I've written about my love for Southbourne before. But as I sit in our flat, typing this post, I feel more at home than ever. In our home away from home.

I look around and there's photos of all our weddings, photos of the Grannies when they were 2 and 4 years old, reprinted family Christmas tradition photos, where we all crowd round a makeshift tripod and hope for the best! There's a photo of my parents, in happier times, my Auntie and Uncle before they parted ways too and photos of my grandparents.

We owe this wonderful to them. My Grandpa saw an investment opportunity over 35 years ago and every year since I was born, I've pulled up at the concrete steps leading up to the 60's square block of flats that on the outside, couldn't look more ugly, but on the inside are bursting with love, warmth and memories. 

The westies know we are near a few miles away. Mabel starts whinging, clambering out of their dog bed and onto the suitcases squeezed in around them and the boys start an incessant "Are you nearly there yet?!" line of questioning. 

It's kind of become our test of true friendship, as silly as it sounds. That when we bring our lovely friends to stay at the flat, we know those who love it as much as we do will be friends for life. As soon as you step in the front door and open the balcony doors and let the sea air flood the flat, you are home. A seaside home for everyone.

All of us have had our first holidays here, me at 6 weeks, Ollie at 4 weeks and Sammy learnt to walk here. Precious times with photos and videos I pour over all the time. Last times and first times. All of which evoke the most powerful emotions, just like your home does.

I can't wait to wake up in the morning, walk the dogs down to the bakery, buy a cottage loaf and a poppyseed plait, as we have done every visit, and pile the wagon with goodies for the beach hut. We say it every time we come down to Southbourne, but we will never ever sell this place. It's not just concrete blocks and mortar, it's the history of our family.

On Friday our friends who are here with us will head back to Somerset and a new set of best friends will arrive for the Easter weekend. We've been counting down the sleeps over text messages, wishing the time away until we are all reliving last year's fun down at the hut. Laughing at the Dad's braving the sea, watching the children have the freedom to play on their own on the stretch of sand beneath the beach hut, and trying to take a hundred mental pictures of simple happy times.

It's not always sunny of course, but it feels sunny. Does that make any sense?

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It's been a pleasure to work with Hive and talk about their #cominghome campaign. I guess it's made me realise how lucky we really are to have this home by the sea. That those same overwhelming, incredibly powerful feelings when you step through your front door, that hit you like a tidal wave of nostalgia. And you are home. 

What makes you feel at home? Hive would love you share your coming home moment for a chance to win an amazing competition. A coming home experience like no other worth £1500!!

All you have to do is comment on their Facebook page. Check it out! Full terms and conditions are available here. 

Tomorrow we are packing a picnic, exploring Christchurch and dragging the bbq down the zig zag path, armed with pjs for the wagon ride back up. Because that's what Easter holidays are for. Sandy toes in sandy beds. Wonderful.

Spring has sprung! The beautiful garden I fell in love with is slowly coming back to life, with Daffodils filling all the flower beds and tiny Muscari blooms that are just asking to be snipped and popped into tiny bottles all around the house.

The month of March has been a non stop wonderful whirlwind of school concerts and assemblies, dashing around the country and planning Summer holidays. Rich has suddenly got the gardening bug and has been adding a packet of bulbs and seeds into every food shop! He's come home with onions, potatoes, strawberries, beans and more, all ready for our first attempt at growing a vegetable patch. 

But the one thing we were desperate to do this Spring was to add wild flowers. It sounds so simple to grow them but we'll see! You need to rotavate your soil to help the seeds take when you plant them. The best way (not to break your back) is with a rotavator and then rake the soil afterwards ready for sprinkling. 

Now I know there's more method than these 3 simple steps, but we followed the instructions on the box of seeds and we will watch and wait. This book by a wonderful local flower farmer Georgie has been invaluable and have a read of this article if you are planning your own, which takes you through the different types of soil to be aware of. 

So we had a quick potter in the garden yesterday, sprinkled some seeds for the first activity of the Easter holidays and then Rich and I headed to work, leaving Granny in charge of the boys. Marvellous camera work Granny! We realised that another month has ticked by and we have to rush to take a last minute snap of the four of us. That we have let life get so busy, family time has been lost amongst the chaos.

We sat down after the boys had gone to bed one night and I talked about how our holiday with Mark Warner this Summer could almost be a life saver. 7 days of pure family time. All in a row! A chance to really enjoy the boys' company, with no driving to do, with the sun on our faces and spoil them with our time. 

Everything we do is for the boys. Everything we are trying to build, our mini family empire! This month we are going to finally get our office spaces above the garage renovated. We need to decide who is having which space, you can see some old photos here, and the old pine is all going to get a lick of white paint and a freshen up! We have both had epiphany moments this month. Lightbulbs have gone off about the ways we want to grow our respective businesses and focus on how we can work together too.

My Mum took a couple of photos of us and when I looked back at the photo of us in our wellies, it made me appreciate just how tiny Ollie still is. Our baby is rising 4, can swim a length without his armbands, holds his own at the local skate park on his scooter (I on the other hand hold my breath as he tears down the great ramps!) and tries to emulate his big brother at every opportunity. That little face gets away with so much! That cheeky grin has both of us wrapped around his little finger. 

Sammy on the other hand has sprung this Spring. His age 6-7 trousers (He's still 5.) are clinging to his ankles and when he snuggles into me at 3am, I have to remember that really he's still quite little. We were so incredibly proud of him at the school Easter concert, he was so busy smiling like a cheshire cat that a class mate had to prompt him to say his line. But he blasted it out, with no sheet of paper to read from, still holding his new gappy grin. Granny and the tooth fairy have visited this month!

I am determined not to rush next month's photo. Not to cajole all the males in the house into a family portrait to try and just capture a moment. Just like Lucy does. Head over to her blog and see her sweet family of 4 (I think there may be some Disney magic in their photos this month) which has got me giddy over our own trip in the Summer! 

So many memories to be made this year. Bring it on.

Join in with us and share your family photos from the month of March. And don't forget there's a great personalised prize from Photobox each month for one lovely family. 

There are times when I feel like our feet don't touch the ground. This week Rich and I have been like ships that pass in the night, working out who is on what pick and drop off duties and even resorting to having a breakfast "meeting" just to be free of all distractions at home so we can make plans for the week ahead and talk tea. (I'm a little quiet about our tea company on the blog but Rich is doing great things.) 

In one week, our lives have taken us to Devon overnight, London overnight, and this week I will be heading to Edinburgh and Cardiff, enjoying hotel beds and doing what I love. 

And the little ones we love the most have been exceptional. Uniform is clean, packed lunches are the same (Even if there's not a second to photograph them!), Sammy's performance in the school assembly was outstanding. I missed it, on account of working in London yesterday and when I crawled into bed at just gone midnight last night, on account of the A303 being shut, full of cold and feeling exhausted, a little voice said "Hello Mama, come under the covers with me and I'll cuddle you to make you better!"

February looked like this. 

Rich's birthday at the races with my brother who flew back from America for the weekend especially! There were tens of Valentines cards, a sea of wrapping paper and lots of love. Normally I'd take hundreds of photos but the house became struck down with a sick bug so it was all about cuddles on the sofa, playing silly card games from our childhood and just being together, with no pressure to do anything other than sit.

So there was no perfect picture of us this month. The best we could do was a quick selfie in the car as we dropped the boys to school. Sometimes I have to say to myself that it's ok to have given the boys a fun filled month and not have one to frame. I was almost tempted to take a last minute one this morning, but I am currently surrounded by a mountain of tissues, feeling full of a horrid head cold. If it's possible I look even more tired than in our selfie!

I have to confess I can't stand the February weather. I am desperate for less grey skies, for the house to be flooded with sunlight more than once a week and for the garden to come back to life. The boys made a den this week and came in covered in mud! I long for a little warmth on my face, to wear flip flops again! 

I think once a Summer baby, always a Summer baby! March is going to be a month to take a little more care of myself. Eat better, dig out my running shoes again and start looking after my skin. My sister is right, the baby wipe routine has got to go!

My trip to London on Thursday was a fabulous whirlwind. Working with BritMums, Gorkana and meeting the extraordinarily talented Judith Blacklock.

I've come away with a new friend and bursting with ideas. My time in the big smoke ended with smoke, quite literally. A stunning afternoon tea at The Ampersand Hotel with the Mark Warner Ambassador team! I will share more on my crazy 30 hours next week but for now, I am officially starting the countdown to our holiday with Mark Warner!

Can you guess which resort we picked to go to?! Which would you have picked...?

Head over to Fritha's beautiful blog to see what her sweet family have been up to this month. I love Fritha's ability to just capture the moment with such warmth and colour.

Join in and share your family photo this month. Don't forget each month everyone who joins in will automatically be entered to win a gorgeous personalised gift from Photobox! There was an incredible amount of wonderful posts linked up last month, I am still working my way through them, thank you so much for joining in x

Life, PhotographyLucy Heath28 February 2015 Comments