Of the sweet seven year old variety rather than a 1984 stylee every move you make sort.
One of the things I forgot to blog about the holiday was the storytelling. Since I’ve started doing the odd storytime at the library and all but memorised the books I’ve read there the children often ask me to tell a story when we’re stuck somewhere with time to kill – waiting for food or on a train etc. In the style of all storytellers the tales get further embellished the more they are told and audience participation is most welcome :). At Heligan in the gift shop were some fancy gift boxes of biscuits with various story characters on the front – the hare and the tortoise, the owl and the pussycat and the mouse and the lion. The children know the story of the hare and the tortoise and we’d happened to read a beautifully illustrated version of the Owl and the Pussycat just a few weeks ago but they said they didn’t know the story of the lion and the mouse. I’d told it briefly to Davies as we walked round Heligan and that evening while we were in Asda and they were eating their tea he asked me to tell it again so Scarlett could listen. I then retold the Hare and the Tortoise and a couple of others that we’re read lately.
Anyway back to today (and there is a reason for the above, honest!). We were off to Drusillas which we have 2 weeks of membership of left so we were up and sorted fairly early and ready and waiting in the car when Lucy and The Rs arrived at 930am (amazing feat for us, that ;)). We drove over to Drusillas and while Lucy and I chatted Davies told stories to the other three children all the way over there. They were made up, he offered two of three titles for them to choose from and included theme tunes and sound effects. I’ve no idea how good or bad they were in terms of plotline but it kept the other 3 quiet and enthralled all the way over there. At one point in a gap in conversation I heard something about whales, a mummy and daddy who ‘made love and had a baby they called Sarah who liked to stay close to her mummy and daddy’. Not at all sure where he’s heard the term ‘made love’ but it was just part of the story and said with no great emphasis just his usual liking for accuracy before moving on with his tale. Possibly x rated animal tales aside it was lovely to hear him telling stories, lovely to know it is something I do that he enjoys enough to have adopted and a very clear outlet for his creative skills too which it was great for him to have an audience for :).
We arrived to discover loads of school children – I think these last few weeks of the summer term are often filled with school trips out. We raced through the first bit to get to the paddling pool. Scarlett and Rebecca (and I think Richard too) took spotter booklets to stamp as they went round and did that, being very strict with themselves about needing to actually see the animal and not just it’s enclosure before stamping that page :). Davies read a few of the boards around the place about what different groups of animals are called (my favourite is always flamingos – a group is called a flamboyance :)). At the paddling pool they did some getting wet, lots of running around and then came and got dressed and ate something before going off to play a lengthy game of hide and seek together. Eventually they tired of that and we went through to the play area.
They varied between playing in different combinations and in different areas. Scarlett showed her daring on the zipwire:). Davies spent ages pushing a load of little children on the roundabout and seemed to be really enjoying that. I then spotted him walking along holding the hand of a very small toddler and talking to him. I watched from a distance as he took him back to the smaller children play area and reunited him with his mother. He came back to report what had happened – the little boy had come through the gate and been knocked over by it. Disorientated he’d wandered the wrong way crying and gotten lost. Davies had spotted him playing in the little area earlier so assumed he had come from there and took him back and walked round with him til he found his mother, who apparently was very grateful :).
We were running out of time so we got ice creams and visited the lemur enclosure. They tested themselves to see how quickly they ran and Scarlett finally broke her personal record and was as quick as a lizard :). We walked round the last bit and finally reached the car pretty much dead on time when I’d said we needed to leave by. The journey home was punctuated by them all reading out the letters on the love heart sweets we’d bought them to ask what they said. Lucy and The Rs came back to play in the garden for half an hour while Davies and Scarlett’s tea was cooking and then they headed off while D and S ate tea and got ready for Badgers.
Ady got home just in time to come with us which was bad because it meant I didn’t go for a run but good because it meant we had a whole hour to ourselves to walk along holding hands and chatting without interuptions which is still a big novelty :). We walked to the supermarket for bits for dinner and then back to the car to watch the last five minutes of the Badgers playing on the lawn. Home for stories and bed. Ady has made Davies a blank book to fill in with his Ben 10 stories so he made a start on that while listening to the story, Scarlett sat and brushed my hair while she listened.
Run? As in “on your own two feet” (rather than that well-known Sunday afternoon pastime of “a run in the car”). How do you contain your assets? Always my own personal issue.
Comment by Joyce — 26 June 2008 @ 2:43 pm
Indeed run on own two feet. With much upholstery is the honest answer and sometimes even an arm across the front too. It’s neither graceful or pretty to behold I’m sure and I doubt it puts anyone in mind of Baywatch 😆
Comment by Nic — 26 June 2008 @ 3:22 pm
Bravissimo do a fantastic croppy top thing that is so firm that all movement ceases. I recommend! Baywatch? Pah! Apparently, DH used to spend so much time sucking in his belly that he’d forget to breathe.
Comment by Allie — 26 June 2008 @ 4:34 pm
Nic, I find the privacy of my living room on my treadmill a much better place to run ( or at least attempt to run… ok walk quickly…slowly…. hang laundry on… 😳 )
Allie, I just read your comment about six times and then clicked your name to see if it linked to a different Allie and then stared at it in puzzlement for a while and then figured out you meant David Hasslehoff not Dear Husband 😳 😆
Comment by Liza — 27 June 2008 @ 10:08 am
Liza I did the exact same thing over Allie’s reference to ‘DH’ 😆
Comment by Nic — 27 June 2008 @ 8:39 pm