Halloween 2012

Life's getting more complicated now that E is older.  Four is old enough to begin to really grasp the traditions of certain holidays... and Halloween is no exception. 

Beginning to scoop out the pumpkin... we all took turns wielding the spoon.

The final result: here is "Scary Pumpkin Dave" as named by E.

Blurry pic of the kids before we set out trick-or-treating.  E was a scary knight with a giant trident and C dressed up as her brother, wearing his yellow construction vest and carrying a foam sword.  We live in a great, very safe neighborhood.  England doesn't do Halloween like America, but some houses really tried hard.  We only called in on places with lit pumpkins.  About a quarter of a way into our route we met up with folks we knew and went in a big pack down the street until we eventually split up again to come home... have I mentioned yet that I love this area?

Halloween aside, it's been a few weeks of mundanity around here.  I took the camera along to our neighborhood park recently....

Today we went to the children's zoo in Battersea, which has adventure playgrounds and a fire engine to clamber on in addition to animals. 

Beep beep.

He spent ages on this sand digger.

Really was too cold for sand and water play.  Went to have lunch and peek at the animals after this, then back for another 20 mins play before leaving.

BIG smile.

And that's all for now.

And, Just Like That...

...it's October.  School continues to go well for E.  I gather he is receiving a bit of extra attention/instruction off to the side.  He tells me he and a few others are taken off to play games or do projects with Ms. K-- who works with the special ed area (this area also covers gifted children).  I guess I'll find out more later this month during parent-teacher conferences.

I am overdue posting photos from last month's visit to Hever Castle... here are a quick few.

(It didn't rain on us!)

 E doing the Water Maze.  Step on the wrong tile and you get squirted!  He got pretty wet but fortunately it wasn't very chilly.

Couldn't take pictures inside the castle - but everyone enjoyed traipsing through and seeing Anne Boleyn's old bedroom.  After the water maze we took a walk near the Italianate gardens, past a fountain and waterfall, and smelled some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen/sniffed.

Exit to the hedge maze, decorated for the Queen's Jubilee.

Not pictured: the adventure playground.  They had good fun there - zip wire, wooden maze with slides, swings etc.

We went to the Science Museum on Sunday.

Here's C (with E in the background far left) exploring the water feature in the part of the museum designed specifically for young children. 

E was absolutely fascinated with how he could change the flow of the water with the removable plastic dams.  There were also plastic boats to float down the stream and squirting jets that the kids could change around. 

Taking a break from the water table to explore cause and effect, heights and pulleys together.  The kids at the top threw these beanbags down the chute....

...the kids at the bottom wheelbarrowed the beanbags to the other side and loaded them into the pulley to transport them back up top again. 

Brief visit of the Flight exhibition.  Lots of real old planes and a decent overview of the history of flight.  The kids were on their last legs by this point so we went home--a surprisingly short drive, maybe 20 minutes--so C could have a much-needed nap.

Think I'm caught up on most of the photos.  I'm due a Dumbphone download soon but I've been busy editing my novel in order to submit it to a publisher.  Still haven't heard back from the other place but it's only been a month and they're holding a big convention this week.  In the meantime I wrote a 20k novella that has the potential to be part of a series.  I plan to edit that after I finish revising the novel (I'm about halfway done).

So that's all for now!