Monster & Teeny

Monday A planned quiet day at home didn’t quite happen with my Granny coming over for a couple of hours in the morning. The children happily sat with her looking at our most recent photos of camping while I did some baking (turning horribly mushy bananas into muffins was particularly satisfying!). We had the geomags out and they made a tent, table and chairs for one of their toys to go camping in. Lots of talk about how many rods, balls and panels would be needed and what shapes we were creating as we went.

Granny left and Lucy arrived with R & R for lunch and a play. After they left the children watched the DVD extras on Wallace & Gromit Were Rabbit for about the 700th time.

Badgers in the afternoon for Monster where I was very pleased to be told when I went in to collect him how well he is doing there and what a favourite of the Badger leader he is .

Tuesday I wanted to finish reading a book due back at the library so the children were *very* autonomous for most of the morning. They watched some Discovery Kids and did loads of drawings for each other which they then went outside and posted through the letterbox. I also did some words and pictures puzzles for him at his request - writing out words and drawing corresponding pictures for him to match up together. He really enjoys this and although a lot of it is educated guesswork rather than actual spelling out words he is clearly learning and developing reading skills as he goes.

After lunch we went into town on the bus. I hardly ever use public transport and I’m afraid given the high price and surly attitude of the staff on most of it I am unlikely to change that any time soon. It cost way more to go a couple of miles into town than the petrol and overpriced parking would have done but the children enjoyed the different experience so it was nice enough for a one off. We had various things to do in town including visiting the optician to complete a form, getting Teeny’s feet measured at Clarkes as I thought her feet had grown (they had!) and the library to return some books. Teeny was tired and not well behaved at all in the library which was annoying and embarrassing. We got a pile of books out having arranged with A to pick us up on his way home rather than catch a bus back. We got chip shop chips on the way home for the childrens’ tea. I read them a rather good book I’d got from the library which we all enjoyed and have also borrowed a childrens’ Bible to read the creation story to Monster given his recent interest in creation vs evolution theories.

Wednesday  A very early start to the day as we were off to London to meet with friends at the Diana Memorial Playground. Except we went via Reading as A was working there and the train journey in was about half what it would have been from home and with no need to get the tube or bus either. We had a lovely day with the children having great fun playing with the sand, water, pirate ship and their friends. There was the traditional missing child just before home time who was found in the black hole that is the base of the pirate ship there and we went back to HEMUK for dinner and further playing for children / chatting for adults. A lovely day. Monster, Teeny and I sat squashed onto one seat for part of the train journey and to prevent them from being too noisy and wriggly we read through the safety leaflet and spent time locating all the various alarms, equipment and emergency exits and talking about them.

Thursday Another lovely day spent at a local attraction with an educational walk through on planet Earth, weather, ice age, dinosaurs, prehistoric man and through the ages to today, Sussex in miniature gardens and various other attractions. We went with SIL Julie and cousins J & M and Lucy with R & R. We had a picnic lunch in the gardens, a play in the old fashioned amusements and coffees and ice creams in the cafe. It was a fab day and all six children really enjoyed themselves. Lucy, R & R came back with us for a play in the garden afterwards too.

Conversations in the car and round the gardens included cows being milked, dreams and sleep talking, the progress of food and drink through your body after swallowing and various other random and varied things.

Friday A quick pop to the post office to tax my car and send ebay parcels and we headed over to Ali’s for the afternoon. The children spent the whole time outside playing with sand, water and bubbles allowing Ali and I plenty of chatting time. Our cat went missing during the previous night so when we got home we spent hours trying to find her rather than packing for our holiday the following day.

Saturday Still no sign of our cat so having looked all around for her again and finally packing and loading up the car we set off for the first part of our tour. We’d arranged to spend two nights each with six friends in a big circular route up one side of the country, into Scotland and back down the other side of the country. We arrived in Manchester mid afternoon where A got to sit and watch football to recover from the drive while I sat in the garden and the children played until about 10.30pm. A lovely welcome from the lady who used to be the childrens’ nanny when we lived up there, and her husband.

Sunday A perfect, lazy, enjoying the sunshine and Lynda & Stuart’s beautiful garden sort of day. The children played, we read the papers, ate lots of lovely food and A and I spent some time in a badminton challenge