We'd promised to take the boys I've skating again, so we did, and Moppet had her first go too...
... and we fitted in some bowling while we were there...
... and the boys played a version of pool that I can't begin to comprehend the rules of :)
Once Gruff headed off to work we visited the kids' grandparents, and Sprout set up one of his unique board games.
Squidge, Moppet and I had a rainy day at Apedale...
...he shared his supplies with her...
...and checked out the area outside his castle using his periscope :)
We saw this mosaic in the cafe which led to us chatting about the ins and outs of coal mining.
Back at home Sprout and Gruff had built this model Mini.
The boys had both expressed a wish to receive parcels, so I made some boxes up with things they're interested in at the moment: Colours for Squidge, with some books about colours, some rainbow colouring sheets, his iPad with some new colours/rainbows games on it, some different coloured paper, and some rolls of different colour electrical tape.
He made animals with the tape...
... and he shared some with Moppet who really enjoyed making patterns with it :)
Sprout's was gravity-themed, including a Newton's cradle, his iPad with some new gravity-related apps installed, an Isaac Newton colouring sheet, a couple of post its with challenges (go to the park and swing, get someone to throw you up in the air), a link to the Gravity Guy game for his PC, and an egg box containing a potato, a pompom, an angry bird toy, and some bullrush seeds for dropping out of a high window in a mock up of Galileo's alleged experiment.
Sprout was mildly interested (he mainly loved the apps), but Squidge was over the moon with his, so we followed it up the next day with a kitten themed box - a couple of kitten books, kitten colouring, kitten themed games on his iPad, the materials to make this little tpt kitten...
... and some paper, glue and bullrush seeds, with which he made this 'cat on a settee' artwork :)
Gruff had a few days holiday to take so he came along with us to a home ed group...
...and we went out for a meal (an exceedingly rare occurrence for us all to do together!)
This is Sprout's Manta Ray impression. He's loving the manta rays on Tekkit and has been watching YouTube videos of them too.
We also headed to Conkers Discovery Centre for my birthday, which was the first time we'd been since we had Moppet. She loved the plasma ball the most!
Here the boys are matching various birds' nests and skulls to the species...
...and here they all are after navigating the fairy maze :)
Despite it being positively icy, we spent a few hours in the playground...
...then we did the much anticipated barefoot walk. In shoes. Seriously, it was cold.
The next day we headed to the Lego Discovery Centre, where Sprout and Squidge made a beeline for their favourite section, the build your own racing car.
It was actually a lot more extensive than when we last visited, and they enjoyed the new car ride...
... and Moppet absolutely loved the flying magician ride!
And here they are with, as Squidge told me, "A great big Santa." o.O :)
Sprout was pretty proud of his tower that withstood the biggest earthquake this table could muster...
... and Squidge and Moppet loved this little house that Gruff built them too :)
The boys were mesmerised by this fountain where the jets of water lit up different colours, and we chatted about fibre optics, dyes, and wishes :)
We wandered back through the Christmas market, went on a (very fast!) carousel, Sprout did some photobombing, and we headed home.
There were a few photo-less days then (while I swapped over to a new phone!), during which Sprout played lots on a new Minecraft server, Squidge played lots of puzzle games, there were lots of conversations, a few trips out, some chilled out days at home, loads of Lego, some floating experiments, chats with the guinea pigs, conversations about the evolution of birds, many quick fire multiplication challenges from Sprout to me, speculation about the new Lego mmo, some movie nights, a bit of drawing, some visits to friends' houses, a couple of play areas... then the run up to Christmas crept up on me :) I made this felt tree for Moppet (a wee cheat on the decorations, I cut some out but the rest I bought pre-cut or I was never going to get round to it!) I was saving it for advent but she found it and has had lots of fun taking all the decorations off and putting them on again several times already :)
They helped their grandparents decorate their tree (they have very exacting standards so start early lol). I think the highlight for all three of them was less the decorating and more going up the big ladder :)
Sprout's requested lots of Christmassy activities this year, so I have something festive planned for every day of advent, and I've made the Minecraft Creeper advent calendar, that I blogged about a couple of days ago, to announce the activities every morning. Squidge wanted to make his own, so he made this face that has outdoor activities in the eyes and indoor activities in the mouth. It's for Gruff and him to do some things together, which I thought was really lovely :)
Today was the start of our festive countdown, so I took them (well mainly Sprout) to see Santa, then when we got back in the car they found our Christmas Fairy waiting in the driver's seat with a candy cane for each of them :) There was a fair bit of laughing and winking between the boys asking how she could possibly have got there, so I suspect they might be helping me set up fairy scenarios for Moppet this year :)
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