The bad weather plan

There’s no guarantees with the weather. Your best-laid plans can still go awry when a sudden downpour comes along or the winds become too blustery for the children to go outside. That’s when you need to have a bad weather plan for some great indoor activities to keep the little ones entertained until the weather sorts itself out.

It’s time to take the boredom out of rainy days and get the children excited about all the fun they can have indoors.

Indoor Games

Being inside doesn’t limit your options as much as you might think. You can still get the children being active without ruining all your prized possessions and causing too much of a stir.

First up is hide and seek, the game that never goes out of style. Check the house for good hiding spots, make sure the kids are safe to hide there and then get your eyes covered, count to 20 (to give them a chance of finding somewhere good) and pretend you can’t see their feet from under the curtains.

Babywearing whatever the weather.

Since Jelly Bean’s arrival I have been able to fully indulge in my love of babywearing once again, especially as my days of wearing Bug were becoming ever few and far between.

As one of the reasons I love babywearing with Jelly Bean is that it enables me to carry on having fun and adventures with Bug I have been looking at the different options out there to help me babywear whatever the weather – especially as we love having adventures in all kinds of weathers including the rain, cold and wind.

Our motto is ‘get the clothing right for the weather and our adventures can carry on regardless’.

 Bug enjoying a very wet day at the beach

So that our adventures can continue with Jelly Bean being part of them as I keep him close to me, I have been considering the options below for babywearing whatever the weather.

Bye bye storms and flooding? Hello snow??

Fierce storms battered the UK as we said a wet and windy goodbye to 2013 and a stormy hello to 2014, with Mother Nature leaving devastation in her wake thanks to torrential rain, fierce winds, flooding and tidal waves the country has been storm ravaged again and again over the past few weeks.   

Storm surges have savaged miles of coastline with the power of the storms having collapsed cliffs and wrecked sea fronts with homes and businesses along the coast being flooded and battered by the wind and water.  Thousands of acres of countryside have been left underwater and rivers have overflowed leading to immense flooding throughout the country with hundreds of homes flooded across Britain.  The misery of the storms has seen hundreds of flood alerts being issued with villages and towns being evacuated for safety.  Devastatingly the damage caused by the storm has not been limited to the coast, countryside and homes as sadly lives have been lost due to the bad weather.

After weeks of immense storms the severe weather warnings issued by the Environment Agency have at last expired but the risk of further flooding remains due to the impact of the vast rainfall already experienced and further forecasts of rain with water still draining into rivers which could lead to further overflowing of some rivers. 

A wet and windy end to 2013 and a stormy start to 2014.

Over the past few weeks the UK has been battered by storms, with strong winds and excessive rain causing havoc and damage across many parts of the UK.  Thanks to the unrelenting weather sadly many people across the country have been affected by flooding and damage to their homes.  Sadly countless people were affected by the unforgiving weather over Christmas and the New Year, with 2014 starting on a very damp note.

Luckily apart from experiencing strong winds and heavy rain we have not been affected badly by the storms with the only casualty of the weather being our fence but sadly there has been areas near where we now live and near where we have recently moved from where friends and family still live that has been gravely affected by the bad weather.

Even though we were not affected directly by the bad weather in our new home the town where we now live, Haverfordwest did experience some limited flooding especially when the tide peaked causing the River Cleddau to overflow.  Keeping safe and dry from the weather (apart from the odd dash to the shops where poor Bug and I would return home as drowned rats in spite of rain covers and umbrellas being used and coats zipped up tight) I kept abreast of how our new county of Pembrokeshire was fairing in the bad weather.  Thanks to Radio Pembrokeshire and Pembrokeshire County Councils social media updates and the Western Telegraphs’ live updates as flooding hit Pembrokeshire I heard all about how the county was being affected and could witness the damage through the photographs they were posting.

Severe wind and weather.

Source: metoffice.gov.uk

Playing in puddles.

Both Bug and I love being outdoors.  Bug loves playing outside with his bikes, trikes, balls and slide.  He loves trips to the park and gets giddy with excitement when we go to woodlands, wildlife centres and nature reserves for walks.  He loves going for walks, running around like a little mad man, exploring and having lots of fun.  He also loves going to the beach, playing in the sand and splashing in the sea.

I like for Bug to enjoy the great outdoors in a variety of ways and in different weather conditions.  We have had lots of fun outdoors regardless of the weather.  We have enjoyed the beach countless times in the beautiful sunshine and we have enjoyed the beach in the pouring down rain.  We have had fun going for country walks in the rain as well as on sunny days.  We have made the most of puddles left by the rain for puddle jumping play and have had fun filled times making a muddy mess playing with mud and dirt.  We have also had wintery fun playing in the snow.

This week in between downpours of torrential rain Bug made the most of the big puddles left by the rain when we grabbed a chance of playing outside for a short while before the rain returned once again.

Bug zoomed around the farm tracks on his bike looking for puddles to race through.

Rain, rain go away…..come again another day.

For the last few days all we have had is rain, rain and lots more rain.  Even though I don’t hate the rain it is starting to annoy me and get in the way of fun adventures with Bug plus it makes drying clothes outside impossible.

At the beginning of the week we managed to get outside for a little bit in between showers of rain and Bug had lots of fun riding on his bike making use of the big puddles left by the rain to zoom through.  As Bug loves racing around outside on his bike on Tuesday when we got caught in a shower of rain he zoomed off refusing to go back inside, ending up like a drowned little rat.  

Thankfully though it was only a small shower so Bug could play outside for a little while longer but predictably the rain didn’t stay away for that long though and we have been chased back inside by torrential rain before Bug ended up being more of a drowned rat than he already was.

On Wednesday I saw hope of having a dry few days.  Making the most of the dry weather Bug and I managed a little play at the park in town before we went shopping.  But alas the dry weather did not last and within a few hours the rain was hammering down once more.

With all the rainy weather and cold days we have been having of late I think it is time I get Bug a new puddlesuit and some winter clothes so we can play outside whatever the weather.

Rain, rain, rain (Project 365 - 255/365).

Hot, hot, hot.....keeping cool thanks to fridge freezer technology.

Even though we have been enjoying the lovely weather of late I have welcomed the cooler weather that has arrived over the past few days.  Both Bug and I found the sweltering heat a tad unbearable.  In an attempt to cool down a little and find cooling relief to the oppressive heat we have been savouring cold drinks and icy-cold homemade ice lollies.

With our excessive consumption of cold drinks and ice lollies during the overbearing heatwave our fridge freezer has taken a hammering.  Our poor old fridge freezer has been working excessively hard keeping our drinks refreshingly cold and freezing our yummy homemade ice lollies for us to enjoy as an icy-cold refreshing treat.

I have been extremely grateful that our fridge freezer has not conked out on us with it being so old and struggling to keep up with our demand of cold and frozen food and drinks.  Our fridge freezer is years old, I have had it a number of years and was given it by a family friend who had it for a number of years before then, so it is surprising that it is still working.

Rainy day at the beach (Project 365 - 147/365).

Wild weather....fingers crossed for some nice weather.

As I sit here looking out the window the day is looking drab and the weather far from lovely.  This month here we have had all manners of weather; from blue skies and sunshine to grey clouds and drab days to dark skies and thunder storms to torrential rain and wild winds to hail and freezing winds. 

We have only been fortunate to have a handful of sun filled days this month and I am yearning for a lovely sunny days where I can bask up the sun’s rays and enjoy a lovely country walk in the heat of the sun.  On the rare days when the sun has been shining bright I have made the most of the lovely weather and headed out with Bug for country walks, having little adventures in the great outdoors.

A touch of snow came to visit during the night (Project 365 - 18/365).