text: We've had a number of playdates with friends from school and have spent one day a week at Nanny's with my niece.
  We've had two visits to Banham Zoo. D and I took the girls to Banham at the start of the month, which they loved. We saw the penguins swim for the first time since we've had the season tickets, which was really lovely to see. We then went again with my Mum and her husband when they came to visit.
  We took a day out to High Lodge at Thetford Forest to follow The Gruffalo Trail. The girls loved following the clues and seeing where they had to go to next. We had lunch, spent a ton of time playing in the park and built dens in the woodland which we all really enjoyed. The girls were working together to carry logs and decide where to put them. As E said to me, 'Mummy, we're collaborating!'.
  D has been taking one day off a week so that we can do something with the girls. As well as the Banham and Gruffalo days out, when the weather was looking a little hit and miss one Friday, we took them for their first trip to the cinema to see Despicable Me 3, which they absolutely loved.
  Nanny and Grandad have had the girls one day a week, as usual, whilst I've worked and have taken the girls out and about, including a trip to the beach and Welney Wetland Centre to see the Lego trail.
  We had a busy week whilst my Mum was here. Her and A (husband) stayed at a campsite for the week. We took the girls to Banham and they took them to the cinema whilst I had a mooch around town along, followed by coffee and cake. It was just what I needed, being able to switch off for a couple of hours. They also had a couple of trips to the park.
  We've been spending lots of time in the garden, as always and have been making the most of our new summer house. I'm so pleased with it! The colour didn't come out quite as I wanted but I still love it and I'm planning on sharing how it has transformed our garden shortly.
  FIVE. Friends to play yesterday. Family for dinner tonight with homemade cake. We went for the rustic look... it sank and went wonky 😂 but she loved it, even licking the plate clean after! Result!
  We had friends over for a playdate the day before E's birthday which was actually really lovely. 7 kids and 7 parents in total, they all played brilliantly together, no bickering or whinging and before I knew it 3 hours had passed! E had a blast and it was nice for us all to catch up.
  August saw E turn 5. FIVE! We had a quiet day at home, Mum and A were still here and took them to the park for a while and then that evening we had family here for dinner. E was absolutely spoilt and had a fab day. I made her birthday cake - vanilla sponge covered with icing, smarties and My Little Pony figures. We'll gloss over the fact that it sank slightly and I'll just say that E (and T) loved it! The day after her birthday, whilst I was in the shower, E asked D if she could have some more of her birthday cake as she really, really loved it!
  Change of plans today so it's been all about the drawing, colouring and easy making. It's worked out well as I'm not feeling great.
  We've been doing some crafting over the holidays and lots of colouring and drawing, which the girls are loving at the moment and I'm quite happy to join in too!
  Healthwise, I had to have a cyst removed from my scalp which was... fun. Apparently, they're quite common. Even though it wasn't visible through my hair, I kept catching it on my brush and it was very tender. The first 24 hours, my head was incredibly painful but after that, it felt fine. Even better once the stitches were out!
  Following on from my last appointment for the lump in my jaw, I had to have a CT scan. It was a little nerve-wracking, mostly because of the noise and having to keep so still but it wasn't as bad as expected. I have another appointment in a couple of weeks and I'm hoping we can finally see what's going on with it.
  September seems to have crept up on us quickly and I'm expecting the first few weeks to be all about the routine. I'm pretty certain that T will struggle with doing 5 days a week, at least to begin with, but I'm hoping she'll soon get into the swing of things. And E. I'm hopeful she will fall straight back into the routine of school, albeit with a new teacher and class mates.