This week actually starts last Saturday night when we decided at the last minute to head over to Worthing for the Light Festival, an exhibition of sustainable art installations on the beach. The rain had finally stopped, so we thought we'd go and check it out.
There is plenty to do on the beach there with rocks to climb on and slippery slidey concrete play structures, so we spent ages messing about there first before wandering along to look at the art display.
Being huge sea gull fans, we all loved this one!
This strange mushroom art work looked like something from outer space.
Lara loved this big colour changing Lotus flower structure.
While this quirky multi-coloured mosaic was big hit with Tatiana, although the usual 'keep the kids away' rules and regs were in place, when all she wanted to do was get up close and have a good look. Why don't people trust children?! They are capable of looking at things without yanking pieces of or whatever else adults fear will happen. I got lots of pics so she could examine it properly at leisure, but not exactly the same as getting up close to be able to see how it's done and to learn. A shame.
They all loved these paper models of some of the buildings in Worthing and, shock horror, managed to examine them close up without crushing/damaging/falling on them.
I've now been charged with making a tutu with lights in it for Tatia!
On the way back to the car we played some more, including Sophia totally photo bombing my picture! A very late night, but great fun.
Sunday started with a bit of a bang as the girls woke me to ask for 'marching music' for a parade they were arranging with Shopkins and some other toys. Um... My thoughts turned surprisingly quickly, considering the rude awakening, to central European bombastic nationalism and some Dvorak, Berwald, Grieg and Strauss was quickly found!
Later on, we blew the cobwebs away on the beach, then played with Playmobil and LEGO after lunch before packign the car to go to my mum's for a few days. Early Monday morning we headed off to LEGOLAND Windsor, which was delightfully quiet and empty, a far cry from our last visit!
We tried a new ride, the Viking River adventure, which was fun and found a couple of places we hadn't been before, like this pirate display which the girls loved.
Steve took the younger two on a big swinging boat thing, whilst Lara and I stayed securely on terra firma! They loved it though.
Tatiana was very excited about seeing her beloved LEGO Friends again, and caught up with them on the TV screen before the show started, and queueing for the ubiquitous fan photos after!
The girls all went to driving school, although we did fib about Sophia's age a little bit, much to Lara's disgust - she's less than 4 months off 6 after all!
Tatiana even took to the skies too!
On Tuesday we walked a couple of miles to Gerrards Cross, the nearest town to my mum's, and had a wander round the numerous charity shops. We did get quite a haul with various new or hardly worn children's clothes, including Fat Face hats for £1 each!, and lots of books, home ed bits and other things. The best bargain though was a huge 2 pint Emma Bridgewater Hearts mug for a fiver. After lunch at Pizza Express, we visited the library and then caught the bus back, very exciting to the smalls!
Lara was having a bit of a hard time for some reason, so we headed home earlier than intended on Wednesday morning, stopping for a picnic and a walk in the forest on the way. At home we tried to keep everything low-key, so played Barbies and LEGO, decorated gingerbread men, and went for a walk on the beach after dinner.
Thursday's weather was up and down, and the rain officially stopped play, outside anyway. When it cleared we played outside for a bit then headed to a playground in Chichester for a picnic. After playing there for a while we dashed to the car as the rain started again and drove down to Selsey Bill.
We did the classic British sit and watch the sea from the car, then headed out for a walk when it cleared - temporarily anyway! Jut look at that sky. Lots of questions and discussion about weather, cloud formation etc prompted - tick.
When the rain started again we headed back to the car to watch the birds. These ruddy turnstones were particularly fascinating.
On Friday Lara was still feeling very out of sorts and life was pretty hard, so we didn't do much to be honest. Those kind of days (weeks, months) are pretty horrific, but do make me glad that we have the option to cancel everything and help Lara. If we still had to get her bundled out the door to school it would be even more horrific. Although sometimes a break seems like something I would give my right arm for!!
It was mostly a day of Transformers Rescue Bots (on-going obsession), drawing, colouring and trying to keep things calm. At some point during the day Tatiana decided she needed to dress up as a lady, so donned straw hat and socks for elbow-length gloves. Very cute.
Today we spent most of the day at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Arundel, with Tatiana dressed as Elsa (of course). They had an education day on, so we made some kingfisher crafts, learnt about bird skulls and feather patterns, and more.
We also looked at lichen and how it grows, focussing on the whole miniature world in there, and looked at how the plants are changing during autumn and preparing for winter. The girls were also busy spotting all the different food possibilities for birds in the months to come, and we talked about why berries are bright colours, how trees and plants shut down for winter etc.
At the end of the day we headed to one of the play areas in the centre for a climbing session, then wandered along the road to the nearby playground. We had a dinner picnic at the playground and the girls met some boys they invented a great game with, which randomly involved throwing half a carrot around. They all thought it was hilarious though!
Hope you've had a good, outdoorsy week! Wish us a calm few days to come. Lx
There is plenty to do on the beach there with rocks to climb on and slippery slidey concrete play structures, so we spent ages messing about there first before wandering along to look at the art display.
Being huge sea gull fans, we all loved this one!
This strange mushroom art work looked like something from outer space.
Lara loved this big colour changing Lotus flower structure.
While this quirky multi-coloured mosaic was big hit with Tatiana, although the usual 'keep the kids away' rules and regs were in place, when all she wanted to do was get up close and have a good look. Why don't people trust children?! They are capable of looking at things without yanking pieces of or whatever else adults fear will happen. I got lots of pics so she could examine it properly at leisure, but not exactly the same as getting up close to be able to see how it's done and to learn. A shame.
They all loved these paper models of some of the buildings in Worthing and, shock horror, managed to examine them close up without crushing/damaging/falling on them.
I've now been charged with making a tutu with lights in it for Tatia!
On the way back to the car we played some more, including Sophia totally photo bombing my picture! A very late night, but great fun.
Sunday started with a bit of a bang as the girls woke me to ask for 'marching music' for a parade they were arranging with Shopkins and some other toys. Um... My thoughts turned surprisingly quickly, considering the rude awakening, to central European bombastic nationalism and some Dvorak, Berwald, Grieg and Strauss was quickly found!
Later on, we blew the cobwebs away on the beach, then played with Playmobil and LEGO after lunch before packign the car to go to my mum's for a few days. Early Monday morning we headed off to LEGOLAND Windsor, which was delightfully quiet and empty, a far cry from our last visit!
 |
| Lara's baby doll Teddy came too |
We tried a new ride, the Viking River adventure, which was fun and found a couple of places we hadn't been before, like this pirate display which the girls loved.
Steve took the younger two on a big swinging boat thing, whilst Lara and I stayed securely on terra firma! They loved it though.
Tatiana was very excited about seeing her beloved LEGO Friends again, and caught up with them on the TV screen before the show started, and queueing for the ubiquitous fan photos after!
The girls all went to driving school, although we did fib about Sophia's age a little bit, much to Lara's disgust - she's less than 4 months off 6 after all!
Tatiana even took to the skies too!
On Tuesday we walked a couple of miles to Gerrards Cross, the nearest town to my mum's, and had a wander round the numerous charity shops. We did get quite a haul with various new or hardly worn children's clothes, including Fat Face hats for £1 each!, and lots of books, home ed bits and other things. The best bargain though was a huge 2 pint Emma Bridgewater Hearts mug for a fiver. After lunch at Pizza Express, we visited the library and then caught the bus back, very exciting to the smalls!
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| £6 the lot - woohoo! |
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| A bit big for tea, but perfect for wooden spoons! |
Lara was having a bit of a hard time for some reason, so we headed home earlier than intended on Wednesday morning, stopping for a picnic and a walk in the forest on the way. At home we tried to keep everything low-key, so played Barbies and LEGO, decorated gingerbread men, and went for a walk on the beach after dinner.
Thursday's weather was up and down, and the rain officially stopped play, outside anyway. When it cleared we played outside for a bit then headed to a playground in Chichester for a picnic. After playing there for a while we dashed to the car as the rain started again and drove down to Selsey Bill.
We did the classic British sit and watch the sea from the car, then headed out for a walk when it cleared - temporarily anyway! Jut look at that sky. Lots of questions and discussion about weather, cloud formation etc prompted - tick.
When the rain started again we headed back to the car to watch the birds. These ruddy turnstones were particularly fascinating.
On Friday Lara was still feeling very out of sorts and life was pretty hard, so we didn't do much to be honest. Those kind of days (weeks, months) are pretty horrific, but do make me glad that we have the option to cancel everything and help Lara. If we still had to get her bundled out the door to school it would be even more horrific. Although sometimes a break seems like something I would give my right arm for!!
It was mostly a day of Transformers Rescue Bots (on-going obsession), drawing, colouring and trying to keep things calm. At some point during the day Tatiana decided she needed to dress up as a lady, so donned straw hat and socks for elbow-length gloves. Very cute.
Today we spent most of the day at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Arundel, with Tatiana dressed as Elsa (of course). They had an education day on, so we made some kingfisher crafts, learnt about bird skulls and feather patterns, and more.
We also looked at lichen and how it grows, focussing on the whole miniature world in there, and looked at how the plants are changing during autumn and preparing for winter. The girls were also busy spotting all the different food possibilities for birds in the months to come, and we talked about why berries are bright colours, how trees and plants shut down for winter etc.
At the end of the day we headed to one of the play areas in the centre for a climbing session, then wandered along the road to the nearby playground. We had a dinner picnic at the playground and the girls met some boys they invented a great game with, which randomly involved throwing half a carrot around. They all thought it was hilarious though!
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Princess Elsa was very pleased with herself
when she got to the top for the first time!
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Hope you've had a good, outdoorsy week! Wish us a calm few days to come. Lx