Just had a completely normal weekend

[Cloudsurfing]

The first normal weekend in over a year. We saw three sets of friends, ate brunch in a pub and even booked a summer holiday (in the UK). It was so nice to be able to hug and not worry about social distancing.

This is the happiest I've been in ages. Anyone else have a good first weekend of normality?

Had my first restaurant meal for my birthday last week in over 14 months and had a lovely outside pub lunch with family. Hoping for some nicer weather before having family over for belated birthday party.

Family members had postponed Christmas dinner on Saturday and exchanged presents.

That sounds lovely @Mindymomo. So nice to hear people enjoying themselves again.

Awww, that's lovely.
I was waiting for DC to finish their club on Saturday morning, freezing in the car with a costa express when I suddenly thought 'why am I not in a cafe?!'

I think Ive forgotten what life was like before lockdown!

Apart from the grim weather we had a great weekend. Saw some family members who we haven't seen since October last year.

Same. Cost me a fecking fortune though. I'd forgotten how expensive it is to eat and drink in bars and restaurants

That's so lovely. It's been a long time coming. I hope everyone spends the summer squeezing in as much fun as is humanly possible. I know I'm going to try, finances permitting.

We tried to! First child free night with dh in 18 months and we'd booked a table in our local. They didn't tell us on the booking that it was a 2 hour slot, so we had to leave at 8.15. Couldn't get in any other pub as all booked up so ended up at home with a bottle of wine by 8.30!

Sounds great!

I did too. Brunch out with a friend, kids doing their various activities, exercise class on Sunday morning. It feels amazing!

Yep, I coincidentally had last week booked off work & it was brilliant (bar the weather 🙄). We had a party for my DD’s birthday (outdoors), family came to stay for a couple days, I had 3 lunches, went to several softplays & had dinner and a night out with mates on Saturday.. life felt so normal .. I’m knackered though 😂

Going on holiday in half term & I can’t wait now, it’s going to be so nice!

Yes. My sister came to stay and we went out for dinner. It was great. We had completely forgotten that drinking coffee inside was an option!

Went for a lovely Sunday lunch inside!

Just waiting for parkrun, running races and live music now.

Kids had sport we did go to the pub for dinner Saturday night ended up leaving the car and walking home
Other than that it pissed it down constantly did contemplate the cinema at one point but I wasn’t going to use my newfound freedom subjecting myself to Peter Rabbit 2

No hugging I’m not a hugger

I'm glad you had a lovely weekend. But having to book everything in advance is not normal and s pain in the arse with a toddler.

Yeah I still hate booking, queues & bloody masks & one way systems still. When they go it’ll definitely seem more normal!

I am so glad to hear of people doing normal things. I can't wait for parkrun to get back so I can do something normal too!
I have a couple of toddlers and had to give up my job to look after them with all the bubble stuff so normality will be slower coming for us, but on the plus side, at least toddlers are still happy with daily walks and playgrounds.

Yep went to my local that has just re opened was lovely to see lots of familiar faces. Would prefer to be able to go to the bar myself and walk round freely without a mask on but still it's a step in the right direction. I thoroughly enjoyed my Sunday hangover

Took my daughter to her friends for a birthday party in the garden, bunch of kids all playing and having fun, adults chatting with a drink, Sunday pub beer garden. Was lovely :-)
Hope the weather improves so can spend more time outside, off to stay with family next week and would like some warm dry days out

We had a lunch time meal on Saturday then braved softplay with almost 3 year old ds, I was actually quite emotional seeing how happy he was running climbing and sliding about like a mad thing for 2 hours straight! Then on Sunday we went to a small gathering for one of ds friends birthday before dinner at our inlaws. This weekend was amazing, insane how what used to be every day outings are now a huge relief and delight!

Yes, was amazing. DS was at his dad's so I went shopping and met up with friends for drinks inside a bar. This weekend I'm taking DS out for breakfast and dinner. And going into my grandad's house!

It’s not that hard to book kids activities .. I’ve got several booked for the end of the week 🤷🏼‍♀️ Just book in advance, there can’t be many reasons you’d cancel. I’ve got a 4 year old & 14 month old & typically am the least organised person you’ll meet .. if I can do it, anyone can 😂

Going out for drinks was good I thought, we had one place booked all night & I loved table service. No more pushing & shoving at the bar!

Maybe it’s rose tinted glasses after the last year but I am not going to complain about it that’s for sure!

Nothing out of the ordinary here, though we are planning a cinema visit for DC2s birthday next weekend, which will be all manner of strange!

@NotBot

It’s not that hard to book kids activities .. I’ve got several booked for the end of the week 🤷🏼‍♀️ Just book in advance, there can’t be many reasons you’d cancel. I’ve got a 4 year old & 14 month old & typically am the least organised person you’ll meet .. if I can do it, anyone can 😂

Going out for drinks was good I thought, we had one place booked all night & I loved table service. No more pushing & shoving at the bar!

Maybe it’s rose tinted glasses after the last year but I am not going to complain about it that’s for sure!

The thing is though that so many things are weather dependant - for heat or rain! I don’t want to book a swimming pool or soft play 4 weekends in advance and pay for my 3 kids (that’s the wait time round here!) when it’s a blazing hot day and we could be at the beach. Neither do I want to book go ape, or the big outdoor high ropes if it’s pouring down that day. When you have 3 older kids, things like this and days out cost average £45-60 per day at least. If it’s pissing down and windy it’s just a waste of money and I can’t always repeat it because I’ve spent the money already!

Had a friend to visit who I haven’t seen for 18 months, had a mini Eurovision party, went out for coffee, was bliss

Yeah.
Went out for lunch on Saturday. Inside! City centre in Nottingham buzzing with people and shoppers and a rallie.
Then out again tonight.
And going into London on Wednesday for a proper face to face meeting in a business that’s opened its offices

Maybe it’s different in different places but softplay & swimming etc here are booking a week in advance max, no need to book 3 weeks ahead. Just check the weather on Monday and book for the following weekend. Or not, if a heatwave is looking likely (we can dream). And the sessions are about two hours so even if it is hot, it’s two hours of your day 🤷🏼‍♀️ Go Ape you’ve always had to pre-book in my experience. That’s not new. The weather was always a risk! And Go Ape is def not a normal weekly activity for us, it’s expensive. I’ll be in the £5 softplay 🙈

Fair enough if you think it’s too complicated, I guess I’m just happy we can do this stuff, booking is a minor inconvenience after the winter from hell.. 😊