Beach Fun, Driftwood & A Dinosaur Small World.

While Nanny was up staying with us we decided to check out another small local beach. I really love that on a small quite beach like this Joseph(5) and Daniel (3.5) are now old enough to explore a bit on their own.  We had lots of fun finding sea glass, interesting rocks and driftwood. There was still quite a bit of water draining off the land so there were a few streams under the rocks. Daniel found one that went between some larger rocks that he was using to sail some driftwood.

Westward Ho! Storm Damage - Beach Exploring

 

We have just come back from a 1/2 term trip to visit my Mum in North Devon. We arrived on Sunday and it was such a lovely day we had a quick lunch & headed straight out for a walk on the beach. Westward Ho! was always our favourite beach when I was a child, I remember many happy days building sand castles, body boarding & rock pooling . Both my Dad & Gran worked on a holiday camp their as well. We last visited North Devon back in August when Mum & I took the boys rock pooling. I can't believe how much difference 6 months makes to a beach. I know we have had some of the worst storms in years but neither mum or I have ever seen Westward Ho! beach like this!

Getting Out....

Well this constant bad weather we've been having has meant that we haven't had much chance to get outside, have fun & some fresh air. That is except for the daily school runs in the cold, wet & wind! So last Friday when it was dry after school I took the chance to take the boys to the park after school.

Winter Walk

Well, after trying to get out for a walk during the Christmas holidays, today was the first time we managed it, due to a combination of busy days & the weather! So after school we gave the boys the option of either going to the park or taking Daddy to the beach we visited with Nanny during the summer (I posted a picture here for Silent Sunday).

It was very cold today, but at least it was dry & sunny, though by the time we got to the beach it was in the shade! Even so we had a lovely 1/2 hour of exploring & fresh air.

We found some shells, sea glass & collected small pebbles, will definitely be back in the summer to have a good hunt for more sea glass....

The boys loved this rock!

& we found some footprints!

x Jo x

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Autumn Walks & Using Our Finds

I don't know what it is about autumn but we always seam to take lots of walks in the woods & park. I guess we are just making the most of the weather until it gets too cold & wet. On a recent walk in our local woods we found the most amazing climbing tree, it had lots of low branches to climb. It was so good even daddy had a go!

So over the past couple of weeks we have been collecting lots of treasures on our walks we have found acorns, hazel nuts, conkers & pine cones. So while Joseph was at school Daniel (3) helped me sort out some conkers we collected. 

I hadn't realised that there were different types but we collected from 2 different trees, the 1st tree had one conker in each 'case' & the 2nd was a very spiky case which has 3 conkers in each. I'm not sure why but most of these triplet conkers were underdeveloped but we were lucky enough to find a few good ones. Daniel remarked on how the cases were soft on the inside & sharp on the outside, I then asked what the conker felt like & we agreed on smooth but hard. To continue the learning I added the letters A, C & H to a piece of paper and the name of our treasures. I read these out & helped Daniel identify which was which.

After I drew out a letter A on the back of the paper, I then asked Daniel to make the letter out of our acorn collection. This had worked well with sweets on our letters of the week J & H. He found this a little tricky as they roll around, but managed in the end & then decided to add all the acorns!

I'm not always sure what to do with all the treasures they collect its really ice now they are older to let them play & learn with them, only 12 months ago I would have been worried about Daniel eating them!

x Jo x

Ashton Court Minature Railway

On the August bank holiday weekend we discovered the railway that we must have driven past hundreds of times & hadn't discovered it on our previous visits to Ashton Court. Ashton Court Miniature Railway has 2 tracks, one raised & the other at ground level, both offering a choice of trains steam, electric & diesel. Each track is approximately 1/3 of a mile long giving a lovely journey including a trip through a tunnel. Tickets cost 70p each with discounts of 5 or more tickets bought. We ended up having to rides each once on each track. The remaining opening dates for 2013 are 22/9, 29/9, 13/10 & 20/10 (all Sundays), unfortunately the Santa special has sold out but I will be looking to get tickets for next year. 

Silent Sunday

 

x Jo x

Singing in the rain....

The boys are both Peppa Pig fans, so when we had a rainy afternoon they wanted to go out & jump in puddles! As its not too cold yet it was great to let them out without having to waterproof them from head to toe. Joseph (4.5) opted to wear his croc's but Daniel (3) wanted to wear his George Pig wellies. 

They had great fun finding (&jumping in) all our local puddles. It was really nice to be able to let them get as wet as they liked, as I'm always telling them not to walk through puddles etc. In the end Daniel splashed so much his wellies were full when we got home!

I also managed to get a little video of the boys singing & dancing. 

Hopefully we will get the chance to do this again before the colder weather sets in.

x Jo x

P.S. this is the first time I've added a video to the blog so please let me know if it doesn't work.

Our Sunflower

Following on form our #Kids Grow Wild Post here is the boys sunflower. As last years were destroyed by the wind we were thrilled to have one flower. The other 2 that we grew were eaten by slugs! We ended up keeping them in pots & I think it has restricted their growth a bit, we also planted them a little late.

The sunflowers back in early June.

 

 

 

 

How grown up are they looking? I can't believe that Joseph (4.5) starts school next week, this summer has gone so fast!

x Jo x

Rock Pooling In Devon

The boys are really lucky that their Nanny (my mum) lives down in North Davon. We don't get down to visit as often as we'd like and nearly always end up with bad weather! So while we were down visiting last week the forecast wasn't amazing (but it turned out nice grrrr!) so rather than a day on the beach we decided to take the nets down to the rock pools at Westward Ho! I used to love going with my mum & nan as a child, we even used to cook the prawns we caught! I could never do that now! The nets we use live at my mums house with a collection of buckets etc that were mine as a kid.

I was worried about the boys falling on the rocks, so had them wear their trainers & trousers to cover their knees, even though both got soaked! Neither fell on the rocks, however Joseph (4.5) being the clumsy tall child that he is managed to fall over on the concrete slip way while I was getting their lunch out of the bag! He badly grazed all down the left side of his face, but it has healed well thank goodness.

The prawns & sea life that live in the rock pools are very quick & I don't think that the boys caught anything themselves but were more than happy 'fishing' and looking at what Mum & I had caught.

We managed about 10 prawns (varying sizes), lots of winkles (snails), a baby crab & a small fish (possibly a stickleback?). They lived in a seaweed & shell filled bucket whilst we had lunch then we returned them to a similar pool to which we had caught them.

If you go rock pooling please make sure you check the tides & keep an eye on it, getting cut off can be very dangerous. Also please check all your shells no longer have their owners as we accidentally managed to bring home 2 live winkles amongst our shells which Mum took home the next day on the bus after we had gone home. Thanks Mum :-)

x Jo x

Edible Boats

Every summer as part of a local raft race they run an edible boat regatta, with prizes for the best designed boats & also the boats that float the best.  We had a good think about what food items we could use to make our boats & decided to use 1/2 a pineapple for Josephs & 1/2 a melon for Daniels. 

I do confess to giving lots of help making these but i was most impressed by Josephs suggestion of using spaghetti to attach the decorations. I was assuming that wooden skewers & tooth picks would be banned however a winning boat contained them! I also debated weather the melon/pineapple skin would be allowed as not eaten but I'm sure it wouldn't kill you!

For our decoration we used toast cut out using cookie cutters, rice cakes, crackers & writing icing.

The boys were really chuffed with their boats & get a medal just for entering (thank goodness we made 2 boats). The really exciting bit was when everyone put their boats on the lake to see how well they sailed (floated). Ours did very well and lasted at least 10 mins, when I lost sight of them.

It was a great day out & we will be entering again in the future.

x Jo x

this post is an entry in the Centre Parcs August challenge with Tots 100

Summer fun...

I was going to share one of these pic's  for silent Sunday, but umm.... forgot! So I thought I would do a quick post about the local family fun day we went to this week. Our local council run them every year once a week at local parks, they have an entertainer, games & sports etc. Its a lovely afternoon if the weather is nice, last year it was wet for most of them but we still went down with our wellies on!

Daniel's 1st go at hoola hooping!

Joseph did very well at balencing the bean bag on his head.

For more info take a look at this post from a fellow local blogger...

x Jo x

Green Nature Walk

As part of our letter G activities, we went on a Green nature walk, I'd originally seen this idea on pintrest, but once again can't locate it! We only went on a short walk to our local (tiny) park.

We used wide masking tape to make a bracelet, sticky side out. We then went on a search for anything green, that we could collect & stick on the tape. They are both fond of picking flowers etc & collecting things, so this was a great way for them to do this & for me not to end up holding it all!

 We had a play at the park, then headed back home collecting more on the way.. 

x Jo x

P.s. Don't forget we are now on twitter please follow us @LeBaby Bakery

Our Family Holiday - At Butlins

 

The day after Daniels birthday party, we all packed up & headed off to Butlins - Minehead. Crazy going the day after the party, but it meant that Nanny was already up from Devon to look after the cats, rats & fish. She also manages to make my home look all sparkly & new, thanks Mum!

The first 2 days we had glorious sunshine, however the English weather returned to the status quo of could & (some) rain! It didn't spoil the holiday though as there is so much to do inside, however the early evening we spent in the pub garden whilst the boys played in the park was nice.

Whilst we were away it was Daniels actual Birthday, he had a great day swimming & enjoying the rides & shows. In the evening we ordered the party package so or dinner table was decorated, he had a card from Billy Bear & a cake. This really made the day special & was worth the £14.99.

There was so many great things on resort, that we didn't get around to going on the beach until after the weather had turned. We did however find a dry (if a little windy) morning to visit the beach. Joseph (4.5) really loves everything to do with the beach so was in his element.

The same day the 2 (much older) girls who were in the apartment opposite us had also been on the beach & had collected rocks, shells, old coins, a toy solider & they had even caught 3 crabs (2 were tiny). They invited the boys to take a look before they took them back to the sea. They were in a washing up bowl & it was like a sea sensory box. Both boys loved this & enjoyed holding & watching the crabs, it was hard to tear them away.

They also enjoyed watching the Skyline Gang shows & were really thrilled to be able to meet some of them after the show. Daniel was to shy to go up to Candy (pink one), possibly because she was a girl!

Being on the go everyday really tired he boys out & even though they were in bed by 7/8 each night & slept well, its going to take them some time to recover. It was a really great family holiday & we are already thinking about booking again.

x Jo x

P.s. If you would like a more detailed review of Minehead Butlins why not check out Mummy Mishaps recent post.

Swans, Tadpoles & A Picnic

 On Fridays the boys go to pre-school just for the morning. Normally I pick them up & we go home for lunch. As the weather was looking good I thought we would take advantage & go for a picnic. 

I quickly packed a lunch before going to pick them up, I only had 15 mins so no time for anything fancy!

Ham sandwiches, seafood sticks, grapes, cucumber & a packet of wotsits for the boys to share. I'm having to be very good at the moment & stick to my Slimming World plan 100% after gaining 3.5lbs at Butlins (post to follow about our holiday).

Daniel was obviously tired after pre-school...

We went to a local nature reserve, the boys probably would have chosen one of our parks however I find the play equipment soon distracts them from their food! Even though the sun was shining on us, the wind was chilly, hence the coats.

After we had finished our lunch, we went over to feed the 'ducks'. There weren't any ducks today but a slightly over friendly swan came over to eat our bread. I think I saw the other one sat on a nest in the reads. Then along came a family of coots, daddy, mummy & 4 fluffy babies. Both Joseph (4.5) & Daniel (3) loved the babies & thought the were 'very coot'.

Next we went along the 'bridge', which is more of a raised walkway over some boggy grass/pond area. This area is perfect for frogs, so we went looking for some tadpoles.

 We saw a few here & there & it wasn't until the very end that we found a whole cloud (thanks goggle) of them. They were right at the edge which gave the boys a good view. I did get asked the question 'can we take one home?' so we might think about getting some frog spawn next year...

x Jo x