Summer holidays Day 5

It rained ALL day!

So MJ played Lego, sorted his Lego and tidied his Lego. He played Civilisation, read a Secret Seven story and watched power rangers.

Lj made a chicken out of cardboard putting inside a heart, paper bones and red paper veins. Built her Lego vet practise and then turned her dolls house into an animal hospital.

M came home at lunch time to write appraisals.

I ironed and packed our clothes for our weekend away. Chopped up endless fruit and veg and had finger and toe nails painted.

Together we tried ink marbling, built the wooden railway track and read stories.

Then when the house was quiet M and I watched Padington.

One rainy day is fine, almost nice but we are all hoping for sunshine tomorrow for the wedding!

Summer hols day 4

Mj remarked this morning that we were already on Day 4 of his holidays and that they were going by too quickly!

Today we made it to Film Thursday, picnic lunch in the forest and my first ever trip to the cinema with the kids!

Summer hols Day 3

It is M's birthday and Uncle Johnny came to stay.

P.S. I think I might have sand in my phone lens!

Summer holidays Day 2

After a long and busy day on Monday we made a slow start in the morning and I wondered whether we needed a day at home. I got on with a few jobs while the kids played and generally lazed around. After noticing our neighbours pack up their car and head off just before lunch, I thought it wasn't too late for us to go out. I had the Olympic Park in mind after hearing good reports and knowing that it would probably be less busy as some schools are not finished yet. So with a quick turn around we filled the car with swimming things, picnic and suncream and set off.

It took us less than an hour to get there but about 15mins driving round and round the multi storey car park watching out for a parking space. Finally we spotted one and headed through Westfield shopping centre to the Olympic park. I was not very sure on where we were going and was really surprised at how spread out all the venues are. MJ enjoyed watching the building work that is still going on and Lj played spot the ice cream van!

We found 'the beach' which looked like this with about 200 people added.

As the kids happily played and I looked on I spotted a lady wearing a familiar dress, at the same time the lady spotted Lj and we realised that our neighbours who I had seen leave their house were there on the beach with us. A good day turned into a great day as the kids played in the sand together and I had adults to chat to. After a few hours in the sand we went on to explore the rest of the park finding all the different playgrounds dotted around. Totally unlike MJ he threatened to never leave one of the play areas. In the evening we said goodbye to our friends and went in search of the Lego store.

Summer holidays Day 1

 Monday. Our first official day of Summer holidays. What a day it turned out to be! We met our friends at 10am to play tennis and walked along the canal tow path to the town tennis courts. From there we had a cold dip in the splash pool, well the kids did, Jen and I sat on the side lines and watched! Then we had a picnic lunch in the park where the kids ran around and played for 2 hours without stopping. After this we headed home for a cup of tea and some Lego play before grabbing a quick tea and heading back to the canal for a spot of early evening fishing. MJ asked his Dad before bed time if he had a book on 'How to catch a fish?' With an unsuccessful fishing trip, I think we will be going to the library to do a little reading in preparation for our next trip.

Over the holidays I'm encouraging the children to do a 'doodle a day'. As imagined Lj is totally up for the challenge and MJ less so but I'm really hoping that as he tries it out each day he will find some pleasure in it.

Procrastination

There is no other word so appropriate for this blog entry as 'Procrastination'. I'm lacking motivation to get on with what I really should be doing so I'm hoping a little creative outlet in the form of my blog might get me up and running.

Here's a run down of some of the things we have been up to since the start of July!

 Celebrating my little sister's birthday with a picnic tea in the park...the simple things are always the best!!!

 Lj dressed up for an 'under the sea' party at school.

 School reports came out. It is always nice when a teacher summarises your child's personality in a similar way to how you would! As always there are things to work on but I'm so thankful to God for children who are happy at school. I mean Lj is a little extreme as she would rather be at school than at home!!! At least MJ would rather be at home with his Mum!

Mike's parents came to stay and brought Barney the dog. The children and all their friends on the street loved having him as entertainment and MJ has mentioned a number of times on the walk back from school that he wished Barney would be at home when he got there. That boy needs a dog to love!!!

 MJ and I have loved watching Wimbledon the past two weeks and it has inspired us to get out and play more. On Saturday Mike ran into town while MJ cycled beside him, while Lj and I went in the car with our rackets. We met and played tennis while Lj played in the new splash pool. It was such a beautiful morning I felt like I could have been on holiday. I quite honestly could not have been happier seeing MJ play tennis with his Dad and Lj splash around in the water...that was until MJ fell over and cut his elbow, hands and leg!!!

 MJ practising hurdling in the garden. He had his own little sports days after missing the real one due to illness.

 I gave the kids a pack of lollipop sticks, rubber bands and masking tape. 2 hours and alot of masking tape later they were still constructing castles, catapults and a trebuchet!

Although my knee is still not quite right I managed 10K in the rain with this fun bunch this morning.

Now that I have all that off my chest perhaps I can settle myself to get some work done...I think I will just make myself a coffee first!!!