A Happy Day!

Today was a happy day. We decided that as the weather was lovely we would make the most of it with a lovely walk and visit to the local park. Little Mr was just great all morning especially when he had to wait patiently at the phone repair shop, so I promised him he could take one of his bikes/trikes/scooters to the park (yes, we have far too many). Typically though the one he had his heart set on was a little red motorbike which lives at Grannies, so we had to call round there first. Little Mr was intent on bringing Bess wthe dog too but I drew the line there, double buggy, baby, two year old and a bike is enough thanks, I don't need a dog in tow too.

On our way to the park we walked down one of my favourite streets. It is full of little shops and cafes and hold many memories from my childhood. Naturally we called into the bakery for a cheeky sausage roll each.

Our walk took us along side the river Ouse. Little Mr loved watching and waving to the river boats. I also got a telling of for forgetting to bring bread for the ducks! We finally made it to the park and had a lo let time playing. Little Mr found a friend and together they played an imaginary game of pirates. 

Of course no trip to the park in the sunshine is complete without an ice cream!

A day at the farm

 

We love taking Little Mr to the local farm and took him numerous times over last Spring & Summer. We usually go to the local farm which includes all the general petting farm animals, along with play equipment and the cafe too. However we are fortunate enough that my best friends new Beau works on his parents farm so when we recently visited we were lucky enough to go to the farm too.

This was very exciting for Little Mr. Our friends live in Derbyshire which is nearly a 2 hour drive from us however we hit bad traffic and roadworks which meant for one hour of our journey we only travelled 2 miles!!! Luckily both Little Mr and Little Miss were on great form. Little Mr did discover the button to unwind his window now which until then had remained a  mystery.

When we arrived at the farm it was a little different to Little Mr's expectations. The cows were bigger, smellier and louder than perhaps he was used to. We were lucky enough to see all of the newest calves, some born only just 3 or 4 days earlier. It is amazing how they are standing and walking in hours when Little Miss at 20 weeks has only recently mastered holding her head completely.

 

We were visited all of the pregnant cows, one of which had just had a calf, the calf was yet to stand. If you look closely at the picture you can see the cows placenta, she decided to eat this whilst we were here. Apparently a cows pregnancy is extremely similar to that of a human.

 

 

 

We met the bull of the farm!!

 

Little Mr's favourite part of the day was definitely visiting the tractors. He was a little perturbed that they didn't own a green one at first (we are having a few colour selection issues at the moment). However was overjoyed when we reminded him his favourite colour is red and they had a big red one. Little Mr was overjoyed at being ables to sit in the tractors and even 'drive' one too.

 

Little Miss got in on the action too.

 

 

We had a fantastic day with friends, it was brilliant. I just wished we lived closer to visit more often. We love city life but the countryside lifestyle looks so appealing especially with a young family.

 

 

What to do when it's raining?

What to do when it's raining? I hate when we look out of the window and it's throwing down. I am not very good at staying at home I like to feel like we have done something. So I really hate it when it's throwing it down as it is harder to get out especially when you don't have the car. We get cabin fever if we stay cooped up inside and although we are lucky to have a decent sized garden it's nice to have a change of scenery. A local haunt of ours at the moment   is the local park it's only small but easy to get to. So when we looked out of the window the other morn g and it was throwing down we decided to put our wellies on and go and be 'Peppa'

By the time we got out the clouds started to part and the sun shone. Luckily  we still had puddles had we could splash in. Little Mr still has some sensory issues so it was a bit of a big deal when the water splashed onto his trousers and he got wet (who would have thought it hey) but disaster was avoided when he  was given the responsibility of pushing Little Miss along.

Finally we made it too the park, Little Mr's favourite game at the moment is to play Firemano Sam and use the firemans pole. I love watching home play and his imagination create wonderful games and increasingly complex scenarios.

Hitching a ride on the way home as somebody declared that their

legs were exhausted.

I love our leisurely afternoons spent at the park.

Spring Paintings

Yippee spring is in the air and the house and garden are full of flowers. What better inspiration for some spring panting. Little Mr loves painting and being outside so we decided to add our own dash of spring colour to the garden.

  

We used foam paint which is a firm favourite in our house.

                               Little Mr aged 2

This is what we ended up with. Note Little Mr's favourite colour this week is red, hence the red leaves too.

Little Miss is a little too young for outside painting as yet but still wanted to get in on the action. We decided to use Centre Parcs creative director Emma's top tip of finger painting. 

 

 

However it turns out finger/hand printing is a little tricky with a baby who loves to clench her fists and a toddler intent on painting everything in sight red. we swiftly decided to move onto feet.

                               Little Miss 4months

We had great time!

Oh and this is what happens to your patio doors if you turn your back for a second.

"Look at my lovely window flower painting Mummy"

 

 

 

This is my entry to Centre Parcs and Tots100 March challenge. If I am chosen I would like to visit Sherwood Forest.

 



Where is the snow Mummy?

Where is the snow Mummy?
 This is a question we have been hearing a lot lately from Little Mr. Who can blame him really it is exciting and the play opportunities are endless. Unfortunately it doesn't look like we are going to get any of the white stuff (cue big snow storm overnight). So I made Little Mr his own snowy small world. Not as good as the real thing but Little Mr enjoyed it none the less.

I used a big tray, a few of our Happy Land toys for a mountain,  snow cave and ice caps. I used a favourite of ours, shaving foam to create the snow. I added ice cubes too to create an extra dimension to the sensory play.

We even managed to make our own snowmen with the foam. Little Mr has been desperate to build one since he saw some pictures of the ones we built last year.

Little Mr had lots of adventures with his figures. Mostly involving saving someone from the top of the snowy mountain. It is brilliant to play along side him but equally I love the moments when I watch him play independently.  He really is developing a great imagination and is able to formulate his own role play ideas. It makes me so proud to see.

Mrs H

Spring is on its way!!

Recently we had some visitors for a play date. One of my oldest friends from university and her little girl. It's not often we get to meet up as we live over 70 miles apart but it is always lovely when we do. It's great to see our children play together - very different to our party hard university days.

                         

As it is officially spring I thought I would used springtime as the theme for the days activity table.  

                                

      

Little Mr has a cute yellow suitcase that was perfect for making a spring treasure chest. It actually belongs to Little Miss as we received an outfit in it when she was born. The case is just as great as the outfit and I have used it for many many things.

                                  

I made the case up the evening before. Filled it with shredded green paper, fluffy chicks, soft multi coloured balls and some plastic eggs which ad hidden surprises inside. I bought some daffodils too to add a delicious springy smell.

  

                                  

Little Mr picked out these two teddys before bed to add to the spring time theme (with a little help as we may have ad Buzz and Woody from Toy Story).

   

I also laid out a sticking activity using some Easter from stickers. Little Mr loves stickers at the moment but still needs a little help with these as the back are tricky to get off. So not a great independent activity.

After a morning full of fun and play we had set of lunch and then headed to the park.  It had been. A lovely day when we set off but started to throw it down so we took shelter in the local shop. A great idea with two hyped up children (NOT, see photo evidence, ha) but still better than getting soaked. It was a great day  and lovely to catch up with old friend especially when they have very exciting news to share ;) I haven't got many pictures of the actual day, I am always too busy enjoying the moment I forget half of the time.

Here Little Miss as with all the excitement with the older two she missed out on her usual activities and play. We had lots of cuddles to catch up later though which was great.