Jubilee

I am sure everyone all over the world is aware that it was Queen's Diamond Jubilee this past weekend. Since it is the half term break and an extra long weekend to boot we thought we would attempt to soak up some of the British patriotism along with the masses. We made crowns, painted flags, and did a bit of baking at home. All of the above are always a win with the boys!

Cupcakes

Mini Scones

Jubilee Jam Tarts

On Saturday we decided to go to Hyde Park for the Sainsburys Jubilee Festival. We had high expectations after attending other events in Hyde Park like the Royal Wedding last April and the Proms that we go to every September. In comparison this festival was a huge let down. The boys enjoyed seeing Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine in the kids zone, chilling out at the commonwealth stage and of course the Disney finale on the main stage. So we made the most of it!

The Thames River pageant was the highlight of the celebrations. What an amazing spectacle from start to finish. We didn't really have a plan of action but in the end I think we had a taste of it all. We started off watching the mustering up river. The views from the Putney Bridge and Bishops Park were brilliant. It was great seeing all the man-powered boats up close. This part was the highlight for us!

Photos in real life

The queen and her entourage were only embarking further upstream so we thought we might as well make an attempt to see her too. Off we headed to the heart of it all, Westminster, in the shadow of Big Ben. I have never in my life seen so many people. As expected we couldn't get close to the river but we could see the procession on the big screens. There was something special being admidst all that atmosphere. When we had enough of the crowds we took a stroll through St James Park to have a look at the Mall and Buckingham Palace. The boys especially enjoyed the classical music booming out of the speakers that were being prepared for Monday night's concert. We watched the final part of the whole palaver in a lovely old traditional pub next to Buckingham Palace. And then we had to try and get home!

Photos from the screen

I want to share two funny stories about the day. First, Nicholas approached a man sitting on a bench and engaged in conversation with him about his union jack socks and tie and the fact that they matched. The man in turn complimented Nick on his face paint. He was none other than Richard E Grant from Withnail and I. Second, Nicholas loves singing Nkosi Sikilela, and as a result knows all the words off by heart and does a pretty good rendition of it. We weren't the only ones who found it amusing that a little boy covered in union jacks was singing the South African national anthem to himself on the tube on the way home from the jubilee celebrations. I guess we should teach him God save the Queen for occasions like this. I love it that Nicholas is so casually confident and is able to have sensible conversations with adults and is totally unphased about singing infront of an audience. I think it might have something to do with the show and tell routine they have at school. On that topic, I'll end off with the pages he prepared for his last show and tell about Queen Elizabeth!

Automatic Friends

Lots of our friends also have children now which is really great. It means that we all have something extra in common and it's natural that all the kids are automatically friends too. Last weekend all the dads (Martin, JP, Bob, Dave and some others) took all the kids (Nicholas, Daniel, Genevieve, Oliver, Isobel, Gigi and some others) to the park. As you can imagine they had an absolute ball. Afterwards we all went for a braai at JP and Erica's house where the fun and games continued until late!

Fun in the playground

Nicholas having a chat with Oliver

Daniel having a chat with Gigi

Hillarious dinner conversation

All the kids adore Bob

Exhausted in the bath

Daniel's activities

I thought I would do a post of Daniel's weekly activities as some people think it's odd that he isn't at nursery yet. Our days are very busy time with loads of organised activities so I am not worried in the least. We both love our routine - after dropping Nicholas at school we head off to an activity, sometimes we go to a second activity, then home for a little play and lunch followed by a nap - then we go and pick Nicholas up from school. It's all about to change when he starts nursery in September but that is a whole different story. In the mean time I'm making the most of the time we have together and cherishing every moment I have with my precious little boy. We really have a lot of fun together!

I came across Surestart Children's Centre through Forest School which Claire introduced me to ages ago. It turns out that they run all sorts of other activities which we've been frequenting for quite a while now too. OnTuesday we go to Play School, on Wednesday we go to Forest School and on Thursday we go to Cooking Club. The nice thing is that it is all totally free so if we miss a session it's not the end of the world. As you can imagine Danny has become used to all the friendly staff and is rather fond of some of them. They also run some courses for the mothers. In March I did their 'Bringing out the best in boys' course (4 sessions) and in May I started their 'Positive Parenting' course (12 sessions). A lot of the content is obvious but it does make me think of things from a different perspective. The nice thing is that Daniel goes to the on-site creche while I am busy with the course. I see it as a way for him to get used to being without me in an environment that he is used to and with people that he knows well. So this is what we do every Friday now!

Play School

Forest School

Cooking Club

The Little Gym needs no introduction. Daniel started going to classes there when he was just 1 year old. He always takes part wholeheartedly. It hasn't only taught him core strength, balance and other physical skills but it has also to take risks safely, listen to instructions, wait his turn and other social skills. It even reinforces other more academic things like colours, counting and the abc. I definitely rate The Little Gym as one of the most beneficial activities we do!

Playball is another one of our favourite activities. It teaches the kids the basics of all sorts of different ball sports. Given Daniel's enthusiasm, and dare I say talent, for balls it is the perfect activity for him. He has been doing Playball since September last year - the children all started together and are roughly the same age - it's a lovely little group. This is the only activity that Danny does on his own. From September most activities will be without me (sniff sniff)!

Daniel loves the water and is already showing signs that he is going to be a good swimmer. I think he is a natural but I believe that it has a lot to do with the Waterbabies classes that we did from when he was 6 months old until he was 2 years old. Since then we've been doing the regular lessons at the Putney Leisure Centre once per week. Virginia said he is ready to start the starfish level without me but I am going to hang on a bit longer because he is much younger than the other kids in that class and I enjoy the time with him in the pool so much. On a Wednesday afternoon, before and during Nicholas' group lesson, Daniel and I have a lovely play session together in the pool. I think this also plays a very important role in his water confidence!

In addition to sport, I feel that music is vital for little kids, and they do enjoy it so much. We used to go to Rhyme Time until January, when we had time table clashes, so I had to find an alternative. I am delighted that I stumbled across Bea's Baby Music. It's a fun and refreshing music class for toddlers. Bea and her assistant musicians are eccentric and full of good ideas and fun. There's a different theme every week and it offers just a bit more than the regular music classes!

Out with the old - In with the new

Both boys are growing so fast they got too big for their respective beds so I couldn't delay getting their bunk bed any longer. We've gone for an interim solution where Nicholas is on the bottom bunk and Daniel is in Nicks' old junior bed. We want to use the top bunk for Nicholas and the bottom bunk for Daniel as a further incentive to the boys staying in their own beds until it's time for a morning snuggle. So far we've got 2 out of 2 peaceful nights from both boys!

Nicholas

Daniel

Count Down

The count down to Daniel's 3rd birthday has begun. It's hard to believe that he is growing up so fast. We made a count down chart for him the other day. It's great because it makes him feel ever so important as well as being a fun sticker activity, and also a great way for learning numbers. My little guy is super excited about turning 3 and talks about it ALL THE TIME!