Life & Loves Lately #6 - Sea Life Centre Birmingham, Geronimo Festival and Ethan turns three

I've been pretty quiet on here these past couple of weeks. Quieter than normal and it's not because I don't have things to share or topics I want to write about, it's just an issue of time.

Isn't that always the case?

The down side of 'having it all', I guess. Career. Family. Friends. House. Interests. Trying to cater to them all, all the time, is pretty tiring at times but all is good and having a brief break from almost daily blog posts has been good.

I feel refreshed and I also feel more relaxed about things than I have in the past. My blog is still here and people are still reading, despite on a couple of posts in a couple of weeks - and I've had the chance to get quite a few things done.

So, what have I been doing?

Well, last week I had off as holiday. We needed a break but had big plans for our home and also Ethan's third birthday and some hen do prep needing attention, so there was no rest for the wicked.

I've got loads to share with you about our home updates but for now, I'll just say that we spent two days working hard to transform our lounge and hallway. We had an old gas fire and stone surround ripped out of our lounge (hurrah!), we repainted both spaces, moved furniture, stripped and painted the stairs and even hung new blinds all around the house too. You can see our inspiration for the lounge here.

We were exhausted but so proud by the end. And it feels like we have really transformed our space. I still can't quite believe how different our home feels having done this - it's the biggest change we've made since we moved in almost 10 years ago and whilst the kitchen and bathroom really need attention (next year, hopefully), we are really pleased with what we've done.

A sneak peak - the big reveal to come soon!

There's always more to do, right? I'm just going to enjoy what we have achieved and not focus on the flooring that really needs attention... It will all come, in time.

On 5th May, Ethan turned three. The weekend before, we went to Yorkshire to stay with friends. It was one of their birthdays too and we had a nice couple of days, catching up as there's two weddings in our group in less than three months time so lots to talk about and organise.

We also went to Geronimo Festival, at Harewood House. I haven't written a full post about this as I probably would have done for two reasons. The event on the day we went (Sunday) received a backlash from those who went along, saying it hadn't been very well organised and how disappointing people found it to be. There was quite a bit on social media throughout the day and since and I felt that enough had perhaps been said. Also, we didn't end of staying very long. The weather wasn't very nice at all and it was so busy, with a huge queue to get in and queues for everything inside.

The main thing was the performers stage was packed and was rather low so you just couldn't see anything - let alone Ethan. It was a huge disappointment as we had told Ethan for weeks that he would be seeing Mr Tumble, along with his other Cbeebies favourites, for his birthday but there was no chance of us getting close.

This is the best photo we managed to get, due to the weather / a grumpy little face!

In fairness to the organisers, the weather really contributed to a lot of issues and to people's moods, and as with a lot of things, I think things snowballed as more and more people took to Twitter to complain. They posted some updates and a statement afterwards about how they were going to solve certain issues, so hopefully the second day and the event next Bank Holiday at Tatton Park go much better for people. I really hope so, because it is such a great event and line up for families.

On Ethan's birthday, we opened presents at home then went out for breakfast at Frankie and Benny's before a spot of shopping and a visit to Sea Life Centre Birmingham.

Ethan loves 'seeing the fishies' and we had a really nice time saying hello to the penguins, sharks and otters - plus Ethan loved the Octonauts 4D screening. The tunnel is closed at the moment as it's being transformed to give a 360 degree ocean experience, so we are very much looking forward to returning in a few weeks to see this new feature.

Ethan is growing up before our eyes and we are just having the best time together. He's so bright and chatty and affectionate too; we couldn't be more proud.

His potty training is moving along (I'll just say that we have had two number two's, and I'll leave it there) and he's learning letters and so much more (read a full update here). He's also been to stay with his Auntie and had a play date with a friend too, so his social calendar is much busier than ours.

I've got a hen do this weekend - the first of four for my two bride friends - so we're off to Liverpool - but that's all I can tell you, in case Nat is reading this right now!

I've got plenty of posts lined up to share soon, so stay tuned for some home reveals, shopping hauls, beauty picks and lots more over the coming days and next couple of weeks.