Petits Haricots

had a busy week and a v long day yesterday - my excuse! oh, and really need to be sorting holiday snaps.

today was a bit manic making SB’s scarecrow costume with us all sewing on patches and then manically getting out! SB was sitting on the rainbows float - the theme for our rural village’s fete was … farming! Anyway it was a good turnout, a load of stalls for village groups, all with tombola or raffle, and cakes for sale! there were a couple of extortionately priced kiddie rides too. the girls both got a ride on each. I think SB was happy to be on the float this year, though she said it was hot.
BB has not been in frame today, she has been v waily, so we left earlier than we might have done. she fell asleep on the way back. SB and i read the stories in barefoot book buddhist tales, looked at bits about tudors and did some piano practice before bb woke up. we then replenished the bird feeders [tht takes some time!] and the girls played whilst i planted out sweetcorn. SB really is a lovely older sister to have.
i think that about finishes today. execrable band in one of the pubs playing

Monday, other than hospital not much seemed to happen. spent ages on the phone getting a hosp appt. for that day as they had given us one for next week. Then phoned various people to tell them SB wouldn’t be attending her various classes because of her foot. hospital appt ended up not being until afternoon, which was good as it meant Helen could make it as well. I think SB finished off some hama beading she’d started off about 5 times.
My parents came round in the morning as they were going to look after BB when we went into hospital. Chatted, girls played games, read etc. with them.

I took SB into hospital, consultant happy with her progress, should be no need for skin graft on the heel, healing up nicely. Removed the back slab. Heel injury still painful but getting there. she is now able to place her front part of foot on the ground. Can’t think what else we did when we got back home.

Tuesday we went off for a HE group event on Romans at a local museum. Almost didn’t go, I felt like staying home, but SB keen to go so I made the effort. Interestingly, rather than taking longer as might be expected, we got out quicker than normal with SB partly out of action. In 35 minutes they were dressed, washed, hair brushed etc., we’d also gone over the road and bought stuff from the bakers for lunch and got them in the car ready to go. Obviously should not leave SB to get herself sorted. She said it’s because she and BB go and play….
First session was good, it was done by a chap who does talks etc. with kids about Romans.

He was dressed in a Centurions outfit, was mostly about life as a roman soldier, their clothing/armour, their weapons etc.

The local Roman legions’ standard.

How they used the different javelins.

Sb was a hopping Legionnaire

some others formed a Testudo and we all threw stones at them (well foam balls….)

Demonstrated the Scorpion.

Demonstrated the various bits of personal kit they would have carried. He was a bit coy about saying what the big T shaped nails were for (crucifixion) - i reckon it’s those gory bits that kids like best - SB wasn’t fazed by it hen I told her - BB would probably want to try it out on someone… (it’s already come up before, and it’s a pretty fundamental bit of Christianity)
Had a pleasant lunch outside in the sun. followed by a session making roman pots using coil or thumb/pinching as the romans might have done. Enjoyed by the kids but would have been better I think if we had a bit more time and could have looked at the sorts of pots the Romans made/used.

We then had a litle look at the musuem, particularly the Roman bits and the fossil bits. tried on a roman helmet and did some rubbings.

Afterwards I considered going to find WH Smiths so SB could spend her voucher, but decided I didn’t want to push her around in the big buggy whilst dragging a tired and grumpy BB with us. So went straight back to car and came home, Where we all flopped for a bit, do to warm car, being generally tired - it’s hard work for us all i think taking SB out in her current state. Did manage to play some chess and Uno with SB and look at some books with BB.

Finished up the day watching a bit more of Sound of Music with SB, finished just before the bit here the fighting starts, which is apparently her favorite bit

Thursday.

Off to Tots and Nots groups in the morning. Just in time for SB to take part in a French game with Katy. I sat with BB and did a picture with her made from different shapes cut out of paper. Bit of general playing and snack eating. SB did a picture as well. Drew a portrait of Helen. Gina whose does various music teaching there brought along some flutes. so they got to have a go with those. BB was interested, but didn’t want to try. SB managed to get some sound out of it without to much effort. Bit of singing of songs, then SB had her first recorders session with Gina. said she enjoyed it and wants to do some more. It should be becoming a regular thing.

By now BB was pretty grumpy - she wanted to go and watch SB playing, said she was hungry but didn’t want to eat any of the things  I had in the bag. Didn’t want to do anything I suggested etc. - probably tired (had woke me up before 5 am, though went back to sleep later) and hungry (only had eaten half a slice of toast and a modicum of yoghurt ).

Headed off home via Tesco’s for a few things - which was a bad idea - it’s a big Tesco Extra store and buying just a few things seems to involve walking miles. BB was amusing by the bakery counter. I was with SB a bit further along whilst she chose her bread, BB was sat in the trolley shouting out ‘ I want Spooky Spoon bread’ !   Spooky spoon (from the character in Numberjacks) bread being her name for a French stick - ever since we had one that was vaguely spoon shaped at the end and they kids dubbed it Spooky Spoon.

They both amused a mother at the veg bit. They were both begging me to buy a bag of Peas in their pods because they love eating them straight from the pods - but they were imported and rather expensive so I didn’t. Good to have kids who like consider buying bread and vegetables a treat though

Escaped  Tesco and got home to a late lunch of mostly Spooky spoon bread accompanied by a dose of Magic School Bus. SB did piano practice, and handwriting. BB got out her violin and played with that, couldn’t find her maths book which she wanted, so did some leap-padding. then they both got out the Geomags. BB got upset because they kept on sticking to each other and they bickered and argued over which Geomags they each had, could do with more really. I cooked some soup, which neither of the kids seem to like much - probably a tad too spicy for them. Helen came home and read some books with them - I caught one about Alexander Graham Bell.

Then off to bed.

was RSPB walk day. we got there bright and early, which was nice, so all set off in the warmth rather than the heat. What a change a few weeks makes! def a nature walk, we looked at oak apples, saw how ‘the photo tree’ had suddenly become covered in leaves, listened to birds, saw the bracken growing, the bluebells fading, and actually saw a greater spotted woodpecker!

was a lovely walk, and we all really enjoyed it. bB wore herslef out a bit with all the running up and down the steps [her absolute favourite bit!] and we stopped just in time for a picnic on what shall henceforth be called Michelle’s bench! a gentle meander back to the car, and then to the manor house. girls didn’t quite gel. i think late nights, having seen quite a bit of each other and the heat. however, bit of stage-manageing here and there, and a number of apologies from my girls and it was OK. SB a bit all legs and arms though, and had hurt C a number of times, so went home wailing because she had upset her, and now worried about visiting again

oh, and BB calls ants and woodlice ‘antistons’ at the moment. not sure why! she does seem to have a thing for squishing them.

We had a sparkly start to the day, Butterbean found the glitter left from Thursday and decided she needed to make a glittery picture first thing. sauffice to say we have a nice pot of mixed glitter colours for xmas and the Dyson looks very sparkly inside…….. She had fun though.

Rousted around a bit after that to get out for a HE group felting session, managed to get there on time, which we often don’t manage. Since we did needle felting a couple of years ago at Kessingland this was a nice compliment to that. Helen who was organising the session had a nice simple technique for younger kids that worked well.

You use a Ziploc bag and a piece of bubble wrap in a rectangle about twice the size of the bag
1. Lay out 3 thin layers of wool in alternating directions for the background on top of the bubblewrap.

2. make your design on top.

3. Pour warm soapy water over the top to carefully to wet the wool.

4. Flatten down the wool to ensure it is all wet, re-arranging the design if necessary.

5. fold over the bubblewrap and slide into the ziploc bag. Squeeze out the air and seal.

6. Agitate - rub gently , roll up,  throw from hand to hand - whatever. You basically need to move the wool fibres around to get them to felt together, but not so much so that you mess up the desing to much. The longer you do it the more felted it gets.
7. Remove, rinse out soap and allow to dry.

Both girls enjoyed it, though BB did get me to  to the felting process and  I helped her  a bit lay out the design, though the ideas where all her’s. SB did hers all by herlself, tthough it could have done with a bit more felting.

After group we stopped at various shops for various things, got too hot (must get car air con fixed before we go away on hols) got home and all hid the playroom to cool off, Helen came home, had dinner etc. She did some French reading some of the Lucie Chat books I think.
Other than that, what else has been going on?

Thursday we went to  Merry’s for Amilies 6th birthday. Made cards first, which took up most of the remaining time in the morning, SB put so much Pritt stick glue on heres that she tend had to stick lots of glitter and etc. to cover up the glue. ended up looking like a house in a snow storm !! Did a bit of maths, Made picnic. Off to Merrys, picnbic turned into lunch on the table, off to the park where grownups lounged under a tree whilst kids got hot in the playground.

Home later than intended, BB fell asleep in the car then couldn’t quite decide if she was asleep or awake for the next hour or so when I put her into bed.

H and me caught up with this weeks Apprentice - excellent stuff. do wonder if sacking 2 for one of the weeks is part of the program design - otherwise surely it’d be a week longer run? but hey, it’s entertainment not real Life.

There was also Tuesday, but nothing exciting happened - library, unloading car of all the camping gear, lots of washing,  handwriting, music practice, my parents came round.

Now it’s the weekend and so many things want doing around the house and garden esp.  and we are going out tomorrow for our monthly woodland/bird walk with the Old Manor family. Want to go camping again though really.

SB loves the drama group, but she leaves by 9.30 and returns at 12.30. at 15.20 she goes to rainbows and returns at 17.00, at 18.20 she goes to judo and returns at 19.40. ie, I get to see v little of her on my day free, and I MISS HER! especially today when crappy with migraine, and the heat really hit me just as she was about. we played castle keep and did violin practice, but that was about it. bleurgh. at bedtime we have nearly finished the orchard book of arthur and the round table [a good book, but it couldn’t really follow on to michael morpurgo’s fab gawain and seem fab]

BB and I have had plenty of time together, and BB is also a delight more often than a tantrum throwing stroppy 3 year old! today we sowed loads of seeds together, watered and potted on [some things might not survive!], she then chose to play with pattern blocks with me for ages [and i had to be careful to only do the allowed bits!] and then we made towers and walls with the wooden bricks. being still dirty from the seeds, we had a bath.
She started getting a bit, well, 3 so we went outside for a run, and read a book all about tigers. i made lunch in time for SB’s return home, but i think the outside bit was the last straw for the migraine i was desperately pretending wasn;t there, so i had to lie down for a bit - grr - in a cool room. cue much wailing and jumping on me to see if better yet. however, chris got out paddling pool and as the temp in the shade became more bearable, i sat out and we narrated stories for each other - BB mostly being a crocodile!

sorted tea and BB then watched a MSB and to bed, SB returned and watched MSB and to bed, and chris has gone out. SB not settling v well, as not used to daddy out.

i am going to ignore the fact that i have a migraine, and that we are behind on blogging to say that we had a really fab ban holiday camping.

weather was excellent, camp site fab - with sea views and no midges!. great company. we loved our new tent, and the porch addition worked really well. we had a porch inner for our proper tent bit, and i noticed although it was a khyam ridgipod classic porch, it also had motordome classic badging, so poss good for both - for anyone else with a khyam! BTW the porch addition isn’t made for our tent, so a wind vent space - pics to follow - but worked v well and easy to put up!

our neighbours seemed v happy with their new tent, and certainly the outwell brand in general but i’ll let them say all that when they return on their blog! my new sleeping bag was truly fab, i never felt cold, and was in fact too warm on the last night ad de-layered!

we got there fri eve, and managed to pitch v quickly. SB placed and pegged out the groundsheet, put poles together and cliped them in, and was generally v helpful. bB handed out pegs and poles, and was potentially v helpful, though not quite if we didn’t actually immediately take them and use them! anyway, 30 mins saw tent up, and sleeping stuff allready, and since it was nearly 9pm… quick pasta tea then bed. next morning saw us adjust a few bits in the light…

we went to east runton beach. sunny but v blowy. SB got herself drenched in the sea after saying she wouldn’t so no need to swap skirt for sunsuit… chris made numerous runs across the pebbly/stony bit and up cliff on toilet runs. and we finally went back to campsite for lunch and arrival of the manor borns. As said, we were impressed with their new tent, it looks great. girls all played, including an ‘extra’ girl from a tent a space or 2 away [that is what i like about camping!]. BB is getting v proficient at like-a-biking. and the campsite had a handy concrete track bit on the nearly flat for her to whizz along just by our tent. also appreciated by the 3 bigger girls who all had scooters. the dynamics needed some tweaking, and unfortunately we hadn’t packed craft stuff for me to do with BB, and she wouldn’t be interested in any of the games, but the older ones were pretty good at including her, and i tried to give them breaks as well!

SB has restarted animal crossing - we wiped the last town!

nice curry tea and chatting till late. girls all dropped off successfully. perfect camping

next day weather was more variable. we got v blown about at the beach and abandoned. then went to cromer in pm, which the girls all loved as they got to go on some fairground rides. BB in particular was ecstatic by both bouncy castle and teacup rides. SB got far more bouncy castle opportunities when that age - must do better!! SB waited for ages for bb to stop bouncy castling so that they could both teacup together - aw what a fab big sis!

we goy blown around the pier, saw the crabbers and went back for another fab meal.

final day for us, and we went into sheringham for lunch out [at a v quaint local restaurant stuck in basil fawlty timewarp, but good food!] and then a ride on the steam train. scorching weather, so we should really have done the days the other way round, but we were sort of going with the fact that bbc and metcheck might be vaguely right weather wise! we all got hot and bothered. i in particular, as taking tent down in heat does not suit my constitution! final meal chez manorborn tent - yummy stirfry, and home.

i love camping. looking forward to festival of history, and must organise another weekend jaunt to norfolk coast - well, maybe more than one! other attendees more than welcome!

just a little one as i am seriously on edge - management meetings. i am just not the right type!

Anyway, the girls had a busy day, going to nots and tots, with a bit of french and a bit of latin amongst other things. SB did a piano practice as well.

when i got home they both wanted to do a craft, so some cards for fran are half made! Sb has used a stamping kit, and bB and i have done wax splodges so far. we had candles out for a bit of demonstrating that there was air and you can use it up.[bb is particularly keen on speriments] SB also did some maths. we all read a bit more of these baby french books [they are v much for 2’s but they are quick, and we try and do a sentence with the words, today we were eating or not eating various foods!] SB and BB watched some how things work based on the DK books, which they both enjoyed [and yes, some MSB] . Sb playd some chess, and read some 3rd grade detectives books.

hmm, i am trying to back flickr, blog, think about important meeting tomorrow at work etc etc, and multitasking is not compatible with BB awake. gorgeous though she is.

Anyway, we all got up, CHris to SB to drama, unfortunately he was running late and they went to the wrong venue. it is far enough away that there was much sighing! she got to half of it anyway.

meanwhile BB and I were having a much more satisfactory time. we started off playing silly games - hide and seek frog etc, then did some seed sowing. BB quite keen to do more experiments with seeds, so we have put some different ones to chit and we will see which one germinates first. [more details on gardening blog] after we had done that we did some ‘match and sort’ with singapore 1a. she enjoys this as v easy!! [though she did say she wanted to do SB’s book…] and we read one of the very starter french books on colours again.

Still desperately keen to do ’speriments, i got out an air book, so we saw how we could blow air on each other [degenerated a bit!] and then [b******, FORGOT ABOUT THE LINK THING AND JUST PUBLISHED. THIS IS WHERE I LAST SAVED!] i impressed myself with making some really good aeroplanes.

lunch and SB home. she wanted me to show her her piano hands afterwards, so we did a piano practce, then a violin. BB joined in the violin practice - always tricky! Both girls did afrench book with me on clothes and then ordered crystal experiments, so we set them up - very brave of me to handle chemicals with BB! SB read all the safety warnings v carefully. she remembered that we had hung the rock from string before, and wanted to repeat that, so we did.

Rainbows for SB - feels that there is no time for me in her current wed timetable, so will have to change that. A surprise visit by chris parents, so i made tea and dinner at the same time [grin] and got them to read [and i won’t link this time!] Katie and the dinosaurs and Digging up dinosaurs. we then read a red nose reader together before she wanted to bake pink cupcakes with smarty eyes. so we did. SB returned in time for the lickings, and we said goodbye to grandparents.

Bath, tea, BB bed, SB playing in garden, me potting up seedlings. SB bed. Apprentice, apprentice you’re fired and BB awake. playing drawing birds and dinosaurs with BB and looking at flickr pics of her as a baby. the end!!

its the musical monday thing, it makes me feel all alliterative!

we did have a wonderful weekend though, as we went and stayed with the manor borns, went to st georges day at wrest park on the sat and geocaching and bird walk on the sun. i would link, but blog being awkward on those kind of things! so thanks to our host family
so, st georges day [actually don’t even dare a bold!]. we were eonly 30 mins behind schedule, and although later than the manorborns, we were still one of the first arrivals. and no surprise because it was COLD. I felt v sorry for re-enactors and EH, as they must have made a massive loss. we still had fun though. SB and Chloe were actors in all 3 performances from rosie bottom and the variously named male actor [will ilink to their company eventually!]. they were excellent as usual, and the children all had great fun. SB giggled her way being lots of diff roles, and Chloe was a v proud horatio. I think they were the best bit of the day! Though actually the fire jugglers were great. SB had some fun dancing with some re-enactors, and also messing about with pikes etc. We watched some displays, and did some sheltering from cold and wet in the orangery. EH did a roaring trade in gloves and hats, and sold out! BB not so enthusiastic, so we spent quite a bit of time playing races around the rather beautiful gardens. kept me nice and warm anyway!

went back for dinner, cheffed in style by marcus. the girls played loads of games, and mostly kept themselves happy. following their bedtime, we played carcasonne with river, and really enjoyed that until 2!

so we were all rather subdued the next day! but did geocache walk - and found it! so our faith in marcus’s gadget using is undimmed. we then were going to do a customary walk around bird place, but decided to make it a bit shorter, like parental tempers! [i improved after flapjack]. lovely walk though, bluebells nearly out, lots of discussion on growing things etc, lots of bird sounds and some nice photos. we also eventually figured how to do that one game 2 ds thing [shame they have such hopeless parents, we did twitter, but none of the obvious experts twittered back, and we eventually had to be resourceful!]
home our separate ways, so we collapsed into a little chef as thought girls would keel over, and met the deependers having a similar thought following their warmer version of st georges day. car games there and back were in french - shouting out colours of cars!

Morning, off to the Library. SB on her inline skates, BB on scooter. So took much longer given SB’s skating speed at the moment. BB very funny, she is very much into mad scootering at the moment. Zooming along shouting madly, she was scootering along, going ‘look I can steer’ when she crashed straight into a telegraph pole

Library, storytime for BB - SB sits and reads other things now, a bit of craft sticking making tulip pictures. which BB insisted we bring home and put up over the cooker taking down old artwork. Finding some more books - SB brought home 9!! Mr Men books. I told her she would have to read them all herself as i wasn’t going to read them (really dislike the Mr Men books), a bit of nattering and home.

Met Trish, other HE mum and child C in library, and they came back a bit later for coffee/lunch and playing. Trying to play indoors didn’t quite work, but decamping to the garden and the sun was much more successful.

After they’d departed they made birthday cards for Helen, and wrapped presents. SB had to go over the road and buy some more wrapping paper. except for crossing the road (which she can do fine at the zebra crossing, but just likes you to watch her in case she isn’t sure about it) she manages such shopping trips OK. BB stuck a strip of paper together and wrapped it up to make what was apparently a fish for Mummy.

SB got on with some more Getty and Dubay handwriting, followed by some maths. Stuff on money (Dollars and Cents - it’s Singapore maths, but it’s all decimal so she’s happy with that) all pretty easy stuff. Was a litle stuck on what writing say 65c in Dollars meant and why it was $0.65 - she got the hang of it though. Though I mad a bad job of trying to explain decimal points. which reminded me we need to do stuff stuff on fractions reallys.
Meanwhile BB played one of those impenetrable 3yo kiddie games with a seemingly random selection of objects, in this case something like a teaspoon, a plastic dinosaur, a plastic tub, a pair of nail clippers and wooden lolly stick.

I did stuff like get dinner going, hanging up washing etc.

Sat and read a bit (of one of the numerous new Book People books) of a book about Rainforests, which some how involved a conversation on rabbits eating their own poo They then sat and read some of their library books before dinner.

musical mondays was written on sat and the timestamp editied so it posted today!

i certainly didn’t have time to blog yesterday - leaving the house at 9:30 and returning at midnight! it was a wildlife walk day with the people over at the manor born. we went specially early this time, as last time the carpark was full, and it was busy when we got there. needn’t have worried, the blustery rain had put off all but the hardy and foolish…

So we all met up, and set out. Marcus and I doing that couple thing of wearing the same [and it is!] waterproofs, and michelle and chris looked v fetching in their matching trews!! [yep, michelle went a la daddybean!] . girls togged in their muddypuddles [fab waterproofs!] and i need some new wellies.

both girls decided sensibly that they didn’t want to take pictures in the rain, so marcus and I took a minimal number for the seasonal changes thing we plan to do at the end of the year, Jaffa cakes and choc bikkies helped keep the sprits going - but actually it was v enjoyable, i like blustery, and the drizzle cleared. Marcus won the choc bikkie race - which he was v happy with.

the girls played and raced and generally very happy with the 0 birdwatching. i did insist that they look at the daffodils and the cherry blossom - rofl, and we were all a bit deflated by the plantation pond. BB thought it a puddle. these walks are such a fab idea - thanks michelle.

back to there house for yummy lunch [thankyou v much!], and lots of games, the girls, the adults , everyone with a board game and other game fun filled afternoon and evening - finishing at 10.30 when it became apparent that the children were officially tired, so we went home! before tht, numerous games of blokus, yahtzee [which chloe won! - SB and I enjoyed, and we made the girls tot up and multiply themselves - so education too!], really enjoyed carcassonne, cluedo for the kids.

i’ve taken so long to blog, that michelle has beaten me to it, so she has a great pic of BB on blog!

is what i have been doing this eve, rather than blogging. oops. diddle daddlying is what SB does a lot of. especially when she is supposed to be actually doing something! like getting out of the house for not-so-local-group-north. We got there to find the patch of puddles already there [escaping from their LEA inspection!]. SB and BB took a bit of time to settle in, and its a group i don’t usually go to [being at work] so i did that mooching uncertainty thing [along with max]. the girls got to sow some seeds, start a leprechaun puppet, and do some egg dyeing. The egg dyeing was pretty adventurous stuff, what with melting wax crayons as well as using turmeric or beetroot dyes. Lots of playing outside as well, and then back to merry’s. We had planned to go home and do some home-ed, but that didn’t really happen. oh well!

Tuesday was melrose music morning. i have to admit to have been slightly worried about this. My aim was to be as inclusive as possible, have something that should still sound good, and that it should be entirely fun with no pressure. i think the music choice was good, as there were lots of A and D players, but enough people carrying the tune [especially with me singing it too!] i hurriedly wrote a part for a cello - didn’t quite work in all places, but pretty good considering lack of anything except humming to work it out! with tuning up and setting out, we did about an hour, everyone was smiling, we got faster and faster! yep, the rhythm of the a/d group was not right - and i planned to pay that a bit of attention with the next rehearsal that never happened. but i think it did achieve what i set out for it to do, and yes, i would do it again. I did have able assistant parents encouraging me, and also then did a quick hold and check for a few would be violinists. Always good to spread the love of string around…

in the afternoon, i prepared tea [camp curry - recipe on camps page] and the children did a fab computer games workshop with Matt. SB’s had an underwater theme, and she got to see it demonstrated. BB drew a ‘cattie’.

Wed we went swimming and then a wander around the abbey. unfortunately that eve SB was sick, and our hol finished effectively then. but we had had a fab time as always.

other things of note - it was a great melrose for board games. gradually melrose evenings have become gamier for the adults, i particularly liked playing blokus and settlers of catan. [actually i love playng the games and chatting - though blokus is a surprisingly unchatty game!] the board games spilled over into kids time as well, with alot of blokus playing - both sb and bb enjoyed it, so perhaps a purchase for me to make. suggested to play merrily they should increase their games line!! i saw hare and tortoise, draughts and chess played too. i love the co-operation and friendliness if the group. there were lots of clusters of children, with different group members dependent on interest in what was going on rather than fixed friendship groups. i like that, and it was all angst free. Also the ready skill sharing - thanks to anni for showing me how to cast on, and jax for doing the sheep thing! And the ready helpfulness and friendliness. i heart Melrose! the littlies did lots of cooperative happy streeting, and BB was seen intermittently with a variety of littlies and bigger kids having fun. did i say i like the easy inclusivity of this group of kids - must be lack of hierarchical schooling that lets them still be age indiscriminate so well.

I am also seeing SB become more confident socially, and since i am so angst ridden on that front it is such a relief. It probably is because this is a fairly ‘forgiving’ group of children who seem happy to take people as they are and are prepared to like and be friendly. but this time in particular she seemed to be happy in her skin and play and have fun, with no needing to refer to me. grin.

so we were sad to miss the last day and the talent show eve [hoping the orchestra was fab] and guilty that we didn’t help with the grand clear up. thanks to all there that made the week so fab.

and yes, i am flickring!! Em is there before me, and Sarah
edited to add [no doubt first of a few addings!] we were given our sonlight order [thanks t-bird!] and BB was desperately excited and started doing her before the code and singapore earlybird with great glee. indeed she insisted on doing it every day! SB enjoyed the brain academy with aprilia and also ds-ing at other times [she specificaly wanted me to add that!] and she is very thankful for her presents. Also we all would like to thank the dinner cookers.

we had a pre-melrose weekend at hadrians wall, staying in once brewed youth hostel with the deep enders. we all had a bit of a problem finding it, so arrived pretty much simultaneously after texting to and fro from laybys and pub carparks! children joyously and noisily enthusuastic to be on hols, a lovely hostel with nice wardens. in fact especially nice wardens considering i set off the fire alarm cooking pasta [oops!]. i think we will use it as a base again for a holiday.

early nights for all, as i was very very migrainous.

next day we upped and breakfasted [and i took bucketfuls of tablets and my new nasal things which seemed no better]. The Babs texted an ETA so we went to Hadrians wall whilst waiting - a rather bracing walk given the windiness! the children did scampering, katy and i chatted ans handed out restorative chocs as we walked back. Obviously we were out of signal, as the Babs had already got to vindolanda [and lost husband en route] so we quickly piled there.

gloriously sunny so we all said hello, children again joyous and enthusiastic to see each other, and a packed lunch eaten. As soon as we paid and got in it tipped it down! so we looked at the covered courtyard and watched the introductory video whilst rain settled.

children scampered about - and since it was muddy itwas not a positive experience for all… lots of pointing out and imagining. the hypocaust for the baths and the mock fort towers were ‘the best’ and also the recreated rooms. SB had a very thorough look at the museum with Beth and then me, and we saw the tiny ‘postcards’.

copybooks blotted by some raucous child behaviour from SB amongst others engendering a telling off from one of the staff. [and then SB got a very full telling off from me too, so was crying and sulking - great]

off to melrose, noticed our front number plate had half fallen of so fixed that. then after about 20 mins stopped for a weird tapping noise on roof - the camera!!!

otherwise a very straightforward drive to melrose . both girls disappeared with friends v quickly.

to be continued…

or so said BB, and she is right, we have.

we went to my parents today to have a nice day and drop SB off until thurs - which seems v odd! much game playing [including bingo], drawing and lots of chatting. I am sure they will have a great time, but i already miss her!!

interesting q on way down, is a hot air balloon easier to get aloft, more difficult or the same when it is freezing cold compared to a nice sunny day. i thought it should be no different [except the practicalities of cold fingers! as its the temp differential that mattered. SB thought it would be harder as lots of the heat would quickly be lost to the cold air [i was impressed she remembered all about this tBH] , chris thinks a bit harder, but doubts much in it. this was car ed so no googling, what do you think? or do you know?? [sparked by seeing a rather lovely hot air balloon]

It was really warm for our monthly RSPB walk with chloe, michelle and marcus, and it was lovely! lovely to be out in the sun, lovely to have a nice walk, lovely being severely bossed by BB! She particularly wanted to be first, and to run up and down the quarry steps, so thats what we did alot of! She took her ‘noculars and SB took some real ones, so they could both look at the birds. SB and Chloe also did a finding things all the way round, which they enjoyed. i loved the fact that SB thinks of the R in plRnt and grRs rather than an a - would help if we were northern!
[lots of photos to come on flickr]

back to their house for the usual sumptuous feast - yummy - and lots of game playing. i particularly liked the fire and ice game. girls all got on very well, BB was only intermittantly ‘three’. we adult had plenty of nattering time.

on the way home, SB and i sang together, and its the first time she has ever held the tune with someone else singing with her as well. so i am v happy [BB has always been able to do it]

we had an out and about day today. HE sports session, which SB loves. we adults and bb chatted and socialised in the corridor. we then popped into the shopping centre to spend some xmas vouchers. we did well! SB and BB had fun in the ELC and Waterstones. SB and BB were impressed with buying a book in the bookstore rather than internet! We had lunch out at a place recommended by Bob before - good recommendation thanks! whilst at lunch bb refused to put on her shoes as they hurt. so we went to clarks and spent a huge amount reshodding the girls. ho humm.

so back, and SB ballet and swimming, and bB tiptapping on her hammer in pins toy. i am not totally convinced that giving bb a hammer and tacks is wise, but she has loved the toy. we also did some baking together. All watched the start of walking with beasts.

We had one child each for most of the day. Not my ideal, but seemed a good idea at the time. Chris took SB off for a drama taster session. She really enjoyed it. they celebrated a friends birthday there too before coming back.

BB and i meanwhile, played with the k’nex building aeroplanes, did some painting - actually most impressed by her use of colour, read books and went outside to play in the sun for a bit. We got cold as scantily dressed, so leappadded indoors and had lunch as she was too hungry to wait for chris and SB.

when SB came home they had lunch. SB then did a fair amount of reading, BB and i played with a traintrack, then did SB’s violin practice. I took SB to rainbows and was helper for the session, whilst BB stayed with chris. i enjoyed the helpering actually. they did a great puppet colouring in craft, and i was rather bossy in enabling the girls to share the pens [oops] but 4 of them had piggies, and there were 2 pinks, and initially the all wanted all pink - so we thought of other ways to do things!! Chris and bB were out in the garden.
back home, and we had a watch of some magic school bus, but something went wrong with the server connection, so instead have had a walking with dinosaurs fest! [AKA a nice snuggle on the sofa!] i have started readign SB ballet shoes as a bedtime story
Sis has surgery tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

we had a lovely time at centreparcs, sharing an 8 person villa with making it up residents! both families were not at peak due to outside stresses and strains, but we had a fabulous time anyway. I have never been to centreparcs before, and would now thoroughly recommend it as a winter break - particularly with friends. We not only shared a villa with some, but were happily surprised to find another family there which we know, who’s daughter and ours has great fun playing together, and i enjoyed having other adults to tallk to as well.

We obviously spent a LOT of time in the pool complex, for 3 days we did a late morning across lunch and late afternoon swim [going for the least busy times] and on the middle and last days went for the long swim and lunch there option. i guess we pooled for about 4-5 hours a day. BB was absolutely ecstatic about her ’swimming holiday’ it [I think] was absolutely what she had hoped for. She loved the swimming, progressed from wanting to hold on a bit, to wildly throwing herself into deep water [the salt pool shelf] and swimming back with her ring on. She has got faster and faster with her swimming, using a ring and doggy paddle. Just so confident in the water. she was very happy to dunk under the water, get absolutely soaked, pop under to pick up diving rings [within standing depth]. it was lovely to see. Sb also had a ball. She is a water baby anyway, far more comfortable swimming under the water than on top [though her stroke there improving] and fearless. she enjoyed the rapids, shoots and slides, waves and diving for rings, and just generally loved being in the water. She loved having friends there to play with as well. i liked the tubes and the hot salt pool best, though the ‘river nile’ [named by SB] was good beacuse we all pootled round that together. the rapids at night were good - in fact swimming outdoors at night was generally good, as something i haven’t had much opportunity to do. chris thought they should have some wilder shoots and rapids!

Other things - well, SB went to the roller disco, except there wasn’t any disco to it at all. however, she did get to try out inline skates and fall over a lot. She def wants some. Good, as i have bought her these for when she finishes her swimming term [i find it hard to believe my wildly confident girl of the last week needs a bribe for swimming bravery mind you!] Must get some padding for her! All children had fun at the playpark. SB was daring, and BB and I had fun. BB did lots of scootering everywhere, which she enjoyed, and SB cycled. we were actually one of the closest chalets to the complex [by luck] so I think SB was disappointed not a longer bike ride. However, it was much easier for the little ones coming back at nearly 8 after evening swim!

A fair bit of crafting was done in the tiny gaps of schedule! both Jax and I brought some craft kits to do, BB was mostly keen, making pompom things, and a pencil craft. Small painted his aeroplane, and SB and Big scoobied, drew and beaded. Big did some fantastic facepainting. [even if a nightmare to clean off!]. An assortment of games had been brought and were played. Sb and BB had broght lucie chat and the other french reading book, which we read a number of times, and big and small also seemed to like. SB had brought her music theory book - and even did some of it!! we adults fed, watered, read stories and provided intervention breaks as appropriate in the day, drank a modicum of wine at night whilst setting the world to rights, and also played scrabble [tim won twice, but it was a close thing. jax moaned about the lack of refreshing screens - rofl!]
So, last day, last swim and meal and home - to loads of yellow moon boxes - rofl. bought ‘a few things’ in the sale. oh and my new swimming costume!! [too late but never mind]. great break. real world submerged me now, but nice to breathe if only for a while.