Hurstmonceux Observatory.

I am truly sorry that I cannot blog more in the hols, however this was a day out early on in the break....

Although this was not actually on our list of places to visit this holiday when it was suggested by O and I looked it up it seemed ideal....educational, fun and not too expensive at only £25 for a family of 4.

So off we went.....they had loads of small activities all along a large corridor that taught you about different aspects of science and the world. 

Here the boys are trying to build shapes other than pyramids to see how easily crystals are formed...

Here is the Diva learning a bit about each of the different planets....I had to do a lot of the reading for her but she managed to pick out a few words.

Outside was just as fun and interactive...this is the playground where the children can find out how to space bells apart so that they ring at an even time when the ball goes down the slope...

Making a 'rope' out of metal by twisting it up.

Making noise down this huge pipe and it echoes back to you!

And there were so many other outside bits including an interactive water feature or two.

Back inside and they found out about how buildings collapse in an earthquake.

Then into the light and colour section to find out about how the 'lightening'follows your hand around on the board....

and this globe....

and how the colours join and can be made into white light again too....

Again another fantastic day out with lots to keep them busy and fun things to learn about.

hairband lollies

When I was last in the garden center I found these...

They are great! What a novel idea ( that I may have to steal!) and a great way to give a child more hairbands in the colours of their school! I feel some of these coming on for Christmas presents. My nieces uniform is purple too!!!! So easy to make...I hope....a lolly stick and cardboard circle and tie bands around it! Cover is film. 

Sunflowers

A is growing a sunflower from his Beavers group....They have a competition going to see whose sunflower grows the biggest over the summer.....as you can see ours is pretty big but not yet in flower....I will have to take a photo of A under it when it is fully open and measure it too.

This is another fun thing to do over the break as it does not require much to set up but is something they have to rememeber to take care of everyday.

Hastings!

Well, you can tell the holidays are in full swing as I have not been able to keep up regular postings.....apologies for the next 6 weeks....posts will be fairly erratic but should be back on track by September!

We decided that in the first week of the break we would take a trip to the coast and stay with my mum. This gives both me and the kids a bit of a chance to relax and enjoy different surroundings (and being cooked for!!!) The weather was not that great but we still managed a few trips to the beach and a trip to Hastings to visit the smugglers caves.I have always heard of these but never actually been there so it was new for all of us. The kids really enjoyed it, although the Diva was pretty scared as we went further and further down into the dark depths!

She and her brothers all enjoyed the beach afterwards though....

The tide was on the way in but they still had fun on a few rocks in the shallow waters...

At least I knew if worst came to the worst I could get wet and fetch them all out very easily!

It was lovely to get away and we managed to do a couple of the things that were on our list of things to do this summer!

We spent a lot of time collecting stones as well....naughty but in the end I only actually let them each bring 3 home! However, if they found pretty shells these we could bring home. I was on a mission looking for stones with holes to tie together once we got home....something I will now have to get on with or they will end up in the garden!

The first week was a great success and I hope the rest of the break is as fun.

Veggie patch update

I have not had a photo of the veggie patch in a while, so here goes....

That is one of the three beds I have on the go....It has a large currant bush, a small blueberry plant in a pot, loads of Borage and some onions. A rather random grouping but they all seem to have come on ok. The other beds have a load of peas and runner beans as well as more onions in them!

When we had our garden redone a couple of years ago I decided to divide a huge fushia that we had....I really had no idea of what I was doing and just hacked away and got 3 plants from it that are all thriving. Goes to show it is always worth having a go!

Nectarines!!!!!

We have now been in our house for 7 years and this is the first year that our nectarine tree has fruited! Granted it does not have a huge amount of fruit (8 total!) but wow! It must be because it has been so warm this year early on.

They taste ok too! The plums are not that great this year though, two of our trees have no fruit at all. However, last year they were so heavy with fruit that one of the branches actually broke off! I think I have heard somewhere that every other year they are supposed to be good. The crab apple tree which is right next to the nectarines has loads of fruit as always but has some kind of disease....

Quite a lot of the branches are dying at the ends....I think I may have to do a drastic cut in the next couple of weeks and see how it fares next year before deciding if it is too old or anything.

50th school anniverary

It has been 50 years since the childrens school opened its doors and what a celebration they had!!!

First off, all the ex-teachers,  heads and governors were invited to a show in the afternoon....the current head teacher gave a rather long speech about when the school opened and its history and achievements.  It was a very hot day so all the kids were very well behaved sitting in the scorching sun for an hour and a bit!

Year 4, of which my eldest O is part of put on a display of through the decades clothing and telling us what important events happened in their decade. Amazingly they even got my son to sing in front of everyone into a mic!!!!!! How impressed was I????

The celebrations went on into the evening and as you can see the Diva was having a lovely time with her friend....My lot are normally upstairs in bed by 7pm, but we actually stayed out with them till 10pm!!!! They were a little tired but thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

There was a live band, a magic show and lots of free kids entertainment throughout the evening.

Again year 4 were brilliant....they decided to get the spare cardboard and shared it out and spent a good 3 hours sliding down the banks that are normally out of bounds.....even some of the teachers had a go...and the head teacher was watching and said it was nice to see them inventing fun games and not stuck in front of a screen! The grass will grow back!

This was such a fun occasion, enjoyed by so many families. I do hope they do it again.