Today we went on a field trip to Donnington Le Heath, a small manor house now owned by leicestershire county council that once belonged to one of the men involved in the gunpowder plot. Today's session was all about the gunpowder plot and life in stuart england. There were costumed characters to talk about different aspects of life and needless to say sam most enjoyed the talk by the two soldiers. This is him brandishing a sword-don't worry it isn't real!
Monday, October 27, 2008
do I really have to eat that?
This is the woman who was talking about domestic life in stuart england. The children were happy to find that the pork pies and ham were on the menu but not so happy to learn that chamber pots were dumped out of upstairs windows!
whose bed is it anyway??
Came up this morning to make the bed only to discover these two making themselves comfy!! They do sleep with us at night but not usually like this!
getting comfy
Miko settling down for a mid morning nap. She doesn't usually nap under the covers but it was chilly this morning and sam thought that she might be cold.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Ready to hit the slopes
Yesterday we took the monster to Tamworth Snowdome to get his first taste of skiing in preparation for our trip. Managed to outfit him very reasonably from H&M and TJ Maxx. The snowdome provided the skis and boots. His first lesson was a fun taster session and he and his classmate spent the hour getting used to being on skis and going down a very gentle slope. Sam had a ball and he can't wait for his next lesson. He spent a lot of the lesson on his bottom but he was very good natured about it all and he didn't want the lesson to end. We are going back in a fortnight.
Down we go
Here he is heading down the slope, it was just high enough to be fun but not so high that it was daunting.
Down we go-literally!
Sam spent quite a bit of the session in this position. He perfected the art of falling from a standing still position! At one point he toppled over and took out his row of classmates!
Learning to snow-plough
By the end of the session sam was looking quite confident on skis and even managed a snow plough.
Sledding Fun
At the end of the session the children were let loose with small inner tubes and they all had great fun sliding down we go the small slope. Sam had an absolute ball skiing and wanted to carry on. He had to be placated with another lesson in two weeks time. Money and time allowing we are going to try and take him a couple of times a month until we go skiing. We took out a membership of the snowdome for him so at least the lessons are cheaper than they would have been otherwise.
2008_0911NapaBalloon0047
thank you mk for letting me share these amazing pics of your bday balloon ride in napa valley.
Monday, October 13, 2008
More happy news...at least we think so
After many years of talking about it we are finally going on a family ski trip. We are going to Garmisch in Germany for a week in Jan and to say that sam is excited is an understatement. He is willing to skip xmas and go straight to Jan-an unheard of thing for a boy who loves presents as much as he does. We are going to go to either tamworth or milton keynes so that that he can have a few lessons before we hit the slopes because despite what he thinks he cannot ski. Having played enless hours of family ski on the wii he is convinced that he can really ski-should be interesting to see if that holds true! We have already kitted him out very reasonably thanks to H & M and TJ Maxx. We chose Germany because it should be less crowded than france and it is where I learned to ski, and it is somewhere that matt has always wanted ski. We are going to be there for his 40th so may need to sneak a bottle of champagne out on the slope.
As we are going to germany sam has decided that he needs to learn german so we have added it to our wed morning language lessons. He seems to be enjoying them and has started to drop french words into everyday conversation as well as making words sound french by putting a le or la in front of them. It is very cute.
Another piece of success-have managed to persuade sam to dress up for the halloween party we are going to. He has agreed to dress in miliary camaflage as it is not really like dressing up. He is even considering letting me put green/black greasepaint on his face like real soliders have. Matt can't decide between being a pirate and indiana jones but I have decided to go as a fairy godmother. Unbelieveably I still (sort of )fit my lovely pink worth advisor's dress (last worn 1986)and with the addition of some wings, a magic wand and a few seams let out it will be a perfect fairy godmother's outfit. It should be a fun party-will be sure and post a few pics.
As we are going to germany sam has decided that he needs to learn german so we have added it to our wed morning language lessons. He seems to be enjoying them and has started to drop french words into everyday conversation as well as making words sound french by putting a le or la in front of them. It is very cute.
Another piece of success-have managed to persuade sam to dress up for the halloween party we are going to. He has agreed to dress in miliary camaflage as it is not really like dressing up. He is even considering letting me put green/black greasepaint on his face like real soliders have. Matt can't decide between being a pirate and indiana jones but I have decided to go as a fairy godmother. Unbelieveably I still (sort of )fit my lovely pink worth advisor's dress (last worn 1986)and with the addition of some wings, a magic wand and a few seams let out it will be a perfect fairy godmother's outfit. It should be a fun party-will be sure and post a few pics.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Some good news amid the gloom..
In an effort to bring a little light to this dim and dark time I thought that I would impart a little good news. It is not anything major but just something to bring a smile rather than a frown . The first piece of good news is that after lots of false starts sam has finally mastered telling time!! We have done telling time on and off for a couple of years but in the last month it all just clicked. He now wears his watch everywhere (thank you auntie lynn!)and takes great delight at annoucing the time at various intervals.
The other piece of good news is that he can also now confidently tie his shoes! We taught him how to time them last year but it never really stuck but now he has it down pat. He got to show off his skills at the airport last week when they made him take off his shoes at security. I am all for being on the look out for potential threats but really-other than making toxic smells do most 7 year old boys pose a threat to national security... I think not.
We have been pottering along with school work and are now into the fraction zone. He seems to be enjoying fractions but all that could change next week when we cover adding adding and subtracting them. It is a good refresher course for me because fractions aren't something that I used on a daily basis, at least not in their written form.
The other piece of good news is that he can also now confidently tie his shoes! We taught him how to time them last year but it never really stuck but now he has it down pat. He got to show off his skills at the airport last week when they made him take off his shoes at security. I am all for being on the look out for potential threats but really-other than making toxic smells do most 7 year old boys pose a threat to national security... I think not.
We have been pottering along with school work and are now into the fraction zone. He seems to be enjoying fractions but all that could change next week when we cover adding adding and subtracting them. It is a good refresher course for me because fractions aren't something that I used on a daily basis, at least not in their written form.
Reunited
Last weekend I took sam on an international playdate. His very best buddy Alex and his family have moved to Ireland for a year and sam was missing him terribly, so when I saw that ryan air could fly us there for £20 roundtrip for both of us I booked the flights. Matt very graciously agreed to stay home and doggie sit and have a little daddy time. We went for just one night but managed to cram in lots of playtime and catching up. Sam was so excited to see Alex and Conall and was on a real high all day. Despite getting up at 3:30 he didn't crash until 9:30 that night. We spent our day in dublin at the zoo and a variety of playgrounds. They boys had a blast running around and playing and seeing the animals at the zoo. The weather obliged by only drizzling very slightly and being on the whole pretty okay. It was lovely to catch up with Miriam who and to see the boys and we can't wait until they come back at xmas.
Is this boy happy or what??!!
Sam was on a complete high from the moment miriam and the boys picked us up at the airport, despite having gotten up at 3:30 in the morning to make the trip. Here he is showing how happy he is to be reunited to two of his very best buddies.
Going for a ride
All the boys had great fun climbing on the wooden elephant in the playground, despite the many times they all slipped off due to the light drizzle.
Too cute!
Sam and I have seen elephants in zoos before but neither of us have ever seen a baby elephant. This one was so cute and was very playful. It was constantly trying to toss things up with its trunk. Miriam and I could have stayed and watched it all day.
Off for a stroll
The baby elephant was so cute-it really enjoyed throwing the sand up in the air to make a sand shower.
Mother and child
Conall was the first to spot this mother peahen and her chick. It started to drizzle while we were watching them and the chick quickly disappeared under its mother's wing.
Who are you looking at?
I wasn't sure who was watching who here. The meerkat enclosure is connected by a viewing window to the restaurant and they seemed as fascinated by watching us as we were by them. The boys were completely captivated and had to be dragged away after lunch!
Sunday, October 05, 2008
A public service message...
If only I could decide who to vote for-think I am going to write in Mr. Buffett with Hillary for vp!
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