Beach Boys

I haven't posted in ages and this time it's because we've been so busy and also because we have entered a completely new groove! Since returning from our holiday both the boys have not been going to bed until about 10pm. It has had a dramatic effect on our rhythm and mostly for the better. Now all our smalls sleep roughly at the same time and the boys are sleeping much longer than they used to, putting them in a better frame of mind generally. The later morning wakening does mean our day seems to start later and we miss a chunk of the morning but we have also gained a chunk of the evening and daddy gets to spend more time with the. Happiness all around.

This week has involved meeting in the park with fellow home ed friends, a day on the beach-where bean built his own sandcastle city with moat, an unexpected but delightful play date with friends at our house, gymnastics classes, daddy's birthday preparations and celebrations, a spontaneous trip to the seafront, and a weekend away with our church family.

Monday: our regular gymnastics class for bean followed by a play in the park. Bean appeared to get himself locked in the toilets but it transpired that the door was not actually locked just very stiff. It took me and another to pull the door before it opened. Pumpkin has been trying out the spinning egg cups as a new venture and plum is loving the zip wire. She's also loving having the command of a few of the other home ed smalls and it's great to see them playing with her.

Tuesday: a knock on the door from friends who were returning the space shuttle we left at their's last week quickly became a morning play date. An additional three smalls in the house and a new take on many familiar at home activities. The morning was spent playing between 'the world of dark' and lotions and potions. The world of dark involved taking everything luminos or light bearing into the bedroom which had the curtains and blind pulled.
The garden housed the lotions and potions and the children had a bowl each to mix powder paint, water, colouring, bicarbonate, moisturisers, bubble mix, washing up liquid and a few other household items and the decant the into bottles. It ended up being a group production as they mixed all their lotions together.

Wednesday: our first UK trip to the beach, oh how I had forgotten how much I love to spend the day at the beach. It's the first time I've gone solo since having plum walking and I was a little anxious but it was amazing. There was paddling and rock pooling and sandcastles and sand writing and football and treasure hunting and ice cream and tree climbing and den inhabiting and more. Brilliant day, well spent.

Thursday: we went to our new gymnastics class for the second time. The problem with not blogging daily is I now have to explain that last week the boys joined in for the last five minutes. This week it was the last half an hour. I'm not forcing them to take gym classes! They are both keen and want to, they just get a bit anxious when they arrive. New venue. New teachers. Pumpkin is very keen but won't go without bean. But we'll get there in their own time.

Then to the shops and home to make daddy a birthday cake and wrap presents.

Friday: an unplanned breezy trip to the play area on Worthing seafront. Certainly blew the cobwebs away! Lovely time together followed by a crazy hour trying to pack our bags for the weekend. The boys really enjoyed checking out all the different play equipment and we were faced again with Plum's dislike of sand. 

Saturday and Sunday: Church Family Weekend Away. I saw the boys for meals and swimming and bedtime but other than that they have had a crazy wonderful time with their church friends, cooking marshmallows on a bonfire and making things out of boxes and forts in the grounds and playing team games and a whole load of other things. They went to bed slightly later than usual but took themselves to bed about 10.30pm and were up slightly earlier too so very very tired. Brilliant time away with our church family though. loved it.