This is my finest achievement as an auntie. My nephew is a gamer. I bought Blake a spare controller for my PS4 and a copy of Lego Incredibles for Christmas. He’s hooked! When my sister first announced her pregnancy years ago, this was the part I was looking forward to—having a gaming buddy!My sister has just given birth to another child, Zac. Hopefully I can get him into gaming, too.…
Blake’s 4th Birthday Party
How do I have a 4 year old nephew already? (And another niece or nephew on the way). Happy birthday, Blake. I love when you FaceTime me and ask me to “bring the Nintendo”.
Blake’s Sleeping Over
My nephew, Blake, and I had a sleepover. We watched Monsters, Inc. (several times. This happens every time he visits), ate pizza, played hide and seek and decorated his toy truck with stickers.…
It’s Your Third Birthday!
My nephew, Blake, turned 3 on the 28th of May. I got up at 5AM to get a flight home from Amsterdam to surprise him for his birthday. In the run up to his birthday, he kept FaceTiming me and asking if I was coming to his party. The guilt was too much so I happily changed my flight to an earlier one.
Blake had a party at his house with all of his friends. There was a bouncy castle that I perhaps spent too much time on (wow, what a workout). The sun came out for his birthday and I think it was a success. Well done to my sister, Carolyn, for planning it all.
Blake
It’s been a few months since I shared a photo of Blake. He’s almost 3 and growing up quickly. We can have conversations now, which has made being an Auntie even more fun! Toys ‘R’ Us is shutting down so stock is 25% off. I bought him a Skye toy from the Paw Patrol series. I think he liked it.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! I spent Christmas in Edinburgh with my family this year. On Christmas Eve we went to The Paper Mill for dinner. The food and atmosphere was lovely, but we all agreed the service wasn’t great. This was the first Christmas my nephew has understood Santa and presents, so there was a lot of excitement on Christmas Day. I got an Amazon Echo, but these days I am enjoying giving presents more than receiving them.
Halloween With A Toddler
Oops, I’m late in posting these Halloween photos. I was lucky to spend Halloween with my nephew, Blake. He’s just over 2 years old and beginning to understand what Halloween is. Well, not in any depth—but that he gets to dress up and eat sweeties!
My sister, a dress designer, made my nephew’s costume. She asked him what he wanted to dress as and he was adamant he wanted to be a duck.
He got very sticky and hyper from all of the sugar, so we gave him a bath before bed time. It was a fun Halloween!
A Fairytale Winter In Pitlochry
My sister and I stayed at Atholl Palace on Sunday. We were treated to a three course dinner, access to the spa and a full-Scottish breakfast. I think it set both of us up for the festive period. It was like a winter wonderland!
This was all booked through 5PM, which has a selection of deals for Christmas. My sister and I are going to book my mum and her partner an overnight stay as a Christmas present. Don’t worry, my mum doesn’t read this blog.
We explored the Atholl Palace grounds on Sunday when we arrived. It had been snowing and it was freezing, but we heated up afterwards in the hot tub. Then we relaxed with cocktails in the bar before dinner.
This morning we popped into the village, Pitlochry, and wandered around the boutique shops. There was a Christmas shop, so we bought my nephew The Elf on the Shelf.
I would definitely return to Atholl Palace, but I’d book two nights and take advantage of some of the popular walks. We were lucky with the weather. It stayed dry except from a light dusting of snow. Beautiful!
Blake The Toddler
I can’t believe how big my nephew is getting! He’s definitely not a baby anymore. We’ve have such a good bond. My sister says he never stops saying my name, “Auntie Ashley”. That’s because I’m a fun Auntie.
We visited my Gran as it was her 85th birthday but she was unwell. It’s really sad to see her health deteriorating, but Blake put a smile on her face.
I asked Blake what book he was reading. He has odd taste for a toddler…
