An apple a day

Monday: Gaston Farm
Our annual trip to the lambing was met with mixed results. Bean, 9, Absolutely loved it, mostly the animal handling, we even discussed getting our own chicken eggs to incubate and hatch. Pumpkin, 8, and Plum, 5, enjoyed the trip and liked stroking the animals, Pumpkin did hold the chicks and ducklings and walking across the board through the sheep shed. Pippin, 2, was terrified of all the animals and clung to me like a limpit saying 'scared scared' all day. We did all enjoy the tractor ride and the play park. Bean tried an apple and liked it. He ate two more in the evening.

We were squeezed into a corsa today as our viano is at the garage again, this time replacing a coroded water tank. The good Lord must have known that i'd need a tiny car for our trip to Guildford.

Tuesday: Airhop
We went to Airhop today with friend T only to find that the group booking we were attending had been cancelled two weeks ago because it's the school holidays in Surrey. It was 11am and they had room for us at 1pm. Plum had already declared this to be the most exciting day because she has never been to Airhop before so we booked in for later. We drove to Stoke Park but ended up playing on the large grass areas in the Spectrum. Bean was most upset that our plans had changed, coupled with us having been out everyday for four days and it being a while since breakfast, he got exceedingly angry with Pumpkin over a toy they had in the car. There was no reasoning with him and it led to Pumpkin being really upset too. Bean wanted to go home, we cuddled lots. On the way back to Airhop Pumpkin apologised to Bean which prompted Bean to apologise too and then they worked out who could have the toy.
Plum bounced with T's mum for the hour and i sat in the cafe with Pippin being visited by the others for drink breaks. The boys enjoyed the dodge ball and doing tricks in the main area, jumping up onto the wall. An excellent time was had by all.
Exhausted back home everyone sat and watched their own thing, Fungus the Bogeyman was on again and Bean asked to learn how to play Poker which we did.

Apple eating also continued.

Little Boy Blue

I've titled this post after Pumpkin insisted he wore everything in blue today, from the toppest top to his bottomist bottom! He also choose the t-shirt I picked up in a charity shop yesterday with a picture of a cow on it saying 'moo!' Very topical.

We went to Gaston Farm today. A real farm, with real farm land, real animals and a real shepherd. Pumpkin thoroughly enjoyed handling chicks, ducklings and a lamb. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the lamb as i had to help him hold it it was so big, it was nearly as big as him! We saw three lambs being born, two assissted by the shepherd, all well. Mrs Shepherd told us they have over 1000 lambs during the season and Mr Shepherd works 22 hours a day to ensure as many as possible survive. And i thought i was tired! I'm not sure how much Pumpkin took in but I thought it was pretty amazing. 
They also have the obligatory tractor ride but at no extra cost and you get to see the beautiful views that Slindin has. Pumpkin was very disappointed to be leaving, coupled with some tiredness led to a few tears. We finally got to the car only to discover I couldn't open the boot so I had to squeeze the buggy in the back. I should have realised it was a sign of things to come as the engine didn't start...flat battery. Fortunately being on a farm we managed to find a knight in shining armour with some jump leads. This all took less than 15 minutes and we were on our way.

We took Plum to be weighed at the clinic. She now comes in at 5kg 54 (12lb 3) and we finally met up with our new friends N and Z who we haven't seen since our unfortunate admission into hospital all those weeks ago.

Pumpkin's report on his farm experience included "the lamb came out the bottom," "it was red, not jam," and "the lady swung it [the lamb] about." Obviously took in more than I realised.

And for those who are wondering why there is no mention of Bean, he is having a sleepover at grandma and pop's house. Home tomorrow.