Strike day

The teachers at school were striking so we had a day off…I had the great idea of going to the Christmas markets.  As we waited for the train I realised how busy it was going to be, everyone seemed to have the same idea!  The train was packed we could barely move.  Once we got to town we wandered around the shops for a bit, then we went to watch the march go past.  Caitlin and Noah were watching out incase their teachers were marching but we didn’t see anyone we knew.  After the march we walked back up through the markets but the food stalls were too busy to get anything to eat at so we left the markets to eat and then came back later.

We then got some mini pancakes for pudding and I had a mulled wine.  The kids wanted to try so I let them…..

…I’m not sure it was that popular with them….

..Noah nearly choked on his!!  Even Austin decided he wanted to try….

…although they all asked for more when I took it back!!!!!!!!  we had a good time at the markets but it was too busy to enjoy properly

…people kept cutting in front of the pram and so I’d lose sight of Caitlin and Noah until they stopped and caused a big traffic jam!!! 

It was then time to head home and meet Richard for tea!!  A fantastic spare day off….

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Football party

Caitlin got invited to a football party which was very excited about.  We don’t really do football in our house and Noah is just discovering it so I was keen to take her to check it out as an option for Noah’s birthday.

They got split into 2 teams and one went on the inflatable first, then they swapped and it was Caitlin’s turn to play football.  She was trying really hard but one of the boys was taking it very seriously and kept shouting at all the girls who missed or started talking, he was very funny!!

I think Noah will love it as a party and it will mean I don’t have to ration numbers which will be good as it is the same price regardless of numbers!!!

Decorating Nanny’s tree

The kids went to Nanny’s for the weekend and while they were there they decorated her Christmas tree….

They each had a bag of decorations and set to work putting them on the tree.  They are on in a bit of an odd way but at least they did do the whole tree and not just the bottom branches!!

They did seem to have to have the odd notion that all of the same decorations needed to go on the same branch??!!

(As you can see the new hair didn’t survive swimming too well!!!!!!!)

Haircut

I’ve kind of been growing Austin’s hair.  It’s a bit curly and so it looks quite good a bit longer, but it was starting to get a bit scruffy looking.  Normally I cut all of their hair but I have no idea how to cut an actual style so I took Austin to our local hairdressers for his first proper hair cut.  He was very unimpressed with the whole experience….

…and I have to say I was a bit unimpressed with the end result…I’m sure I could have done as good a job myself….Richard thinks it’s a bit bowl like!!!!!!

While we were there I decided to get Caitlin’s cut as it hasn’t been done in ages and it’s starting to get straighter so it’s getting harder.  Caitlin asked if she could have it cut into a bob and since she’s a bit older now I let her pick the style.  She explained to the lady what she wanted and this is how she looks now….

…very grown up and very different!!!!!  As she cut it the curls all dropped off and none sprang back…so it looks like her hair is pretty much straight now!!

The woman did use straighteners on it so it’s not quite as straight as the photo and I won’t be using straighteners on her so I doubt it will look this good after a night’s sleep!!!!!!  She is very pleased with it though and has had lots of compliments….

Jellyfish

Our local John Lewis has been updated and they have made some great displays of jellyfish made with all kinds of trimmings!  I took the kids to see them….

I don’t think Austin was overly impressed but I really liked them!!!!!!!!!

Rainbow day out

All of the Stockport rainbows were invited on a day out and I went along to help out our group.  A few rainbow groups had got together and hired a coach to get to the Guide’s holiday house in the middle of nowhere!!  When we arrived they were sent to play in the playground while they sorted out the groups…..

It was great there were loads of kids all in the playground but they all seemed to get on great….

We got split into groups and our group was on the mystery walk first.  We did a 3 or 4 mile walk around the surrounding fields, through a farm and back to the Guide house.  We went quite high up and it was really foggy!!  We went over a troll bridge!!  Also past lots of cow poo which seemed to be the highlight for them all!  As part of one of their badges they had to go through mud…and there was plenty of that so they all got to tick that off their badge!

We then went back to the house for an indoor picnic and then our group was split down into 5 smaller groups and we rotated around the activities.  They got to do some orienteering where they had to search out the markers, stamp their card and get back to base.

…it involved going into the nearby fields where the fog came down again and they really struggled to find the markers!!

They also got to make a caterpillar peg, cook dampers on a campfire, make bird feeders and make campfire biscuits…

…which were really cool…and they got to eat them as they looked a bit delicate to take home!

At the end of the day they also got another badge to sew on their t-shirts which they were all really pleased with.  It was a great day out, they all had a brilliant time and it was nice to meet all the other rainbows from nearby.

Busy busy

We’ve been busy…..crafting away…. including sewing lessons….

…even Austin has had a go at sewing, although he didn’t make anything, he just kept pulling the cotton out and getting very tangled…but he was really concentrating!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Music lessons!!

On a Tuesday O has guitar lessons and we are always asking him to show us…finally he did and he let Caitlin, Noah and Austin have a go!  They loved it…

We also let them have a go on my old trumpet…it was a very noisy Tuesday but they all had a great time….

Bonfire night

We took Nan to a bonfire display.  It was very very muddy but they managed not to actually fall over in it!  They went on a ride….

….and then we let them loose with the sparklers….

Once they were done with the sparklers, complete with health and safety message from Caitlin as usual!!, they had their giant lolly’s which made for very sticky hands and gloves!!

We watched the fireworks…..

and then the fire was lit, but the crowds were so big it was quite a while before they could get close enough to see it.  Once they could they were amazed by how hot it was!

It was then home time and I had to hold a very sticky Austin all the way back to the car which was quite far away!!!

Nan’s visit….

Nan has come to visit!!  They had told everyone at school about Nan’s visit and they stayed up a bit later so they could say a quick hello when she arrived.  Finally on Friday we got enough time to take Nan out for a meal after she had been to watch everyone’s swimming lessons!

 

 

 

In the morning Caitlin and Noah showed Nan how good their reading was getting….