you couldn’t see how….
Oh how I have loved today, it has been the most cherishable of days, the most held in high esteem, lauded, honoured and most splendid of days. 😆
You’ll never guess where we’ve been. Really, you just won’t. Well ok maybe you will actually. Maybe you’ll have looked at my flickr account and seen that although the scenery is the same the childrens’ clothes have changed, maybe I’ve even become predictable (perish the thought ;)) or maybe you just know me well. And let’s face it, if you don’t know me by now, etc.
So this morning started with Wonderpets, as all good morning should. I really like the Wonderpets (and yes, I did have to go back and amend the description of my emotions towards them there 😉 ) but you know, I’ve been similarly entranced with children’s tv shows before so let’s not dwell on that (I had a favourite Wiggle once and I can still talk with eloquence on why I don’t like Sarah Jane from Tikkabilla as those at NicCamp will atest). The children were playing with wooden blocks and geomags so they tidied them up and got dressed while I hung washing out (hurrah for the weather which means although we get home all sandy and salty each day I bung clothes straight in the machine as we walk through the door and they are ready to wear again two days later 🙂 I erm, really like it ;)) and chucked lots of picnic food in a bag.
We headed over to Lucy’s where the children instantly went out to join Richard and Rebecca in the garden allowing Lucy and I to actually talk. 🙂 Well actually Davies went out in the garden, Tarly sat and played with a necklace machine but she did it quietly. They came back in to play with playdough (but in the kitchen so we continued to talk) and then we had lunch. They all went back in the garden for a while and then we walked across to the beach.
Having learnt my lesson about the child abuse that is taking kids to the beach and forbidding them to actually go in the sea we were appropriately togged up for it and they spent a mostly happy hour or so playing on the rocks. The rocks which have big signs saying you should not climb on them but attract my kids like magnets and despite them both having rock induced injuries currently would still be the first thing they chose to clamber on at the beach so I am considering to be enhancing all sorts of skills such as climbing, judging danger and peril, spacial awareness and as Lucy said some children their age live on rocks 😆 !!
They then stripped off to play chase the waves, built some sandcastles with their bare hands and generally had a great time. It was ace 🙂 Obviously there are photos on flickr ;). As we left the beach there was an older boy doing impresssive stuff like riding down the steps on his bike and performing stunt-y type tricks so the children stood and were impressed by him for ages before we persuaded them to leave. They ‘played bikes’ on the way home and in Lucy’s garden when we got back. Scarlett was very funny – I told her we had to go home and she said ‘but we’re playing bikes and we need a big area ‘ to which I smiled and she elaborated ‘we can’t play it near the road that would be dangerouser’ – adore, erm, love, erm, quite enjoy that four year old expression and vocab :). Davies had copied ‘PUBLIC TOILETS’ from a sign yesterday using chalk from the stones on the beach onto the concrete path so he was pleased to see it was still there and I admired once again how clear his letter formation was – I know it was copied but it’s interesting to see how he now copies up to 3 letters at a time and actually says to himself out loud ‘t, o, i’ before looking down to write rather than referring back each time to see how the letters are formed.
And that was it. I’m sure I’ve forgotten loads of incidental conversations or nuggets of information but mostly it’s just been a lovely week. The children have had their absolute fill of sea air, played with their friends and cousins, enjoyed the sunshine, learnt stacks, been wonderful. I’ve worked a couple of mornings which has felt perfect as it’s not interfered with our afternoons out but has earnt money and given me some time other than being Mummy. And I know it’s been the Easter holidays so they wouldn’t have been in school / nursery this week anyway but every time Ady has rung me from work to ask where I am and my answer has been ‘on the beach’ I have sat and watched my children having the time of their lives and thanked once again the fact that this is not just a brief two week window out of our normal routine, school based life style, this is actually what we do each and every single day if we choose to. And you know what, I’ve really rather ‘liked’ it. 🙂
Yes! Can’t believe how much talking time they gave us! I’d almost forgotton how to finsish a sentence, I’m all talked out, it’ll be weeks before I can think of anything else to say.
Comment by Lucy — 07 April 2007 @ 3:07 pm