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Heatwaves, thunderstorms and royal baby

It can’t have failed to come to the attention of anyone above ground that the last couple of weeks have been exceptionally hot. It seems that in this country we take great delight in cataloguing all the different weather we are experiencing and discussing it at a national and even international level! From the first flakes of snow paralysing the transport system to the first rays of  the sun causing a rush on bottled water as we all forget we can get it out of the tap! Then there are the inevitable thunderstorms that follow the heat, although here it seems more humid after the storms than it did before they started! I was quite disappointed not to be abel to watch the storm but the arrival of a frightened five year old put paid to that but it was nice to listen to the rain! Thankfully the child who is the most scared by thunder managed to sleep through it somehow! The eldest didn’t want to come in but instead camped out on the stairs with her bedding and a book and then promptly fell asleep again about an hour before I needed to get her up for riding!

All the children were pleased that a royal baby has been born, it is exciting that a baby that will be king one day has been born and  I can understand why people are excited all around the world. Indeed I did feel happy and patriotic last night at the news and hope that the duchess isn’t in too much pain after the delivery as he was rather a big boy. Now the speculation about how and when they will leave the hospital, when official photographs will be issued and what his name will be has started in earnest. The news have filled hours with telling us over and over again what has happened and what might happen, but like us, they don’t know yet! In this age of instant news I was pleased that the couple were able to keep the news that the baby was here to themselves for a few hours. Having said that the children are guessing the name Imp thinks he will be called Henry because then that will make 9 and apparently that is a world record, Pixie thinks he will be called Jack and Hpops has yet to comment. Pixie is keen to meet him as her main ambition is to grow up to be a princess so who knows…

I worry for the poor child though growing up in the spotlight although William seems to have managed, I do hope that despite the furore concerning the family they will still have time to be themselves and enjoy the child growing up. I can only imagine how hard it must be for Kate having given birth just yesterday to appear on the steps of the hospital with her precious new arrival and ‘show him off’ to the media and public. For any new parents it is a time when they want to be surrounded by their own loved ones, get to know their baby and bond as a family. You often feel like you’ve been hit by a bus having just given birth, having done it three times all I wanted to do was shuffle down the corridor and into the car, shuffle into the house and recover slowly and in private! I was lucky to get anything remotely sensibly fitting on so to have to face the media would not be top of my list of things to do 24 hours after giving birth. Yes be excited, wave flags, fire a gun to salute and visit the special golden easel but remember that at the heart of the excitement is a family and we need to be careful not to overwhelm them with out desire to know what is going on with the baby. Being a parent for the first time is difficult enough without everyone wondering when the prince will walk, when he will have his first solids and whether his first will be Mum or Your Majesty!

I hadn’t really thought about what it felt like to be patriotic until recently. The wedding and the Olympics as well as the birth have all made me pleased to live in Britain. As a country we do have a number of problems but having looked at other places there doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the Earth that is ‘perfect’, or at least not for long. I have heard people saying we should abolish the Royals but imagine if we did what we’d lose, not just the excitement of weddings, births and pomp and circumstance but the years of tradition, the tourist lure. So many buildings and gardens and feelings of good will exist and if there was one person many of us would like to see up close it would be a member of the royal family. They are our figureheads and we should feel proud of the positive image they present to the world! At the moment the country seems to be on the up, the cricket team are 2-0 in the Ashes, Andy Murray won Wimbledon and Froome won the Tour de France! Now if we could just get over the heat and thunderstorms and have a nice steady 20-24 degrees everything would be perfect  -for a while!

Legoland Visit July 2013

Yes I may be mad I decided to take my three children ages 5 (girl), 7 (boy)  and 8 (girl)  to Legoland Windsor by myself. We had an awful journey there thanks to the M25 misbehaving and so I was worried that this could result in frustrated, bored children being pains! As soon as we’d had the obligatory trip to the toilets (the only part of the park now to be up to standard!) we were in having pre-booked out tickets and printed at home saving money as well as time!

The theming was brilliant and we spent quarter of an hour just wandering and looking at the various sculptures in mini-land. We decided to go and watch the pirate stunt show first and use the maps to plan the rest of our visit! The children enjoyed the show which featured pirates, treasure, water, acrobatic diving and daft dancing. The 7 year old probably enjoyed it the most but the nearly 9 year old enjoyed it despite claiming she wasn’t watching! We formed a plan while we waited for the show to start and so headed straight to Pirate Falls, a log flume style ride where we were greeted with a 60 minute wait. We decided to skip this and went instead to the other water ride which advertised a 45 minute wait but which was in reality only a 20 minute wait! The theming of the ride was brilliant and after we were all suitably wet we spent a few minutes playing the games that were on offer. We had already agreed we would do this once and once only as they are very expensive and the prizes probably not worth the stake!

From here we headed to Atlantis, an underwater adventure, this amazed the children and again the wait was about 20 minutes although this was protracted by a drinks and ice-cream shop being housed in the outside queuing area, at £2.50 for a drink/ ice-cream/ bottle of water I was glad we had brough our own drinks! The ride was amazing, as well as the Lego models of mermaids, divers and sea creatures there was an abundance of sharks, tropical fish and rays. The submarine supplied information about the various creatures and being able to see them at such close quarters was great. The exit of the rides contained more fish tanks and children could climb though and pop their heads up in the middle which they found hilarious! They also had the opportunity to hold a sea urchin and meet a fish that cleans tanks and tickles your hands.

Next on the list was the traffic zone where kids can try their hand at driving cars and boats, we plumped for the cars and the two bigger children headed into the 6-13 queue and I accompanied the 5 year old, They drive a lego style car around a laid out route with traffic lights, zebra crossings and junctions and have a good amount of time on the cars. They get their own driving licence at the end and there is an option to add a photo but again this is very expensive! We then went to the bit the kids had been waiting for on a hot sunny day – drench towers and duplo splash zone.

Be warned they live up to their name, the kids had their costumes and towels and happily raced down slides, squealed when buckets of cold water landed on their heads and danced in and out of animal themed fountains. We did have to queue for a bit as for safety reasons there is a maximum capacity to drench towers. There weren’t enough changing rooms but with some clever towel use I was able to get them all decent again without using them. Sun screen re-applied we bought yards of slush puppy again hideously over-priced but you can refill the souvenir cups if you choose for a reduced price but buy early if you want to do this!

We then headed to fairytale brook advertising a 15 minute wait but which in effect proved to be 3 minutes! The gentle boat ride wound through a large amount of fairy tales and all the children enjoyed the ride. After that we headed to mini-land. I had worried the kids would be uninterested in this part but in fact they loved it, the various building captivated their interest and the ones they recognised had them all shouting at me to ‘look at this!” We ended our jaunt with a visit to the busy crowded, under staffed shop. The more recent lego releases were to be found as well as clothing which was exceptionally over priced and teddies and key chains, cups and stationery items. We did have a chance to look at the star wars miniland which for fans of the franchise is a real treat! Moving parts. lasers and life size models of the key characters were great although the 5 year old found some if it a little intense, the 7 year old described it as cool!

There were plenty of other rides and attractions we didn’t do but we focussed on the things we wanted to do the most. We saved time by eating our packed lunch in the queues and not wasting time trying to find something they would all eat for a reasonable price. As with many theme parks food, drink and souvenirs are pricy but you can save money by bringing your own. In recent times Legoland has been criticised for being dirty and full of wasps, we didn’t see any wasps but I can imagine how if there were a few nests around it would quickly become a problem! The toilets could have been cleaner and although we did see staff attending to them the sanitary bins were left untouched! We attended on a week day and a lot of schools have yet to break up so although we didn’t have to queue very long for most of the rides the park was at about half capacity and so we could move about more easily. the walkways are not that wide so with just a few extra people getting around would become more difficult. Parking we pre-booked and so we were very near the entrance so we could nip back to the car with swimming stuff and lunch-boxes and when we left we got out with no problems although the M25 was a different story! All in all we had a good visit, the children had a great time but if you go with the intention of doing absolutely everything arrive early and leave late!

Summer holidays already!

I cannot believe May and June have slipped by already! Since then I have managed to get a job for a term starting in September and do a fair bit of writing and juggle the children. The last two weeks of term in particular seemed to be spent almost entirely at school. Imp has turned seven and had a sports party which has to be one of the easiest we have ever arranged as the centre did the party, the meal and wore them all out, all we did was the cake and the bags. Hpops is rapidly approaching nine and I am stumped what to get her, we have ruled out a mobile phone and a TV, she had an ipod touch and laptop and so many books she has a queue! Lego is always a good option but she has a fair amount already and after spending lots of time this week going through books, clothes and toys I am reluctant to amass even more, so if anyone knows brilliant presents for a nearly nine year old do let me know. We have booked to take her to the Warner Studio tour, and I have bought her a pretty dress (thanks to the sales!) but need some bits and bobs.

We have been of late lucky with the weather and so as the holidays are now upon us we are taking day trips as and when the weather allows us. it was with some trepidation that I booked tickets for Legoland for the first week of the holiday. However we had a lovely visit and would recommend it. I have also done that horrible job of sorting out the uniform for September in the main and just have the labelling to do, that way it can all be hung up and forgotten about until then. I may still have to run the shoe shop gauntlet but not until nearer the end of the holidays. It stuck me though as Hpops tried on a black skirt and Imp his new shorts and blazer how grown up they have become, time seems to be simply slipping by so quickly.

The last couple of weeks have been fairly emotional, Imp said goodbye to his infant school in readiness for the junior and even though the buildings are on the same site and the school is becoming a primary joined up school the interactions will be less and the uniform changes and expectations go up as does the level of homework. Clubs have all been arranged for next year so my own schedule is taking shape, Monday and Friday at work with all children doing a club and tuesday-thursday lots of writing and supply work! Imp is keen to take up fencing and whilst I am not sure it is a good idea to arm him with an epee we have taken the plunge and signed him up, Pixie is beginning Spanish, again maybe not a good idea as the Imp and Pixie may be able to converse in a language Mr T and I have no knowledge of and therefore plan even more mischief than they do already!

In terms of school they have all had an outstanding year, Imp achieved a level 3 in all subjects for his end of Key Stage 1 and Hpops  is still keeping up with the work. Apparently they are all well-behaved, sunny and polite at school, I am hoping to see more of these qualities at home rather than the arguing, fighting and whinging I usually get.

It strikes me as well how their eating habit change at holiday time. During term time they have three meals, a fruit snack at school and a small snack when they are picked up from school. Once they are  home they seem to want to eat all the time, true they do spend a fair amount of time playing outside so may need more fuel but even so- the amount they can eat is more than me sometimes! Whilst the holidays provide a challenge in terms of entertainment and activities the new term will herald new challenges for us all. I will be working on contract so will have to ensure I am planning lessons, marking and writing reports! Hpops will have to deal with being in the same building as Imp again and Pixie will have to cope with not having her big brother about. Life could get very interesting.

Some day I’ll find you by Richard Madeley

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Expect to see this book everywhere because the name alone will sell it, having said that it is a decent summer read, perfect for the beach or garden. The story is in the main well constructed and told in fluent prose which is easy to follow. Part one features short stacatto chapters whilst in part two the chapters are more lengthly but this suits the novel. It is a tad predictable at times although the ending was a surprise and has one of those increasingly annoying prologues which rather than add to the story try to set up an air of mystery, but a quick perusal of the blurb renders unnecessary. The story is told from a variety of viewpoints which adds interest and allows us to see things from a variety of angles. Anyway niggles aside a worthy read 4/5

Initially we are presented with a love story and a well to do family – the Arnolds. They are in war time England and their son is joining the RAF, he has made friends with James Blackwell who has charmed and manipulated his way through life, including into the RAF where he has been struggling to survive until he meets John. Whilst visiting the Dower house he is introduced to Diana. She is charmed by him and they share some times together and despite the war manage to see each other on the odd occasion. Based at Upminster the war is gaining momentum and it is difficult for the men to get leave, snow compounds the problem but James managed to get to Cambridge to see Diana who is studying at Girton college.

The next time they are together the pair have a shotgun marriage and on their return the officers are called to return to Upminster to fly out. Tragically John, riding a motorcycle is killed on his way and James is shot down without any sign of a parachute evacuation and therefore presumed dead. Heartbroken, Diana then discovers she is pregnant and single. Luckily she has the support of her family and together they move forward until ten years later Diana finds herself living in Nice with new husband Douglas who has also taken on Stella.

Diana has taken to having lunch at her favourite cafe and is shocked one day to hear James, and after pursuing a taxi and feeling foolish and being convinced by her father that her imagination is playing cruel tricks on her she tried to accept his death. This doesn’t prevent her from looking at every taxi for days until eventually a flower stall holder Helene talks to her about her own experiences and Diana begins to move on. That is until she comes face to face with James. It turns out he did evacuate and then promptly deserted, what he does not reveal is that the person he is now is not the mysterious and sexy young man Diana fell in love with! He is still charming but everyone seems to be afraid of James and defers to his demands. Helene and Armand know why and they take it upon themselves to let her know his true persona by letter.

By then James has discovered that he is a father, that Douglas is very wealthy and that Diana can still be manipulated. She lends him money for what she believes is a legitimate business interest and he plans to get more,  charms Diana to bed and leaves her with a dilemna about her marriage to Douglas. She is both appalled and excited by his dramatic reappearance in her life despite his abhorrent acts and desertion.  On her way to rendezvous with him again Diana finally reads the letter sent to her and her world is shattered, when James realises the game is up an appalling plot unfolds with his greed driving his actions there is no telling where James will stop. The conclusion is fast paced and I didn’t expect the final act, it draws in all the main characters and finishes in a fast and furious fashion. I did enjoy the story and it was a pleasant read, the characters are well drawn and if the reason I didn’t get five stars is I felt that they could have expressed more emotion rather than been as accepting as they are of the events that unfold!

Archipelago by Monique Roffey

The story in Archipelago takes place after the main character Gavin has seen his home and family decimated by a flood. He has struggled to hold the threads of his life together but things are beginning to unravel, feeling a need to do something he takes his six year old daughter and dog on a boat called Romany. He is desperate to stop the nightmares every time the rains come and make peace with the water by exploring its’ beauty.

What follows is a wonderful journey around the islands leading up to the ultimate goal – the Galapagos Islands. Along the way they encounter a variety of wonderful islands and archipelagos and the characters they meet there are as colourful as the wide variety of marine life they find when snorkelling and exploring. Moby Dick is referenced throughout, perhaps echoing Gavin’s own desire to achieve a goal and his achievement symbolised by their own sighting of a white whale as they approach the Galapagos.

Ocean, dealing with her baby brother’s death and the withdrawal of her Mother into grief is captured well, the struggle Gavin himself is facing is portrayed movingly. He wants to help his family and himself and slowly as they sail through the islands and Ocean begins to eat and regain her confidence he begins to think it is possible. There are of course setbacks, challenges to be faced and one of their biggest challenges is only possible with the help of another sailor – Phoebe. She becomes a heroine to Ocean, especially when a particularly rough passage of sea requires them to seek medical assistance after a nasty accident.

Perhaps one of the most striking things about this book is the simplicity in which it is told, it is beautifully written and yet haunting, the details of the flood which destroyed the family home and towards the end of the climatic finale is simple and compelling. Reading this book captures both the beauty and ugliness of the water they are travelling along, the tranquility and the sudden ferociousness, again echoing the turmoil in the characters own lives. A novel well worth reading both for the emotional journey of Gavin and Ocean and the description of the geographical islands. 4/5

Close my Eyes by Sophie McKenzie

I have to say I enjoyed this book, it is taut and full of twists and turns. The scene is set with Art and Gen and the perfect set up. Nice house, Art as a successful business man and Gen teaching writing, there is one problem Gen is still grieving for the child who was still born eight years previously. Art wants to have another child but fertility treatment hasn’t worked and Gen is reluctant to start another new treatment. Then a knock at the door brings forth a flood of questions as the woman on the door claims that Gens’ child is still alive and worse that the still birth and subsequent funeral were all an elaborate hoax!

 

Confused and dazed Gen turns to her best friend Hen and tries to make sense of the information she has been given, not only that but Art seems to be behaving suspiciously and Gen is even more alarmed when the woman who contacted her is killed in an ‘accident.’ This is followed by the reappearance of Lorcan, a former colleague of Art’s who disgraced the business. With his help Gen is able to track down the doctor who was present at the birth and begin to piece together the puzzle. Gen is drawn further and further into the mystery of the missing baby.

 

Gen begins to question the motives of all of those around her, Art is behaving oddly, Art’s glamorous sister Morgan makes Gen feel inferior and ridiculous and Hen seems to be reporting to Art every little move she makes, then there is the strange Charlotte West who seems desperate to imitate Gen in terms of her lifestyle and appearance. As Gen and Lorcan grow closer and the mystery takes them to the West the danger posed to them grows more intense. Blood is spilt and eventually the truth is revealed. There are several twists before the conclusion is reached and although I did guess the identity of the culprit the way the truth is shown and the final conclusion were a surprise to me.

 

The book is well written and the anguish and hope Gen experiences poignant and sympathetic. This book is a real page turner and it seems plausible. It was an enjoyable book with vivid locations and lots of intrigue. Recommended 4/5

Life lesson #37 Remote control + water = tears

You can tell it is the Easter holidays when we’ve done battle with Lakeside shopping centre, have cable ties from toys all over the place and the sound of whinging is replaced with inventive play with the newest additions to the toy cupboard! That happened on Monday when we, perhaps, ill advisedly battled the Bank holiday traffic to go to the shops to finally allow the children to spend the vouchers they had received at Christmas. The girls settled for dolls and build a bears, Imp on the other hand chose a remote controlled Sebastian Vettel remote control vehicle! We were a little unsure about him having it as he doesn’t have a wonderful record with them as my skirting boards can attest!

Once home it was out of the box, batteries inserted and whizzing around the place crashing into toes and any other debris that happened to be lying about! It was going so well, we only had to take it away once, due to the fact that he had rammed it into something and smashed one of the wing mirrors off! ‘It’s OK,’ he said, ‘He can still see out of the other one!’

I didn’t really suspect anything was up until Tuesday afternoon when  I was informed by Hpops that the car was no longer working. this needed a little investigation. I suggested that perhaps the non-stop use had worn out the batteries the car had been supplied with. This seemed a good idea until Imp said;

‘The tyres might still be wet.’ I of course asked why and was informed that in his wisdom and desire to keep the car looking sleep Imp had decided to wash his new car. Of course the car had not taken too kindly to this as it transpired that it had been fully immersed. We hope that if we dried the batteries and terminals the car might be reincarnated but further inspection proved that the circuit boards inside had reacted badly to the soaking! This caused many tears not least because he had a stern talking to about appropriate use of water, the dangers of putting anything in the water and respect for property. Despite his pleas for a replacement and his insistence that he cannot possibly be happy again if he doesn’t have one he has now come to understand that it will not be replaced. The plugs have since been removed from bathroom other than the main one to prevent any of the children playing with water when they shouldn’t be, not least because the leak we had recently caused by the water tank is enough to deal with for now!

I have to confess I do feel a bit sorry for him, we have convinced him to keep it as a model for now and as his birthday is in June we may be able to find something similar, we’ll see. In other news the little two have adjusted to their new beds well. Pixie is delighted to have a ‘big girls’ bed and says it is snuggly and Imp having had a cabin bed which he decided he didn’t like had the legs shortened and is now much happier. In a happy development he has spent much of his time reading by himself, something I never thought I’d be able to say!  He has discovered the Tom Gates books and has read two in less than a week, indeed when I got up today to do breakfasts and stop the children fighting over the remotes and so on I found two children still in their rooms, one sleeping, one reading and the third  was the one who had asked for food! A very pleasing development!

Job Satisfaction

Life seems to be in fast froward at the moment. I have been working at school three mornings a week, mixed in with a little supply work. I began a creative writing club twice a week, with some trepidation but it seems to have gone down rather well, and I am also trying to plan and finish two books, one for the kids which is planned and half written as well as the follow up to the first novel which is semi-planned and has a first chapter!

I have to say I am beginning to fall back into the routine, I am enjoying the  challenges of the classroom, especially the supply work which sees me teaching across year groups and the curriculum. Unless I find a convenient 2/3 days a week or morning job I think I will continue with the supply work in the next academic year. The creative writing group has been great. I was guilty of expecting a gaggle of girls wanting to write about only fairies and such like. I was rewarded instead with a mixture of boys and girls who happily engaged with free writes, planning and character profiles. They have produced excellent work and I am looking forward to doing it all again next term, we may even get around to scripting and filming some of their work. I feel lucky to be able to do a job I am enjoying, especially in the current climate.

Writing itself doesn’t earn a huge amount, unless you are prolific enough to publish more than one title in a year or you are clever enough to write a best seller, I am currently working on two projects, one for children and one for adults as it helps keep both of them fresh! I have plans in the pipe line for future projects but the biggest obstacle is time. Three children and working in a school mean that by the time we have completed the homework and had dinner and then the kids have had a bath and a story and been convinced to go to bed it is nearly time for me to catch some shut eye! However this holiday I have asked them for 1-2 hours per day when we are not out for the whole day to do some writing, Then I might be able to keep up the momentum on the days I am not in school and after lunch on the days I am if I get back in the writing habit!

Talking of job satisfaction my main job, that of being a parent has proven difficult at the moment. The children seem to be going out of their way to be as difficult as possible. Hpops did manage to get a good report across the subjects she studies at school and Pixie and Imp both had lovely work to show me when parents were invited to school to see their books and displays! Outside school their behaviour is not so good. They seem to delight in arguing and fighting with one another, making a mess of the house and moving about as if they can’t see it and generally ignoring everything we say to them or ask them to do! We are battling through and hoping that with a positive reward system such as collecting things they like we will begin to make progress.

It is a shame but due to work I have stopped studying for the moment, I have enjoyed many courses with the Open University in subjects such as creative writing, psychology, philosophy and sociology and I have had fun doing them and hopefully learnt something. Instead I am going to try and read some of the text books without the time pressure keeping to a set schedule or attending tutorials and completing assignments. Instead I can focus my attention on teaching and writing.

Of course we are battling the cold during the Easter holidays. It does seem odd that it is light until nearly 8pm now the clocks have changed to summer time. Apparently we may get some milder air, just in time for the children to go back to school. At the moment the kids have various activities to keep them warm and occupied, riding, football and baking! We are hoping to visit the coast on Friday but I think at least part of the day will be spent inside, and some of it will be spent outside shivering as the kids build sand castles. Mr T and I hit mid thirties this week, this doesn’t really bother me, I am more interested now in having a good time with friends and family and it is odd to think how we change as we age. When you are at the kids ages your birthday is one of the most special days of the year. You expect a party and piles of presents and cards, as we get older this pile of cards and presents dwindles as we collect more of the things we want and need and find it difficult to think of things we desire. Instead  a birthday treat is a nice cake and a day out. Anyway hopefully the results of the writing will soon be available for everyone to see and as for the teaching, fingers crossed that the perfect job comes up and I can get it and make a success of it!

Imagine Book Festival

This week I, accompanied by two nine year olds went to visit the Southbank centre where Imagine Book Festival was taking place. It was very well organised with children taking the leading roles, conducting tours, making announcements and showing people to their seats in ticketed events. There was plenty of activities taking place around the buildings including an ultra violet wall which children could take part in by drawing with highlights to an underwater theme. The girls loved being allowed to draw on the wall and seeing it show up in strange colours. We saw lots of children taking part in a Borrowers workshop complete with lab coats and glasses. There were stages set up around the place where children could sing or strut their dance stuff and there were also sing a long sessions being held throughout the day. The girls added wishes to the special wish tree and tried to guess how many lego bricks made up the giant book in the foyer.

The highlight for us was the ticketed event to see David Walliams talk about Ratburger. The session was scheduled for fifty minutes and was thoroughly entertaining. HE began with an interview that was amusing and kept the audience of 8-78 year olds entertained! He talked about how he had taken inspiration from Roald Dahl and how many of his characters were based on people he knew in real life. He then did a reading from the book which was fabulous. The girls were able to follow from their own copies but all eyes were on David as he voiced all the characters and brought them to life fabulously! It was intriguing to find out that he writes this way hearing the voices of the characters as he writes.

The last section was a Q&A where he took questions exclusively from the children in the audience. They asked him who particular characters were based on, why the endings of the books were sad, who his favourite character was, which was his favourite book he had written and which character he thought he was most like. Perhaps the best part was when he discussed why he wrote, to entertain. He referred to the fact that children seem to read less nowadays as there is so much more to distract them and therefore he wants every book he writes to be perfect so that if his is the book a person picked up they would pick up another because they had enjoyed it so much.

After the session he invited the children to come to the foyer for a book signing, cue an ungainly rush down the stairs of the auditorium and race through the foyer to the queueing area! It was rather a stampede but one that was rewarded as after a twenty minute wait the girls had signed books, a photograph to remember the occasion and had the opportunity to ask David a question which he answered. Despite the hordes of people he made everyone of them feel special and un-rushed and I think he has probably ensured that the girls will be reading his next book! We had a lovely day, it was a bit too cold to go on a duck tour, walk down the Thames or wait to go on the London Eye but I will be looking out to see who is at Imagine next year for sure!

Snow and other things

It seems like such a long time since I posted, probably because time flies when you’re having fun. Christmas has been and gone, this year we had a lovely day with lots of Lego building, games and even a film. We spent a long time constructing a Hornby train set and  we have all begin to learn the secret language of Furby. It makes me remember when they came out the first time around, complete with a huge dictionary. This time you can get them to interact with one another, they develop different characters apparently and work out what they want, what they are saying and feed them via an i-pod app! They do provide moments of amusement but the high pitch can become wearing. The children have had great fun seeing if they could get them to do different things and I am not sure whether it is their own characters imprinting or the fact that the toys are all different colours but they have developed different characteristics.

Then came New Year, the little two slept through the chimes of Big Ben but Hpops was still up and able to see in the New Year. Getting her to keep sensible hours has proven difficult of late, she seems to be a night owl preferring to stay up until much later than she should and stay in bed long after she should be ready for school! Still as the school routine sort of gets back to normal I am hoping it will resolve her ability to stay up too late. However as many people have discovered of late the snow has been a bit disruptive, however here in Essex we seemed to escape the worst of it, several times the yellow and amber warnings came to nothing! However last Sunday the snow finally came much to the pleasure of the children, as after lunch enough had accumulated for a bit of sledging, and to build a snow cat. A production line was set up with children filling recycling boxes with snow and adults stamping the snow down and upending them after they had set, then the building began.

It started off as a dog kenned then Pixie used a bucket to make snow ice creams which she put on the roof, this looked a little like a snow train but then with a few more ‘ice creams’ it looked like a cat. Stone eyes and snow paws were added and now we have our very own maintenance free pet at least until it ‘warms’ up this weekend!