Project 365 – October

October started off at the end of our Amsterdam adventure! I then further travelled to Finland and Spain, which was mainly for work. October always feels like such a big change in the world, as everything physically looks so different. I spent a lot of the month celebrating Halloween, watching the leaves change color, and enjoying my family. We went to a bunch of pumpkin patches, celebrated Amelia turning 14, and had a lot of friends over.

October 1st – A travel day!

I woke up, on October 1st, in Amsterdam still! This was actually our last day, so we packed up our bags and headed out to AMAZE, which was an immersive experience. Along the way, we were getting there a bit early, so we stopped at Burger King and had loaded fries which was so neat. We then went into AMAZE and had a fun time. It’s one of those funky instagram-y places, with a lot of different experience rooms. I did a full review of AMAZE as it’s just hard to explain quickly! We then started heading towards the centre of Amsterdam, because we did have a plane to catch eventually, and stopped off at a cafe. I got a caramel covered brownie and Dann got a chocolate almond croissant. We ate it by the canal before heading to the airport, getting a bunch of Asian inspired bites before heading home. We got home late and headed in, got our stuff sorted, and went to bed.

October 2nd – a relaxing day

Today was one of those really rare relaxing days where we did very little. A lot of the day was spent re-setting our stuff and the house. I woke up early to walk a lunch to Kai, taking some snaps along the way. I am really enjoying these morning walks! I then did some work, followed by work, and more work. Dann brought me a soup for lunch, which was delicious, and in the evening we cuddled on the couch and watched the end of What We Do in the Shadows, which is perfect for Autumn, before putting on Fantastic Mr Fox, which is one of my favorites.

October 3rd – Taylor Swift Album Launch

Today, was primarily a day of work! After school, Robin had her new club where she practiced for her winter play. Kai went to the gym, and then after dinner Amelia, Robin and I headed to the cinema as they were doing a special event for Taylor Swift’s new album launch. I’ve never been a huge fan of Taylor Swift, but she’s popular, so obviously teenager girls like Amelia like her – Amelia saw quite a few of her friends. I think Robin felt some of the behind the scenes were boring, but we did all like the concept of a cinema watch party together. After words, we headed home as tomorrow is a very busy day!

October 4th – Amelia’s Party

I woke up early and hung up decorations for Amelia’s birthday party today! She wanted to have a “to-late” party where everyone stayed until bedtime, then went home to their bed, so she could sleep. It’s a fantastic idea! One of the things about letting teenagers take the lead on birthday parties is that, despite sending out invitations, only 3 people had RSVP’ed and she let me know the rest was coming. Some came an hour early, some had no idea the end time, it was all a touch chaotic. In the end, the house had 12 kids! Amelia had a fun time hanging out with her friends and we set up two activities. The first was going to the town to play a couple rounds of bowling. Then, Robin, one of her friends, and I headed to the roller rink in the middle of the party for an hour. We returned for painting, which was the second activity we had set up! Then, around 10, everyone started heading home. I did some cleaning before heading to bed.

October 5th – Pumpkin Patches

Every year we go to a couple of pumpkin patches, as we do like doing tons of seasonal events. We started off at Cammas Hall, as we had been invited this year! There were so many pumpkins and we love the spooky trail there. We grabbed some pumpkins, took lots of pictures, and spent some time in the corn maze too. Then, we headed over to Hatter’s Farm to have lunch (they have fantastic loaded fries and tacos) before checking out their pumpkin patch, getting more pumpkins, and enjoying their pumpkin cannons. It’s so fun having so many different patches to enjoy. We then headed home for dinner, Kai went to the gym, and we settled in for the evening.

October 6th – A travel day

I’m out of the country again! I woke up today, got lunches packed, got children off to school, and then did a few meetings before heading to Finland for a work trip. This one is only two days long, so it’s a quick one. I had a lot of work to actually get done, which I did, before heading there. The flight wasn’t anything special, and then getting to my hotel, where I then freshened up and got ready for bed. It is a simple day, primarily of travel, but tomorrow is day one of the event.

October 7th – Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Day 1

Today was really a day of networking! After hotel breakfast, which is always fun, I went right to the venue. This was a literal 5 minute walk, which was perfect. I played some video games, checking out what the showcase had, and networked with developers until it was time to run the Big Indie Pitch, which is a fringe event that I run for most of the day. This was a big bulk of my job there, and once it was done, I had some lunch and hung around the venue doing much of the same as before. It was really fun running into some industry friends who I had not seen in a while. In the evening, we went to the after party, where I enjoyed a bunch of little bites for dinner, before walking back to my hotel. Helsinki is a beautiful place at night, and I very much enjoyed my walk.

October 8th – Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki Day 2

This was another day of event, that started off much like the last! I had hotel breakfast before heading to the venue. Today, the Big Indie Pitch started early, so I set up and ran that event. This was the final day at Pocket Gamer Connects, so afterwards I checked out more games, had lunch, and then prepped for the panel I was hosting on trends in indie gaming. This panel was fun, the room was packed, and afterwards I presented the awards for the Big Indie Pitch, before heading to the hotel to pack and check out. I then went back to the venue to help with pack-up, and we all went to a curry place for dinner. I then grabbed a taxi and headed to the airport to head home for the night.

October 9th – Going to Spain

Today I re-packed my travel bag, put a lot of my laundry on wash, and headed back out to the airport around midday to go to Spain for BCN Games Fest. I landed in the evening, got to my hotel, checked in and hung around until dinner. Then I went to the hotel restaurant to grab a bite to eat, but ran into some work friends and had a drink with them. They were then heading out to tapas, so I tagged along and a group of us got tons and tons to eat. I do like Spanish food, so it was fun! We headed back to the hotel for one more drink (and for me to show off my book) before I headed to bed ahead of the early morning.

October 10th – BCN Game Fest Day 1

I woke up today to more hotel breakfast, but this time Spanish, before getting on the provided transport to BNC Game Fest. Invited guests got to go in before the public rush, which was great, so I got to get my barring and start playing games! I had a few meetings today, showed off my book, and did a lot of playing games and networking. For lunch I went to a lovely taco place nearby that I went too last year. In the afternoon, I walked back to my hotel, before doing a bit of evening work. I did stop at the shop and grab some food for girl dinner, called Robin and Amelia, and headed off to bed.

October 11th – BNC Fest Day 2

Today was much like yesterday; hotel breakfast, venue ride, hanging out and playing games. I ran into a friend of mine from last year and we had lunch with a few others; chorizo tacos this time, before returning to the venue until closing. Then, I went out with another group of friends for drinks and tapas, which was lovey. I do love Spain, and due to my work in games, a lot of people know me there (and even read this blog! Hi!) which is a really lovely feeling.

October 12th – Last Day in Spain

I packed up my stuff, had my last hotel breakfast, and headed to the venue today to finish up some games that I wanted to play. I said goodbyes to my friends, had a little lunch chat with a game developer, and headed to the airport where I hung out until my flight. I got a bit of writing done, though I do feel quite behind with all of this travel! I then flew back to England where Dann picked me up, made me a very lovely beef pho for dinner (I had said it had been too long) and I got my washing on before hanging out with Dann until I was asleep.

October 13th – Back to Work

Today was a very Monday-day full of work. I packed Kai’s lunch, walked it to him at school, and took some pictures along the way. It’s an hour walk total, so it’s one I like to make fun. I did have a morning meeting during the walk, and then got right back on with work when I got in. There was lots of catching up to do and more meetings throughout the day. In the evening I went out to Max Monday in Pokemon Go, before Dann had all of his friends over for DnD, which we are now hosting at our house. I cook them dinner (for a small fee) so I made up a bunch of orange chicken and fried rice. We had 12 people over, so it was a TASK. Then I cleaned up and went back to work, before everyone left and Dann and I hung out in the evening.

October 14th – Spotlight Hour and Tabletop

Another work-y work day. I had another morning meeting on the way to drop in Kai’s lunch – hopefully this isn’t a regular thing! I actually had a hair appointment in the late morning, where I got my hair re-dyed, which was fun. Then I went back to work. We did go out for Spotlight Hour in Pokemon Go, where I got a shiny! So did one of the others who came out, which was nice. Then, I made a coconut curry with sweet potato and chick peas for our tabletop group, who came over. We played This That and Everything (gifted) which was a lot of fun! Wendy and Josie made desserts. Everyone stayed until late and then headed off home before I went to bed.

October 15th – Events, Raids, and Movies

Today felt like a long day, but not one of getting much done, which seems to be the theme lately! I woke up early, packed Kai’s lunch and dropped it off at school before heading out to Sissinghurst Castle Garden (invite) to check out a new exhibition they had. We had a really fantastic time in such a romantic setting! We stopped at Costco on our way home, to grab some stuff we had run out of, before returning in time for a few meetings and to get ready for Raid Hour in Pokemon Go. We had a decent turn out, which was fantastic, and did some food bank donation collection! After that, we went to a local Chinese takeaway to grab a quick dinner, before going to the movies. We saw One Battle After Another with our friends which had good reviews they said, but was sort of middling for me. We then headed home to sleep.

October 16th – A Talk at King’s Lynn

Today was another long, long day! I got Kai’s lunch packed and off to him, before Dann and I headed up to King’s Lynn. Dann got there in time for a call of his, then we started exploring! We went to Gooderstone Water Gardens & Nature Trail, which was very lovely to walk around. I do love slower day’s with Dann where we are able to connect and just chat. We then headed to lunch at the Woodland’s Bar and Restaurant, which was very fun and delicious. I stuck around to pet animals and explore (they had a petting zoo!) and Dann had another call. Afterwards, we headed to my talk, which was why I was in the area. My talk was on games journalism and had such a good response from the audience – I really enjoyed it! Dann and I then went to The Dice Box for a bit more to eat and to play some board games before making the drive back home.

October 17th – Afterschool Madness

Today was a absolutely long day. I got Kai’s lunch dropped off to him, before heading back home to work. We had a few errands to run, but it was primarily a work-y day. Then, I got Robin from school, we all met at home, where we found that Robin had been bored last week at her other house and cut her hair. Despite it being done at the weekend, nothing had been done about it! Robin actually had been bored a few times and gotten into a few things over the week due to not being looked after, so this was really disappointing. We booked up a hair cut for tomorrow morning as she has a photoshoot then… But, we got back on with the day. Kai went to the gym and the rest of us went to Robin’s drama club, where Amelia, Dann and I watched the last few minutes of her performance! She is thriving in this class. Then, Amelia and I went off to the Queen’s Theatre Churchhorn to see Di and Viv and Rose, a play about friendship. We got home late and went right to bed.

October 18th – Long Saturday

Dann took Robin right to the hair salon first thing in the morning, with Kai opting to go too as he wanted his hair cut. I stayed home and made muffins! At 11, we had an entire camera and film crew over for a Be Active in Essex campaign, where Dann, Robin and I all had our photos and videos done. This was such a fun experience and Robin very much enjoyed it. They were done by one so we had a quick lunch, then Robin headed off to a birthday party while Amelia, Dann and I went to Raid Day in Pokemon Go. We all got a few shinies but were out until basically the end at 5. Robin did join us after her party and Kai went to the gym. We then all re-grouped at home, along with one of Amelia’s friends who also hung out at Pokemon Go, until after dinner. Robin and I went to our bi-weekly Roller Skating before getting back in, having dessert, and going to bed. I actually fell asleep on the couch!

October 19th – Pumpkin Patches (again)

Now, we did not plan to go to a million pumpkin patches, it just sort of happened! We were invited to the Green Barn Farm which we had never been to, for their pumpkin patch! It was really fantastic – lots of activities included and we ate lunch there too, they had super fresh burgers. We went int he late morning after I got some tasks done, We really enjoyed our time there and then headed home where Kai went to the gym and the rest of us hung out until dinner, primarily playing Minecraft. We had dinner, then headed to Hatter’s Farm for their pumpkin nights, which was glowing and so much fun! We didn’t think this would be that much different from the daytime, but it really was worth it. We then headed home and went to bed.

October 20th – No School for Amelia

Amelia is the first of our children to start October break, so she had the Monday off! We got the other two up, ready for school, and they headed out. Amelia got to sleep in, which is honestly her favorite thing to do as a teenager, then spent some of the day playing with her friend Marie on Minecraft and drawing a card for a local card contest. We also made corn bread to go with chili for dinner tonight, as it’s a DnD night and we are hosting. Eventually, it was time to pick up Robin and Kai, so we did just that before heading to Geek Retreat to play Shadow Ninjas, which was a very fun stealth board game, and drink shakes. Kai headed home after to study with Dann, and Amelia, Robin and I headed to pick up a new pair of shoes for Robin and to Max Monday (Pokemon Go) with our friends. One of the girls who came to Max Monday came over to ours for dinner, and we had girls night where we put on a movie on a projector, painted our nails, and did face masks while the boys played DnD downstairs. It was a very fun night.

October 21st – Board Game Event

Robin and Kai still had school, so we got them up and ready for school today and dropped them in. It was an easy morning! Amelia got up after a little while and we headed into London as we had been invited to a pop-up by Asmodee! This was a big board game pop-up, which was a lot of fun. We played the new versions of Dobble and got a big goodie bag full of stuff. Afterwards, Amelia wanted to go to China Town and get a big boa and some bubble tea, so we did. We walked around and shopped a bit before heading to hot pot! We went to Happy Lamb, which was Amelia’s first hot pot experience! It was so fun to eat hot pot. We then headed back home and did a big litter pick outside Robin’s school, as when I dropped her in there was so much garbage in the ball court that they all play in, it just didn’t need to be that way. The rest of the day was sort of just work and hanging out, we didn’t really have any evening plans which is a rarity.

October 22nd – Party and Lunch

Today, was a work day (finally) where I woke up and started working. However, our work day was interrupted as a takeaway in Luton – called Gao Express – had invited us for a gifted lunch. This was a lot of fun and very delicious! Then we headed back home and I continued to work until the evening. Dann and I had been invited to the Jackbox Party Pack 11 launch party, so we invited a few of our friends and headed there around dinnertime. We had a fun time playing the new Jackbox – which Robin is such a big fan of, so we even grabbed a few Jackbox Party Pack 11 cookies for her! In the evening, we got home and went right to bed, as I was exhausted.

October 23rd – Spooky Walk

Amelia and Kai now are off school, so they got to pick where to go for lunch today. Kai wanted to go to a food court, so that’s where we ended up. Everyone got something different, which was fun, and we did some shopping before heading home and getting some work done. I also spent some time working on Amelia’s outfit for Comicon, as she asked to dress up on Monday, and that wasn’t much time at all! Robin came home from school, we all hung out and then had dinner. After dinner, we headed to Halloween at Wimpole, which was the perfect spooky walk! It was really so much fun, perfect amount of spooky, and I absolutely loved it. We then headed home, got ready for bed, and I did a bit of work before heading to sleep.

October 24th – MCM Comicon London

Robin had school still today, her last day, so we got her up and ready to go. Amelia and Kai woke up later on their own and we got Robin off to school for the day. Dann ran some errands and I did some light work, before all of us headed off to Comicon. Dann and I go for work, and they gave Kai and Amelia a complimentary pass as well, which was really kind. Amelia and I hung out, shopping mainly, while Dann and Kai played a bunch of video games. Amelia went in her first cosplay, matching her Pokemon Go character, and someone even saw the outfit, knew it was from Pokemon Go, and asked for a picture which was really cool! We got back home in time to pick up Robin from school, she then got changed, and went to her school’s disco. She had a fantastic time, and when she came home we had dinner before Amelia and I went to our mother-daughter cupcake class. Someone new to the class actually knew of this blog, which was super funny! My dad called when I got back home and I spent two hours talking to him – the perfect end to a week.

October 25th – Owls and Relaxing

Today, we slept in, played some Jackbox Party Pack 11, and then went to see some owls! Our town centre had these giant owl sculptures and were flying a few birds, which was so fun. We actually knew the birds from Coda Falconry, so it was nice to see them again! Robin had such a fantastic time looking at them and seeing them fly. One of Amelia’s friends also was there along with one of Robin’s friends, so they played together a bit too. Eventually, it was time for our kids to go to their other house, so they headed out, and Dann and I went shopping. Dann went over to a friends house, which was actually a group of friends that he launched a gaming website with years and years ago (before I met him) and they are hanging out again, which is great. He had a fun time! I stayed home, getting some work done and watching the entire series Devil in Ohio, which was very captivating. Dann came home, we hung out, and then went to bed.

October 26th – MCM Comiccon London

Today we headed off EARLY to MCM Comiccon London, as Dann and I had some games to play! We met up with Dann’s friend and walked around with them for a while, then headed to the games and played the games that were there. We do very much enjoy video games events, though we wish they had more at Comicon. Dann and I then headed home, where I got some work done and rested. It was a good end to the weekend.

October 27th – Work Day and DnD

Today was very much a Monday. I spent the day working for the most part. Dann made a lovely soup for lunch which was exactly what I wanted. In the evening, he hosted DnD, and I made everyone sloppy joes with sides. These sides I actually made about midday. It’s a little bit of effort to change around the living room so that all of the DnD folks can fit, but it’s so worth it. Everyone had such a fun time with the spooky theme. Dann also launched his own board game shop, which he showed his DnD friends, and they were very interested in a couple of board games!

October 28th – Amelia’s Birthday

In the morning, we rapped Amelia’s gifts and got the house ready before she came over at 2pm! She then opened up all of her gifts, organised her new Pokemon cards, and then we picked up her friend to go out pottery painting. Amelia was a little down as she wanted to sleep in on her birthday, but was woken up for a fun day, she was told, but then she didn’t do anything at all until coming over. She brightened up when we got her friend and headed to pottery at The Little Arts Workshop, which she very much loves. After they had both finished painting, we went to Wagamamas for dinner, which was lovely. The service ended up being a little slow, but we all caught some Pokemon for Spotlight Hour and Amelia got 3 shinies, so it was worth it. Amelia then headed back to her other house for the night, and Dann and I headed home where I then made build-your-own Ramen for our tabletop group and we played a board game until late.

October 29th – Raid Hour

Now, today I woke up in a sad mood. I was a little sad that on Monday, I had made dinner and provided cupcakes for DnD, which we had exactly enough cupcakes, but someone had eaten two cupcakes so there wasn’t one for me. Then, the next day for tabletop, I had asked Claire (who was in charge of desserts) to bring cupcakes. In the middle of tabletop, I had to take a work call and when I came back the desserts had been cleared away. I assumed one was set aside for me, but there was none when I checked in the morning. I told Dann that I was a little sad about this, and he said that he hadn’t realized, and then we went about our days. At like 11, he brought up a tray of my favorite snacks, none of which were in the house, and a new mug. He is just so lovely. I then spent my day working up until Raid Hour in Pokemon Go, where I got a shiny! It was a good turnout despite the cold. Dann went to the movies with some of our friends but I was getting over a cough so headed home to have dinner and wait up for him until bed.

October 30th – Pumpkin Carving and Movies

Today, I started the day off by working (no surprise!). We did all go on a shop run to grab some fun party food for our Halloween Party at the weekend, and then Amelia, Robin and I also went to another shop to do the snack challenge on Tiktok. It was fun. We then went out to the movies after lunch, where we saw Pets on a Trail, which was only okay. It wasn’t overly great, but it was a fun afternoon activity. In the late evening, after Kai was back from the gym, we carved pumpkins! Everyone did such a good job carving and we put them right outside. Amelia ended up carving two because she wanted to make a baby version of Dann’s pumpkin. We then did a bunch of cleaning and put up the last of our Halloween decorations for the party!

October 31st – Halloween

It’s Halloween! Today was more getting ready for our Halloween Party tomorrow, with some work mixed in. We played a lot of Jackbox Party Pack 11 too! In the evening, we had dinner and headed right out to trick or treat. We didn’t get caught in the rain and got to see so many different wonderful decorations! I am so glad that people still decorated even though it was a little rainy all week. We got so much candy and ended the night by visiting Dann’s Mom. Everyone talked about how much fun they had, even Kai, which is always a win. We ate some candy before bed and Robin went to bed super excited for the Halloween Party tomorrow.