Crazy Camping

Believe it or not we went camping for the May Bank Holiday weekend a couple of weekends ago. We met the De Munniks, who came all the way from Holland, at The Original Hut Company. I decided to call it crazy camping because usually I wouldn't venture out in a tent in this sort of weather but we made the plan ages ago thinking that it might be nice in spring. Lucky for us it mostly only rained at night so even though it was damp and cold and muddy out we managed to do some of the nice things that go along with camping. Our friends stayed in one of the cute little huts, where we spent most of the time, and we camped in a clearing nearby. The four little boys had an absolute ball - most of the time - and us adults enjoyed ourselves too. It was great fun making fires and sitting around them chatting, and cooking our food on them. One day we had a braai and one day we had a delicious chicken potjie. The boys enjoyed exploring the surrounding wood with all it's forts and bluebells, they climbed trees, kicked balls around, played with paper aeroplanes, challenged each other at dino trumps and generally just enjoyed being outdoors. On the last day before we left they built an amazing forest playground out of pieces of wood of all shapes and sizes that they gathered all by themselves. We went on two excursions: Hastings (nondescript except for the pebbles on the beach) and Bodiam Castle (well preserved and great for exploring). All in all it was a wonderful weekend with our good old friends!

Walking around the farm









Early morning stroll in the drizzle





Playing in the woods





















Hanging around at the hut






















Building the forest playground

The boys couldn't wait to get into their sleeping bags



Hastings

















Bodiam Castle





















No more going camping with just a pop up tent

Last weekend ...

Our weekends are usually hectic but this last one felt relaxed even though we were very busy. I think it must be because the sun was shining, we got to spend some time in our garden and we got to see various friends. Hopefully it is a sign that summer is actually on it's way!

Nicholas got a medal at the end of season Warriors rugby event!
(everyone did but he still sees it as a reward for trying his best)

Danny helped Dad try and fix one of our fences!
(All the rain and wind lately is making all our fences fall over)

Pirates and a Princess

Daniel's best friend, Ernie, turned 3 this past weekend. The theme for his party was pirates and princesses so the boys enthusiastically got dressed up for the occasion. I loved their scary pirate expressions. One of the reasons why Danny and Ernie's friendship works so well is because they see each other regularly and another reason is that his mom, Ellie, is my friend, and his sister, Olivia, is Nicholas' friend. Life in London just wouldn't be the same with out this lot!

Entomologist

Danny loves doing everything that his big brother does but there are some things that he does just because it is something HE enjoys doing. He is happiest when he is outside and he is obviously fascinated with the squirrels, the birds and especially the bugs. He is forever trying to catch some sort of mini beast to investigate with his magnifying glass. My guess, at this point in time, is that he will become an entomologist one day!

Money Money Money

This is an old post that I forgot to publish. Just look how short the boys' hair was in February. We didn't win the lottery or rob a bank. Money was just one of our 'learning areas' a couple of months ago. We spent a lot of time sorting and counting and problem solving. And the boys enjoyed going to deposit the contents of their piggy banks at Barclays!

Rain Rain Go Away

At the end of March we had a week of sunshine so I thought we would plant our veggie seeds a few weeks earlier than usual. Unfortunately, the aforementioned sunshine didn't last very long, it's pretty much been raining every since then. The seeds we planted didn't even come up but at least it was a fun activity and a good learning experience. Hopefully the sun will start shining soon so that we can try again!


When Gogo-Green-Fingers visited us last year she worked wonders in our garden. The strawberries are flourishing, some of the flowers that she planted in September are still blooming and the tulip bulbs she planted have been flowering for the past month. It's great because we step outside, see all the flowers and think about Gogologo. Unfortunately I didn't photograph them in their prime but here are a couple of shots taken a few minutes ago during a glimmer of sunshine!

The Movable Hand

The Usborne See Inside series of books must be some of the best encyclopedia type books out there for young children in my opinion. I know both my boys love paging through them and lifting all the flaps to discover interesting facts about all sorts of different things. Nicholas recently rediscovered the See Inside Your Body book. As a consequence we were looking at x-rays on google images which, as you can imagine, resulted in a myriad of questions. When I stumbled across an activity to make a movable hand I knew the boys would enjoy trying it out. So one rainy Sunday in April we made our very own movable hand!

Cartographer

The other day I overheard Nicholas explaining to Daniel that he was going to be a golf player or a football star because they get a lot - A LOT along with hand gestures - of money. I'm so glad he is already ambitious even though his aspirations are probably not that realistic. If I had to guess what he would become one day, at this point in time, I'd go for a cartographer. He is fascinated by maps and examines them for ages. A lot of his drawings are also done from the above. And he can often be found poring over one of our atlases!

Grandmas

The boys enthusiastically made birthday packages for Gogo and Ouma recently. I couldn't resist taking some photos as a keepsake for myself. Nicholas' letters were so lovely and so innocent. His spelling is only going to be phonetic for a short time before he has to learn to spell everything properly. Daniel's favourite thing to draw at the moment is a boy. He does it methodically and with great concentration and he also loves tracing his name. Happy Birthday Ouma and Gogo - wish we had been there to spoil you both on your special days!

April Showers

So it has been pouring with rain for the past two weeks. In addition to being grey and wet and soggy underfoot it has been really cold too. Definitely not sandal weather, that's for sure. BBC weather says it's going to rain for the next 5 days and this morning the wise guy on the radio said the rain would be followed by showers. How about some sunshine please? Nicholas even pointed out that he thought it was supposed to be warm and sunny in spring!

 

 

 

The confusing part is that we are apparently in drought!

Bring on May!