Today was more fraught after very little sleep on all parts. I have to confess to a bit more shouting and irritability than I’d like and many more tantrums from the kids than anyone would like :-/ Still, overall a good one We popped to Tesco then spent the day doing “calm” activities as much as possible. Alfie loved the Kerwhizz magazine we bought for him and completed the whole thing in one sitting. I was fairly impressed with it – a good mix of maths/literacy/fun stuff and not a reward chart or Well Done sticker in sight We watched Madagascar, made smiley face pizzas, sorted some laundry, read and played. Now an early night methinks

Today more drizzle but it didn’t stop a lovely day at the Arboretum with Maxine, Tracey and all the boys. An extra bonus was the paddling pool being filled up hence much sliding down the slide into the water and getting very wet in just pants Followed by play, picnic, walks in the woods, pooh sticks and general running round having fun Then card making, taco cooking and lots of play

The reason why I only have pictures of Alfie is because H was miles behind on her trike with Rich LOL!

We rode down to Banners Gate pool and fed the ducks.

Then onto the play area where Alfie was pleased to bump into Sam and Alex. He was even more pleased when Tracey and Mel were able to rescue him after he got his knee firmly wedged in a hollow branch whilst tree climbing! I honestly thought I was going to be calling the fire brigade! We then rode back to the car to get our picnic which we ate whilst watching the model aircraft flyers. Alfie was particularly taken with the model helicopters and now has a joint project for him and Grandad once he retires

Back home, a few chores and the boys watched Alice in Wonderland whilst Holly and I packed away her 2-3 years clothes and replaced them with 3-4 years ones. She is growing up so fast! She was so happy hanging up all the lovely clothes – especially the  Frugi sale stuff (LUSH!!!!!) and hand-me-downs from her heroine Lauren

This morning I nipped to the supermarket whilst Rich played with the kids, then Pizza Hut for lunch followed by botanical gardens. How lush is H’s Frugi dress She has been dancing to her radio in it loads today LOL!

Back home Alfie spent ages sitting with me doing the crafts in his Charlie and Lola magazine. I rarely get them mags as they are extortionate and many are soooo unsuitable (reward charts etc – yuk!) but he does like the Charlie and Lola craft one so I decided to treat him (and H to an ITNG one as she loves the stickers!)

Yesterday we tried a new soft play in Walsall with Nanny. It was called the Play Factory and the kids enjoyed a good run around a new environment on a showery day. It was too expensive to get in, but had a good range of toys and bits as well as two floors of soft play. We were there from 10 until 1.30pm anyway LOL! Our last soft play visit for a good while though as the dreaded school holidays are now upon us Afterwards we went back to Nanny’s for a play Then a lovely evening of curry and chat with Tracey and Maxine in Shaban, complete with alcohol free beer

The last aquanatal before the holidays this morning (despite my snotty cold!), then cleaning and chatting whilst Nanny and Grandad amused the kids with stories, play dough and games. I even got the chance to make yummy homemade mushroom stroganoff and Red Thai curry with red quinoa

It was interesting reading some stuff on my favourite forum about unschooling today too. Sometimes you forget just how much your kids learn in everyday life. I read one of Alfie’s many space books with him last night and his breadth of knowledge about the solar system, planets, stars and space in general astounded me. I particularly enjoyed the way he related it to things we’ve seen at Think Tank and in the planetarium. He knows so much about space, animals and nature. The five senses too. And his counting is coming on fantastically, even with simple sums (not written on paper, all part of real life – pretending to be the number taker subtracting peas off his plate, equally dividing up the envelope of shiny coins nanny brought for them, assessing how many vitamin tablets he has left etc etc) Unschooling for the win

Witley Court home education trip yesterday. We love the place anyway, but it was great being able to use the education room and have wildlife spotters for the wildflowers and butterflies in the wilderness gardens.

Today we met some fellow Green Parenters, Sarah with the lovely Alice and Saul, and Clair with the equally lovely Isabella and Megan. The kids had a fab day at the farm and playground in the unexpected sunshine. Despite an almighty Alfie tantrum at lunchtime it was a fantastic day. No photos though I’m afraid.

We defrosted the freezer

Picked raspberries and watered the vegetables in the garden.

Weeded the front garden.

Made popcorn and watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Had our lunch outside on the picnic table.

Played in the sandpit.

Changed beds.

Sorted laundry.

Read books.

Did colouring.

Had an online shopping grocery delivery.

Dressed up.

Made homemade lemonade (and practiced our maths dividing squeezed lemon halves between each other to lick!)

Made cheating chicken roast with Yorkshires, broccoli, beans and potatoes

On Saturday we met Granny and Grandpa at Coombe Abbey Country Park. There was a bit of rain but not enough to really bother us. We managed a long play on the playground and discovery centre, a picnic, a walk through the woods and past the lake, looking out for the different trees and their seeds, then a coffee and cake in the tearooms

Today involved swimming, Jimmy Spice for lunch and lots of playing and tidying. Swimming was good. They both love it and Holly is so confident in the water. Alfie is doing well too. and can doggy paddle around with floats on. The next step really is lessons as I am no swimmer myself. However, he is adamant he won’t have them and I do think they’d do more harm than good as he really hates structured stuff and being told what to do. I might wait until H is 4 and send them both if they want to go as she’ll be fine and Alfie is normally OK if he has his little big sister for moral support For now, we’ll just keep water fun. I had hundreds of lessons and always dreaded them and still hate swimming so really don’t think they are worth it unless the child is really up for it.

Jimmy Spice was yummy as ever, although Bean is taking up so much room in my tummy now my buffet capacity is greatly diminished LOL. Luckily i know when to stop, unlike the kid on the next table who puked EVERYWHERE from table to toilets and all over the men’s loos! Poor Rich and Alfie were in there with Alfie having a wee at the time it happened so couldn’t even wash their hands as sick everywhere. Blee!!!

The tidying was interesting. Alfie is not a toy lover and his toy drawers generally stay shut, with crafts, books, cardboard boxes, outdoors, computer games, real life taking precedence. Holly bought a Peppa Pig aquadraw with her birthday money today which prompted Alfie to look for his Thomas one. He then progressed to tidying out one of his toy drawers and actually playing with some of the trains and cars in there. The big aquadraw, unused for months/years also came out and was very popular with both of them!

Today we met Jill, Joey and Chris at Jam Jam Boomerang soft play. We managed to get totally lost and were massively late but it was good to meet up and the kids really enjoyed playing there. Afterwards we made gooseberry crumble with the gooseberries that arrived in the organic box today