Drive-By Post
Life has been very full, where to begin...
Second half of the school holidays. I took the kids Opp-shopping, which they enjoy because their pocket money goes further. As a reward for letting me shop as well, we stopped at Ringwood Lake Park playground for a while before returning home.
On the Tuesday I took Mr7 to the Kew Traffic School to ride his scooter around (his request). Ms4 missed out because their sessions are split into under 6 and 6+, and I wasn't up for 4 hours of sitting around in the sun. He had a lot of fun, then lack of sleep caught up with him and we finished with a bit of a melt-down.
On the Thursday while Ms4 was at Kinder, Mr7 had a playdate with a new friend, one of the girls on his class. With his male friends his IQ seems to drop several points as soon as they show up, I like him a lot better when he's playing with girls. They both like Lego, but also spent time wandering outside, and reading books together.
On Friday I picked Ms4 up from Kinder early, then took them both to the Playhouse Pantomime of Hansel and Gretel. As always it was good fun, and this time they both got up on stage (and Ms4 introduced herself to Gretel).
On a recent Sunday there was an unexpected visit to the beach. The kids played in a beach-side playground all afternoon, while we caught up with David's mother. We bought fish&chips for dinner then had a short stop on the beach before getting the kids home for bed.
They each got a book from their Nana. Mr7 has now read his through at least 3 times, and declares he is ready for volume 2 (pointing out that it says volume 1 on the cover). Sadly, volume 2 is not yet available so he will have to wait.
This Sunday we were once again at the Spring Festival for a fencing demo. Afterward we had ice-creams and started wandering around. David found juggling and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon there. Ms4 and I stopped by a couple of times before giving up on him and taking Mr7 to look at other things.
Sadly all the rides were closing up as we approached them even though it was still 20 minutes to closing time so Ms4 missed out on her bouncy castle.
Next year I am tempted to just not do the fencing and take them along for the fun of it. They're at a good age for it right now.
I finally turned last years blackberry crop into a pie, and it was good. I think I've finally got the recipe pretty much sorted. Sadly my little blackberry bush only produces enough blackberries for one pie.
I also finally made some more cinnamon buns. Getting some cooking done is usually a sign that I'm feeling a bit better and more energetic, so this is good. Mr7 is also rather fond of them, so I will need to make more very soon.
Finally, last Saturday we went to see the ballet with a couple of friends and their kids. We saw The Nutcracker, performed by the State Ballet at the nearby arts center in Ringwood. It's a lot cheaper there than at the Victorian Arts Centre, even if the staging is much smaller scale.
The kids seemed to enjoy it, although Ms4 was restless and clearly up way past her bedtime.