Summer 2012

What have we been up to?

Well, E has been off preschool since mid-July, and won't be starting Reception (Kindergarten) until Sept 20.  I thought 9 weeks would feel like an incredibly long stretch of time... actually it has felt like time is passing quicker than normal!  We've been fairly adventurous - bus rides to faraway parks, an experimental trip to Brighton, a trip to South Bank on a weekday with just me and the kids, and lots of weekend activities.

Today was hot.  I'd caught wind through local gossip of a water park of sorts at a park in Wimbledon.  There's a paddling pool in Clapham as well, but that one's next to a busy road, and I figured we couldn't go far wrong with Wimbledon given there was apparently a playground right beside the water feature.

Anyhow, we went, and it was superb.  See?

Only next time, I really have to remember to bring towels.  The kids drip-dried in the sun, playing in the playground - and were mostly dry before they hit the sand pit.

There's a lake (with pedalos) as well, but we stuck to the water area and playground.  Lured the kids out with promise of a late lunch at the cafe (you can just see the roof of it in the above picture).

Siblings sharing a cherry ice cream. 

Our garden, as of several hours ago.  The kids love the homemade "water slide" and B also set up the sprinkler for a little while, which E proclaimed was a VOLCANO that they had to periodically run away from.  It was in the mid-80's today and tomorrow is forecast to be even hotter.

Earlier this week, we went to Brighton.  Met Granny at the train station, rode 50 minutes on a fast train from Clapham, and met B.  He'd booked the afternoon off work.  We had fish and chips, visited the aquarium and pier.  Family friend met us there, with her son who is less than a few weeks older than E.

Interior of the aquarium.  I was feeling dizzy from the underwater tunnel we'd just passed through.

Emerged into an increasingly rainy and windswept day - C on the beach outside.

Walking the pier - E in his waterproof jacket.

B and C on the carousel.

Going up... B and E on the log flume.  B has forbidden me from posting the after-picture.  E was wearing a waterproof jacket... B was not!

This post is getting long, and the night is short.  I still have more to cover - E's birthday and his party, our visit to the London Eye and South Bank, our trip to Legoland, and snaps of the Olympic torch relay passing through our area.  Will get to those soon!  In the meantime - tomorrow we meet for brunch with friends, then possibly meet other friends at the same water park we visited today (timing allowing!).  Monday I've got a playdate with one of E's friends - they'll be in the same class under the same teacher next month which is nice.  They met at one of the local playgroups when they were both just two!  Tuesday - E has a few hours of sports camp... and the weeks wind on.  Three more until his first visit to school - then B has a week off work... after that, it'll be a matter of days before E goes to school fulltime....

Flurry

We have been busy.  Legoland visit (several weekends ago), London Eye visit (last weekend), Kew visit (yesterday) plus sports camp for E (once a week for 3 hours), his birthday party last week and other activities.  I have a lot of pictures but hardly any time to process things.  At some point, I will.  For now, here is an awesome poem.

The Cure

Lying around all day
with some strange new deep blue
weekend funk, I'm not really asleep
when my sister calls
to say she's just hung up
from talking with Aunt Bertha
who is 89 and ill but managing
to take care of Uncle Frank
who is completely bedridden.
Aunt Bert says
it's snowing there in Arkansas,
on Catfish Lane, and she hasn't been
able to walk out to their mailbox.
She's been suffering
from a bad case of the mulleygrubs.
The cure for the mulleygrubs,
she tells my sister,
is to get up and bake a cake.
If that doesn't do it, put on a red dress.

Ginger Andrews

The Last...

...day of preschool for E was in mid-July.  The summer holidays are shorter in the UK than I'm used to (6 weeks).  Although for E it will be more like 8-9 weeks total because he'll only be starting full-time in mid-September, to give him a chance to be gradually introduced into Reception (Kindergarten).

Here he is, with his "smile face" on his last day of preschool.

 And with little sister....

We have been busy in the run-up to E's 4th birthday on Sunday.  Last weekend we went to Legoland.  Tomorrow we are going to ride on the London Eye because under-4's are free, and this will be E's last chance to get on without paying.  On Monday we're going to be having a party at our local soft-play area - have invited a bunch of his school friends.  Looking forward to the chaos without resulting clean-up!