What we've been up to...#2

We've been enjoying more of Daddy's company this week as he has had a short break from work. We've been out and about on day trips and enjoying the good weather.

Zachary cheers for England as he discovers this sign on the Donkey Sanctuary World Cup Trail

Jory in the play stable

Ptolemy loved the little donkeys

Zachary has a rest

Chugging along

Later that evening, Zachary was allowed to stay up to watch the England match against Tunisia whilst enjoying his well earned prize for completing the Donkey Sanctuary World Cup trail.

Unfortunately the sweets were already gone before kick-off

We had a lovely day in Dawlish Warren at the beach and amusements...

Jory loves to drive

Happy-go-lucky

Having a ride on a London bus

Here we are at the HALF home education group this week, the theme of which was birds:

Making bird kites

Zachary runs around to make his kite fly

Making Cheerio bird feeders to hang in the garden

Egg decorating

This week we also visited the new Ikea in Exeter for the first time. There is a creche which takes children aged 3+, so we happily dropped off the twins and Zachary before looking around. It was the shortest hour ever for us, but I think the ladies in the creche seemed a bit exhausted when we returned.

Ptolemy had a great time with Mummy and Daddy to himself

We decided to stay for our tea so we could sample the famous Swedish meatballs (and hot dogs) 

Zachary had a nice trip out with Daddy to the House of Marbles where you can watch them blowing their own glass and watch some giant marble runs. He also bought some new marbles for his collection.

On Friday was FAB club at Belmont Church where all the family come to have a meal and the kids do some fun activities.

Delicious pasta bolognese

Making mirrors

What we've been up to...#1

Here we are enjoying the Honiton Home Education (HALF) group this week. The theme for the week was habitats (the current overall topic is nature):

Habitats quiz- selecting the correct habitat from a series of clues

Colouring and activities

Tahlia creates her own sandy habitat

Creating a desert model (he loves following instructions!)

Adding some stones and lichen for that desert effect

Making a bridge out of pens

Which animals live in the Arctic, which in the Antarctic?

We all enjoy eating lunch together at the end

Here are a few things we've been doing at home/out and about:

Making a hoopla to throw rings at

Tahlia and Jory made donkeys at toddler group

Zachary has been very excited about the start of the football world cup. He was very excited to see Russia thrashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the first match.

             

He loves collecting the Panini World Cup stickers 

Here's our World Cup chart

The first score to write up

Zachary has been baking hard this week - making a peanut butter and chocolate pie for Father's Day and a chocolate cake for his Grandad. Unfortunately we had a 130g packet of cookies instead of the 150g specified in the recipe. Zachary set to work with his calculator to work out exactly how many cookies we were lacking and also worked out the new ratio of butter to cookies so we knew how many grams of butter to use with fewer cookies. He then got a little distracted and wanted to know what every button on his Scientific calculator does...argh!

He loves following recipes

"What does that one do?"

Daddy has (mostly) finished tutoring so we have been enjoying spending more time with him before he starts marking...

A fun trip to Orange Elephant ice cream parlour

Howdy, partner!

Ice cream fun

Tasty strawberry

It's too cold for him but he likes the wafers

On Saturday, we visited Cardiff to celebrate the engagement of Dave and Phobe. A great time was had by all, especially the kids!

Visiting a playground on the way

Weee!

Fun in the splash park

Having a rest

The party was held in Penarth at the house of Auntie Phobe's future in-laws.

The happy couple cutting their engagement cake

Lovely to see our friends again -Auntie Beckrum, Auntie Phobe and 'baby' Kalina

There were lots of sweets which went down well

Zachary was very pleased to see his old Cardiff friends again (he was smiling just before I took the photo anyway...)

Playing some garden games

Jonah and Jory playing tennis with a piece of rope

Ptolemy has just realised he's not in Mummy's arms

A tasty tea

And of course it was Father's Day on Sunday so we gave Daddy a few little treats...

Daddy's Father's Day gifts

Special Daddy hug

Mummy and Daddy's 8th Anniversary

Zachary, Tahlia and Jory enjoyed a weekend staying at Bumble and Grandad's house whilst Mummy, Daddy and Ptolemy enjoyed a weekend at home with lots of tasty treats.

Ptolemy in the 'naughty baby seat' (when he keeps changing the channels on the TV!)

We made an effort with some interesting meals, all with an American theme.

Meatloaf with American beans and grilled courgettes

Ptolemy is very much a meat lover and polished off his meatloaf with ease

Dessert of pancake with caramelised banana, chocolate sauce, ice cream and walnuts

Here's our lunch: hot dogs!

Ptolemy had fun playing with the skittles

Selfies

He always smiles for any photo

Steak and triple cooked chips with red onion and Madeira sauce

French toast for breakfast

After a special Boys Brigade service, we headed to KFC for a treat lunch

Waiting for his fries

A final meal of BBQ brisket rolls (before the diet resumes!)

Testing the new phone

Zachary, Tahlia and Jory are off to Bumble's house today. Mummy and Daddy are enjoying an anniversary weekend on their own (with Ptolemy).