End of Term and Both Girls at Home

Today was the first day of the school hols and it was quite strange to have both the girls at home for the day – though lovely too of course! Charlotte was quite sad at not going to Kindi, which I saw as a positive as she is definitely loving it.

We’ve had a truck load of rain this weekend (not as much as the UK though, where senior Church of England bishops blame the moral degradation of society as the reason for the floods!) and the sky looked ominous again this morning. This didn’t stop the girls from mucking round with a few bubbles this morning and Charlotte commenting on how, ‘They look like jellyfish!’. It crossed my mind that I would never have thought of this when I was her age and that she is a true beach lass. She examined the bubbles sitting on the wet ground for ages.

And this was all before 8am!

We dropped Dan into work and headed for the museum, but with the rain holding off we made the most of the dry spell to enjoy a splash in some puddles on the waterfront.

Reflections and splashes are a true delight:

When the museum opened we headed to ‘The Poisoners Exhibit‘ and Charlotte loved hunting for clues (even though some were a little hard for her – and me!). Fortunately there were some simple clues and we learned heaps about various poisonous and deadly animals and plants.

The girls take a close look at a crocodile and the skeleton of a snake (goodness knows what was going on in their heads – you could almost see the cogs turning!):

Detective Charlotte hunting for clues:

Sophie makes a new animal friend and Charlotte looks quite bemused at this spider with miniature model people lying ‘dead’ under it (When she asked, ‘What does this mean?’ I took one of those DEEP inhalations!):

After all our detective work we needed some refreshments before heading to one of the Discovery Centres (Inspiration Station) for some dress-up fun. I am always in awe of how children have distinct personalities from birth and Sophie is definitely a dress-up girl who loves shoes, dolls and clothes.

Charlotte would happily stay all day at the museum, but Sophie can only manage a morning of sensory overload, so we grabbed some lunch and watched Daddy play indoor soccer. I was personally horrified at how much sweat there was pouring off the fellas from a short 20 minute game! But all that sweat was obviously worthwhile since Daddy won! The girls were chuffed and all their squealing throughout the game definitely put the opposition off their game!

After such a busy morning I was exhausted, as was Sophie, but Charlotte was still ready for action. She has grown quite fond of my neighbour and she asked if was okay to go over. I was so grateful to my neighbour as she gladly welcomed Charlotte (and her wicker basket of toys) into her home and she told me to head off for a sleep myself – what a blessing (I must thank her with a good crate of beer!).

Charlotte returned just as Sophie and I woke up and she’d made some beautiful pom pom pets and painted ‘Grandads’ face (my neighbours father is a very good sport!).

The afternoon was spent finger painting (20 minutes of painting and a good half hour cleaning up!). Thankfully Sophie is of an age when water and pouring fascinate her so she ‘helped’ to clean up (getting herself drenched through and the floor a lovely wet mix of water and diluted paint!).

Dinner time approached and I reflected on how easy life is with good television. Little Einsteins is a beautiful programme, with calming classical music, where four characters explores the world in a little rocket ship. The influence of the musical terminology is reflected in Charlotte’s play at the playground with shouts of ‘Allegro’ on the sea-saw and me shouting, ‘Adagio’ in response when poor little Sophie looks like she’s going to fly skyward!

Whilst the girls sat engrossed (with left over party jelly and noodles) I prepared dinner and finished cleaning up the paints.

They didn’t crash till gone 8pm tonight and had a lovely time playing with trains and Charlotte’s ‘projector’ torch in the dark (she puts various animals on the front of the torch and chases around the room with snakes and gorillas).

I really should be ironing tonight, but I can’t face it. Still bunged up with cold and starting to get anxious about our travel to the UK (especially since the weekend’s Terror Crackdown). It’s always an emotional roller-coaster to go from not seeing family for three years to suddenly be living in the same house, but we normally enjoy an intensely wonderful time.

I can see my house being covered in ‘post-it notes’ by the end of the week – so much to do!