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An Active Weekend

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I’m joining in with this week’s ‘The Gallery’ on Tara’s ‘Sticky Fingers’ blog, as well as Fiona’s ‘Country Kids at Coombe Mill’ blog-link. The Gallery’s theme is ‘The Weekend’: it was a long one, & we had an active one!

We’re quite an active family. When the twins aren’t at pre-school we try to get out & about to do something active at least once a day, & often on school days too.

This last weekend was of course a Bank Holiday Weekend. And just to make it more interesting we made it a 4-dayer, starting Friday!

We’d both managed to make ourselves available all day &, after a great Monkey Music class, took them off from their afternoon pre-school. Why? There’s a fantastic place in Cardiff called Techniquest: basically a 2-storey hangar-sized space full of fun, interactive science-based exhibits.

Once a month they have a Toddler Day, each with a different theme, where they also have arts & crafts play, water-play, story-telling & the like. They love it! There’s so much to see & do, so many buttons to press, dials to turn, balls to throw: it’s always a fight to get them go home! And this time we had another first: face-painting!

Ellie was very pleased

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Jake however didn’t seem so sure

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Saturday, the Mummy took them to the excellent nearby soft-play place. I was very pleased to hear that Jake had made friends with a couple of boys there; usually it’s Ellie who does that, often finding a little gang of girls to run around with.

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click to enlarge

On Sunday, as the weather was getting progressively better, it was our favourite country park again. We went to a different part of it this time: past the 12th-century Monastery ruins & church & the 18th-century Orangery, & to the fairy-tale themed playground.

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Throwing stones into a fountain by the Orangery

The playground not only has the usual swings & slides, but also little houses each with nursery-rhyme themed exhibits, plus a child-scaled castle – complete with secret passages, moat & drawbridge. Needless to say, they love it there!

Monday was almost a scorcher! In the morning I took them on their scooters to the local playground, & for the afternoon we had planned to go to an indoor swimming pool but ended up in a nearby water-fountain & adventure playground instead. It would have been a shame to waste all that lovely sunshine! It was great to be able to go there again for the first time since last summer & they had a great time, even though it was very crowded.

The weekend ended with big ice-creams all ’round, & with everyone going to bed having been stimulated & exercised, tired but happy.

And that’s what this parenting thing is all about really, isn’t it?

For more ‘Gallery’ or ‘Country Kids’ posts just click the pics: 

TheGallery

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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An Active Family

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My Tiny Dancer. Dressed as Snow White, for some reason.

When Jaime from ‘The Oliver’s Madhouse’ asked me if I could maybe join in with her new ‘Active Family’ blog-linky I have to admit: I sniggered, a little. I may have even actually ’lol’d!

Trying to get our funsome twosome to be a bit active isn’t really a problem at the moment. Even when they watch TV it’s more likely than not to be ‘Lazytown’: a show whose main character is a health fanatic called Sportacus. Living on ‘sports candy’ (mostly carrots) & always going to bed at 8.08, this is a man who has never knowingly walked anywhere in his entire life. Why do that when you can double-flip, cart-wheel, run or jump instead? Lately Ellie seems to spend more of her time being his preposterously pink side-kick Stephanie than herself, & she loves trying to copy Stephanie’s dance moves. Jake is Sportacus of course; I get to be the chubby, middle-aged, bald Mayor. Yay me.

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Sportacus Jake!

No, it’s more of a challenge to get them to not be so active sometimes, please. Like when they’re jumping & doing forward rolls & headstands on the bed, or wanting to play ‘horsey’, when it’s late & they should be settling down for the night. Sometimes even after 8.08 (gasp)! Or a “Please stop climbing on the back of the sofa, especially when I’ve got a cup of hot coffee / a plate of lasagne!” sort of thing.

They’re at pre-school now for a few hours during the week, & that seems to use up a lot of their energy most days. We still take them to Monkey Music on Friday mornings, & have just started them in a dance class on Thursday evenings. They love both! We used to take them to a children’s gym on Friday afternoons & we’re looking for an alternative; that was probably their favourite activity & it would be a shame to lose it.

On the weekends we try to take them out for something active at least once a day: the country park, the fun farm, soft-play, swimming, or just scooting to the local playground. And there’s always the mini-trampoline & the flexible flyer in the garden!

So overall, yes: I think we’re a fairly active family.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I just need to have little lie down please…

For more ‘Active Family’ posts just click the pic:

photo ActiveFamily150x150_zps28e829a4.jpg

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My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher

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My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
There was free milk for the kids and it was quiet
No-one went on strike
‘Though when Jake took Ellie’s trike
She cried “No mine!”& then tried to start a riot

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
A day of happiness & fun for all the babs!
Would be better I suppose
If the ball-pits weren’t still closed
And young Arthur didn’t pick at all his scabs

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
The big boat there’s for making play, not war
No task force to send out
And no missiles thrown about
Just Ronnie Ray-gun and a chewed-up apple core

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
Rules & regulations had been relaxed
Then “Get in line!” the Nanny stated
And the children there they waited
With low interest rates but minds still over-taxed

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
Boys were hugging boys and it was fine
Though Jake was quiet as a mouse
Because he’d bought his dolly-house
With a jelly bean & half a ball of twine

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
The quality of mercy was not strained
No buildings caught on fire
And no bombs to raise the ire
Just that naughty boy who wasn’t potty-trained!

My children started pre-school on the day they buried Thatcher
And I wonder what effect she really had
Standing up for independence
Are we all now her descendants?
Teacher went to pick a crony
Saying “That would be my Tony!”
So I asked my darling twins
But all I got was cheeky grins
Then hands held out to go back home with their loving Mum & Dad

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All Change! Jake & Ellie’s first day at school

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Yesterday was Jake & Ellie’s first day at pre-school. The 3rd stage of their young lives has begun: they were babies, they’ve been toddlers and now they’re pre-schoolers.

It was harder & sadder than both us expected I think. The image of them both walking away into their new classroom holding hands with their teacher, 1 on each side, will stay with me for a very long time.

They didn’t even say goodbye. I think they were expecting us to be there for the first few minutes at least, as was I. The other parents said goodbye at the ramp leading up to the door & didn’t go in with their children so we didn’t either.

I wasn’t even sure what size group they were in. At first I thought they were just in a little group of 4 newbies –  just them & their 2 best friends from Karen’s little group – but I have since learned that they’ve already joined the 20 or so children who were already there from last year. That’s a really big change for them! Especially as they join all the other, bigger & rowdier, schoolchildren when they go to play outside

They’ve been with Karen’s little group this last year as preparation, and I think it’s worked well. They’ve adjusted really well to it from spending most of their time with either me or the Mummy in their first 2 years, but this is a big step up.

And for me it feels as if I’m handing over control over what my children see & do to people I know very little about, & who are also strangers to Jake & Ellie.

“Trust”. That’s such a big word when it comes to your children.

Over the next few weeks they’ll gradually increase the number of days & hours they spend there until September. They are then expected to attend full-time; however we’re not at all comfortable with that: they’re just too young.

I don’t really know what they did there. With Karen we could always find out what they did, whether or not they’d used the loo, if there were any accidents (usually not!), whether or not they’d had a nap (usually not!), what they’d eaten, etc. About yesterday I didn’t have much of a clue! To be fair I probably just could have asked the teacher there as they seem very open. I asked Ellie instead, & she was a little vague!

The teacher did tell us that Ellie had had a little cry, very briefly, but not Jake: the opposite of what we had expected. Ellie told me that she didn’t like the teacher! It seems that she had been stopped from doing something she wanted to do & asked to do something else: which I later found out was that she didn’t want to line up! I think it probably had a lot to do with going outside with all the 40-odd older children too. I can imagine it being quite overwhelming. Ellie very often however is a girl who doesn’t like being told what to do!

I can’t imagine where she might get that from.

They seemed happy afterwards anyway, so that’s got to be a good sign. Ellie especially, as you can see, was in high spirits!

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You know how you try to get a photo of your darling sweet twins in their new uniforms after their first day of school, & expect then to be all cute & smiley? Very little ever goes to plan with children does it?

My children started school on the day they buried Lady Thatcher. And yes: there was milk there, and it was free.

It really does feel like the end of era, & a new beginning.

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Why we’re not eating at the table much at the moment

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1-DSC00454-001 Have I mentioned that our house is too small? Also, it’s possible that I may be a little disorganised, sometimes.

Although, to be fair, the ‘Bella’ magazine isn’t mine. Nor are the drawings, the clock puzzle & the pot of hairslides. And I don’t even know what that other pot is doing there: it’s empty. And the toy xylophone: also not mine. Although I do play it; quite well, actually.

We hope to be moving soon…

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Fun & a First at the Farm

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We crammed in so much over the Easter weekend that I’ve been struggling to keep up with posting about it!

The plan was to go out somewhere great, all four of us, every day.

On Friday it was the country park we love, Saturday we went swimming for the first time in ages & Sunday was a place we’d only recently discovered when we went to a birthday party there for Jake & Ellie’s friend.

It’s a ‘Fun Farm’: it has a playground & farm animals outside, & a big indoor space to run around in with an adventure playground & nifty little cars with a little racetrack to zooom on, as well as money-sucking coin-op rides.

We have an excellent soft-play place near us but, even though they’re well below the maximum age for it, we think they may be starting to outgrow it. They seem to prefer the bigger stuff here! You have to go early though as from late morning it seems to get increasingly busy & can become almost dangerously crowded. Unlike the soft-play place there’s no staff supervision at all, & it can get a little rough.

They love it though:

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click any image to enlarge

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And we had a first: Ellie & Jake’s first go on a ‘grown-up’ swing! Ellie was first: she’s a little thrill-seeker, & still kept shouting “Bigger!” to me. Jake had a go too, but he’s a bit more cautious; he may have inherited his Daddy’s dislike of heights!

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That reminds me: I really must buy a new jacket…

And I nearly launched her into space:

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Another great outing at Easter!

Learning for Life

Outdoor Play Party

My life, now

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For the last 2 days I’ve been at the old house near Brum.

I drove there from here in south Wales yesterday, drove back today.

Just got in, actually.

On the drive in, especially, it didn’t feel safe. I was in our second car, the one without the car-seats. Our old Ka, probably soon to be any-car-dot-commed.

Particularly on the M4 I could feel myself being blown around by the gusty winds, even while driving slowly. Then once in England the roads became icy, with drifting snow, & snow falling onto me from trucks & cars in front. Then approaching Birmingham there was dirty sleet & salt from the road spraying the windscreen & making it hard to see.

Thoughts go through your head at times like these, unbidden. You try to ignore them but they’re there anyway, forcing themselves to the surface, tugging away at your consciousness.

“What-if” type thoughts.

A few years ago it would have been: “I’m too young to die!”

A bit later: “I don’t want to die!”

But the thought that comes now is: “Jake and Ellie can’t lose their father!”

Right foot eases up, left foot ready, eyes alert…

Times change, and life goes on

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3 is the Magic Number

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Jake & Ellie turned 3 today!

I don’t know where the time has gone. It doesn’t seem so long ago that they were gurgling, cute little babies. Now they’re running, jumping, talking, pants-wearing, sociable, smart little people. In a few weeks they’ll be in uniform when they start Nursery at a local school.

School! They’re growing up.

They had a junior knees-up on the weekend with friends so today we wanted to celebrate at home with family: me, the Mummy & her Mum & Dad. I think that’s just how they like it.

We went for a scoot to the playground but didn’t last long as the wind was bitingly cold, & they had a bit of a grizzly journey back. After that I had hoped they would have a nap, especially as Ellie woke early this morning, but they didn’t.

So after lunch when the Mummy got home early from her work & it was Party Time they were a little tired, but it didn’t stop them enjoying themselves!

They had a fantastic array of cards & presents. I was hoping to save what I thought was the best until last, but…

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MINE, ALL MINE! Vis zis my new Leap-Pad I vill CONQUER ZA VORLD! (In a really terrible German accent)

We couldn’t stop her in time. And of course, no Judy without Punch…

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Jake is delighted to finally have an ‘iPad’ while Ellie continues to formulate her plans for World Domination.

I was glad to see though that life didn’t suddenly grind to a halt with the advent of a fancy screen: there were still more exciting discoveries ahead!

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Ooh, what’s this?!

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I’m three!

And actually we may have saved the best ’til last:
1-DSC00188This is a 3 1/2 foot-high chalkboard / magnetic whiteboard double easel with coloured chalks & pens & magnetic letters. Fantastic! A great present from my in-laws, but suggested by the Mummy. They loved it! Unfortunately I didn’t get pictures of them enjoying it as I was busy rushing around trying to get replacement batteries for the Leap-pads!

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Enjoying some new toys: throwing & catching a talking ball

Then…The Cake!1-DSC00217

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After much cake was ate we did manage to get them down for a much-needed nap, using the excuse of driving off to buy more batteries!

Then it was dinner out, a rare treat; but not before Jake had a good ‘getting to know you’ session with his new techy toy
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They were almost well-behaved! A lot of sausages, chips, sundaes & cheekiness later we said fond farewells to the Mummy’s parents & headed home.

The helium balloons Jake & Ellie blagged on the way out provided a lot of entertainment before everyone collapsed in a tired heap, Ellie somehow managing to fall asleep while still clutching her balloon!

A great day all round!

3!

Still can’t get used to it…

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Toy Story

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Ellie has a bad habit of tipping the contents of toy boxes on the floor then walking away without having played with the toys much, if at all. It’s a particular problem here as we have so little space. If we let stuff pile up we’ll start tripping over it. Then, as the teddies & toy trains pile higher & higher, we’ll end up not being able to move & will find ourselves walled up inside. Again.

We’ve been trying to get her to tidy up afterwards, to put the toys back in the box. She’s nearly 3 so she should be able to do that now, right?

We haven’t had much success.

“Ellie, will you pick the <play> food up please?”

“No”

She’s a good girl – as she’ll tell you herself – but, like any 2-year-old, she has her moments

“Ellie, please pick the food up”

“No. I don’t want to!”

“Ellie, you tipped it on the floor; you should put it back”

Appealing to logic to a 2-year-old. Yeah, that’s going to work…

“No. You do it!”

Then she goes upstairs to get ready for bed with Jake & the Mummy, while I clear up after dinner. And tidy up Ellie’s toys.

But no more! We’ve decided to get stroppy!

So next time we added:

“Ellie, if you don’t clear up your food we’re going to take it away”

“No!”

“Ellie, Daddy will take it away” (Daddy shoots the Mummy a look that says: “Thanks!” Sarcastically) “& you won’t be able to play with it any more. Isn’t that right, Daddy?”

I understand cabinet collective responsibility & the need for parental unity & all that, although I can’t help feeling a bit like Nick Clegg.

“Yes, that’s right. I will take your food away”

“OK”

Er…what?

“Ellie, do you understand that we will take those toys away & you won’t be able to play with them any more?”

“Yes. That’s OK”.

She called our bluff! She’s only 2, for crying out loud!

Note To Self: Never play poker with Ellie. Unless she’s on my team…

Then they all trotted off upstairs as usual & I wore some more holes in my jeans clearing up toys. As usual.  Although I did take the food away. For a few days

You see what we’re up against here?