We've had another busy week of gallivanting about the country. On Sunday we drove up to my mum's, where the girls played in the garden with their cousins.
Lara's really looking up to Mya who is 12 at the moment, so was desperate to see her.
Tatiana is obsessed with drawing different bugs and spiders at the moment, here are two of her creations:
And Sophia joined in with a rather portly fairy:
Lara found some more stones and a piece of slate to add to her growing collection:
On Monday, we went to my BF Danielle's house where the girls drew, played with her sons Lewis and Connor, had adventures in the garden etc.
We watched this lovely frog in their pond, who seemed to be quite happy just observing as chaos reigned around him!
After lunch we went for a walk along the canal where we spotted a crane fly making the holes in mud to lay its eggs, feasted on elderberries and blackberries, saw a lovely heron and paddled in a stream.
On the way back, we admired and talked about the canal barges and how/why canals were used. Lara is interested in weather vanes and wind direction at the moment, so was interested to see a sun dial on a house and asked about how it worked.
On Tuesday, despite it being crazy busy summer holiday time, we ventured to LEGOLAND Windsor. It wasn't as busy as I had expected, but it was certainly busy enough. Luckily, we're not overly interested in all the most popular rides etc, so the girls were still able to enjoy the bits they love.
The George Washington interest continues!
In the evening, back at my mum's which isn't far away, the girls played in the garden with their cousins again, and we went on a walk to find more of their beloved blackberries.
Wednesday was my birthday, so presents were opened and lovely flowers received from my sister-in-law.
Then we went to an old childhood haunt, the Thames at Bourne End, for a walk. The girls were fascinated by these two different seed types overhanging our car in the car park, and then moved on to look for 'precious stones' and dinosaur bones in the ground.
The freedom of being by the river was a joy, with wide spaces to run around in, and plenty of dogs to chat to. We stopped for a picnic and a paddle, then continued our walk, before driving home.
The girls were fascinated by this beautiful bird, whch we finally identified as an Egyptian Goose. Apparently there is quite a population of them around Norfolk and the Thames now, but we don't get them down our way.
Back at home on Thursday, the unpredictable summer weather continued to delight with pouring rain in the morning. Thankfully, it cleared later so the girls were able to paly outside with their new best frined, our neighbour's little French Bulldog puppy, Simba. After a busy few days it was an early night for everyone though, even Taya.
Friday was one of those days where the girls got reacquainted with all their toys. Do your kids do that after they have been away? We watched some TV, including a fascinating documentary about rock pools on iPlayer: The Secret Life of Rock Pools, which prompted the girls to get out all the sea creature figures and make and draw their own rock pools.
On Saturday, we picked masses of blackberries, and Sophia decided she wanted to learn how to make jam and did a fantastic job.
I'll leave you with some interesting sunset photos we caught later on that day:
See you next week! Lx
Lara's really looking up to Mya who is 12 at the moment, so was desperate to see her.
Tatiana is obsessed with drawing different bugs and spiders at the moment, here are two of her creations:
And Sophia joined in with a rather portly fairy:
Lara found some more stones and a piece of slate to add to her growing collection:
On Monday, we went to my BF Danielle's house where the girls drew, played with her sons Lewis and Connor, had adventures in the garden etc.
We watched this lovely frog in their pond, who seemed to be quite happy just observing as chaos reigned around him!
After lunch we went for a walk along the canal where we spotted a crane fly making the holes in mud to lay its eggs, feasted on elderberries and blackberries, saw a lovely heron and paddled in a stream.
On the way back, we admired and talked about the canal barges and how/why canals were used. Lara is interested in weather vanes and wind direction at the moment, so was interested to see a sun dial on a house and asked about how it worked.
On Tuesday, despite it being crazy busy summer holiday time, we ventured to LEGOLAND Windsor. It wasn't as busy as I had expected, but it was certainly busy enough. Luckily, we're not overly interested in all the most popular rides etc, so the girls were still able to enjoy the bits they love.
The George Washington interest continues!
In the evening, back at my mum's which isn't far away, the girls played in the garden with their cousins again, and we went on a walk to find more of their beloved blackberries.
Wednesday was my birthday, so presents were opened and lovely flowers received from my sister-in-law.
Then we went to an old childhood haunt, the Thames at Bourne End, for a walk. The girls were fascinated by these two different seed types overhanging our car in the car park, and then moved on to look for 'precious stones' and dinosaur bones in the ground.
The freedom of being by the river was a joy, with wide spaces to run around in, and plenty of dogs to chat to. We stopped for a picnic and a paddle, then continued our walk, before driving home.
The girls were fascinated by this beautiful bird, whch we finally identified as an Egyptian Goose. Apparently there is quite a population of them around Norfolk and the Thames now, but we don't get them down our way.
Back at home on Thursday, the unpredictable summer weather continued to delight with pouring rain in the morning. Thankfully, it cleared later so the girls were able to paly outside with their new best frined, our neighbour's little French Bulldog puppy, Simba. After a busy few days it was an early night for everyone though, even Taya.
Friday was one of those days where the girls got reacquainted with all their toys. Do your kids do that after they have been away? We watched some TV, including a fascinating documentary about rock pools on iPlayer: The Secret Life of Rock Pools, which prompted the girls to get out all the sea creature figures and make and draw their own rock pools.
On Saturday, we picked masses of blackberries, and Sophia decided she wanted to learn how to make jam and did a fantastic job.
I'll leave you with some interesting sunset photos we caught later on that day:
See you next week! Lx