The Past Week

My last post recorded our summer holiday up until last Wednesday so this one is from Thursday until today to bring us right up to date.

T has pretty much been doing his own thing. He has been spending lots of time with H and I'm thankful he has made such a good friend. H is a very calm person and has got T to relax a little and chat which is A Very Good Thing.

However, T did come out with us last Thursday. My sister was off work for the week and we arranged for her and mum to join us for a picnic at RVCP.

We spent three hours in the sun eating, drinking, playing with the bats and balls and general larking about.

I'm really pleased with these photos, I hope my mum and sister will be too.

S's friend D came and spent the night on Thursday and Friday morning we trotted into town for a couple of hours at the girls request.
Later on in the day I took them to a local fun fair. S wanted to try the bigger rides but was worried about how fast and scary they looked. That's kind of the idea I told her. With a little cajoling she decided to give the umbrella chairs a go. When it started to tip on it's side and she came whooshing down that first time I thought she was going to cry, the next time she came round she was grinning from ear to ear!

And this is the ride she went on next. You sit in a little car and travel up the inside of this tower coming down on the track to then do a circuit of a very small rollercoastery type of arrangement. I predict no more sedate fun fair visits for S in the future.

The three of us spent some time in the garden on Saturday playing games. In this one G and S each both had the same measuring jug containing the same amount of water and washing up liquid. They were then both given the same mini whisk. The first one to whisk up enough bubbles until they rose up and spilled out the top was the winner.

I made S a big bubble wand and a batch of bubble mixture and with them we made these enormous bubbles. Oh it was a lot of fun but also a bit frustrating as it was breezy and they popped too easily. A stiller day would be better for giving this a go. We still have mix left so we'll try again soon.

Sunday was a day of two halves. The weather was wet and windy as forecast but then it cleared up and the sun came out. Bored with being indoors I suggested a short wander along the shore. I had to go out anyway for bread and milk so why not grab the sunshine whilst it was there and have a stroll.
We parked the car at one end of the shore and walked to the other where the ice cream van is situated.
Our mission was to buy a jazzer.
What's a jazzer?
This is a jazzer. 
A vanilla and strawberry whippy ice cream complete with, sauce and sprinkles, a flake and a giant marshmallow.

We stood by the shore enjoying our ice creams and lollies when we noticed that over to our right where the docks are there appeared to be some very dark clouds making an appearance and you may just be able to see in the top left of the photo that there was a lot of rain falling from them.

OK time to make a dash for the car. This is just about half way back and rain had started to fall in big fat drops. See how dark those clouds are but notice how clearly you can see the tower blocks.

We ran the last 100 metres or so so we could wait it out in one of the shelters along the shore, along with another family and a little group of dog walkers. It was absolutely lashing it down now and we could hardly see the docks to the right of us

or the tower blocks which were now behind us. Need to say we were soaked as although we were inside the shelter the wind whipped the rain sideways into us.
S was still eating her jazzer though, she's made of strong stuff! 

As quickly as the clouds arrived they were gone again and five minutes later it was back to sunshine and blue sky and normal visibility.
The rest of the day was spent indoors! Card and dice games and more sedate activities was the way to go.

A few weeks back I bought an old, but still boxed and never used, plastic syringe biscuit maker from a charity shop and on Monday we gave it a go. There are different discs which pipe out different shaped biscuits such as stars and flowers.

Some of them came out perfectly formed,

others less so!

No photos from yesterday. 
T was out with H again and S had L round for the afternoon.
Today both T and S are out with friends.
I'd like to say that I have been busy and achieved lots seeing as my presence hasn't been required as much by either of the children but it seems the less I do the less I want to do. I haven't been totally lazy and have ticked a few things off my to do list and more or less kept up with the housework which always seems to slide during the 6 weeks, but there is a nagging voice in my head telling me I should be making more of this 'extra' time. I'm off to vacuum the stairs, maybe the sound of the hoover will drown it out!