Stephen woke up with the kids and opted for an easy start to the day – movie time! He found a new film on Amazon Prime that looked OK – the Playmobil movie. The kids were entranced from start to finish. Result!
For a few weeks I’ve been hoarding finished toilet rolls. No, I’ve not gone mad (well, no madder than normal). I had grand plans for making shadow puppets and engaging the kids with story telling.
I drew a circle template on black paper for the kids and they created shadow people and creatures within that border. I then cut out the shapes and attached them to cling film. The shape/cling film combos were finally stuck on the end of finished toilet rolls. Obviously.
We all moved in to the garage (one of the darkest places in the house) to test the creations. I had initially planned on using the downstairs toilet, but Stephen rightly pointed out that the garage was bigger (and less smelly). The results were brilliant. The kids were really creative with their creatures. It was totally worth hoarding all the toilet rolls!
We started the storytelling. Genevieve took the lead – the result was an exciting and engaging (and not at all rambling) story. I was definitely not ready to wrap it up by the end (and could have absolutely coped with yet another “and then” in the story). The whole thing was a big success – phew!
Stephen went for an rest while the kids and I took a trip on the scooters to the bakery. We bumped in to Erin (a friend of Genevieve’s from school) and her sister Sadie. The excitement at seeing friends was real! There quickly followed an impromptu (and socially distanced) chat on the grass outside the bakery. So cute!
On the way home from the bakery, we couldn’t help but roll down the hills. There were giggles and laughter aplenty. It did mean I was left carrying the scooters (as well as the bread) for a bit. Oh well.
We got home and decided to open our letters and a parcel from Grandma Lindsey and Grandad Lawrie. There were many interesting things in the letters, but the children were so excited by their mazes and dot-to-dots that they immediately set to completing them in the garden!
It was only once they’d completed their sheets that they realised there were also more “cutie pie” teddies, a whole Snakes and Ladders board game, and a brand new I Spy sheet. The excitement was palpable.
Having been shocked at how much Percy Pigs from Deliveroo were the other day (£13.49!), Stephen came up trumps and found two (yes, two!) unopened packs from Christmas. And they’re still in date (for the next week or two at least). What a result!
We visited the friendly neighbourhood monkey and were intrigued to discover that he had a mobile library today. We were looking at the books for so long that the homeowner came out to say hello. Unsurprisingly she was absolutely lovely. We told her about how much fun we’d had visiting the monkey and that it was a daily highlight for the family. She was exceedingly pleased to hear how much we were enjoying it all.
Once we got home we moved in to the usual routine of dinner, pyjamas and bedtime stories for the kids, and then dinner, TV, cuddles and sleep for us. What a busy day. Phew!
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