Just goes to show - you should always stick to the original plan!

Things I have learned today:

• The M55 takes you right to the Central carpark in Blackpool - no need to go down the A6 and try to figure out your way through the town centre! How old am I? How many times have I been to Blackpool? Why has it take me until now to realise this simple fact?
• The Sealife Centre is extortionate - especially for such a small place.
• The Sealife Centre is extortionate - it's such an important point that I needed to say it twice.
• The Sealife Centre makes mums sweaty.
• The Sealife Centre makes children hyper.
• Never put off plans to do something outside just because it's raining - it will invariably brighten up when you decide to do an indoor thing!
• The sharks at the Sealife Centre are worth the sweatiness of the mums and the hyperactivity of the children :) We loved the sharks.

We did have a nice day, don't get me wrong. The boys behaved beautifully in the Sealife Centre at Blackpool, and they loved seeing all the fish, and particularly the sharks. We just sat down on the treasure chest and watched the sharks circling above us for ages - they're very beautiful (although Thomas was not as impressed as the rest of us, because these sharks weren't big enough for him). But cor bloody blimey, I don't like paying more than £10 per child for somewhere that only takes an hour to get round. It's incredibly overpriced. It's a shame, and I know that places like this cost a lot to run, because the animals need looking after, and there are conservation projects and stuff going on. But the zoo at Dalton is about the same price, and it's much, much bigger and is a place that you can spend all day in, and you can see lions and tigers feed, and you can handfeed penguins!

The real trouble is that I completely spoiled the boys in the Sealife Centre shop, and now I can't afford to take them to the zoo! I didn't tell them that I might take them to the zoo though, so at least I don't have to break a promise :) And they're very happy being little pirates with their new swords and wee pirate hats! No, honestly, it was a lovely day - I just always feel guilty when I've spent a fortune like that, and it skews my view of the day.

Now, what can we do tomorrow that won't cost anything at all? Ugh, I really don't know, if it's raining. Might have to be a visiting grandparents day if it rains again. I know that I said that I love the rain, and I do, but I do hope it'll bugger off soon, because I'd like to do some of the things that we used to do in the summer like taking a picnic to Lancaster Castle, and going for walks by the river or the canal - things that we don't need the car for, things that we can do every single day without spending any money at all. Playing at home is great, but it's better when it can be in the garden.

Come on sunshine, show us your smile!