Camping in Thetford August 26, 2009

So we went camping a couple of week ends ago – only for one night!

Dower House camp site has a play park and a heated pool! The kids loved swimming! They are not that brave in the water as we don’t get to swim often. They enjoy going round the edges of the pool and then get out by the ladder, run around and start all over again. Either that or they swim on my back, holding on like little monkeys!!!

They quickly made friends with the “neighbors” – played cricket and football and just had nice chats.

We had a braai for supper and of course bacon and eggs for breakfast.

The camp site is in the middle of the forest  – which has deer! Katelyn needed a wee early hours of the morning. Reynard took her outside the tent and I just heard this loud rush go past the tent. (we were located right on the edge). Reynard got a fright! I was ready to go sleep in the car! Have you ever heard a deer? My goodness, sounds scary!

We all loved the one night away in the forest, sleeping in a tent. Will def attempt it again, only next time it will be for 2 nights.

Please feel free to comment and let me know if you have any suggestions for good camp sites – bearing in mind it would need to be family orientated.

Happy Camping!

Boat Trip at Broxbourne August 23, 2009

After 1 night of camping (post to follow) we went on a boat in Broxbourne, Essex.

The kids liked the idea of going on a boat but if we were to go again, I would only book 30min, not 1hour. They do get bored rather quickly!

All in all it was fun, each of them got a turn to “steer” the boat. Katelyn was rather persistent that she didn’t need any help. But Reynard had to jump in and “save” us from the bushes.

Blackberry Jam August 21, 2009

OK, I am sure most people have tried this already! We gave it a go – rather easy to do!

Reynard actually did all the work. It must be an art to pick Blackberries – way too many thorns for me (and the kids). We just watched Reynard do the picking. I had to stop Zac from doing all the squashing!!!

Jumping on the trampoline, Reynard saw some blackberries in our garden. Been here a year this month and its the first time we’ve noticed! Took a walk round the corner – loads of blackberries!

Zac in the backpack, Christian and Katelyn armed with their buckets – Reynard took them for some more blackberry picking the next day.

To make the jam, all you do is cook it up in a little bit of water and add sugar.

Easy, I told you!

Buggy Toddle August 21, 2009

Sure Start in Harlow had a Buggy Toddle for St Barnados charity. We met at Burnt Mill School (some met at The Meadows) and walked to the town park. It was not a far walk – luckily, because it was really hot!

First we went to feed the ducks, then we went to the sensory garden, then we went to Pets Corner and then it was picnic time. We also played some parachute games and finally finished off at the adventure playground. We’ve been in Harlow for a year now and have not been to this specific park before. It’s really big and has loads for the kids to do, for all ages.

A great day out! The kids got a medal at the end! I will def be going down to the adventure playground again.

Local is Lekka! August 11, 2009

All the paddling pools in Essex are now open (have been for a while) so I decided to take the kids for a swim.

Our local paddling pool is by the Norman Booth Center, Old Harlow. We got there just before 3pm and it was still very busy. The kids went straight in. Zac was wondering about in the park for a while before he decided to take to the water. When he got there, where does he decide to go….no, not play in the shallow end – gotta be daring and go to the deep end! I met another South African lady and we were chatting away. I turned around, looking for Zac. Just gave one big scream “ZAC” – he was lying face down in the water, trying to kick his legs. No body moved or did anything to help. I looked around to see/hoping for some sort of help, but everybody was just carrying on as they were. I run over and grabbed him, lifting him out of the water, and smacking him on this back. He spat out water. His heart was racing. My poor baby. Thankfully he is ok, got a huge fright. Just goes to show, you CANNOT take your eyes off them. It wasn’t long, and he was back in the water. My brave little boy!

(The Norman Booth Center can also be hired for events-follow link above for more details)

Sun, Sand & Sea August 9, 2009

Today we went to walton-on-the-naze, its a sandy beach along the Essex Coast. We arrived really early and spent a good 3 hours there.

The kids always love going to the beach, jumping over the waves, building sand castles and of course, eating ice-cream!

Clay Modelling August 9, 2009

Range sell non-firing air drying clay. It works brilliantly and there is so much you can do.

This is what I chose to do – hand prints of the kids! You have to push rather hard to make an imprint into the clay. Zac didn’t really like this.

You can take their fav small toy and do an imprint of it, you can make things for kids to paint or they can make things to paint themselves.

I really enjoy doing hand/feet prints. And it makes a great gift!

Strawberry Picking in Essex August 9, 2009

This is something I have always wanted to do – so we took the kids!!! hehehe, besides all the bees, we had a good time. We were in and out in about 30 min.

Cammas Hall Farm is situated near Bishop Stortford in Essex. They give you a “bucket” and pay when you’re finished, it works out roughly £9/£10 for the bucket. They also have raspberries and blackberries that you can pick, but weren’t allowed to pick the blueberries.

The kids like the strawberries – and so do I.

A lovely experience!

Fun in the Forest August 9, 2009

Parndon Wood Nature Reserve in Harlow had a National Play Day this week. It was really enjoyable, and very busy.

There was a big purple bus (play area for kids), woodwork section, bug hunting, adventure course, face painting, arts n crafts, story time and puppet shows, a chance to touch the owls, jumping castle, cricket and more…

We spent most of the day going around the forest, the kids really enjoyed the bug hunting. Christian found a ground beetle and Katelyn found a centipede. Me, I found a frog and jumped just as high! It was the same colour as the bark, you could only see the difference when it jumped! And as for Zac, he was just walking around on his own mission.

We also saw 4 fire fighters in action: a 14 year old boy got stuck up in a tree, his mom called the fire brigade and they came with the ladder to get him down! Christian really enjoyed seed them rescue this boy! It was rather funny, cause he was only about 3m up!