London's Burning

The Mosaic Workshop that we did at St Paul's Cathedral in the autumn half term inspired me to organise a similar outing for Nicholas and his school friends during this summer half term.  Our group consisted of 9 mothers and 18 children (mostly boys from Nick's class plus a few siblings).  One of their topics next term is going to be the Great Fire of London so 'London's Burning' seemed like the obvious choice.  The grand tour of the cathedral had a fire slant to everything and proved really interesting for both the boys and their mothers.  This was followed by climbing the dome, and being the kind of mother I am, I had to take Nicholas and Daniel to the top - it was well worth it.  Afterwards we had a lovely, albeit manic, lunch at Pizza Express.  An epic walk along the South Bank, that got better and better with every random element we encountered, was a lovely end to a lovely day.  The boys even got photographed by the press at the Beano exhibition.  A great success all in all!

The Tube journey

Waiting on the steps

The whole group

Whispering Gallery

Stone Gallery

Golden Gallery

Some views from the top

The journey home via the South Bank

The end of a lovely day

We all need days like this

Still in PJs at lunch time

Nice idea

The school that Daniel's nursery belongs to recently had an art auction to raise funds.  They had some donated art from professional artists but they also had some real gems made by the children.  Each year group did a group painting on a canvas.  The Buzzy Bee one is Danny's class' creation (funny thing is that he thinks he knows which bees are his) and the collage at the bottom is a collection of all them (cut and paste activity for Danny one rainy afternoon).  It was a real money spinner!

Football Fun

Ever since Nicholas started school he became football crazy.  He proudly tells us that, at break time, he is one of the 'football boys'.  I am guessing that is a good thing based on the look on his face as he shares the information.  He also does after school football with Pro Direct every Monday afternoon and on a Saturday morning we take him to Fulham Football Club's weekend football for kids.  They run sessions for all ages at the same time so it seemed silly not to let Daniel give it a go.  The little guy has taken to it like a duck to water.  He does everything with great determination and is really good at following his coach's instructions.  Hopefully it will put him in good stead to follow in his brother's footsteps and become one of the 'football boys' when he starts school in September!

The stop position 

(also means listening time)

A pirate game incorporating different skills

(scrub the deck = roll the ball back and forth)

Quick off the mark

(walk the plank = dribble to a coloured cone)

Team talk 

(after the skills session before the mini matches)

Penalty shoot out at the end of each session

(4 chances with 1 kick)

Baker Man and Bat Man

Every year in May Donhead has a 'French Day' where the boys get to dress up.  It's all about having fun doing different sporting activities as well as a bit of drama where each year group puts on a little performance in French for the whole school.  I've got 'Les Petits Poissons' coming out my ears (can't find the French version on You Tube but here's an English version to give you a taster).  This year he dressed up as a baker man (with his French football shirt from last year underneath as a backup).  The baguette made the outfit even though lots of other boys had the same idea!

Daniel enjoys getting dressed up and sometimes he gets dressed up just for the fun of it. Like a true little boy he loves the super heroes even though he doesn't really know what they are all about. It is very sweet to watch as he enters a dream world with a lot of banter. Here he is gadding about as Bat Man!

More running

On Tuesday Nicholas' year group had their first athletics meet against their rival school.  It's always a fun event for the sports enthusiasts.  This year they did a sprint, a relay, a bean bag race, high jump and shot put.  Nicholas' running style has really improved, and while he is not the fastest, he is doing great.  He needs some training in high jump though, he cleared the bar, but as though it was a hurdle.  I guess that is a good sign in itself.  His sho tput on the other hand was excellent - 12.6m.  Now we know what to practice for the next event!

Getting ready

The start of the sprint

Midway

The relay

Bean Bag

High Jump

Shotput - 12.6m

Looking back to 2012 ...