Our moments that mattered in 2013.

Being a parent there are so many moments throughout the year that matter, milestones and skills are mastered, achievements and adventures are accomplished and your child grows up so fast, changing and growing up in a blink of an eye.  As I cherish the moments that matter, especially moments with Bug I try to capture all moments ,from little everyday moments and seeing the joy and specialness in the mundane to big special, once in a life time moments, in photographs so that I can treasure the moments that matter to me forever.

2013 was a pretty eventful year for us.  Bug had his second birthday and throughout the year he changed, mastering new milestones and gaining new skills, all the while getting bigger and growing up so quickly in front of my eyes.  As well as learning new words and polishing his language skills some of the other new skills Bug has learned includes peddling a trike, balancing on one foot, fine-tuning his football skills, falling in love with counting and singing his A,B,C’s to mummy and potty training to be dry both in the day and the night.

As well as experiencing good, positive moments during 2013 we also faced a number of hurdles, with trials and tribulations testing us throughout the year from our dog going missing for days, a large fire risking our lives and our home and a car accident which ended with our car being a right off.

Thankfully we overcame the trials and tribulations with the happy, memorable moments shining through the hardship we endured and the year ended on a high for us when we moved house not long before Christmas to a lovely new home in a brand new area.

Amongst the milestone achievements, the fun and adventures and the trials and tribulations some of my most memorable moments from 2013 are from the few days we had during a small family holiday a few miles from home.  Even though the holiday was not an expensive holiday and not far from home we had lots of fun, spending enjoyable days together as a family and making the most of daddy’s days off from work.

As we had so much fun together as a family during our little holiday when Lloyds Bank recently asked me what my moments that mattered were for 2013 our family holiday sprang to mind.  A few of the memorable moments from our holiday in beautiful Wales –

A day at the beach.

Even though we had lots of memorable and fun days at the beach during 2013 thanks to Lee’s busy work schedule all the other beach days we had during the year were missing daddy’s presence so when we spent the day at the beach during our holiday as family our beach day became a memorable and special one.

*  I love the photograph I took of the setting sun, finalising our day long fun filled trip to the beach.

*  Bug loved strolling along the beach looking for interesting shells and pebbles as well as looking for creatures in the rock pools.  He was intrigued when daddy pointed out a jellyfish on the sand.

*  Bug had lots of fun splishing and splashing in the sea, using his spade to fill his bucket with soggy sand and sea water.

*  My favourite photograph that captured our lovely day at the beach is of Bug and his daddy giggling in delight as they splash mummy from the sea.

Conquering Cilgerran Castle.

*  During our holiday we visited Cilgerran Castle where Bug had lots of fun exploring the grounds and conquering the castle as he climbed the spiral staircases in the towers and walked along the bridges to claim the whole castle as his.

Fun at Folly Farm.

We also had a fabulous day at Folly Farm during our holiday where Bug had lots of fun playing and visiting all the animals at Folly Farm.

*  During our visit to Folly Farm the Fire Brigade were also visiting which Bug was over the moon about as he got to proudly sit in the Fire Engine with a bright yellow fireman hat that we bought for him sitting.

*  This particular trip to Folly Farm was also the first time that Bug was tall enough to ride on the go-karts and he has lots of fun whizzing around the race track with his daddy at the helm.

*  Whilst at Folly Form we had to do our usual trip to one of Bug’s favourite animals, the Meerkat’s where I delighted in seeing Bug’s beaming smile as he watched the Meerkat’s scamper around.

*  Both Bug and I were thrilled about seeing the new Penguin’s at Folly Farm, watching them swim and dive in the water.

*  With Lee missing out on lots of fun and adventures whilst at work I loved seeing Bug and him play and have lots of fun together especially when they were climbing the castle climbing frame.

A trip to the Teifi Marsh.

Our little family holiday also included a visit to the Welsh Wildlife Centre and Teifi Marsh.

*  We had a lovely and relaxing day strolling around the Teifi Marsh Nature Reserve.

*  Bug loved the large willow sculpture of a Badger overlooking the beautiful landscape.

So there’s a few of the moments that mattered to me in 2013, I cannot wait to see what moments 2014 brings.

What are your moments that mattered in 2013?  I would love to know.