Forest school

For the past 3 Wednesdays Noah has been to forest school which he has absolutely loved.  In fact the whole group have loved it!!  They made den’s…..

They made campfires with hot chocolate and cookies!!!

…played games and made trolls (Noah’s troll is balanced in the tree!!)

They were quite lucky with the weather really considering the time of year!  They had ice and freezing temperatures but it was dry…so a lot of layers and snow boots and they were all fine.  It’s a shame he only got 3 sessions because he has loved it.

 

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Nanny’s birthday

Richard has been to France to see his Dad and was due back today so we went to see Nanny for her birthday before going to collect him.  We had party food of course and nanny & Grandad have almost finished their loft room which will be the kids new bedroom when they stay over!  It looks great, I forgot to take a photo of it!!  They have all got new bedding and posters on the walls and a big play area under the eaves!

Noah’s 6th birthday party

It’s still a while off Noah’s birthday yet but it was his party this weekend.  His best friend is born in January and they wanted the same party with pretty much the same people, since their birthdays weren’t too far apart we decided it would be a good idea to share a party.  Once we’d eliminated all the dates we couldn’t do today was the only day we could do.  It was the same party as Noah had had last year just shared so we assumed all would go smoothly.  When we arrived the hall where they were doing the football/sports side of things was freezing!!!!!  We found the caretaker, who was very grumpy, and asked him to put some heating on, which he begrudgingly did.  We then discovered the room where we were supposed to be doing the food was double booked!!  The caretaker went off to find us a new room….eventually he found one but this meant we hadn’t been able to set up until the party had started so the parents missed the start of the party.

Our new food room didn’t have any water so we had to run around finding water for the drinks, it also didn’t have the coffee machine that we were expecting so there were no adult drinks!

As it was a football party Noah loaned Caitlin his Liverpool shorts and socks to go with her own Liverpool top!!

Austin refused a football kit so just went in his jeans!  At the end of the party there were 6 trophies given out…one each for the birthday boys of course!!

Noah was very impressed with his.  Once the sporty bit was over it was food time.  We had just discovered that the caretaker wanted to leave the second the room booking finished so we had to get them all to eat as quickly as possible….so we did the cakes first…

…with of course our famous candles!!  One for each birthday boy!  Once they had almost finished eating we had to virtually throw them all out!!!!!!!!!  And then had about 3 seconds to clear up!!  It was all a bit stressful but the boys had a great time and their friends also enjoyed the party.

Peter Pan

Last week  I saw an offer for pantomime tickets for £5 each so I booked for me and the kids to go today…Richard didn’t want to come!!  I’d told a few friends about the offer and so there were 2 other families we knew at the same show as us, so we travelled into town with one of them.  The kids had a great time on the train and we made it to the theatre in plenty of time.  Our seats weren’t the best but we could see and they all loved the show!!  We saw Peter Pan with “The Hoff”.  I was expecting him to be completely mad like he had come across in Britain’s Got Talent, but actually he was really good as were the rest of the cast.

During the break we ventured upstairs to the gallery to see if we could spot our friends.  I was stunned at how high it went and how steep too!!  I should have taken a photo but I was distracted by the fact Austin was intrigued by the view back down to the stalls through the very open railings that he would have easily fitted through!!!!!!!!!!!  Afterwards I discovered a friend from primary school had spotted us and found it very funny how quickly we left after Austin had looked like he was making a bid for freedom over the edge!  They had also noticed the big gaps and avoided them!!

After the show we’d agreed that we would each make our own way back to the train and if we met up great but if not it was pointless missing a train to wait.  We somehow managed to squeeze on the tram with what felt like a million football fans, who were actually very very friendly and everyone was telling people to move over to give the kids room.  They had won which Noah was very pleased about and had a big conversation with a few of them all about the match!

We had a great day….and a complete bargain!!

Off he goes….

While we were down south I noticed how good Austin was on his balance bike, I’d been thinking about trying him on a proper bike for a while so decided to take him to the park.  Richard wasn’t convinced he’d be able to do it and so brought the stabilisers, I was convinced he’d just ride off!  He wasn’t keen on the idea of a proper bike so it wasn’t looking promising but after a bit of blackmail he gave it a go.  Richard ran along holding the back of his seat for about 5 mins, while Noah did some jumps off his new ramp…

I then took over with Austin and just gave him a shove….let go…..and….off he rode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew he could do it but even I was surprised he got it within 5 minutes!!!  There is a lot to be said for balance bikes…they are fantastic!!  Before long he was trying to go over the ramp!!  Fortunately he didn’t manage it because I’m sure that would have ended in disaster!!!!

Within the space of 45 minutes he had even learnt to set off on his own…and off he went cycling around the park with Noah….

 

A visit to Nan’s

On New Years eve we drove down to visit Nan.  As soon as we got there they all spotted presents under the tree and were itching to open them!  They got loads of great things including a road and train set which goes with some other sets we have….

We spent the evening in having some New Year drinks and watching the fireworks.  The weather on New Years day was gorgeous so we went down to the quayside for a walk.  Austin had brought his bike so he went on that…

Caitlin and Noah had brought their roller blades with them.  They’d not manged to go outside in them since they got them for Christmas so they were both a bit shaky to begin with.  Noah got the hang of it before we made it to the quay but Caitlin took a bit longer, but in the end they both got it….

The next day the weather was still nice and sunny so we walked down to the local soft play…

On our last full day our niece and nephew came to visit us and the kids all had a great time playing together.

We had some indoor fireworks which started off quite tamely and so they weren’t really impressed….

Then we got to the slightly bigger ones which they all loved…

In the evening we went out for a lovely meal where the kids got to wear their Christmas outfits again!!!

Then the next day it was time for the journey home which seemed to require a million toilet stops!!!  On both of our journeys I was busy making a blanket which is starting to look like it is on the home straight….I might even finish it and be able to share it with you before the summer!!!!!!!!