Four-way Hot Wheels action and a knot tying monkey
The weather was nice so we all started playing in the garden. I set up some car ramps for James with his Hot Wheels track. My ramp building skills are improving exponentially. I’m very proud!
Virtual nuptials, woodland wandering and a Zoom quiz
The kids and I went for a socially distanced walk with Grandma Margaret and Grandad Stephen. Hats off to Grandad for selecting a route that involved three railway bridges (on which we waved at several trains, and they all tooted back) as well as a river (for stone and stick throwing).
Taking a nice family selfie is a near-impossible task, but the resulting photos are certainly entertaining
We attempted some wholesome family selfies but ultimately ended up with more silly photos than nice ones (thanks to the kids) along with many, many pictures of them just being maniacs. They simply couldn’t help themselves!
It’s a (socially distanced) date
We had a little bit of TV time to calm the children down before bed… which totally backfired as they spent the whole time having a kicking fight on the sofa. Brilliant. So the TV time ended abruptly and we took them up to bed.
What we do in the shadows
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!
Hot Wheels ramps, stone snakes and toasted marshmallows
The BBQ was good, but the best bit, after the kids were in bed, was that Stephen had secretly transferred the coals to the fire pit so we could have a cuddle outside next to a fire. It was so lovely sitting around the fire pit just chatting, toasting marshmallows and enjoying a drink together.
Bank holiday bonanza
The morning wasn’t over yet. We moved on to making amazing Kinder chocolate chip cookies (where the “chips” were just sections of the chocolate bars – very indulgent). They were made and baked just before lunch so they were perfect for pudding. Yum!
Healthy running partially offset by scones, gourmet nacho cheese sauce and socially distanced drinking
This was followed by a session of silly poses and funny dancing lead by Auntie Daisy. Shapes were thrown and poses were struck. Absolutely fabulous work all round!
Are the kids too young for mobile phones?
Despite a few outbursts, the kids had just about been good enough for ice cream. It also meant I got to have some too! Genevieve insisted on eating hers in the circus tent. She’s an odd one sometimes.
Home-schooling hiatus and Frisbee meltdowns
I totally won at multitasking today. I had Genevieve writing a short blurb for the book she’d just read whilst concurrently playing Kim’s Game with James. Winning!
Back to the new normal (i.e. total chaos)
When he wasn’t finding the edge pieces for his jigsaw or quizzing Daddy about dinosaurs, James was keen to show off his hopping skills. He’s really good at it!
Grandad gets a haircut, Genevieve loses a tooth and James wants a roller coaster
Grandad needed a haircut so, following some instructions from Grandma, the children took it in turns to set about Grandad’s hair with hair clippers and without a care in the world. Genevieve announced the result as brilliant; James was less impressed. Grandad declared the experience as interesting!
Grandparent holidays are awesome
James appeared not to understand fully the rules of petanque. He spent most of the game moving the winning bowls away from the jack and kicking his ones closer so that he could declare himself the winner. He did so with a cheeky smile on his face; knowing exactly what he was doing and the…
Social bubbles make for happy parents
The fun and laughter was soon brought to a halt when it was declared time for Genevieve’s home-schooling. It is amazing to think that such a bright, clever and mainly very willing girl would fight tooth and nail against writing a few sentences in a book.
The great Orpington cake auction
I dug the kids’ Mr Frosty out of the cupboard. It was a lot of hard work to get a minuscule amount of shaved ice out (certainly nowhere near as easy as the adverts make it look), and the handle felt like it was about to snap off at any second. So, we ended up…
Take That and (Zoom) party
Stephen made a beautiful daisy chain that the kids took turns in wearing as a headdress. Gorgeous. It’s amazing how angelic they can seem! Sadly the daisy chain didn’t survive long but it was nice while it lasted.
Testing, testing, one, two, three
Today started a bit different to normal as Stephen and I were booked in for COVID 19 tests. We wanted to rule out the possibility that we’d passing the virus back and forth between ourselves and the kids. We arrived at what would normally be a car park but was now more like a field…
Resistance is futile (if you’re doing Indonesian painting)
Genevieve did her Beaver challenge for the week – a Scouting colouring sheet for key workers and a labelled a map of the British Isles. She actually wanted to do this so it was easy for once.
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Genevieve did some coding challenges for her Beavers including writing her own message in code and then decoding my wax message with blue paint. She really liked the wax resist idea so we will have to try that again.
Dandelion wishes and almond croissants
I had to join a quick Zoom call for work. It was amusing as I had to mute my end because the kids were playing so loudly (although my team said how good that was – the cheeky lot!).
Monday, my old adversary, we meet again
I was really hoping that Mr Johnson was going to announce last night that we could take our children to their grandparents’ house as part the relaxed lockdown measures. Unfortunately that is not what he said. I am disappointed.
Rock Paper Scissors Beehive Shoe
The children introduced Stephen to their new game called “Rock Paper Scissors Beehive Shoe”. Stephen being Stephen, he couldn’t just leave it as a silly idea and pushed the children to come up with proper rules for the game.
Is camping indoors cheating?
The children woke up early and decided to move all of James’s things in to Genevieve’s room. On the plus side they were playing nice and quietly (for once), but the downside is that I’ve got to tidy it all up again!
VE Day – very enthusiastic children day
Before bed, there was just enough time to pop up to see the friendly neighbourhood monkey. He was in full VE Day celebration mode so we joined him for a salute. James insisted on using both hands!
A day for running and gardening
We took a break from the gardening to enjoy some well-earned ice lollies. Genevieve also took the opportunity to sunbathe.
Auntie Daisy’s birthday, bakery bribery and tree climbing
Genevieve did some brilliant sequencing in 5s and re-wrote an ending to her story. Oh no wait. Getting her to write that was ridiculous. Ughh. I had forgotten. It was like pulling teeth. Or getting blood out of a stone. Lockdown teaching is challenging.
Sainsbury’s and shadow shenanigans
The kids and I decided to go for a walk. It was so enjoyable. We played tag, found flowers and posed for selfies/shadow photos. I love when we can all be so silly and laugh like that. I hope that’s what they remember when they think about being home during lockdown.
Schoolwork, over-strenuous Stephen and stunning starlings
We survived and got through the day. That’s the important thing.
Bikes on bricks, record-breaking running, delightful dens and sub-par BBQing
I felt it was important to bring out the big guns with entertaining the kids today so we built dens with some special den building sheets I had purchased at the start of lockdown. I had been promising to do this with them for a while so they were most excited when the dens finally…
A lovely day for a walk and a trip to the butchers (yes that means BBQ!)
We all went for a lovely walk which was the first time the whole family had been out of the house together since Stephen got sick. It was so enjoyable, even if I did have to run back to the house with James who decided he was desperate for the loo.
Homeschooling woes, splashtastic escapades and pricey piggies
The kids must have jumped in every puddle on the block plus all the other nearby puddles for good measure. There can’t have been a single puddle within a kilometre that hadn’t been splashed or frolicked in.
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