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!

First Day...

...of Reception (Kindergarten). 

He was very excited to set out in his big kid uniform with his own book bag.

I went up the hill to have a nice hot cuppa in a cafe with one of the other mothers.  Then C and I went home, made lunch, and picked E up at the gates at 11:45.  He can go half-days until he becomes acclimated... but given his gung-ho attitude I don't think he'll be needing to do many half-days!

The teacher assessed his reading skills and started him on Level 2 Blue, whatever that means... but he liked the book he got today so much that he read it right away after lunch.  He will be bringing a reading book home every night, and two for the weekends. 

Exciting times!

September

Can it really be September already?

E's reception (kindergarten) class held visiting hours this week where the kids and parents could drop in and stay awhile.  We met up with A and his mom on Thursday and spent some time in his new classroom, then B got to go with us on Friday and participate in a short interview with E's new teacher.  She seems great!

I am so impressed with his classroom and indeed, the school in general.  There are two reception classes (children ages 4/5) who share a playground - that will be 60 kids his age (then there's Year 1, 2, all the way up to age 10/11, but the older kids have more separate areas).  E knows many of them - some won't be in his classroom, but they'll be able to play together during breaks/lunch/outside time.  The aides I met are all cheery and very willing to initiate interaction with the children there.

Also, the preschool he went to is on site as well, just over a low blue fence.  So he will be able to see his old teachers and aides and even chat to them if he likes.

A snippet of the toys/tools/projects I saw over the two mornings we visited:

-table with sand, pebbles and wooden diggers/cranes
-dinosaur table with wooden blocks to build them houses/other structures
-"tree block" table - these are amazing blocks cut out of natural wooden branches, with bark still on
-water basin table with boats
-permanent structure: climbing frame with a big slide
-permanent structure: water "tube" with removable/adjustable dams.  E and his friend spent a long time carrying water from the fountain over to this tube and pouring water down to the bottom/floating boats etc.
-there's also a big covered sandbox outside with lots of toys
-a big wooden firehouse set up with fire trucks, ladders and firemen

Inside, the classroom had two little areas to each side.  One was set up as a kitchen with a TON of toy items, lots of plastic/wooden food and other equipment.  I looked into the eaves and there were dozens of "dress up" boxes containing everything from holiday/Christmas type wear to ethnic wear to princess/prince fantasy and superhero costumes.

The other bit is set to be decorated as a reading nook with beanbags and lots of books.

The main part had several project tables as well - a playdough table with lots of rollers and tools, a table with lots of stamps and pieces of paper the children could doodle on, and a painting area.

E is really excited to start in just over a week!  He will be doing half days at first.  They recommend we do half days for the first week.  Then he can be eased into longer days - I can take him home for lunch and a break, then send him back to school for the afternoon session.  When I feel he is ready I can send him with a packed lunch for the whole day.  They are very flexible up until the beginning of November and then they suggest the children do full days unless the parent feels strongly otherwise.

Anyhow, this is getting to be a wall of text, so how about some photos?

Here's E doing the zipwire at Kew.  He's a bit excited.

A special treat.

Inside the desert-themed greenhouse at Kew.

B, post being shot in the face by a slightly more vigorous baking soda/vinegar volcano than expected.

Hurtling down the inflatable slide at a charity fundraiser for the preemie baby unit at the hospital where he and C were born - we were happy to spend money there, and he was happy to slide.

The Incredible Levitating Toddler.

And... only ONE MORE PHOTO until I am caught up with everything recent...

...C, having gotten herself some breakfast (in a manner of speaking).  E was helping her clean it up "by eating it off the floor," he explained helpfully, as his sister shouted "CHEEESE!" into the camera.

Most reception children start tomorrow, but E's the youngest in his class and will start next Thursday.  So we are going to go on a little road trip to Devon and stay in a rural cottage for a few nights midweek.  Tomorrow E is visiting A at his house, Tuesday is the first day of C's whizbang playgroup (seriously, this is an awesome playgroup with a handmade wooden pirate ship AND a huge wooden playhouse outside, plus slide and trampoline) that I used to take E to before he started actual preschool.  He will be going along with me for the first two sessions until he starts his big school.  Then we're off late Tues or early Weds, not sure which.  Hooray for very last minute flexible holidays!

I'll end with a recent quote from E:

E: Why is the sun so hot?
Me: Blah blah... star... gasses... nuclear fusion...
E: The core of the earf is really hot too. That means the core and the sun be's friends.

Gotta love 4 year old logic.

Summer 2012, Part 2

LOTS going on lately.

Here are a few shots of Legoland back in July.

In the last picture, C is wondering why the water park is closed - there was a fountainy area that they'd blocked off temporarily.  Other pictures - E in miniland looking at the lego boats (afterward, we went to the Build and Test place and found out how simulated earthquakes affected our lego structures!), E and Dadden in the helicopter, E and I taking a ride on the lego monorail.

Legoland was good fun - I didn't take as many pictures as I could have.  E did a "Learner Driver" ride - I didn't have the camera with me, so if I do another Dumbphone upload I'll post the shots I got on my phone of him driving a Lego car at 2mph around a track.

Going back a bit further in July - here is E watching the Olympic torch procession near our house.  He was a little bit underwhelmed and we only got to see the torch for about 3 seconds.  The highlight for him was playing with neighbors' children at the local park afterward.

And jumping back forward....

...a shot of E at his birthday party.  He wanted to dress up as a knight, so he did.  There was dancing and pass the parcel and superhero moves and cake and lots of playing - and a sackful of presents afterward, pretty much perfect for a 4 year old.

The day before he turned 4 we went on the London Eye so that E could get on free.  It's fun to be a tourist again even in the place you live.

The weeks have gone quickly even if the days seemed to sometimes drag out (especially in those long afternoon hours when everyone is a bit crabby). E went to sports camp once a week for four weeks and really enjoyed himself, played with friends, met up with cousins and uncles, went to lots of parks (including new ones - we are branching out and getting more adventurous with catching the bus to different places), splashing in the paddling pool in the back yard, and generally toodling about.

We have been enjoying Kew Gardens with its huge adventure playground (I'll post pictures someday, I promise!) and generally being busy busy busy.

E and his friend A met up twice this week - on Monday they had scooter races and today they went to visit their new classroom (they're in the same class at the same school which is nice since the boys have known each other from a previous playgroup they started at age 2!).  Tomorrow we are going back in to talk with the teacher and let E get used to the classroom a bit more - then he has some time off before he starts on Sept 20!

In other news, an editor at a publishing house has asked me to revise and edit a novella I sent in - she says she really enjoyed it and suggested a change I might make.  Of course I emailed back right away thanking her and taking her up on the offer.  I spent two weeks revising and polishing the story and resubmitted yesterday.  Writing something else now and trying not to be on pins and needles... it may very well get rejected.  To be honest, even if it does get a rejection, the place I've subbed to is a well-respected publisher with lots of clout and history, so the fact that an editor enjoyed my writing is a pretty big ego boost.

I'm sure there's tons I'm forgetting to record here, but this post is getting long  now so I'll sign off.

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