FAMILY WEEKLY UPDATE: 25th – 31st May | Waitress The Musical, Heatwave Week & Half Term Fun
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Family Weekly Update
This week was half term and also the hottest week of the year so far ☀️
Leo and I both really struggle in hot weather, so we didn’t venture too far from the house this week, but we still had lots of fun at home with paddling pools, ice lollies, garden games and cosy movie nights together.
It was also a big week personally for me because I finally managed another solo theatre trip to see Waitress The Musical at Palace Theatre Manchester despite my anxiety being really bad lately.
Here’s this week’s family weekly update, sharing everything we got up to during another very hot half term week.
💻 Editing, Blogging & A Very Hot Monday
On Monday, I did what I usually seem to do at the start of the week — editing the weekly vlog and writing the weekly update blog post.
It was absolutely boiling indoors though, so I had my fan on full blast next to me while I worked.
While I was busy editing, Lawrence took the kids to the park. Before they left, we made sure they had suncream on, packed water bottles and got their hats and sunglasses ready because the heat was intense even early in the day.
They had a lovely time at the park playing on the swings, slide and climbing frame before heading home for lunch.
Once they were back, the kids happily sat in front of the fan watching cartoons and playing on their tablets while trying to cool down.
🎭 Anxiety, Changing Plans & Waitress The Musical
On Tuesday, I was originally supposed to go and see Waitress The Musical.
However, last week Lawrence told me he was going to the Wednesday matinee and that my parents were also going, so I asked if we could swap tickets so I could go with my parents instead and maybe go for lunch beforehand.
My anxiety has been really bad recently and I’ve been struggling a lot with going places alone, especially in the evenings, so going with my parents felt much easier mentally.
Unfortunately, after we transferred the tickets over, I realised Lawrence’s ticket actually said 7:30pm — not 2:30pm — meaning it wasn’t a matinee at all.
Originally, I still planned to go to the Tuesday performance, but because I hadn’t mentally prepared myself for going that day, my anxiety got worse and worse as the afternoon went on.
In the end, Lawrence went instead and I decided I would try again on Wednesday.
While Lawrence was at the theatre, I stayed home with the kids, worked on some blog posts and watched Bluey with them before bedtime.
🎭 A Solo Theatre Trip To See Waitress
On Wednesday, I spent most of the day working on my blog.
Because it’s mine and Lawrence’s 10-year wedding anniversary in June, I started planning some blog posts about our wedding and honeymoon, which meant sorting through lots of old photos and videos from over the years.
That evening, it was finally my turn to see Waitress The Musical at Palace Theatre Manchester.
Honestly, my anxiety was awful all day and I nearly talked myself out of going several times.
Going to the theatre alone is actually one of the reasons I originally started vlogging my theatre trips in the first place because having the camera gave me something else to focus on and really helped ease my anxiety around solo trips.
Recently though, my anxiety has become much worse again, so this trip ended up feeling like quite a big personal achievement by the end of the night.
Eventually, at around 6:15pm, I forced myself out of the house and headed for the tram into Manchester.
Even though I’ve done the journey to Palace Theatre countless times before, I still felt incredibly anxious walking through Manchester alone towards an evening performance.
However, once I reached the theatre and started taking some photos outside, I slowly started feeling calmer.
As always, one of the first things I did after arriving was head straight over to the merchandise stand.
Lawrence had already bought a programme the night before and we already owned the magnet from the previous UK tour, so although I was very tempted by the tote bag and oven mitt, I somehow managed not to buy anything this time.
I then headed upstairs towards the quieter Circle bar area while waiting for the auditorium to open, which honestly helped my anxiety quite a bit because it was less crowded.
I was seated in Circle Row R Seat 14 right at the back, and honestly I was really impressed with the view considering the ticket only cost £15.
The Circle at Palace Theatre Manchester is really well raked and because the seats are staggered rather than directly behind one another, my view never felt blocked.
I’d also worried about how hot the theatre would feel because of the heatwave, but thankfully it was actually really comfortable inside all evening.
Once I was sat down in my seat, my anxiety finally started lifting and I was able to properly enjoy the show.
By the end of the evening, I was honestly so glad I’d pushed myself to still go.
Not only did I absolutely love revisiting one of my favourite musicals again, but it also felt like a huge personal achievement finally managing another solo theatre trip after struggling so much recently.
👉 You can read more about my visit and shorter review HERE
👉 And you can read my full review on All About Theatre HERE
After getting home, I made a start on writing my review before eventually heading to bed.
☀️ Pirate Ship Pools, Water Cannons & Homemade Ice Lollies
On Thursday, I finished writing both of my Waitress reviews, filmed my YouTube review and edited the vlog from my theatre trip.
While I was busy working, Lawrence got the kids’ pirate ship paddling pool out in the garden.
Alice absolutely loved pretending to be a pirate and spent ages outside playing pirates with Daddy using the inflatable pirate swords that came with the pool.
The pirate ship also has a water cannon attached to it and at one point Lawrence sprayed me with it while I walked outside, which Alice found absolutely hilarious.
Poor Leo found it far too hot outside though, so instead he stayed indoors beside the fan building his marble run and playing on his tablet.
Later on, I helped the kids make homemade ice lollies using the Stitch ice lolly moulds we bought from Primark the previous week.
Alice got really creative with hers and added strawberries, grapes and orange pieces before we filled the moulds with apple and blackcurrant cordial and orange juice.
After a few hours in the freezer, they were finally ready and the kids were so excited to try them. Honestly, they were exactly what you needed in the heat.
🏰 Bouncy Castle Fun & The Hottest Roast Dinner Ever
On Friday, I spent most of the day editing YouTube videos and working on blog posts while Lawrence took the kids to the park.
When they got back, I made them some lunch while Lawrence set up the bouncy castle in the garden.
Thankfully, it was slightly cooler than earlier in the week, so Leo was much happier playing outside today.
The children spent ages bouncing around and playing together in the garden.
I also very questionably decided to make a roast dinner in the middle of the heatwave.
I’m an incredibly fussy eater and I’d been craving a roast dinner all day, but I very quickly regretted the decision once the kitchen started feeling like an oven.
The dinner was lovely though.
Nobody else in the house really likes roast dinners apart from me, so I ended up saving half of it for the next day while Lawrence happily stole the chicken legs as a snack afterwards.
💦 Paddling Pools, Disney Movies & Opening My New Air Fryer
On Saturday, Leo asked if we could get his smaller paddling pool out as well, so Lawrence set it up for him in the garden.
The children then decided they wanted to put the slide into the pool so they could slide down into the water, which they thought was absolutely hilarious.
They also spent ages chasing each other around the garden spraying water everywhere using the pirate ship water cannon.
While they played outside, I hoovered the house, tidied my craft room and finally opened the new air fryer I bought a couple of weeks ago but hadn’t had chance to set up yet. It’s actually going to live in my craft room rather than the kitchen because I bought it purely for sublimation crafts rather than cooking. I originally bought it when it dropped from £69 to £55, but then discovered it had gone down even further to £45 which was slightly frustrating considering I hadn’t even opened it yet.
For dinner, I reheated the leftover roast chicken from Friday with potatoes, vegetables and the leftover gravy.
After dinner, the kids and I curled up on the sofa together and watched Oliver & Company on Disney+ because they’d never seen it before.
I thought they’d probably enjoy it because they love anything with cats and dogs in it — and thankfully they absolutely loved it.
🧹 Sunday Reset, Disney Classics & Holiday Packing
On Sunday, the children spent the morning playing outside with Lawrence while I hoovered my craft room because I hadn’t managed to finish it the day before.
I then started editing this weekly vlog and writing this blog post so both would be ready to go live together on Monday.
After dinner, I took a little break and sat down on the sofa with the kids while we watched The Aristocats on Disney+ — another film they’d never seen before even though Alice has lots of Marie things in her bedroom.
They both really enjoyed it and I realised I don’t actually think I’d ever properly watched the whole film myself because there were so many parts I didn’t remember.
Later that evening, Lawrence got our suitcase down from the loft and we started packing for our holiday.
💜 Final Thoughts
Overall, this ended up being a much quieter week than usual, but honestly I think we all needed it.
Between the heatwave, half term and my anxiety being particularly difficult this week, it was nice focusing on slower family days at home, garden fun and cosy movie nights together.
I’m also genuinely really proud of myself for managing my solo theatre trip to see Waitress because it would have been very easy to stay home instead.
Sometimes the little wins really are the biggest ones.
🎥 Watch Our Weekly Vlog
If you’d like to see everything we got up to this week, including our heatwave garden fun, homemade ice lollies and my solo trip to see Waitress The Musical, you can watch this week’s family weekly vlog over on YouTube.
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