wonderful friend filled weekend

i am getting a bit stressy about something work related, so it was wonderful to have such a busy weekend with negligible time to sleep!! Sat SB went to the young astronomers club for the first time, and really enjoyed it. she did point out that they wouldn’t ever get to see the stars because it was in daytime – amazing bit of sense!! it was based around the royal astronomers i think. chris helped out by being the timer, and read his paper.

bB and i had an adventure, and went into town [by bus having found the bus stop eventually] and then wandered around the ‘dinodoor museum’ which she loved. she partic loved spotting fossils with a passing resemblence to ammonites and belemnites and saying v loudly, ooh we have those! there is an elasmosaurus [well i think that is what it is, might be a pleiseosaur] and she thought it looked like a fab jigsaw and she wanted to be a dinodoor bone person when she grew up. The museum has quite a few books in its hands on bit, and so we read a number i have in my amazon basket! The Birth of the Earth (Cartoon History) The Day of the Dinosaurs (Cartoon History) The Rock Factory: A Story About Rocks and Stones (Science Works) Monster Stones: The Story of a Dinosaur Fossil (Science Works). the last 2 i could read to BB as is, but the first i simplified a bit. we went into the shop, and she spent christmas money on a bag of gems and a bouncy ball with a dinosaur pic in it. these have made her overwhelmingly happy, and she has clutched those gems everywhere. Also a haematite ring present for SB.

BB and I totally failed to find the bus stop leading back out of town, so chris picked us up! we went to diff bits [as i had no map] and when finally did meet up, in a blinding something of fate, there was the bus stop! well, i know now!

we bought a picnic lunch and headed off to the RSPB place. BB was cold, as it was colder there, and we didn’t have enough layers, so wrapped her in a blanket while we ate. The manor borns arrived, ate a bit and we set off. bB declined to wear any extra layers, but ran about happily. we did do BB’s favourite walk, which is the quarry one, and prob my favourite too. it is the longest walk, though we did a ‘shortcut’. We started with a talk with the ‘birdman’ who identified the call of a nuthatch for us, and the shew us 2 treecreepers. we climbed the usual climbing tree and scared the birds from the bird hide and then raced around the quarry. actually, we didn’t race at all, there were that many diversions, looking at things and sitting thinkings that i did wonder if we would get round in the daylight!! but we did, and i really enjoyed it.

moved to the manor for tea and conversation. BB pootled reasonably happily on her own, using michelle mercilessly to get her things that she then abandoned! [though did a good geomag twirler] SB and C played lots of games together, finally settling on Ravensburger Labyrinth Game. it was too cloudy to go to a possible astronomy evening, to the disappointment of the older girls. We cheekily did a masterchef critique of both main course and pudding, but i have to say how lovely it i to have effort lovely expended for us.

today the girls did the birthday cards and that actually took all morning and so we were late to the party , but i won’t expand!! was a lovely birthday party at the deependers, and loads of muddlepuddle/blogring friends and local friends. Pah to home educated children not getting to socialise. its stopping them and getting them to do their maths that can be the problem [as g and I giggled to each other]. lots of party games, party food and 4 fabulous cakes!! SB gave the v lovingly made dolly cloak to L. all cut and sewn by her, so truly a labour of love. we went back to the deependers for a spot of tea and cake [more cake!!] before the children got noticeable enough to be shepherded into the car and home!

PS, sorry for nearly making Katy vomit describing BB’s awful book, and also if you think you may have been caught speeding, you can check here