This Time Of Year.

We have still got the Halloween decorations up.

I have just taken a few down and Chips has yelped.

We didn't have many up this year,just a few bits of pretty tinsel draped around 

and a row of skeletons around the arch and this little cat.

He used to live on my desk when I was at home,a long time ago.

I left him up to show my mum and she smiled, he has lasted a long time.

We have got our lovely pumpkins but even they might be on their last legs now

and unless we want to wake up to pumpkin goo all over the kitchen

(this has happened before) they will need to be put outside very soon.

Halloween was fun.

We went on a couple of Halloween Trails.

One at a local country park and the other at the forest.
The clues were really hard for the forest trail but it was a good trail.
The clues were letters hidden like this

 and this

 and then you had to spell a word out.
Would it be bad to admit that we couldn't work the word out?
But we did find lots of the other clues,thankfully!

The walk around the forest was lovely.
It was very peaceful although the weather was proper autumnal weather,
as drizzly as anything.

We saw pumpkins dotted all over the place.

 And we saw some friendly wooden creatures too.

There was food for the birds.

And plenty of very old trees.

Then on Halloween day we had spooky spiders on toast for tea 
and then we went trick or treating with Chips cousins.
It was really enjoyable and quite wow to see how fantastically some people 
had decorated their homes.
We had some yummy Halloween food and lots of sweets, which will take us to 
Christmas to eat!
We even dared to visit the witch that lives round the corner from us,
she is absolutely brilliant and this year she had a real moving broom.

Some of the fabulous pumpkins we saw.

Our very own pumpkin!

At the end of the night we were all shattered but it was a very good Halloween.

Now for Bonfire Night!

Spooky Going Ons.

When you go down to the woods today be sure of a big surprise!

 For hidden in this beautiful place

There are these...

spooks hidden in the trees!

On Tuesday we went on a Halloween trail at a local country park.
And you know what,it was not as easy as peasy!
In fact clue number three had us foxed completely
and we had to go back to find it!

It was good fun though and the park was full of children holding trails,
collecting clues so that they could get a nice bit of spooky chocolate
as their prize!

There were nine clues in all and they led us all around the park,
which was quite a walk.

One of my favourite spooks was this one;

A long pointed nose and tall pointed hat,
I fly on my broomstick with my little black cat.
I cast my spells over boil and bubble,
Ready to cause a whole lot of trouble!

I was a bit upset as my camera battery ran out as soon as we entered the park
but luckily I had a tiny bit of space left on my trusty phone. I need never ending
photo space and a never ending battery too and I bet I'm not the only person
who thinks that!

After we had finished the trail and some lucky person had eaten all
their hard won chocolate we went to feed the ducks.
I would like to say this was peaceful but the poor old ducks were so
under attack from the gulls it was horrible to watch.
The gulls around the park are really vicious, poor little ducks.

The poor ducks hiding from the gulls.

It was a nice afternoons walk.

Half Term Up To Yet.

I love half term.

Time to breathe.

Time to be with family.

A chance to slow down,slightly.

And,time to explore.

We are only on Monday so the exploring hasn't been too in depth 
but we have managed some walks,
one by the river and the other in the woods.

In the woods the leaves were changing colour.
We have not been to these woods for ages.
But the memories were still there.
In abundance.
With everyone having their own little snippet 
of what these woods meant to them.

We walked quite a long way.
Up through tons and tons of sand,
until we came to the top of the woods,
which was a prefect place to play with sticks,
as all small boys like to do.

 It was a refreshing walk,
through a wood full of memories, nice.

Today we went to the water.

A big river.
which sparkled in the bits of autumn sun that
 occasionally peeped through the grey cloudy sky.

Down at the river side were lots of stones 
so we played a game of throwing stones in the water
and seeing who could throw the furthest 
and what stone made the biggest or strangest splash.
Time old games that never seem to go out of fashion.

Up on top of the riverbank were lots of cows.
Lovely gentle placid cows.
We spent ages watching them chew grass.
They were very sweet.
Even when they pooed.
Which they did, a lot.
Much to my sons delight! 

Two nice trips out.
I'm thankful that the weather is dry
and that we are all well enough to enjoy our week off.

A Bit Of Nature

 One of my big pushes this half term week has been to get Chipmunk 

out and about in the fresh air.

Today we went to Creswell Crags and it was good.

The other boys were at school and working so it was just me,

Chipmunk and my mum and dad. 

Creswell Crags is only a short drive away from where 

we live and it is truly beautiful

It is a archaeological site,steeped in history

and some great walks and stunning scenery.

First thing Chipmunk did was find a stick

and this stick stayed with us all around the lake 

and its in my kitchen right now.Im hoping it will 

transfer to the garden tomorrow!

We walked through windy woodland paths

until we came to a cave which was high up in the crags

So we climbed up and up and up,until finally 

we reached the top

And we found out that in here remains of wolves,

hyenas,woolly mammoths,even rhinos had been found.

Obviously this fascinated Chipmunk,wild animals

in caves = exciting!

We walked all around the lake,fed ducks and swans,saw horses galloping 

madly round a nearby field and then turned back to journey home.

Still carrying the stick of course!

It was a fantastic day out and after we got home Chipmunk relaxed with his

beloved ipad.

He had had a great time,climbing,running,being with family,

everything I want him to do.

Happy Chipmunk and happy me

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - LEAVES ARE US!

Wordless Wednesday - My Little Drummer Boys

Running

Through

Leaves

 

= Fun

Bike Ride To Comp!

I just got to do a quick post about our fab bike ride to the comp!

After dinner today I decided to see just how far Chipmunk could ride his bike to.We set off towards our local comp and low and behold we made it there!

There was not much stressing and not much wobbling and a very proud mummy and son!

Chipmunk managed to go through gates,go up hills and even more scary ~ go down hills!

I even managed to ride my bike and I only got bumped off it once which is a major improvement to last year when I literally needed valium after a bike ride with Chipmunk!
This time it was nearly pleasurable!I still had to watch him carefully but the improvement was amazing and I'am so pleased!

We are winning! #bikeridingsuccess


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Summer Hols

This year I'm having such a good school holiday.

Don't get me wrong there's plenty of tantrums and even meltdowns and there's drama like certain sons out on bikes when it's far too late and dark,and then theres been plug in the foot incident which was truly yucky but all in all it's been good.

The weather while not being typical summer sunny weather has suited us really,we've had mainly dry weather and that's ok by me because we have been able to get outside and get that all important fresh air that is supposed to be so good for us!

We have made the most of that fact and spent our days on parks,walking round lakes,rolling down hills,footballing,exploring forests,biking,scooting ~ it's been such good fun!

Chipmunk has got little brown arms and even a few freckles have come!

I seem to have spent a lot of good time with him,walking and holding his hand,he likes to say "Hold hands" and I always do because these children grow fast and all to soon they don't want to hold your hand anymore!

We have also done inside things like completing the summer scrap book and of course reading!Where would we be without reading :-)
We have done a lot of playing catch,our highest score was well over 100, and we were so proud!

Sharky has spent most of the time being a typical teen,totally nocturnal,comes alive when we are all falling asleep,his intake of Monster makes me cringe and of course he has spent way too much time on his laptop and xbox but he is happy and judging by what some teens have been doing this summer I can't complain.

Tiger spent a lot of his time reading Harry Potter this hols!Never thought I would see him read that much again!And yes I was pleased!
He has spent lots of time with his girlfriend and they seem very happy.

I have totally enjoyed being at home!No rush in the morning!No sandwich boxes to make!No uniforms to get ready every night!No reading diaries to sign!No shoes to polish!No ties to find!Woohoo!

Instead ~ unhurried cups of tea,many cups of tea!Guessing the Golden Hour on Smooth Radio.Toast at 10 with Chipmunk.Sauntering around.

Just a few reasons why I'm liking the school holidays.Time with my boys,making as many memories as I can and I think that has definately been achieved!

What are you views of the school holidays?Good/bad times?Time to chill or time to pull your hair out?

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Bikes,Walks and Grandparents

Today was lovely!Well the beginning and the end was yukko but the middle was just great!

We went to Sherwood Forest and it was a gorgeous day,blue skies and sun.This worked well in the forest,the trees gave us shade but we could still see blue sky up above


The flags were still up from last weeks Robin Hood Festival



We went to have a look around the Robin Hood stuff and then set off too search for The Major Oak,Chipmunk was 'Project Leader' a title he took very seriously and his job was too lead me to the Major Oak.This involved him reading all the signs


On our way round Chipmunk read all the signs and information boards ~ this fact stuck in my mind ~ there are over 200 different types of spider here and Sherwood Forest is in this countries top ten places for spiders!Hmm interesting to know!I was certainly careful where I put my feet after reading that!



Just some of the spiders you can find in the forest!

We followed the signs down windy paths


Until we came to a opening


And a sign which said


Woohoo we were nearly there!

Chipmunk got a new lease of life and ran on ahead,as 'project leaders' do :-)

We came to a break in the trees and there it was The Major Oak and some tents





We found a perfect spot to have a crisp picnic and after we had fed,Chipmunk began to climb trees and that's when my phone camera gave up the ghost ~ it had 3055 photos on and 55 videos!So no photo of the Major Oak and time for a *big clear out of photos!*

We walked up to the big field and saw a cricket match being played. We played footy and catch and Chipmunk found a leaf to take home and stick in his summer scrapbook.
It was a lovely trip out :-)

When we got back home Chipmunk was determined to go on his big bike so off we went!

We have a great cul de sac for bike riding,not many cars going up and down and a wide flat space for Chipmunk to pedal his bike round.
He is getting so much steadier these days and I'am so proud of him,he showed his grandparents how well he could ride and they were all pleased too!Way to go Chipmunk!


The Bike!I think I'm going to be spending a fair bit of time out here watching Chipmunk on this bike!

So all in all a good day,always nice to see the family and how nice to be able to chill on a Sunday night instead of going on a mad "get ready for the week ahead frenzy" ~ I always appreciate that!

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