We've had a reasonably quiet week. One day we went to the indoor play area with some friends, done bits and pieces around the house and garden, walked, played and that's about it!

Yesterday was art group and we were making stuffed fish (?!), pin boards, and covered willow shapes. It was a really good day, everyone seemed to be busy making lots of things, probably helped by the fact that the lads were let loose with hammers and pins!! There were some really good results though.

Today was cottage day again and then I was really wanting to go over to 'Woolfest' (a wool festival, funnily enough!) but we just wouldn't have got there in time to have a good look around so we went for a picnic down at Fellfoot Park instead. They have got a brilliant new playground there now so the kids had great fun climbing, swinging and zooming down the zip wire.

Today has been quite productive, while Ben and Dave built a big train track in the living room, Eilidh and I got on with some tye-die. We have had some plain t-shirts sitting around for ages with elastic bands, lollipop sticks and marbles attached to them but we actually got it done today. We had blue and purple dyes and they came out really well. We have some really groovy tops now!! Even Dave's vest tops got the hippy treatment (we'll see if he actually wears them!!)

While they were all drying on the line we got on with digging the garden out a bit more to make room for another raised veggie patch and Dave made up the sides. He had already done the base layer for a retaining wall around the side of the house with his new toy, a cement mixer! So, I actually feel like we did something today, recently it's felt like we get to the end of the day and got nothing done at all and still feel whacked out!!

The cows are back in our field now, they are incredibly stupid!! Here is a few pictures from the other day, when they took a fancy to Dave digging the garden. They just stand behind the fence staring at you and pushing each other out of the way to get a really good view of us weird humans!!

The weather has been horrible, rainy and very windy. In between rain showers the other day we decided to go and have a look at a tower we keep seeing as we drive down our road to find out what it was. The kids and I got togged up in our waterproofs and off we went. We found out that it is an old church tower from about 1600, the rest of the church was pulled down as unsafe and replaced by the new church down by the road (St Catherine's, Crook). The sun came out for a little while so the kids had a clamber over some rocks and Eilidh decided to draw a picture and write where we had been in her little notebook which seems to go everywhere with her at the moment!

We had science group on Friday where we were learning all about the eye and doing light experiments with balloons. Today was our church away day up near Ambleside at Rydal Hall. Unfortunately it was a real wash-out as we had gale warnings in the South Lakes this morning with torrential rain all day so most of the activites couldn't be done as it was outdoor based. They did manage to have a barbeque though, although the poor people cooking it all were absolutely drenched while we all sat in a nice warm barn eating it!! Although it wasn't a completely wasted trip as we had a wander up to look at the campsite they have at the same place which looks lovely so we may go there on one of our home-ed camps. It looks great, with a river, woods and an adventure playground so we'll have to get that sorted!

We ended coming back a day early from camping as the weather forecast didn't look too promising, just as well as it has tipped it down with rain all today. The little site we were on was really lovely, it has terraced camping areas and a short walk down to the lake and woods for the kids to play in. They all seemed happy making dens, finding rope swings and splashing about in the water. It is a beautiful part of the Lake District and definately worth another visit soon, maybe when the weather isn't going to be so bad!!

We took our inflatable dinghy and canoe so did get out onto the lake for a paddle around which all the kids enjoyed. On the second day we had a walk along to Buttermere village about a mile and half away for ice-cream at a farm, then one group went on around the lake while I took a group back to camp. Part of the path by the campsite has a tunnel going through some rocks which some of the kids decided was a great place to jump out and scare people from. Although most people thought it was funny, they soon had to stop as some others definately didn't!! Oops!

It was a really nice time apart from the midges and another good crowd.

I really must get going with our blog again, I'm afraid it's been abandoned for a while.

We are off cmaping for a few days up near Buttermere. We've not been up to that area of the Lake District before but it is meant to be beautiful. There a few other families coming and we are right next to the lake so I think the kids will be water babies for a few days, probably never out of their wet suits!! I will get some pictures and definately get back on with the blog when we get back.

Well, Party In The Park was brilliant, it turned out to be a hot sunny afternoon and at the last count there were approx over 7,700 people who came throughout the afternoon! The church put this on every year, not as a bible bashing brigade but purely as a way of inviting people to have some fun away from church buildings and to show their love for the community where they are.

I was on the craft tent for a couple of hours helping the kids make some great flower necklaces, crowns and bead bracelets and the amount of people that couldn't believe it was all free was quite funny!! All the kids had great fun and took stuff they had made home with them, some of them obviously never did this kind of thing at home whereas Ben and Eilidh weren't bothered as they get to do craft whenever they fancy!! Dave was busy making sure the kids didn't kill each other on one of the bouncy castles. Although we didn't get to see much of what was going on, everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time and the atmosphere was really lovely.


Of course Eilidh and Ben had their fair share of candy floss, cake and bouncing on the inflatables and were exhausted at the end of the afternoon. Poor Dave had spent all day Saturday setting up, then back down in the morning, then onto guarding the bouncy castle, then helped clearing up, then was on the sound desk at church that night so he was completely worn out when he eventually got home at about 10pm that night!!


Yesterday we went out to Serpentine Woods in Kendal with our friends Chaz, Dawn and their boys Zeph and Isaac to collect wood for a 'camp-fire' tea. The kids all had back packs full up with sticks and twigs by the time we got back to the cars. We then left them to go home and get sorted while we got a load of fruit for pudding and met them later on for tea. This was Dawn's birthday tea as she hadn't had much of a birthday the week before so they had got a lovely fire going in their back garden and while the kids played the jacket potatoes, chicken drumsticks and bread twists cooked!! It was a really nice day, we all love camp-fires and there's always something more special about eating outside with good friends! Hopefully they will be coming along to our next camp which is next week so it will be great for Ben to have someone to play with.

On Friday we had to take a trip over to Barrow as Dave had an appointment at the hospital there. This is somewhere we never really go so we decided to make a day of it. We had a lovely dinner in the hospital restaurant, cheap and cheerful and lots of it, definately recommended!!Then we decided to go over to the Dock Museum, down by the docks (funnily enough!) The kids both got a quiz to do as they went around which always makes museum visits a bit more fun and they really enjoyed it. There were lots of model boats, history of Barrow and also had an exhibition from local textile artists which kept me happy! The kids had a good play in the big playground there and then we headed home.

Yesterday was spent doing one of our holiday cottages and then home to put up the paddling pool. Dave was out all day helping to set up for our church's 'Party In The Park' which is on this afternoon. They organise this every year where they take over one of the parks in Kendal and have loads of different activites going on. There will be face painting, bouncy castles, games, craft activities, refreshments, bike and gym displays, mobile skate park, brass band and steel band and it's all free!!! Dave is back down setting up again this morning and then I'm on a couple of stints in the craft tent. It should be good and the sun has finally come out after waking up to thick fog!!

On Sunday we went for a really lovely walk with our local Home Ed group up in Witherslack woods. It was a little bit wet but just seemed to be really relaxing this time, I guess the group of people help! Eilidh and Ben made friends with a new family who had come up from near Blackpool for the weekend so hopefully we shall see them again at some of out groups. This would be really good for Eilidh as she seemed much happier with one of the girls than she does with her usual little friends in our group. We might have persuaded them to come camping this month so we shall see....

Martin, who leads these walks always tries to find one with a Geocache in as well so the kids have little 'treasure' boxes to find along the way. These are watertight boxes which people place all over the countryside and in towns and then write a clue and post the GPS co-ordinates on a central website so that other people can then go and find them. They normally have a little log book in and small toys / items which you can swap with something you bring with you. Some are easier to find than others !! The kids all love working out the clues and then seeing what's in them, of course I keep forgetting to take something to swap so I must get a stash of little toys to take next time!!

Since then we don't seem to have done much, we have actually spent more time at home than we have for ages. I managed to get the hedges cut yesterday while the kids played out on the front path on their bikes, they have had Phoebe, their little friend two doors down over to play and we had our usual re-stock of books at the library but pretty quiet otherwise. Eilidh has been really tired and grouchy and spent most of today reading her library books on her bed, at the last count she had got through three!!!! Our library has started a loyalty card scheme, where once you have been six times you get entered into a prize draw, so I think we may be in with a chance there!!!