Wednesday 28 July 2021

Family fun day

Today we went on a wonderful adventure.

First we caught the bus to our destination. Bus rides used to be a 4 times daily occurance before we moved to Eastleigh, it's so odd that it feels quite special now. Gman said he couldn't remember riding on a bus before and was shocked to hear he had actually ridden on many.

  The bus was free transport put on especially for people going to the Family fun day otherwise we couldn't have gone without DH driving us there. It felt really nice to take all 5 of the children out by myself for the day.



After signing in and dealing with a small travel sickness incident we started our first activity. We were each given sticks, rubber bands, pipe cleaners and a plastic dinosaur.
Then we had 20 minutes to make a raft that could sail the dinosaur safely across a small paddling pool of water.


All 4 eldest children really enjoyed the challenge and it's definitely something we'll be trying again at home. 


Next we made some handmade paper. A touch messy but a lot of fun trying to find the perfect leaf or flower to use as decoration. Sadly the line drying the papers broke in the wind before we could take them home but I think the children forgot about them anyway so it wasn't too much of a disaster.


Next came den building with a short walk into the nearby woodland and the children let loose with sticks, tarps and rope.  Originally we were in two teams; me, Baby C, Gman and DD2 vs DD1 and DD3. However we ended up making a sort of super tent between us complete with a mock campfire set up and sleeping areas.
It was wonderful to watch them all working together to solve various problems.


By then it was lunch time and we were all famished. Lunch was fresh salad and jacket potatoes with a host of toppings to pick from. It was here we had our only complaint of the day. The eco friendly wooden forks were horrible to use. Next week we will be packing some cutlery from home!
Dessert was chocolate mousse with whipped cream.


The afternoon activity was making berry smoothies using a bicycle powered blender and creating fruit kebabs. DD3 had a lot of mysteriously disappearing fruit 😂
I was a little shocked at how some of the other children attending didn't recognise some of the fruit we used and even more shocked at several parents who threw the kebabs in the bin as they left. I'm tempted to take freezer bags with me next week in case a similar thing happens, the frugal mum in me wants to take home any leftovers to make jam 🤣
I wonder if they'd let me 🤔

After our fruit feast it was time to catch the bus back home. Evetyone was tired but happy after a day of fresh air and nature based entertainment. 
We are booked on 4 of the 5 sessions avaliable this summer and I can't wait for the next one.

X x X

Friday 16 July 2021

Cold bellybuttons




 It's Day 3 of isolation for DD2. There have been 2 positive cases in her year group at school so that's pretty much her finished now for the summer. I'm not even going to guess if they will be back in September the whole thing feels very shakey again. 

 Thankfully we are having beautiful weather and can enjoy the garden for entertainment. The two smallest are also happy to bimble about out there so it makes for a peaceful afternoon. Except when odd things happen.


DD4 - Mama! My belly button is getting cold! 

 Imagine this said with an impressive sized pout and cross little hands on hips. 

Sure enough a hole has appeared in her dress 🤣


 Please excuse the state of the dress. Toddlers playing in gardens do not make for clean dresses 🤣 I don't have any white sewing cottom at the moment so I used the brown one I did have. 



 I then covered the stitches by going over them in white yarn. It's probably not going to be suitible for meeting the Queen but it will be just fine for more garden play for a little longer. I will start looking out for a new dress or two next time I'm near the charity shops though just in case we have any more garden casualties this summer.

Tuesday 13 July 2021

Weeds are flowers too...




 Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them - A.A.Milne


 I've been waiting for the enourmous thistle plant in my garden to bloom for a long time now. The rain storm last night seems to have done the trick and finally tempted out the first blooms. Don't they look sweet in this little glass jug?



X x X