The boys and I are getting ready to go on a trip to Northern Ireland to stay with Jeff's parents for a few days. Jeff has to stay home as he's working all week. It will be the first time I've taken the boys away on my own, on a plane. Keeping fingers crossed that the boys will be well behaved and kept amused. I'm in the middle of packing the suitcase and our hand luggage. The boys are taking a bag each. In those bags they each have a football magazine (which they don't know about yet - hoping it will keep them entertained on the flight), sweets and a plane mini-album in which to write and draw things about their holiday.

These are really old Ki Memories 'Love Elsie' chipboard books which I bought ages ago in a sale. They are both excited about these books, which is very cool. I'm hoping it will be a good way for them to re-tell their holiday memories to Daddy when we get back, as well as being something nice for them to do and keep. Matthew has already written in his about how he's excited to be going tomorrow.

I've made my own mini-album inspired by Ali Edwards' 'Scrapbook on the Road' class. It's got kraft envelopes and transparencies and inner patterned paper pages waiting to be written on, filled and added to. I plan on printing photos when I get back and putting them in too. I'll take some basic supplies with me and embellish it further when I get home.

I used my 'Hot Chocolate' Glimmer Mist for the first time on this project spraying the canvas cover. Once it was dry I added a blue plane rub-on (American Crafts) on top making sure that when the map transparency was over it the plane would be positioned between the south of England and Northern Ireland.

Really looking forward to catching up with family and friends. Will of course miss Jeff and the 20 degree C heat compared to 13 degrees forecasted for Northern Ireland!

Oh and just one more thing... Since my last post, I've finished the book I was reading in the hammock, The Crow Road by Iain Banks, read another - Sookie Stackhouse Bk 10 Dead in the family by Charlaine Harris and am taking with a new book with me, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Matthew has finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Book 6) and has started the final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.