Goodness, the week goes so fast! Our major achievement of the week was finally sorting out the art/craft/home ed shelves, making sure everything was accessible to the girls and clearing out all the weird and wonderful bits and bobs that had been accumulated there. The process started on Sunday, and didn't end till late Friday when we finally dealt with the various odds and sods boxes and finally found everything a home.
We still have two big boxes of craft bits, so may have to get that down to one box to give us some more room for books, which are mostly still in assorted bookcases in every room! But we're getting there.
Apart from having a sort out, the girls were busy much of Sunday constructing and testing marble runs, making interesting observations about what made the marbles move faster or slower. We also built more LEGO, then prepared a 'party tea' for Misha's birthday. He even had a cake, constructed from a tin of tuna, Dreamies cat treats and chewy cat sticks. He loved it!
Monday dawned sunny and warm, so we went to the duck pond and then the playground. Topics covered included shadows, solar energy, spring flowers, life cycle of ducks, and signs of spring, which was rather impressive for an unplanned little trip out. Lara had brought a collection of toys with her, and spent ages using large cars to investigate centrifugal force on the roundabout.
Unfortunately, the sunshine didn't last and Tuesday was back to grey drizzle, so we snuggled on the sofa and watched the first part of the new BBC4 documentary Treasures of Ancient Egypt, which was rather good. Sophia then got some books about Ancient Egypt out and went through asking questions about the buildings, religion, mummification, symbolism, hieroglyphs etc. She was particularly impressed with a mummy she had seen in the film, which was 4500 years old, about the same age as Stonehenge (her obsession).
In the afternoon, we had arranged to meet friend in the park, but Lara was having a really hard time for some reason, so I ended up coming home early with her, unfortunately. Luckily, some LEGO and drawing time calmed her down.
We decided to have a quiet day on Wednesday with nothing particular planned, so we ended up with crafts, crafts and more crafts. Two large boxes had arrived with items for work, so they were set upon and chopped, decorated and moved into. An on-going process for the rest of the week, for girls and cats, as you can see.
We've had on-going games of superheroes, neighbours, pets and more - who needs expensive entertainment! Tatiana enjoyed doing lots of colouring for some work I'm doing for the Red Cross and Tiny Pop TV, and Lara decorated her box with her version of cave paintings. She is fascinated by the cave drawings at Lascaux in France, and wants to visit them one day. Although here her cave paintings seem to be transforming into mythical beasts to me.
Aquabeads have been another strong theme this week, with most days seeing new creations being left to dry before taking their place in Lara's gallery. We did more Aquabeads, painting and drawing on Thursday, then had the my dear friend Laurence to visit, another Moscow alumnus. He is Sophia's Godfather, so she was very, very excited about seeing her 'special person'. We managed to freeze him half to death in the afternoon with a trip to the park and another duck and swan feed, we forget that not everyone is half-penguin like us crazy people!
Friday was the third day of living in boxes, the fourth day of Aquabeads, and the arrival of another visitor, the girls' Auntie Kim. In the evening, we even finally managed to put those last tubs of homeless items away, hurrah! We also had ponies, Scooby Doo, dolls and all sorts of other things out for a massive play session, which seemed to involve superheroes, New Year's Eve and princesses. Complicated!
Today has been gloriously sunny again, so back to the beach for more fun with dollies, and seeing what we could find in rock pools. A rather nice bridge-come-sofa was constructed from driftwood too. And then to soft play to meet friends, followed by a quick dinner and home to practice telling the time for half an hour (Lara), and straight to bed (Exhausted Sophia & Tatiana).
Hope you've had a great week too. See you next Saturday for our next report!
We still have two big boxes of craft bits, so may have to get that down to one box to give us some more room for books, which are mostly still in assorted bookcases in every room! But we're getting there.
Apart from having a sort out, the girls were busy much of Sunday constructing and testing marble runs, making interesting observations about what made the marbles move faster or slower. We also built more LEGO, then prepared a 'party tea' for Misha's birthday. He even had a cake, constructed from a tin of tuna, Dreamies cat treats and chewy cat sticks. He loved it!
Monday dawned sunny and warm, so we went to the duck pond and then the playground. Topics covered included shadows, solar energy, spring flowers, life cycle of ducks, and signs of spring, which was rather impressive for an unplanned little trip out. Lara had brought a collection of toys with her, and spent ages using large cars to investigate centrifugal force on the roundabout.
Unfortunately, the sunshine didn't last and Tuesday was back to grey drizzle, so we snuggled on the sofa and watched the first part of the new BBC4 documentary Treasures of Ancient Egypt, which was rather good. Sophia then got some books about Ancient Egypt out and went through asking questions about the buildings, religion, mummification, symbolism, hieroglyphs etc. She was particularly impressed with a mummy she had seen in the film, which was 4500 years old, about the same age as Stonehenge (her obsession).
In the afternoon, we had arranged to meet friend in the park, but Lara was having a really hard time for some reason, so I ended up coming home early with her, unfortunately. Luckily, some LEGO and drawing time calmed her down.
We decided to have a quiet day on Wednesday with nothing particular planned, so we ended up with crafts, crafts and more crafts. Two large boxes had arrived with items for work, so they were set upon and chopped, decorated and moved into. An on-going process for the rest of the week, for girls and cats, as you can see.
We've had on-going games of superheroes, neighbours, pets and more - who needs expensive entertainment! Tatiana enjoyed doing lots of colouring for some work I'm doing for the Red Cross and Tiny Pop TV, and Lara decorated her box with her version of cave paintings. She is fascinated by the cave drawings at Lascaux in France, and wants to visit them one day. Although here her cave paintings seem to be transforming into mythical beasts to me.
Friday was the third day of living in boxes, the fourth day of Aquabeads, and the arrival of another visitor, the girls' Auntie Kim. In the evening, we even finally managed to put those last tubs of homeless items away, hurrah! We also had ponies, Scooby Doo, dolls and all sorts of other things out for a massive play session, which seemed to involve superheroes, New Year's Eve and princesses. Complicated!
Hope you've had a great week too. See you next Saturday for our next report!