Match box swap

It's match box swap time, our second one.  This month's theme is rainforest.  Betsy loves Go Diego Go, which is set in a South American rainforest, so we talked about the animals that we'd seen on the programmes.
We decided to colour in a couple of pictures, make a little crochet snake, and add some stickers.  I covered the box in some rainforesty fabric, and we were both really pleased with how it turned out.

The folded up picture in the box is the parrot:

We decided the snake should be an anaconda.

We used the red eyed tree frog picture as a postcard, and wrote a message to our recipient on the back.  I really hope she likes her match box.

Jellyroll race quilt

I heard about a jellyroll race quilt on Natural Mamas, a forum I'm a member of.  I loved the idea, and followed this tute to make one.  I used a Moda dark palette jellyroll.   I made the quilt top in just under 3 hours, and then left it sitting in my 'to do' pile for 3 months.
I finally got my act together this week, as I wanted to finish it and give it to Freddie for his birthday.  I'd bought some batman fabric, and made a pieced back with some navy kona and light blue kona.  I embroidered a little message on the light blue, and did a scrappy binding with the rest of the dark blue and some red I found in my fabric stash.
He really likes it!  He prefers the batman side, so he uses that side as the top.  I don't mind which side is the top, I'm happy to see him snuggled under it!

Being 7

It's Freddie's birthday weekend!  It was his 7th birthday yesterday.  He and Betsy woke at 5.30am, a whole 3 (or 4) hours earlier than they tend to wake up.  Rob persuaded them back into bed for another hour or so.
He opened his presents.  We got him a radio controlled boat - he wasn't expecting it and was so happy!  Here he is, taking it on its maiden voyage:

In the afternoon we went to a splashzone, an indoor water playground with water slides and fountains.  It doesn't have a swimming pool, you just run about like a loon going down the slides and getting wet and laughing.  We had a 2 hour slot, and by the end we were all exhausted.  The kids fell asleep on the way home, a very rare occurrence for all three to sleep at the same time.

Freddie was feeling off colour by this point - I'm not sure if it was tiredness, excitement or if he was coming down with something.  He didn't want any dinner, and was falling asleep on the sofa.
He was still not right this morning, so we postponed the family get together.  Instead he sailed his boat on the canal, and drove his radio controlled car on the little road (present from Granny and Grandad), and rested on the sofa in between times.

We went out in the afternoon for a while, to a nearby lake.  More sailing, and also some rocket launching (a present from Betsy and Meg).  It's brilliant!  The rockets can go up to 400 feet high.

Freddie was finally hungry when we got back, so after tea we did his birthday cake, 1 day late.  It's a pile of brownies, as none of the kids like icing.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual, inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A couple of outings

It's been a busy few days.  We went to London on the train, visiting the Natural History Museum.  We saw the dinosaurs, and the blue whale room (I've never forgotten how BIG it was, the first time I saw it as a child).
The train from Aylesbury:

The tube:

The dinosaurs!  This is Allosaurus:

This is Tuojiangosaurus.

They have a live action T Rex, who is pretty scary.  Freddie really didn't like it, and Betsy wasn't all that keen either.

After a quick pit stop in the cafe we went to the big mammals room.  We looked at the blue whale, the whale skeletons, the stuffed elephants and giraffes.

Then we got well and truly fleeced in the gift shop before heading home.  It was a lovely time.

Yesterday we met up with some old friends in the woods.  No photos but it was great - picnic, playground, a walk, a game of football.  It rained, but it didn't matter.
Today we went to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre with our home ed group.  We love it there - trains to play with and ride on. 

We pretty much spent our entire time there doing this:

We went on six times!  Then it poured with rain for a few minutes, making some big puddles to jump in.  The kids got soaked, and we went home tired and happy.

Party!

We had our Jubilee street party yesterday.  I think we picked the driest day of the weekend.  Most of the householders put up bunting on our houses and along the path.

The local council had booked street entertainers to travel around the street parties over the weekend.  They started our party off brilliantly!  There was Billy Bubbles the balloon man, a juggler on stilts, a magic man doing coin and card tricks, a man all in white who dabbed everyone with a white paint brush (sounds lame but was very funny), and a trio of fire jugglers.  

Some of the kids dressed up.  Freddie and his friends loved the balloon swords they were given.

We had food, games, a raffle, karaoke.  It was an excellent party, and it didn't rain until the very end. 

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual, inspired by soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.