Messing about in boats

Daddy discovered that he loves boats after a wander around the port in Cap d'Adge. We wandered into the boat yard and watched as he peered excitedly through the port holes of the many boats awaiting attention.    So much so that he spent much of the night researching boat ownership. In the morning however, having balanced all the pros and cons, he came to the conclusion  that it would be far more cost effective to hire one. So we did just that. Daddy was a natural and we all enjoyed a lovely time being "driven" around the port by Daddy.

Our first "proper" holiday in our little place in the Cap

So after last time in the villa being taken over by painting and shopping we were really looking forward to this time.  Our first time to just visit our little pied a Terre and relax.

First step was to celebrate Easter. Our friends Anne-Isabelle and Jerome and his two children came on Easter Sunday. Whilst the daddies took the children for a walk, the ladies prepared a four course meal of foie gras, quail egg salad, four bird roast and lemons cake. (All achieved in an oven the size of a microwave!!). When everything was ready, the Easter bells came a left eggs for the children in the garden according to French tradition and the children all did a hunt for them.

We spent everyday on the beach enjoying the sunshine and also took the children to the beach park, on walks up the dormant volcano and played tennis.

We also treated them all to a date night each. Daddy took Mia and Ismay out separately for ice cream and a chat and mummy had the pleasure of taking Eden. We each learned something new about the children. For example, Eden's ambition is to work in Game (a video game shop) in the town centre when he grows up!!!!!!

We also had a lovely visit from the Lelongs who brought with them a delicious dessert. feel so so blessed to have had such a lovely time together and can't wait to go back again soon.

Investigating the digestive system

As the children become more and more fascinated with the body and how things work, I have decided to embrace this and use their curiosity for teaching moments.

After a year of witnessing all my various digestive problems, they have been naturally curious about the digestive system, so I decided to capitalise on this by allowing them to perform an experiment to demonstrate how food is digested.

Ismay of course lectured us on the digestive system and all its functions prior to this!

We got on old pair of tights and cut off one of the legs. This was to represent the large intestine.

We then "fed" in some bread, oats and water.

The children then squeezed really hard all alone the length of our "intestine" replicating the muscles and stomach acid action that is used to break down food.

We found that some stuff came out as seen in the blue bowl representing all the good stuff our body needs to absorb to keep itself healthy.

Of course, all the waste came out the end of the intestine into the white bowl.

Ismay spent many hours moulding said waste material so it more accurately represented poo. Possibly the part of the experiment she enjoyed the most!!

First week of the Easter holidays

To coin a well used turn of phrase; this half term has passed so quickly. Before we could blink, Easter holidays were here. As we had plans to go to France in the second half, I was keen to get the children to meet up with old friends and do as much outdoor stuff as possible during the first week.

On Monday we drove out to Child's Ercle to spend some much overdue time with the lovely Perkins family.

Whilst I was having tests done, Esther very kindly had my children and they spent a lovely day with the Daniels doing all sorts of fun things.

There was of course the necessary evil of last minute holiday essential shopping in the town centre, but a friend of mine joined me and the adult to child ratio significantly improved the potentially stressful situation. To pacify Eden, I allowed each of the children to bring two toys. The above photo probably sums up why I instantly regretted that decsions as soon as we'd exited the car in the car park. As it was so horrendously windy, we ended up eating the pic nic I'd prepared inside, but the kids didn't seem to mind and just enjoyed the adventure of eating opposite M and S!!!

Ethan turns 11

I can hardly believe that Ethan is 11. I still remember getting the news at work at Charlton School and feeling so excited to see him. We celebrated his birthday with a meal.

It's so lovely to see the cousins all together.

Me and my beautiful Izzy.

Libby adores her uncle Jason.

Some things we have been up to........

We got ready for Easter by making some Easter cakes.

We had some friends over to play.

The girls competed in their cross country races, Ismay came 6th and Mia came 11th.

Afterwards we celebrated as a family by having an ice cream.

The first day of spring was beautifully sunny. We went to Ironbridge and decided to walk to Dale End Park. The children did really well on their scooters.

The children always stop at the bear shop and hug the bear.

The children asked to look at ducks on the river Severn.

Our walk ended with a play on the disused rail tracks in Jackfield.

Mothers Day March 2015

I feel so blessed to be a mother to these three incredible children, particularly after the last few months. So grateful to be able to hold them in my arms.

I got to see them sing in Church and we all spoke this Sunday. They did some lovely talks.

The girls wanted to wear navy blue so we coordinated our outfits.

I was lucky enough to get my favourite breakfast in bed. Smoked salmon and cream cheese.