We're back from holiday!

Yesterday we arrived back from our holiday in France, having taken the overnight ferry and arrived in Portsmouth at about 6am, we didn't linger and made it back in plenty of time for the girls (at their request) to go to gymnastics at 12.30pm.  Since I slept most of the way back in the car, as I generally do on long journeys if I'm not needed to navigate, it wasn't too much of a hardship for me!

Our holiday started a week last Monday, with a brief trip to Winchester to see my lovely friend 'Big K' and her baby A, where we had a trip to a park, a walk through a nature reserve and tea en route to the overnight ferry.

Before our week in a gite, we had the first of two 'blasts from the past' for me, with an overnight stay at a hotel very close to Mont St Michel.  When a teenager, I spent a few weeks staying with a family that my dad knew through work, looking after their children, to improve my French during the summer holidays two or three times, and they lived a stone's throw from the mount.  In fact we drove past their house on the way to the gîte afterwards!  There is a lot of work going on currently to clear the very silted bay and to build a bridge rather than the current causeway, in order to return the mount to its original island state.


Le Mont St Michel

We visited the abbey, nearly losing K to a school group who were visiting when one of their teachers tried to round her up with their children!  While there we talked a bit about what a feat it would have been to build, the acoustics and what the different parts of the abbey were for.

Looking up at the abbey

M took photos of the models showing the construction of the abbey and surrounding buildings from the 8th Century to the present day.

Despite not wanting to learn any French before we went, K & M managed pretty well when it came to ordering food (particularly ice-creams and desserts), and with a bit of help and encouragement ordered their own food and drink most of the time, as well as spending some of their money in shops (although Bonjour! and Merci sufficed on these occasions).  After going back for a bit of a rest at the hotel, we returned for an explore and discovered some possible French (hence the different spelling) muggle relatives of Lord Voldemort!

On the Wednesday we headed down to the gîte on the border of the Vendée and Deux Sèvres where we were staying for a week. 

We'd arranged to meet my parents, as they were on holiday staying with friends not all that far away, so they stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights in the nearest town about 10 minutes drive away and they came to find us about 20 minutes after we'd arrived!  We all ate together at their hotel that evening before they went off again the following morning.

We had a day of mostly reasonable weather that we spent around the gîte and exploring the surrounding area, M even went for a brief dip in the pool.  We had fun spotting wildlife on the walk.  The girls were particularly keen on the slugs for some reason, particularly since they don't like them in Daddy's garden!

 

It wasn't just outside that we spotted wildlife, while M was in the pool, K & I spotted a visitor who'd ventured inside!

 



After we'd got back from the walk, just in time to avoid the very heavy rain and accompanying thunder and lightening, K asked what makes the thunder and lightening happen, so we had a bit of impromptu science learning.

The Friday was my second 'blast from the past' in the form of a day trip to La Rochelle, where I'd lived for about 9 months, working as an 'assistante anglaise' at a school there as part of my degree.  It was the one really good day as far as the weather was concerned, which since part of the attraction for the girls was that there was a beach there was a very good thing!  After a wander through the town from the park & ride bus stop, I showed the girls the school where I'd lived and worked and we went to the Natural History Museum (always popular with K & M).

In the Natural History Museum

One big change since we were last abroad, which is only just over a year ago, is that both girls are somewhat more willing to try new foods and when A had squid as a starter for lunch, not only did both girls try a bit, M came back for more!  We decided we'd go for an ice-cream as pudding and when I saw that the double scoops were only 80 cents more than the single, I suggested we treat ourselves.  One would have been more than enough.....!

The enormous ice-creams!

Then we headed for the beach, which is only a short walk from the old harbour which is the tourist centre of the town.  It wasn't quite swimming weather (plus the tide was out), but the girls and I all had a paddle at least.

On the beach!

Most days we had very leisurely starts to the day and Saturday was similar in some respects but with one big difference.  Having heard owls and the dawn chorus on the Friday when he got up for the loo at about 5am, A suggested that we could try all getting up at that time to listen.  So that's what we did.  I was very surprised at how easy it was to rouse the girls, we all headed upstairs (it was an upside down house with bedroom below) and snuggled on the sofa with coats/jumpers on over our pyjamas, opened the windows and listened.  Mostly we just heard the wind in the trees and the river below, but then when I tried doing an owl call (blowing into my cupped hands), we heard a response and after this heard several different owls judging from where the call came from and how loud it was.  A while later we heard other birds start with lots of different of calls and listened for a while before going back to bed and having an even lazier morning than usual!

Unfortunately rain set in from the Saturday onwards.  We continued with a lazy day, playing the Harry Potter board game we'd taken with us and watching the Harry Potter dvd that was among those at the gîte.  We even watched a bit of it in French, before switching back to English.

The rain continued on Sunday, but we ventured out anyway and ended up going to a local zoo.  It was very quiet, I think we only saw two other people there apart from us!  The big cats that they had seem to have sparked something for the girls, about which, more later.

You could also walk through the section with various types of lemur running around freely.

And as always it was noted that some of the babies were 'having booboo'.

Monday brought more rain and plenty of it, but despite this we ventured out to somewhere that the girls had found a leaflet about and we keen to go to, even though they weren't entirely sure what it was!  A and I weren't clear either, but although we did all get wet enough to need the change of clothes we took before we got back into the car for the drive back to the gîte, it was turned out to be a very good idea.  It was called 'Indian Forest' and before we went, even though we weren't sure what it entailed, A & I had decided that we would all do the Parcours Aventures - Dans les Arbres, based pretty much on being sure that we could all do it together!  It was great.  We could only do the two easier levels, purple and green, because of the girls' age and M's height, but that was fine for beginners like us. 

K & M on the cargo net

A whizzing down a zip wire

K on the tight-rope - she slipped off and had to be pulled back to the start but gamely got back on and made it

On the Tuesday there was yet more rain in the morning, so we headed into Niort, the nearest big town, and eventually (the claim that it would be well signed by the ladies in the tourist office proved not to be the case!) found a really nice swimming pool.  After a late lunch back at the gîte the rain had finally stopped and we went back to a spot on the walk around the gîte that had been designated a 'nature's playground' by the girls.  A nature's playground being anywhere that they can get wet, preferably, but not necessarily, with trees to climb too.  Then it was time to pack.

Observing a pond skater

On Wednesday morning, we got up early (8 o'clock! - very early by our holiday standards), finished packing, said goodbye to our lovely hosts and headed off for our final trip.  Before the holiday we had said that the two things we definitely wanted to do were visit La Rochelle and the Marais-Poitevin.  Unfortunately, while we'd managed the former before the rain set in, we hadn't done the latter, which is really something to do when it's fine.  I had suggested, given the forecast that we leave it until the very last morning, which is what we did, and I proved to be most wise (on this occasion anyway).

We hired a 'barque sans guide', we given a map with a route for the hour and a half that we'd paid for marked on it and set off.  It is a beautifully peaceful place and during the off season, you can go for much of time without seeing anyone else.  Apart from the argument about who was sitting where from the girls, it was amazing and we added to our wildlife tally for the holiday, hearing a cuckoo and seeing a heron fly past, a deer on one of the fields in the middle of the many waterways and, most excitingly, a glimpse of what we're pretty sure was an otter.

The view for the paddlers

This is what we could also see!

K & M consenting to be in a photo!

The deer

And a photo to prove that I really was on the holiday too!

Finally, after that mammoth post, I cannot finish without mentioning that although we spent an awfully long time in the car over the course of the holiday, both getting there and back and on the day trips while we were there, the car journeys were made, not merely tolerable, but indeed enjoyable by the simple fact that we had taken Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on cd, read by the marvellous Stephen Fry, out of the library before we went.  A must for any future long car trips.

Making preparations.

We're off on holiday quite soon, so K & M have been busy getting ready.  Much of their preparations has been based around making clothing and bags for their toys, including this rather marvellous felt hat that K made for her toy dog, which I wanted to share.

They have also been making passports for the toys that they are planning on taking with them, since we're going to France, and they've even persuaded A to make a passport for Mr Fox, who he is taking with him.

More minus numbers.

Yesterday, K & M had their usual two hours of gymnastics and while there plotted with various friends about a Harry Potter show of some description that they are planning on putting on.  They were discussing parts and making props and scenery and the plan is that it will happen at some point after the summer at Asfordby.

K & M also had their last Thursday swimming lesson, they've moved up to the next class, but that also means a change of day.  Unfortunately the only option we can manage is Wednesday, which up to now has been our only free weekday.  So now we have got a weekly activity, as well as some monthly or twice monthly ones, every day, with Brownies on Monday, korfball on Tuesday, swimming on Wednesday, gymnastics on Thursday and ballet for K on a Friday!

Having started on the minus numbers on Wednesday, I made K a worksheet, which she took and disappeared with.  The idea was to get her thinking about predicting whether the answer to the sum she was looking at was going to be positive or negative, whether it was going to be bigger or smaller than the first number in the sum and therefore have an idea of whether the answer she came up with was a sensible one.  So on the worksheet, there were some simple one digit sums such as 5 - (-4), she first had to decide whether the answer was going to be + or -, then work out the answer and finally use a calculator to check if she'd got it right.  Then there were some two digit sums along similar lines, e.g. 46 + (-23), and she had to decide whether the answer was going to be greater or smaller than 46, before working out the sum and then again checking with the calculator.  K often prefers to work through things on her own, so the idea of using a calculator to check her own answers as part of the task worked well.  She made her own small number line for the first lot of questions I think, and got up this morning to do the second lot.  She hasn't let me see the sheet, yet, but told me that she did get them all correct when she checked.

Ice-skating, (briefly) losing a child and horses for courses.

It was the monthly ice-skating meet this afternoon, and both K & M were whizzing around the ice.  They each fell over at least once, but got straight back up and zoomed off again.  It's quite difficult to believe that it took K in particular, months before she would let go of my hand or the side and a long time after that before she got beyond a very careful shuffle.

After skating, at M's request we went and had a look at toy shops.  It's her birthday coming up and she also won the 100 club draw at A's cricket club, so we had a cheque for £75 to pay into the bank (she withdrew £20 of it, so add to her already considerable savings that she's got at home).  It was the first trip into town since our rethinking of the amount of freedom we let the girls have, and it was put to the test.  Unlike around our home stomping ground, I wasn't happy to let them go off to different shops, but, when we got to John Lewis, I said to M that she could go on ahead to the toy department, on the floor below, if she wanted to.  She did, but it turned out she wasn't entirely sure where she was going!  When K & I reached the toy department, M was nowhere to be seen.  I left K there, telling her to keep M with her if she turned up, while I went looking for M.  I had a quick look, but couldn't see her, so hoping that she'd have made it to the toys, returned to see if she had, but no luck.  At this point, I found a trio of members of staff and told them I'd lost my daughter, who was wearing a stripey black and white top and her name.  They were excellent, asked me to stay in the toy department in case she appeared there and quickly set off to look for her.  They were still within calling distance, when M came down the escalator with two other members of staff.  She was perfectly calm and had very sensibly asked for help, the ladies had obviously been really good with her, one told me that they told M that they hadn't ever not managed to find a missing mummy yet.  So all was fine and I was really proud and impressed that M had been so calm and sensible when she realised that she'd got lost.

K & I continued working through the topics in the maths book, with today's being 'minus numbers'.  I had come up with an idea last night, when thinking about what we could do, and was feeling quietly confident that it was a good'un.  First we talked about what minus numbers are, how they are not 'real' as you can't take 6 sweets from a back with 4 sweets in, for example.  But you can have £5 and owe someone £7, so you have -£2.  Then I got out a roll of lining wallpaper and drew on a number line from -6 to +6, with an arrow on the positive side with a plus sign pointing right and one on the negative side and a minus sign pointing left.  Then I gave K a simple sum, such as 3 + 2 and asked her to use the number line to show how you get the answer.  She started on the 3, turned to face the same way as the + arrow and took 2 steps forwards, to land on the 5.  For 5 - 2, she started on the 5, turned to face the same way as the - arrow and took 2 steps forwards to end on the 3.  Then we added in some negative numbers, first as the starting number.  Then as the second number and K actually did what I had planned without me suggesting it.  So with the example 6 + (-2), she started on the 6, faced the positive end and then walked backwards 2 steps to get to the answer 4.  With (-3) - (-4), she started on -3, faced the negative end and then walked backwards 4 steps to get to +1.  Then we talked about how when you have a - and a + together in the middle that is the same as a - and two - in the middle is the same as a +.

M was interested in having a go at this too, so we started off similarly and she showed that she understood the idea before we started, not only giving correct answers to subtractions with a negative answer, but also correctly adding and subtracting minus numbers.  When we started on the number line though, M ended up confused, rather than finding it helpful as K had done.  Whoops!  I think we'd better have another look at the topic tomorrow before we move on.

From zero to infinity!

On Monday morning we said goodbye to Nana and Little Grandad, and after lunch we took advantage of the incredibly unusual for a Bank Holiday weather and headed out.  We went to Bradgate Park, unfortunately the world and his wife had had the same idea, so we did manage to park anywhere near where we'd planned, so ended up the other side of Swithland Wood.  That didn't turn out to be a bad thing though, as the wood was very pleasant and much quieter than the park turned out to be, not surprisingly really!  We had a lovely walk through the wood, then headed into the park as far as the tea room and visitor centre, where we had an ice-cream and a look around the centre, talking briefly about Lady Jane Grey (although her story is a bit gruesome for our girls' liking) and looking at the animal displays.

A & me by K

K & A

M running off because she didn't want to be in the photo!

On the way back through the woods afterwards, we stopped at a couple of what have become known in our family as 'nature's playgrounds'.  This generally means somewhere that the girls can climb about in water, preferably, but not necessarily, with climbable rocks and/or trees.  There was one that they decided would be ideal for Romeo and Juliet, as there was a 'balcony'.

M as Romeo and K as Juliet

While walking along, K & I started on working through the Maths book topics, starting with zero.  We talked about how it means 'nothing', that if you multiply anything by zero the answer is always zero, but also that when used for example when measuring temperature in centigrade, it has a value.  We also remembered that according to the book, if you divide any number by zero using a calculator, you get an error message.  We tried this out on my phone, but in fact got the answer ∞, which was the next topic!  

After we got home, we went straight out again for a meal at a local restaurant, as promised to M.  Last year for K's post First Communion celebration, we all went out to Pizza Express, something that wasn't really an option this year, as my mother-in-law didn't think my father-in-law would cope with that, so we had said we'd do so later.  We had a really lovely meal and while there, touched on the our next maths topic - infinity or ∞, as two opposite walls were entirely mirrored.

Today, as the first Tuesday of the month, was Fun Club and we had an activity with an outside provider.  It was making a coloured glass tile, using ground up coloured glass.  The children had a glass tile sat on top of a outlined picture or pattern, they drew around the tile, so as to be able to keep in in place, then painted glue onto the tile, before using a spoon to carefully tip the ground up coloured glass onto the tile.  When they'd finished a second glass tile was placed on top and the whole was carefully parcelled up to be taken away to be heated in a kiln.  

K's completed effort before the second tile was added.

There were several other activities available, including making 'stained glass biscuits', which both K & M did.  Then after lunch, given that the weather was still glorious (although unfortunately not forecast to last), we decamped to the park.

Over tea, we talked some more about infinity.  I asked K to draw the sign ∞ in the air and we noted that you can continue to do so indefinitely.  We also talked about what the opposite or inverse of infinity might be.  K mentioned negative or -∞, which I agreed could be a possibility, but also asked her to consider the idea of the fraction 1/∞, which would be so small it would be nearly, but not quite zero.  We also remembered the mirrors in the restaurant from yesterday and how standing between them, the reflections repeat to infinity.

Visitors, an occasion and seizing the moment.

I haven't blogged for a few days because we've been rather busy!  On Friday, Nana & Little Grandad arrived for the long weekend.  M presented Nana with a present from Alice, who is a rather large teddy that M won on a tombola, a particular favourite of Nana's.  She started out with the teddy shape and using collage ended up with this.

The girls have really enjoyed having Nana & Little Grandad here.  It's there first trip down to see us for over a year, due to my father-in-law's declining health, and we'd been a bit concerned how well he'd cope here, but it's gone okay.

On Saturday it was M's First Communion.  We had had discussion about what she was going to wear prior to the event.  The boys wear white shirt, grey trousers with a special tie and sash ribbon and the girls wear white dresses.  M had said she'd much rather wear what the boys wear, but had conceded that she would wear the dress and commented that since she had to wear a white dress, at least she could wear the one that K had worn the previous year, so I wouldn't have to spend any money on it!  When it came to trying on the dress though, she really wasn't happy, as it was 'too fancy' and she found the lacy shoulders itchy and uncomfortable and she came up with the solution of wearing a simple, sleeveless summer dress that she already had in her wardrobe.  Once I'd established that it didn't have any tears or stains (anything but a given here!), we agreed that she would wear that instead and she was much happier.

On Saturday Uncle S, Aunty P and 'cousin' Megan (she's a dog) came up for the day, as did Granny, Big Grandad and Uncle M.  Everyone but Nana and Little Grandad came to the church, where all went very well, before heading back here for lunch.  It was really lovely to have everyone here, as it's very rare that we have both sides of the family together.

This morning, K was feeling very 'huggy' and so after having breakfast, we spent most of the morning snuggling in bed, reading the Maths book that came with the Punctuation book we've been using recently.  It has four chapters: Number Bunch, which includes zero, infinity, minus numbers, fractions, decimal fractions and units (measuring); Special Sum-Things, which has add, subtract, multiply, divide and x; Shape-Shifters, with  line, angle, circle, pi, triangle, quadrilaterals, polygons, 3D shapes, area and volume; and Data Gang, with average, ratio, per cent, bar chart, pie chart and line graph.  I read each section to K and we talked about it, which showed that she has a pretty good grasp of many of the concepts that are touched on, despite only having talked about most of them briefly in passing at some point, although she is still refusing to admit to being anything other than 'rubbish' at maths.  We have agreed that we will work our way through the book exploring things further.  We hadn't managed to get to the final chapter when it was time for lunch, which A was cooking, so at K's insistense we continued after we'd eaten.

This afternoon, we all, the 'little family' and Nana and Little Grandad, went to Rushcliffe Country Park.  It was a beautiful day today, and there were plenty of people who'd had the same idea!  The girls had a bit of a play in the playground, before they, Nana and I went for a walk, on the ladybird trail and then around the quieter part of the park.  We spotted various butterflies, including peacocks and orange tips, which we identified by using the new (since we were last there)big, wooden, butterfly identification pairs game installation.

We finished the day by watching a 1964 series of The Famous Five - Five Have a Mystery to Solve.

That little bit more freedom.

A very unusual occurence happened this morning - I was up before both of the girls!  We had agreed yesterday that we needed to go to the library, to return an overdue book, and since the library shuts on Wednesday afternoons, that meant we needed to go in the morning. 

Since the library has reopened, we've started using it quite differently from before.  When they were younger, we used to go to borrow and return books, but also for me to read picture books to them.  Until the renovation and reopening, we would go frequently still to borrow, reserve (free on a child's ticket) and return books, but not hang around very often.  Now we have started using it a place to go and do what we refer to, for some bizarre reason that I can't quite recall, as Horace Time.  Horace Time is generally either some quiet reading, when the girls read a chapter or two and tell me about it afterwards, or they might choose to do some of one of their workbooks or a worksheet I've come up with, or it's one of the rare occasions when I 'teach' them something, usually something maths or English related.

On the way to the library, M & I were walking on our own, as K had forgotten something and had nipped back home to get it, so I asked her if she could remember what the two types of apostrophe were.  She wasn't willing to talk about it, but when I asked Puffy, her toy puffin, she was willing to whisper the answer to him and then he told me!  She seemed to explain both sorts to Puffy quite well, as he evidently understood them and explained and gave an example of each type.  K had caught up by the time we reached the library as we stopped to look at two ducks we spotted in the park, not a common sight as there's no water there!

They took off and headed back in the direction of the river moments later.

And we paused to enjoy the short-lived but very beautiful magnolia blossom.

Once at the library K & M settled down with the books they'd brought with them, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for K and The Stray for M, a book she borrowed a while back from her friend C.  M had also taken a backpack with, among other things, a notebook and pen, and when she had finished a couple of chapters, she decided to start writing a story.  She took her inspiration from the SIM ride we went on twice at the Space Centre and it is about K, M & me going to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.  From the correct use of possessive apostrophes, she obviously had taken in what we'd talked about on the way there!  I think that M's mind goes faster than her hand can keep up with when writing, as it's quite tricky to decipher much of the time, and I do always remind her to leave slightly bigger spaces between words.  The spelling is quite wobbly in places, and generally I tend to point out a couple of mistakes, but always try to mention good attempts at tricky words.

K was still reading by the time M had read a couple of chapters and started her story, but by this time M was itching to get going.  So we left K in the library, while we popped to the shops.  We had talked about having a bit more freedom before we left, so when M asked if she could go to a particular shop on her own, I let her go there while I picked up a prescription.  We had agreed that I would then join her, but she came back and found me as there was a bit of a queue.  This did necessitate a conversation about sticking to what we agree beforehand, as it would have been quite easy to miss each other with the layout of somewhere like Boots, where I was.  The reason she's particularly wanted to go to the shop on her own, was to buy A and I a bar of chocolate to share and then because she didn't want K to feel left out, she bought one for herself and K to share too.  Then, after picking K up from the library and a brief panic when M realised she must have left her puffin in one of the shops (the second one she checked fortunately!), K & M went to the park together while I picked up a few bits of shopping.  M really did seem much more relaxed having had that little bit of freedom and it worked really well.  I think we will do it this way reasonably frequently, as I think it will fulfill M's need, without me leaving my comfort zone too much.

This afternoon, K & M finished tidying their rooms, a protracted process that on M's part in particular involves an awful lot of moaning, and K hoovered hers, M emptied the dishwasher while I hoovered hers for her.  We have an agreement that they tidy their rooms once a month, so that they can be hoovered.  They would both much rather not be able to see the floor, so this is a compromise to keeping it tidy all the time.  I do point out every month it would be much quicker and easier if they kept them a *little* bit tidier, but it rarely lasts longer than a couple of days.  M also finished off her space story and started another one!