.  School, nursery and clubs will fill our week days, but the weekend and holidays will be ours, for adventures aplenty.  Despite being sad that Jasmine is about to begin her school days, I am excited that our weekends will gain a more meaningful shape.  They will be our family days, days to explore and to cherish, days for camping, walking, cycling and seeing together.

As Jasmine said last week, "I can't wait until Daddy buys a van and takes me to see all the things I haven't seen before."

Neither can I, Jazzy, neither can I.