Half Term Fun

It's half term at the moment so we have a whole free week stretching out in front of us. This morning we met up with my 'old' school friend Abi, her bloke, Marc, and their daughter Sylvie. Beth has been bugging us to go to Beacon Hill again for ages - we haven't been since September. The weather didn't look fab but we figured that with wellies, raincoats, flasks of coffee and chocolate cake we'd have fun anyway!

Beth was very excited to meet Sylvie as the last time they met was in the summer of 2007, well out of reach of her memory. She immediately loved the sound of her name and when we arrived, all three kids happily disappeared off to play together. They charged around the rhododendron labyrinth with us adults struggling to catch up, slipping and sliding on the wet wood - no idea why none of the kids seemed to be slowed down by it. I think their fearlessness meant they walked/ran normally where I certainly tiptoed in an attempt to stay upright, resulting in slipping far more than I probably would have otherwise.

Obviously the only way to gather them all in one place long enough for us to catch our breathe was the offer of gooey chocolate cake and juice. :) After another explore we decided to come out of the labyrinth and walk round the rest of the park. The sun was trying to come out and it was a really pleasant wander. The kids hid behind trees, balanced on tuffits (minus the spiders) and generally careered around having fun.

It was a really fab way to spend the morning yet despite being fun-filled, there was a layer of sadness with thoughts of a missing friend. Two weeks ago Sylvie's 7-year-old twin sister, Charis, passed away. For her mum and dad I can't begin to imagine the heartbreak at revisiting past 'playgrounds' without Charis but I hope we created some good new memories today.

February So Far . . .

We seem to be pretty busy at the moment though I'm not quite sure with what we've been filling our time. Beth of course is at school all day everyday and is enjoying it. Her teacher quit at Christmas and two supply teachers are filling in until the new regular teacher starts after Easter. This actually seems to suit Beth pretty well as she doesn't much like repetition; she much prefers new things and surprises.

Toby is just Toby and seems to be known wherever he goes! At the moment he has a swimming lesson on Monday, pre-school on Tuesday and Thursday (just the mornings) and playgroup and gymnastics on Wednesday. Friday is our day for getting bits done though this past Friday he refused to do anything. I think he decided he'd had enough of 'activities' and just wanted to lounge around the house with his toys and the telly. I didn't mind too much as it gave me a chance to tidy round - this Wednesday the builders are coming to knock a wall down between the kitchen and the dining room. Everything needs to be out of the way of the dust, though in our house I don't think that's really ever a possibility!

One of our outings this week was to meet Toby's friend Anna and her mum Claire. We went to Daneshill Gravel Pits, a nature reserve about 20 minutes drive away. It was a beautiful afternoon with the sun shining. Although it's only about a 20 minute walk around the lake it took us nearly an hour and a half. I suppose we did stop to feed the ducks, eat some cake and poke things with sticks. All good fun!