Plum tuckered out!

After a quiet day on Monday, we've had three very busy ones since and we're all rather tired now.  Fortunately tomorrow is another quiet one, or rather we are at home at least, a friend is coming for the afternoon, so depending what the girls get up to it may be rather loud!

Tuesday started with a meet up at Highfields Park by the university, with Fun Club folks, as it doesn't happen in August.  The children played happily in the playground, while the parents sat at the picnic tables and chatted.  M went on the boating lake with S, a 16 year old boy and her friend R, who is 7.  J (S's mum) & I wandered back down to the lake when they were due to be coming back in and got rather nervous of the extent to which R was leaning over the side, but they got back without incident and very impressively S was still smiling at the end of it!

S, M & R out on the boating lake.

After our picnic lunch K & M wanted to go back out on the boating lake, but it was raining by this point, so I wasn't quite so keen, having initially said I would go (we'd forgotten to take coats).  L, another friend was going to come with us, while her mum and little sister where going out in another boat.  I was really rather impressed at the common sense approach to allowing children out on the lake, which is pretty shallow, and K, M & L were allowed out on their own (with life jackets).  When I asked if they wanted me to come, I had two 'don't mind's from K & L and one 'No!' from M.  So I sat under a tree and did some crochet.

After that we headed back home briefly before going almost immediately back out to our friend C's annual Pimms party (Pimms not compulsory), which also happened to be her birthday, and spent a very lovely rest of the afternoon there. 

On Wednesday after M's French horn lesson, we went to Sudbury Hall & the Museum of Childhood to meet up with my best friend from uni, S, and her four children (who range from a year younger than M down to 2).  We used to meet up quite frequently despite her living in Lancashire and my living in Nottingham as, having both gone into teaching, we could meet up in the school holidays.  With half a dozen children between us it's rather trickier these days though.

Nature spot - cocoon hanging from the sign for the toilets!

It was at times a little like herding cats, but we all enjoyed the Museum of Childhood, all of the children (except G, who at 2 was too little) particularly climbing up the chimney there.  K remembered from last time we were there, which must be at least 3 years or so, that there were mice to look for in lots of the rooms and enjoyed doing that.  After a picnic lunch, and a quick return to the museum for the children to have another go at climbing the chimney, we went round to go into the Hall and the older children did one of the worksheets of particular things to spot.  We lay down on the floor to have a look at this painting (except S who had G on her back in a sling by this point!).

The four seasons.

We finished off with a play in the woodland playground, with the sailing boat a particular favourite, with the perfect number of children for Swallows & Amazons, even if Roger was a bit too young to join in the game!

The Swallows & Amazons.

Today we had to get up early again, as it was the girls' second day of gymnastics.  We dropped A off near the railway station on the way and still made it in plenty of time.  I left them to it and after a couple of little jobs and bits of shopping, got started on the remaining plums that M and I had picked on Sunday.  Before returning to pick up K & M, I managed to make more jam and stew another batch for the freezer and take a breastfeeding support phone call.  K & M had really enjoyed themselves again, although M in particular had a bit of a moan about some of the children there queue jumping.  Once back home we settled down together to watch the first of the new series of The Great British Bake Off, which I had recorded last night.  Then it was time to get back into the kitchen, where I made tea including plum crumble for pudding and finally managed to get a plum and oatmeal madeira cake into the oven just before we sat down to eat, as A came home in time to give me a hand.  That used up all but a couple of the plums from the park, but some more arrived in this week's fruit box, so we still have some more which we can eat as they are.

Cake!