Just A Really Nice Day
Quite simply, today was just a really nice day. We didn't plan anything or do too much, the day just unfolded fairly naturally.
I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern in the mornings. They wake up, Jenson gets straight on with his Lego and Wren comes into Mummy and Daddy's bed for a cuddle and a snooze. It's lovely and very relaxed. Eventually we all get up but in our own time and at our own pace. By the time I'm up and about Jenson is normally ready for a second breakfast, which we try and eat together.
As soon as eating is finished the rabbits come in for morning cuddles. Sometimes eating and rabbit cuddling overlap but no one really cares. It's so lovely to hear Jenson tell the rabbits how much he loves them.
Before all that though, this morning, the children got stuck into finishing their thank you letters for Christmas. It's a bit late but no one really cares, do they?
Next came the smoothie making session. Yesterday we were up the Bath Road on our usual mooch. In between picking up a bargain marble run, the pair of them packed their own little goodie bags of fresh fruit from the veg shop again and promptly scooted home, intent on making some brilliant sculpture. Wren made a Meow but Jenson lost interest in favour of Lego!
Jenson did however make the most of his fruit bag this morning, choosing to make two or three delicious looking smoothies. First up was a watermelon and banana concoction followed by watermelon and orange juice.
As you can see from the clock in the top left of the picture below, it wasn't even 9am by this point. With full tummies and happy hearts, the children sat down together and started to construct some Lego models. I don't recall ever seeing them so content for such a long period. I did actually video it for two minutes and sent it to Simon. He replied with a text that simply said, "WOW".
Then of course there was the rabbit cuddling. The children really adore their furry friends; Flip and Flop. Jenson's bunny is called Flop and is regarded as the feisty one and Wren's is Flip, the soft fluffy one. I don't think it is any coincidence how the two personalities of the bunnies have an uncanny reflection on the children's personalities. It was particularly apparent this morning as both bunnies and children were restful in one another's company.
After a bit of tidying up, Jenson pulled out the binoculars, much to my surprise. He took up position on the sofa, proclaiming that he was bird watching. I was thrilled! All my hard work over the last few weeks had clearly sunk in on some level and more than I thought by all accounts. A little later he easily identified a robin, long tailed tit, great tit, black bird and wood pigeon from the bird chart we had been using as a reference over the Big Garden Bird Watch weekend.
We did eventually make it out to the Airborne Trampoline Park. We've never been there before and I was impressed. The space was clean, bright and airy. As usual, being a school day, the place was empty and we had it pretty much to ourselves. Somehow Jenson managed to pass as a toddler and so we all got in for just £10.
Once inside we had an hour and it was a blast. They played some great tracks from Frozen, which I loved and put me in a great mood! We shot some basket ball hoops, jumped on every trampoline going and had a dual with massive foam battering rams! Jenson also made a friend in the form of Jack. It was great to see, but Jenson did take great pleasure in bashing him into the foam bricks perhaps one too many times! The lad didn't mind but Wren didn't take too kindly to a cheeky hit from behind, sending her flying face first!!
Next stop was the Lego shop. After last week's trip I swore we wouldn't be back again for a very long time. However, I am clearly very weak of mind. After seeing how happy the children were playing with their Lego and each other this morning, I allowed myself to give into their demands. It wasn't quite like that in truth. I was actually really happy to get them a small box of Lego each, the decision paid off too. When we got home Jenson, instead of diving straight into his own new Lego box set, which he must have been dying to do, sat down and spent an hour building Wren's for her. He was patient, kind and diligent to the end; making sure every last detail and sticker was finished to the dot as per the instructions. I was extremely impressed. He got stuck straight into his new set afterwards, which gave me an hour to get some photo editing done of jobs from the weekend. Lego is a fantastic learning tool. Jenson is able to build the models completely by himself now, which involves fine motor skills including reading, recognising numbers and interpreting a 2-D diagram into a 3-D model.
The day didn't end there. Wren wanted to go round to Angus and Hector's house to post some pictures she had drawn for them. It took some persuasion to drag Jenson away from his Lego but the promise of an ice cream at the park worked. Sadly when we got to the park the cafe was shut so we ended up in Little BoHo in the Suffolks. It was very easy I must say. The children played while I read the paper. At one point Jenson even tottered upstairs with Wren in toe to ask for pens and paper so he could do some colouring. I was very impressed with his confidence and politeness. It was a trend that seemed to continue from yesterday's outing up the Bath Road, where he had shouted, "Excuse me please" and, "Thank you" as people moved out of his way so he could scoot past. Long gone are the days where I hear negative remarks about how rude my children are. Home ed kids rule.