Things I've been doing when I'm not whining

So I thought I would give you a run down on some of the things I’ve been doing when I’m not whining about not having any friends and not having any rioters set our wheelie bins on fire.

To start off with, Andy and I have gone to a couple more festivals since the one in Crosby. I am glad to report that both festivals had more food choices besides the Mr. Whippy van and the burger\banger van. Sadly, the Crosby festival was the only one with elephant rides.

3 weekends ago, we met Andy’s sister down at the free Brouhaha Festival in Aigburth. This was toted as an artsy international festival. I didn’t quite understand the “international” part of it, unless the Caribbean has since invaded the world, but at least the jerk chicken was pretty decent. It was also family friendly event as – which didn’t make a damn bit of difference to us since we left Henry with his nan – and which basically means that there wasn’t any beer. No beer! At a festival! The nerve! After about an hour, Andy and I started to get twitchy and we three headed to the Baltic Fleet for the remainder of the afternoon drinking local brews and discussing British to American English. I also got hit on by an older deaf man, which is neither here nor there, but which I find funny since the people who want to talk to me are the ones that can’t hear me speak.

I can assure you these people have not been drinking.

2 weekends ago, Andy and I finally took the Cains Brewery Tour. I’ve been wanting to take the tour since we moved here and since it’s on our way back home from Andy’s mum’s house, I see it all the time – mocking me. What’s worse is that you can’t make a last minute decision to go on the tour (like Andy and I tend to do with all our plans – see below) and you have to call Monday – Friday by 5:00 PM to take the tour on Saturday.

The tour itself is good. I’ve been on quite a few brewery tours and this tour rates a bit above average. The highlight of the tour for me was them mentioning Milwaukee – something about borrowing their pasteurization process. Of course after Milwaukee was mentioned, I had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the tour, as eager as I was to Facebook the news that Milwaukee was mentioned in a Liverpool tour. Anyhow, if you go in the summer, wear the lightest clothes possible as it was terribly hot in the brewery. As well, there isn’t a gift shop (!!) but you can buy a t-shirt for your dad from behind the bar.

Sure, you may see a brewery in Liverpool - all I see is Milwaukee.

Last weekend as Andy and I were driving to drop Henry off, I saw this girl wearing a Liverpool Pride t-shirt.

“Liverpool Pride,” I asked Andy, “is that like gay pride?”

“Probably not. I don’t think gays own the word ‘pride’.”

“Let me check,” as I break out my cell phone. “No, it’s definitely Liverpool GAY pride. It’s today. It’s down by the Three Graces…it’s also free.”

“Do you want to go?”

“Sure, why not?”

And that’s how most of our weekend plans conspire, and that’s how we ended up at Liverpool Pride. Of the three festivals we’ve been to thus far here, Liverpool Pride was definitely the best. It had great music and a great vibe. Everyone was dancing. Best of all, they sold beer (and cocktails and wine) in multiple locations so, you know, awesome. I did try to convince Andy to get a feather boa to wear but he wasn’t having it. I suspect he just wasn’t drunk enough.

Party by the Pier Head

Don't I look pretty by all the trash?

Proof Andy WILL wear a feather boa if the occasion calls for it.

Now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, I’m going to talk about my kid. Because a comment I got in the last post made me think that I’m giving the impression that kids aren’t cool. Kids ARE cool, I just didn’t want to go on and on about mine because not that many people care. BUT, I think talking about your kid sometimes is absolutely acceptable and I’m going to do so now.

Henry is now 4 months old. The very best thing about that is that since June 12th (I can remember the date!) is that he started sleeping at least 6 hours in a row during the night. Since July we’ve been getting quite a few 8-10 hour sleeps per night which might be why I love him even more then I did when he was first born. I certainly feel more human.

During the day he’s more active. He actually PLAYS with things. He tries to talk to us too which is really cool. I went against the advice of almost everyone and started giving him tastes of solids. Never a meal replacement, just a snack. He watches us eat all the time and he has such bad acid reflux I thought getting him started early was a good idea. Like every mother, I think he’s the cutest and best kid in the entire world. I sometimes falter in that opinion when he’s overtired and whining and refuses to sleep. I’m only human. We also like to dress him up with mustaches. Again, we’re only human.

Next week I probably won’t be posting because we are finally going on a proper holiday. Two days without Henry and two days with Henry. Both trips should be good and I’ll have loads of pictures to bore you with. Until then, enjoy your last few weeks of summer!