Will Dig Life

It was a big, long day for N: 4 hours each way to go visit her great-grandma with her grandparents! She's been asking to do things with her grandparents, but without her little brother, so this was the perfect opportunity. The adventure began with an overnight stay at grandma and grandad's and then the road trip early in the morning. She had a fantastic time! (But no photos) Meanwhile, D had both his mama & dad all to himself. In the morning I took him to an old people's home that was holding an intergenerational breakfast, and after that we went to the farm. Making new friends I thought this was pretty good colouring in for a 2yo!  On the climbing tree Following his nap time I had a hairdressing appointment so daddy took him to the playground. Notice one ice cream in each hand!!

... truly into the wilderness, just behind our house. Love this place we call our home! A well earned dinner!

Today I am  so proud of my big girl. She'll only be 4 next month. We were at a friend's 4th birthday party and one older boy (probably over 5) ran around in a Gruffalo outfit, screaming and manic. He ran at D who was playing with a balloon, grabbed the balloon off him and kicked it away - so quickly that neither I nor D had time to respond before N did. She put herself between D and the boy (who was a good head taller than her), looked him in the eye, and said: "Stop it! He's only a little boy - you need to go away." I'm so impressed with the way she handled this.... fearless and strong yet not aggressive. I love her heart. Dancing at the party... with all her might While the kids were enjoying the party, Mr and our friend Anthony made our car parking space ready to use. Mr had been working on it by himself, on weekends and evenings, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow - for 8 months or so. Front yard progression It's done!!

A few highlights from the latter half of this week... At the free breakfast, a bit of creativity Fun at the farm Friday playgroup with D Also Friday playgroup - quite Zen

We took N to nursery this morning and then went adventuring... following Fred into the woods, finding blackberries and snails. I also tried to get D used to his pushbike but he had enough of it after about 30 seconds! Scarf turned into "cuddle dress" Interesting artefacts to be found Snail!  Not enjoying this The rest of the morning we spent at the pool again. D is absolutely fearless jumping into the water, but very scared at the same time of me helping him to swim. Odd!

Today we went to the local Tuesday playgroup for the last time this summer (as it's not running next week). And I'm sooo glad for that... I've really tried with this one but I just cannot get comfortable there. It's an atmosphere thing, really hard to describe, but it just doesn't feel welcoming at all. I'm so ready to get back to the routines of term time! For the afternoon we had made a playdate but sadly our friend cancelled at the last minute so we went to the farm by ourselves. Which was nice too.

The front of our house is in the final stages of transformation! After Mr filled up the sloping front garden with soil excavated from the back (wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow, all by himself), today we've had the kerb lowered and we can already park the car on our own land! Still needs pebbles to fill it up and steps for access but this is a major milestone. Also today we played with cuddle selfies... which were just what we needed after a rainy morning at Blaise playground (where I took no photos). I just love how loving they both are. Today at Lidl N just said "Oh I love you mama!" and a lady nearby stopped and said oh how lovely is that, it's not something you hear often from kids... and my thought was, well I don't know, I hear it many times daily. These kids fill up my heart every day. On the weekend the weather's been pretty horrible, so we went to the soft play to give Mr a chance to do DIY jobs.

We have a local city farm that has not only farm animals but also a section of forest to play in, which D and me enjoyed greatly today. As it happens, so did N with her nursery group but at a different time so we missed each other! First the piglets went to pasture... Then the kid goats... Fearless climber Portrait of an adventurer   Time for a snack. N likes climbing too!

Funny how I was just thinking today, I really need to keep the blog updated like I said I would. But then didn't have time to do it... yet here I am now, at 10.30pm, with a very awake D who seems determined to pull an all-nighter. So I've got all the time I need to update the blog - thanks, son. On Monday and Tuesday we went to toddler groups as usual. Then on Tuesday afternoon I had my in-laws over for the first session of a basic first aid course - an amazing initiative where the local children's centre staff come to your house to deliver this course, for free! I have no idea how they manage to fund this but I grabbed the opportunity, particularly as the kids grandparents have them over regularly and this will help them deal confidently with anything that might happen... hopefully it never does! On Wednesday I took D swimming while N was at nursery (climbing trees at the local farm, she told me later!) But before going to the pool, the dog needed walking. And

We went our separate ways today: the boys went with our friends D & E, dad and son, into Bristol on their bicycles. They left at 7am! Had breakfast in the centre and then explored the floating harbour. Meanwhile, us girls went swimming and then had a date at a coffee shop together, and went charity shopping - found a nicely noisy monster truck for £1. With Wallace Brunel On The Matthew Little friends Mama daughter date