Sisters playing at home

Isla and Evie's favourite time is playing with their toys at home. We've had the Happyland and train set out quite a bit. Evie and Isla have been enjoying each others company a lot, with Isla reading books to Evie and enjoying having tickles from her! Isla likes it when Evie gives her big lucky dribbly kisses. Tonight Isla said that "Evie's tongue tastes of socks" which is slightly bizarre.

Isla made this special alien mask at pre-school:

Isla with her hair clips in:

During half term, Isla went to holiday club for a few hours and enjoyed a quieter time at the pre-school. She got the idea from some of the other children to turn Jura lodge into an ice cream parlour, and so we have spent time in the garden with Isla accepting deliveries from me and then selling me ice creams. They also did baking at holiday club, and Isla brought a cake home that she had decorated with lots of sprinkles. She said that they hadn't done any dancing that morning, and this is something she loves at pre-school. She likes dancing at home to Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Doc McSuffin songs.

Evis has been playing with the picnic basket a lot. She likes playing with the handle and taking things out of the basket.

Puxton Park and chocolate biscuit cake

Last weekend we went to Puxton Park near Weston-Super-Mare. There was lots to do there for Isla. We met our friends there and spent ages in the sandpit, looking at animals, on the play equipment and on the soft play. Andrew got a friction burn on his arm on the soft play which is only just healing, but the two toddlers were unscathed by their adventures! We also had a lovely picnic in the sun as the weather was very nice.

On Wednesday, we went out for lunch with Isla's granny and grandad. Isla had a feast for her children's meal! After her food, she enjoyed sorting out the stones near our table, and doing some colouring in.

The rest of the week, we've been to Tumble tots which was really fun as Isla is in the next class up and has more activities to do. We also had some freinds round to play and went to pre-school which Isla enjoyed, as well as a trip to the local park one afternoon. We all went to the midwives as well, and she checked Isla's baby sister's position and heart beat. She has been hiccuping occasionally now, and one day jumped when there was a loud noise outside which was quite a strange feeling! Isla asked if her teddies will be her sister's teddies now and I explained that only if she wants to give her any of them. She said that she would like to choose a new teddy for her sister.

On Friday, Isla was ill in the night, and Andrew stayed with her all night long. She was talking a bit in the night, and was concerned about the medicine that we had put on the cats' backs a few days before. We had frontlined the cats to keep fleas at bay, and Isla must have been thinking about this that night!  She was poorly most of Saturday (Peppa pig on tv and her Cbeebies magazine helped her feel better), but was almost back to her normal self on Sunday again. We visited a local community farm on Sunday morning, where there were lots of animals to see, a few tractors, and (to Isla's excitement) a red cross transport vehicle that children could sit inside. We had a picnic in our garden for lunch.

Isla playing in the garden: She likes pretending that she is taking her various cuddly toys to toddler group or preschool in her little pink buggy!

We made chocolate biscuit cake this week: Isla was good at crushing up the biscuits!

She also enjoyed playing with (and eating!) the syrup:

The recipe was: Melt 150 g chocolate with 150 g butter and 2 large tablespoons golden syrup then add
200 g (ish) crushed up digestive or rich tea biscuits and put it in a lined baking tray and put in the fridge until set.


Visiting the pigs at the farm:

Playing at home:

Swimming in the garden

Last weekend we had a nice visit to Isla's cousins and enjoyed playing with them a lot. We went and had lunch in a farm shop where there was an unusual tractor and some animals to look at:

We have been out in the garden a lot this week, when it has been nice weather. Isla kept rushing off to Jura lodge and shutting the door - she was enjoying a sneaky drink from her toy cup and a munch on some bread we had put out for the birds!

We were lucky enough to have Natalie to stay this week for a few days. It was lovely to have her visit. Isla enjoyed having someone else to make playdough shapes with and to read books with! She has also learnt lots of new letter sounds with Natalie's help. We had some rainy spells, but still managed to go into town to show Natalie the sights. We had fun at the park, saw some swans being fed (I forgot our bread whoops) and also visited the library where we found so many books that we wanted to borrow, we exceeded our limit (whoops again). We fed a very friendly goat and some lambs on the way home. We visited the local country market during Natalie's stay, and tried some unusual beetroot bread there whilst admiring the locally made chocolate and cake stalls. We went home and made a chocolate cake ourselves.

We also made some 'Oaty Shortbread' from a Rachel Allen cook book. These biscuits were very easy to make, and tasty. Isla enjoyed eating the dough as well as cutting out some biscuit shapes:

On days when it was sunny and we could go into the garden, Isla had fun keeping up the maintenance of Jura Lodge by doing a spot of painting:

.......and playing hide-and-seek with my sunhat:

..... see-sawing, marjorie-dawing:

.......wearing daisy chain crowns:

....and trying daisy chain necklaces for size, before Natalie had to go home again:

Today we had a very busy and fun-packed day. Isla and her dad zoomed off into town and came back with, amongst other things, a lazy-spa! Isla told me that they had bought me a swimming pool, and sure enough it is an Isla-sized swimming pool. After lunch, and a nice sit in the sunny garden, Isla and I went off to her friend's birthday party where she enjoyed playing in a sandpit and riding on a toy tractor as well as eating some tractor-shaped birthday cake. By the time we got home, the lazy-spa was up and running so we all had a swim in the lovely warm water. The pool's main role will be to help with our possible home-birth of Isla's little sister next month, but at the moment it is very, very exciting for Isla to have a swimming pool in the garden!