Last plop bier of the holiday, so. Bit different being at the North Sea this time of year but at least being at the seaside when it’s 7 degrees, blowing a gale and raining is good practice for the #MiniPferds, who preferred a couple of weeks on the north coast of Ireland for their summer vacation…

Note to self: stop letting the #MiniPferds see Sharks home games because they go buck mad every time they see those damn waterslides... #SHAvCAR

The #MiniPferds, high on the excitement of all the rugby yesterday, had us down the park with our ball this afternoon. Can't have been there more than half an hour. Just running around and that. Anyway, I think I've pulled one of my quads and despite a warm bath, my calfs are still on fire.

Two fridge magnets sit on top of an orange and white napkin. They have a cute drawing of the Humber Bridge. There’s text around it that says, “It’s never dull in Hull.”

My bribe to the #MiniPferds to keep them from complaining too much when I’m away from home is a fridge magnet from every city. I kind of love the idea of Hull now sitting in their imagination alongside cities like New York, Barcelona, DC and Geneva as far flung and exciting places to go.

A big bowl of pancake batter on the right with a whisk and a ladle in it. To the left, a pancake cooks in a small Orange frying pan.

The one day of the year the #MiniPferds are allowed Nutella, so obviously in 10 minutes or so, they’ll think I’m the best Da in the world before the sugar kicks in and they go buck mad.

Homer Simpson is sitting on a couch. In his right hand, he holds a can of beer. In his left, a small triangular flag that says, "TV Sports". He's wearing a replica American Football jersey instead of his usual white shirt.

#MiniPferds off at friends' houses. #MrsPferd out, too. Fridge full of beers;whole chicken to bang on the spit later; perfect run of four provincial games one after the other; and a weekend pass on EPCR TV. Sort of day I haven't had since the kids came. Bit sad but I'm really looking forward to it.

A scene from Zoom the White Dolphin, an animated film. The background is sea. There is an old made with a beard, two young children, a white dolphin and a black bird with a yellow beak.

Grew up in the countryside. Instead of a video store, we had a guy with a trailer on his car who'd come round once a week. Every other week, I'd get "Zoom the White Dolphin". Obsessed with it. Doing a nostalgia-driven rewatch with the #MiniPferds. Mad stuff. Proper wild. Musta driven me parents mad.

Proper snowday out there. Mostly spent out in the forest with the #MiniPferds for hours on end on the sledge. Home now. Frozen to the core. Sort of day having a ready supply of this mulled wine syrup on hand is a great idea. Can't think of anything better to warm me up.

A wonky gingerbread house with icing all over the place.

For many things I am in life, a pastry chef is not one or them… but the #MiniPferds wanted a gingerbread house and who am I to deny then? Don’t know if I should be proud or ashamed of what I’ve managed…

Yeah, this is definitely amongst the coolest things I’ve ever done. #MiniPferds are entranced. @reallyfubar.bsky.social was right, though - really regret not getting the light set for it. Always next year!

The #MiniPferds have so much fun decorating this, and honestly, they show surprising restraint in not covering every bit of it. Do a much better job than we adults ever managed.

So begins that mad week where #MrsPferd and both #MiniPferds have their birthdays within six days of each other. A week, solid, of family, screaming kids and dealing with other random well-wishers popping in. Every waking moment spent baking cake after cake. Wish me luck.

At long last, I have all the bits to make the train go at a sensible speed and I’m partially delighted in part in fear about how grumpy the #MiniPferds are gonna be when I tell them this now gets put away for almost a month until we get a tree…

A kid’s hand in a stripy jumper is digging helplessly at the meat of a turnip trying to hollow it out so we can carve a scary face in it for Halloween. The blonde hair of another kid looking in is just visible at the bottom of the photo.

A slightly wonky face carved into a turnip.

For the first time in about two decades, I’m in Ireland for Halloween and I’m taking it as an excuse to introduce the #MiniPferds to the utter hell of carving a turnip.

A girl in a pink raincoat, and a smaller one in a yellow raincoat running towards the sea on a big open beach. There are lots of dark gray clouds in the sky.

On the beach in Donegal. Pissing it down. #MiniPferds still having the best damn time.

I remember it as a teenager but it only sold crime books and I was far too pretentious a teenager to allow myself to like crime fiction… Randomly popped in on a trip over a few years back and found, probably, the best curated section of kids books I’ve ever seen. #Minipferds absolutely love it!

My body thinks it’s 4am and the #MiniPferds have me doing pancakes for breakfast. Completely and utterly have me wrapped around their little fingers.

Thought the Ireland game was an hour later and now we've missed the start and the #MiniPferds are furious 'cos we've missed the anthems! #IREvENG