Yesterday was a long day so didn't get time to write anything. We had organised a 'NOT back to school' day out with our local Home Ed group to Brockhole. So while all the other kids were going off to school we were all having fun splashing and playing!!! We met up with everyone (about 11 families came in the end!) and first went to the adventure playground at Brockhole, the kids spent a happy hour and half playing while we munched our lunches. Then we wandered down to the lakeside and set up camp on the beach. The weather was warm and bright so the younger ones went paddling, playing on our body boards and splashing about while the older kids had a 'squirt the ducks' session on the jetty!!? The afternoon went really quickly with trips to the playgound and up to cafe to sneak in a decent cup of coffee and ice-cream. Spent most of the time just sitting around chatting overlooking beautiful Lake Windermere. What more could you ask?

Some people had to go towards tea time, but the real hardy ones stayed on for a BBQ on the beach. We ended up packing up at about 8.30 as it was starting to get dark! Ben was shattered and fell asleep almost straight away in the car. Altogether a really good day, better than going to school!!!

It would have been Ben's first day at school yesterday (if we had sent him) so it made it a bit more poignant for us. The thought of Ben going to school, quite honestly scares the life out of me now. He would probably either be classified a 'problem child' or end up sitting in a corner biting his nails as he would be soooo not ready!!! Thank goodness for Home Education!!!!!!!!!!

Today, Dave was working at Steve's again so we got a load of washing and drying done. Eilidh and Ben helped wash the outside table and then set it up to play on. They sat making plasticine mushrooms, cars and mermaids and did some colouring in. They amused themselves for about an hour and half and then demanded some lunch.

I had promised them an ice-cream this afternoon so after taking all our recycling we went off to Natland Millbeck Ice-Cream Farm. They have outdoor toys and sheep and calfs, a big sandpit and of course lovely ice-cream so we spent a while there before coming back home. Ben fell asleep in the car (again!) so he got packed off to bed while me and Eilidh sorted out some of the garden, trying to find somewhere to put all our recycling each week. Eilidh then helped me make some dinner (chopped a few carrots, washed potatoes and helped make gravy!)The farmer then came over the hill and we watched two tractors trundling up and down, one putting all the cut grass into a neat line for the other one to make bales from. This one would just pick up all the grass and then plop out a big round bale at the back. Amazing! Ben wandered downstairs at this point and I was getting all excited telling him to watch the tractors but apparantly he had been sitting on his bed watching them already and knew exactly how it all worked!!! (Silly mummy!!)

They then decided they wanted to play on CBeebies on the internet and fought over whose turn it was until dinner time! Just as we were finishing dinner a hot air balloon appeared out of nowhere right at the top of the hill behind our house, Eilidh has now decided she wants to go in one!!