Autumn fun day at NT property nearby, with lots of other HE families 🙂
We started with a long walk to the new nature area on the edge of the fens, where we should have been doing pond dipping, but the ponds had had to be drained for maintenance so we did mini beast hunting instead. They provided trowels, tubs, magnifying glasses, microscopes, laminated sheets with beasts to identify and similar useful equipment, showed the way to the den building area and then left us to it. The children split themselves into groups and started off digging under logs and collecting things to investigate, then gradually the older ones drifted away towards the den building area…
We manage to coax them back for lunch and then they were off again! Meanwhile those who were so inclined had apple bobbing to try and crafts to do, making walnut shell cribs with bean babies in them, leaf rubbing books and so forth. Oh and conkers to skewer, string and challenge to duels!
Five hours passed very quickly and then it was time to get back for L’s gymnastics session. Recorder practice happened in the car – I would never have imagined that I could ever be as tolerant of recorder noise as I am! Managed to head off four simultaneous but different practices by suggesting they take it in turns to choose tunes for all of them to play – phew!
Big Alice came to pick up K for Beavers and the remaining children took it in turns to do piano and violin, then were sent off for an early night. K was late back after a bat evening (heard but not seen, as put off by over-enthusiastic Beavers with torches, apparently) but able to make the time up by sleeping late this morning 🙂
One slightly sour note: a phone call from another mum who had been there to say that she had been concerned by the rather rough games (boys v girls) that the children had been playing 🙁 This led to another chat today about being extra gentle when playing, even when other children seem to want to play rough games, and a reminder that they, particularly J and M, are the big ones in many of the groups we go to and need to remember to be thoughtful of everybody else…
Today was a restful day, with lots of long multiplication for J and M, Singapore Maths for K and L, a little English, today’s Latin word (actually a reminder of what first person singular, plural etc mean) and then violin lessons for J, L and M. Quick dash back for chocolate biscuits and the aforementioned chat and then off to gymnastics with K, piano for M, recorder for J, swap gymnastics children, make tea, take delivery of new car (!), collect J and M and hand over large cheque for gymnastics, more tea, cello for K, new DS game (Millionheir) for J and M and bed all round.
And then a frustrating evening of exchanging messages with an ebay seller over an item not as described when I could have been getting frustrated about insurance quotes for Bob’s new car instead *sigh*
