Today's meet-up was a quiet one, and with lots of us on holidays either here with visitors or away, there was only one other mum, Katja and myself. We still managed to bring along five children, though! The five of them had a wonderful time. Josie shared herself among us grown-ups and the older children. She spent a lot of time having me call out to her to be careful, or to stop there, or to come back. I also spent a bit of time chasing her. I'm definitely no helicopter parent, and Josie is very bold and not afraid to see what she's capable of, but poor Katja spent a bit of time quite concerned for her! She did manage one spectacular tumble, from a low seat to the concrete floor of the gazebo we were sitting in at the Botanical Gardens. A small bump on the head, a little cry, a cuddle and she was off again.
Pasc and F, both girls, are only eight days apart in age, and Roh and J are about six weeks apart, so they were very well matched as a play group today. The four of them stuck together most of the time, playing a game (probably) of Pascal's making where she was a princess awaiting rescue (or something). They spent a lot of time with Pascal lying on the ground and the others fawning all over her, only to move to a different spot to do it all over again.
As we headed off, we paused to look at some of the sculpture in the Gardens at the moment. Near the gazebo there are some new-ish almost-spheres constructed of firewood which are just great. These complement the larger work siege (see my day 10 photo-a-day entry) which is close to the lower entrance. I've enjoyed these for the past nearly-year, and will be a little sad when they're deconstructed in a few months time. The kids love to go through the archway into the turret.
Partway through the morning, Pascal realised she'd lost her (blue plastic) ring which came with her Cinderella Barbie at Christmas. She was certain she'd lost it on the big grassed area, but there was no sign of it when she looked then, and still no sign when I had a look around as we were leaving. She was very upset. I kept an eye out on our way back to the car (though I was hoping it had fallen off in the car) and there it was, just off the path in the car park. It had fallen under the barrier at the back of a car space only a few metres from our car. I wouldn't have spotted it if I'd not been looking for it, because it was in shadow. We might leave that one at home from now on.
It was a hot day today, forecast to hit 30°C and by the time we were heading home (12.30ish) it was certainly up there. Unfortunately we had a few quick stops to make on the way home, but we got it all done, and when we arrived home I was very glad we'd left all the blinds closed in the living area. The house was actually quite cool, while outside was energy sapping.
After a quick kip in the car, Josie woke when we got home, had some lunch and then was off to bed more than willingly. While she slept, Pasc and Roh bummed around (why not on a hot day?) and I went to check on the chickens and give the garden a water.
Later in the afternoon, Pascal got creative again, building a house for her toilet roll family. I thought she was just going to put a door in a shoebox and be happy, but suddenly she was building upwards, adding a pitched roof and attic rooms. Kids really are creative little beings!
Chicken curry for dinner again (I love how a curry improves with age), after the kids went to bed. It took Pasc a while to drift off but she got there in the end.
I'm getting excited for a new mystery knit along (MKAL) for a shawl starting early next week. I haven't bought the pattern yet (yes, I'm buying a pattern that I know almost nothing about!) and have made a deal with myself that our living areas need to be presentable by Sunday night for me to buy it (the price goes up £1 as the first clue is released on the 13th, UK time). I am, however looking at yarn colours and am probably going to use a light teal striped with a bold orange.
I will add that I've been burned by MKALs in the past, but I've also had good MKAL experiences. I like this designer, Ysolda Teague a lot, so I'm trusting (hoping) that the resultant design (which is being pitched as a kind of Choose your Own Adventure knit, because there are different continuing options at each clue release) will be up to her usual standard.
I'm still plodding along with the boring part of Josie's Crocket cardi, and I hope the MKAL will provide a little diversion through those boring bits!
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