...with lots of pictures and news. Just so as you know, we have been REALLY busy. I've got heaps to show and tell and I'm in the process of sorting out my jumbled thoughts.
We've had Baginton Party in the Park, the Small Person's dance show, there's a few crafty things that the Small Person and I have been up to, it's my [big] birthday in a couple of days - eeek!, and we have lots of wonderful Summer plans.
The Summer holidays are already here, so we're already well into enjoying our time together. I love having both the Small People at home. I don't even get tired of it by the end of the summer break. I do not love the idea of homeschooling though (I'm just not disciplined enough!) so the Small Person will be returning to class 2C in September.
In other news, I got my course result back for my Children's Literature course. A pass 3, which is equivalent to a 2.2 classification. Kind of funked me out :( It's the third time it's happened now. I work really well all through the course getting high pass 2s or pass 1s for my written work (for instance, my average for written work on this course was 81%, yet my examinable piece was 63%), it comes to the final assessment and I do something not quite right and get a much lower mark than usual. It's frustrating because I have proved time and time again I can do a lot better, but the feedback doesn't give me any idea where it all went wrong (because it's just vague categories awarded a grade level) and so I seem destined to repeat the same marks for every module.
My module marks affect my overall degree classification, so at the moment it looks like I might get a 2.2. I really need a 2.1 to carry on where I want to study. A 2.2 also doesn't actually reflect my capabilities. If that was the level I worked at, I'd be really happy - a 2.2 is a good level, I just know I can do more. I have 3 more modules to complete for my degree, only 2 of which count towards my classification. I HAVE to get a 2.1 or higher for both of them in order to still get a 2.1 overall degree, I have no chance of a First class honours degree anymore. The pressure is truly on, and I have to admit, I feel a little defeated already. I'd really appreciate it if you could all silently cheer me on over the next year ;)
“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.” - Walt Disney
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Thursday, 15 September 2011
The Summer Revisited #2
Another recap of things the Wishes have been up to whilst absent from blogland...
In the first week of the holiday it was my birthday - Yay! This was always one of the best things about the summer holiday when I was at school. We ALWAYS broke up the friday before my birthday. I never had to work on my birthday (a tradition I have continued into adulthood! :D) I had some lovely new clothes and the small people bought me some heated rollers.
On the Wednesday, I took the little Wishes to The Lunt Roman Fort in our village. They were running an archaeology event. This is where Alexandra enetered the competition she won. She also dressed up and made a roman man and woman which she has now stuck into her holiday book.
The same day, as it was my birthday week, we went to Stoneleigh Abbey. A place I have never been to before. Strange as it is so close. We took the Jane Austen tour, perfect for my little treat :) It was very interesting and the rooms were lovely, but the lady who was leading the tour, did seem to go off track a couple of times and miss something out, then have to return to it later, so it didnt flow quite as well as you would expect. It wasn't really the sort of thing to take a small person and a smaller person too because I think they got quite bored, but they were very well behaved (until the very very end bit). I really enjoyed it though, and it's a place many grown up type people would enjoy seeing.
I really would love to go back to see more of the grounds - we ran out of time, which was a shame because they looked lovely.
We also took our first trip of the school holiday to The Herbert Art Gallery. This week we went to the walking with beasts exhibition (like the TV series). Alexandra thought it was brilliant because she got to see Manny from Ice Age! We also made a woolly mamoth using paper folding and some fluffy fibres.
We visited 'Wild Worlds' for the first time. This week was 'Ice World' (it's enough to make you want to revert to your child hood and go explore things in your own imagination). Zack was very unsure. It was kind of like "Really? I'm allowed to just go? You're not going to tell me off? Are you sure...?" but he soon got used to his new freedom.
After that gallery, we took the 'Precious Trails' treasure hunt challenge. We had to follow clues all around the museum and gallery until we found the final treasure which turned out to be a key (a printed one). Once you had solved all of the clues using your treasure map, you returned to the craft studio with your key. In the craft studio we made a treasure chest in which to keep the key. This was another free activity for the summer holidays. (I cannot reccommend the gallery enough for families!).
The Friday, we went returned to town, this time to visit Coventry Transport Museum. I haven't visited here since it was all refurbished, and never with the children. We followed their transport trail finding pictures alongside the motors, bikes and other exhibits. We did old road sign rubbings, colouring in, and decorating a kaleidoscope.
We also walked through their Blitz streets. I wasn't sure what Alexandra would think of it, but we had been talking about the Cathedral (as we had to walk past it going to the art gallery) so she was already starting to grasp the concept of what took place during WW2. She was fascinated and asked lots of questions. What the bomb shelters were for, why the windows had tape crosses on them, what the loud sirens were for, why did this happen, that sort of thing. I think she has quite a good understanding for her age. The Blitz and war was something that we discussed again later in the holiday.
To finish a lovely day, we bought retro sweets from the gift shop. We took Daddy a Dip Dab home (he's been going on about those since I met him in 1999!). Sweets are a lovely way to end a fun trip, but they're even better if they're old school!
And that, my dear readers, was then end of a packed first week of summer. Did you have any fun day trips over the summer?
In the first week of the holiday it was my birthday - Yay! This was always one of the best things about the summer holiday when I was at school. We ALWAYS broke up the friday before my birthday. I never had to work on my birthday (a tradition I have continued into adulthood! :D) I had some lovely new clothes and the small people bought me some heated rollers.
On the Wednesday, I took the little Wishes to The Lunt Roman Fort in our village. They were running an archaeology event. This is where Alexandra enetered the competition she won. She also dressed up and made a roman man and woman which she has now stuck into her holiday book.
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| Alexandra the Celt. |
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| Zachary the lion warrior (so tough, he can eat his own armour). |
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| Alexandra's competition entry (she won a £5 book voucher). |
The same day, as it was my birthday week, we went to Stoneleigh Abbey. A place I have never been to before. Strange as it is so close. We took the Jane Austen tour, perfect for my little treat :) It was very interesting and the rooms were lovely, but the lady who was leading the tour, did seem to go off track a couple of times and miss something out, then have to return to it later, so it didnt flow quite as well as you would expect. It wasn't really the sort of thing to take a small person and a smaller person too because I think they got quite bored, but they were very well behaved (until the very very end bit). I really enjoyed it though, and it's a place many grown up type people would enjoy seeing.
 |
| Stoneleigh Abbey |
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| Bored small person |
We also took our first trip of the school holiday to The Herbert Art Gallery. This week we went to the walking with beasts exhibition (like the TV series). Alexandra thought it was brilliant because she got to see Manny from Ice Age! We also made a woolly mamoth using paper folding and some fluffy fibres.
 |
| Mammoth making. |
 |
| Walking with Beast Exhibition. |
 |
| The small people enjoying the wonders of 'Wild Worlds'. |
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| Treasure chest craft. |
 |
| Road sign rubbings. |
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| Transport trail. |
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| Kaleidoscope decorating. |
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| Blitz streets. |
And that, my dear readers, was then end of a packed first week of summer. Did you have any fun day trips over the summer?
Sunday, 4 September 2011
The Summer Revisted #1
I can't believe the summer holiday is over. I had such big plans for the summer, and to be fair, I achieved quite a few, but it's gone by so quickly. School time is here again and I foresee much labelling of clothing and shoes in my immediate future....
We just made the school shoe shopping trip today. That was nice and expensive. We also bought new bags for swimming, PE and dancing. I'm disappointed they are bought and not handmade like last year, but I have just ran out of time. I'm hoping by Christmas to have made a set of bags to replace them, but including a few extras (Tap shoe bag, Ballet pump bag, both to fit inside her dance bag, drinks bottle bag, because it is compulsory to take a filled bottle of water to her school, 2 small zippy pouches for hair things, one for dance, one for swimming). We shall see if I can fulfil this one small goal.
Today was also a party day. One of the small person's school friends had a birthday party at Umberslade Farm Park. She was so excited to see her friends again ('cos you know, when you're 5years old, six weeks feels like six years) and even more excited to have a pony ride.
So, our summer? How did we spend our time? We made lots of visits to places that were running summer holiday activities.
The very first Saturday of the holiday we still had one last dance class to attend, and Mr Bogert had a wedding to photograph, so he dropped us off on the way. As we had time to kill after dancing but before the village bus came (It runs roughly every, ummmm, week maybe :D), and we have our English Heritage membership, we walked down to Kenilworth Castle.
They were running an archaeology event as part of their 'Time Travellers Go...' summer events. The small person took part in a tomb raider race, where she had to loot each different place using only a hook on a pole, and then race back to the finish.
She also learnt about how to uncover real objects by gently brushing soil/sand away
and that you must not pick the objects up, you must leave them where they are and draw them as they lay.
We went in Leicester's Gatehouse to do some drawing, then sat outside in the garden having a picnic. Luckily, we had nice weather!
On the Sunday we had Mr Bogert back, so we took a trip in the car to Ryton Pool. This is not far from us. There is a lovely big pond with ducks and geese you can feed, several walks where you can also take your bikes, a large grass area for picnics and games (frisbee, football etc), and a few play areas dotted about.
There is also a small cafe near the information hut, and a model railway, that when it is open the children can ride (for a small fee).
Unfortunately, the small person ripped her dress climbing a tree. Mr Bogert was worried it would be beyond repair. His only concern being 'she looks like a Rocket ice lolly in that dress'. It should be a simple repair (I hope) and then he can continue to call her 'Lollipop' or 'Rocket' when she wears it. That will make him happy.
We also managed to fit in a game of frisbee and nerf guns at the Millenium Field (in our village), visit my Dad and go for Sunday dinner at Mr Bogert's mum's house. A very busy start to our holiday - A for effort, Wishes :)
We just made the school shoe shopping trip today. That was nice and expensive. We also bought new bags for swimming, PE and dancing. I'm disappointed they are bought and not handmade like last year, but I have just ran out of time. I'm hoping by Christmas to have made a set of bags to replace them, but including a few extras (Tap shoe bag, Ballet pump bag, both to fit inside her dance bag, drinks bottle bag, because it is compulsory to take a filled bottle of water to her school, 2 small zippy pouches for hair things, one for dance, one for swimming). We shall see if I can fulfil this one small goal.
Today was also a party day. One of the small person's school friends had a birthday party at Umberslade Farm Park. She was so excited to see her friends again ('cos you know, when you're 5years old, six weeks feels like six years) and even more excited to have a pony ride.
So, our summer? How did we spend our time? We made lots of visits to places that were running summer holiday activities.
The very first Saturday of the holiday we still had one last dance class to attend, and Mr Bogert had a wedding to photograph, so he dropped us off on the way. As we had time to kill after dancing but before the village bus came (It runs roughly every, ummmm, week maybe :D), and we have our English Heritage membership, we walked down to Kenilworth Castle.
Elizabethan Garden
Tomb Raider Race
She also learnt about how to uncover real objects by gently brushing soil/sand away
Discovering buried artefacts
and that you must not pick the objects up, you must leave them where they are and draw them as they lay.
We went in Leicester's Gatehouse to do some drawing, then sat outside in the garden having a picnic. Luckily, we had nice weather!
Leicester's Gatehouse
Picnic time
On the Sunday we had Mr Bogert back, so we took a trip in the car to Ryton Pool. This is not far from us. There is a lovely big pond with ducks and geese you can feed, several walks where you can also take your bikes, a large grass area for picnics and games (frisbee, football etc), and a few play areas dotted about.
There is also a small cafe near the information hut, and a model railway, that when it is open the children can ride (for a small fee).
Unfortunately, the small person ripped her dress climbing a tree. Mr Bogert was worried it would be beyond repair. His only concern being 'she looks like a Rocket ice lolly in that dress'. It should be a simple repair (I hope) and then he can continue to call her 'Lollipop' or 'Rocket' when she wears it. That will make him happy.
We also managed to fit in a game of frisbee and nerf guns at the Millenium Field (in our village), visit my Dad and go for Sunday dinner at Mr Bogert's mum's house. A very busy start to our holiday - A for effort, Wishes :)
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Time Travel Bank Holiday Weekend
We've been back in time this weekend spending time with the Normans and Saxons and the Victorians.
On Friday, Mr Bogert had to work. He was photographing another wedding, so while he was hard at work, the small people and I took a trip to Kenilworth Castle. We're English Heritage members, so we get in for free (free is my favourite price!).
We solved 2 of Godric's riddles so that he would tell us all a story about a Lord and a Gong Farmer (person who's job it was to clear out the toilets - yuk!).
So tell me the answer to this: "There was a king who had 7 daughters, each of the daughters had a brother. How many children did the King have?"
and what about: "2 fathers and 2 sons went fishing together. They each caught a fish and brought it home. When they got home, they cooked the 3 fish. How can this be?"
Not too difficult, they were aimed at children, answers in the next post. We were also shown how to light fire the old way so that the master's food could be cooked.
We had to do a little school shopping too. The return to school is creeping up on us fast and we're not at all ready! That also meant plenty of homework on Saturday.
Sunday family Wishes visited Blists Hill Victorian Town, part of the Ironbridge Museum group. There were special activites related to Alice in Wonderland taking place for the bank holiday and children were invited to dress up for the day. I had decided it wasn't that important to dress up, but had a pang of guilt late on Saturday that resulted in me searching the house for possibilities. We settled on Alice and The White Rabbit.
Alice wore a blue dress that was bought by Auntie 'Potato Salad' Heather and Uncle Andy, with an apron from her dressing up box. This apron was actually mine when I was younger, made by Nana for a Victorian day at school when I was 7 (all things handmade get treasured in our home). I found a black head band and used a scrap of black felt to make a bow. And there we have it - instant Alice.
The White Rabbit wore a pair of blue trousers, a white shirt and a beige waistcoat which are his own. I found a scrap of marabou trim which I knotted up and tacked to the trousers for a tail. I used one of my crochet bows for the bow tie, tacked onto the shirt. We had the bunny bonnet left over from the May Fair fancy dress. The red jacket was part of Alexandra's ringmaster costume (that she's out grown). I took the black trim of the collar and cuffs, and folded up the tails to the inside and tacked it in place (I can return it to its original state if I want to). The only thing missing was a pocket watch, so I made this one from felt, stuffed with cotton wool (my stuffing is way way waaaaaay back in the loft), with a chain made from a length of crochet. He got lots of "Awwwww..." as we were going around.
We almost didn't make it after all of that. There we were sitting in the car, the kids dressed up. already late, and the car would not start. We couldn't even jump start it. The battery had completely had it. Mr Bogert saved the day though, running off to buy a new (pricey) battery and fitting it to the car.
First we had to visit the bank to exchange some of our modern money for old. (farthings, ha'pennies, pennies, thrupenny bits and sixpences).
We visited the Grocers...
..The pharmacy...
...The drapers (oh, the lovliness!)...
...The doctors (I could live in this sweet little house. I would redecorate though!)...
...The Fair...
...and plenty of other places. We also saw the King and Queen of Hearts at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with Alice and the White Rabbit. The small people got prizes for dressing up, but didn't win first prize (well, what can you expect for a thrown together outfit) but the were quite happy.
Our last stop was to the Photographers to have our family portrait taken. We were shattered when we got home!
Today we went further back in time to watch the seige unfold at Kenilworth Castle. Several reenactment groups set up camp over the bank holiday weekend. We saw archers, trebuchets, ladders to scale the castle walls, knights on horses and the way the people were living in the camps.
This last photograph is a display of natural fibres dyed with natural dyes. Aren't the colours yummy? They've used combinations of things like madder, alum, copper and iron. I remember having to try different natural dyes back at school in A-level textiles, but I openly admit, I remember none of it, which is a shame.
A lovely way to spend a weekend, just sad Mr Bogert is returning to work tomorrow. How did you spend your weekend?
On Friday, Mr Bogert had to work. He was photographing another wedding, so while he was hard at work, the small people and I took a trip to Kenilworth Castle. We're English Heritage members, so we get in for free (free is my favourite price!).
We solved 2 of Godric's riddles so that he would tell us all a story about a Lord and a Gong Farmer (person who's job it was to clear out the toilets - yuk!).
So tell me the answer to this: "There was a king who had 7 daughters, each of the daughters had a brother. How many children did the King have?"
and what about: "2 fathers and 2 sons went fishing together. They each caught a fish and brought it home. When they got home, they cooked the 3 fish. How can this be?"
Not too difficult, they were aimed at children, answers in the next post. We were also shown how to light fire the old way so that the master's food could be cooked.
We had to do a little school shopping too. The return to school is creeping up on us fast and we're not at all ready! That also meant plenty of homework on Saturday.
Sunday family Wishes visited Blists Hill Victorian Town, part of the Ironbridge Museum group. There were special activites related to Alice in Wonderland taking place for the bank holiday and children were invited to dress up for the day. I had decided it wasn't that important to dress up, but had a pang of guilt late on Saturday that resulted in me searching the house for possibilities. We settled on Alice and The White Rabbit.
Alice wore a blue dress that was bought by Auntie 'Potato Salad' Heather and Uncle Andy, with an apron from her dressing up box. This apron was actually mine when I was younger, made by Nana for a Victorian day at school when I was 7 (all things handmade get treasured in our home). I found a black head band and used a scrap of black felt to make a bow. And there we have it - instant Alice.
The White Rabbit wore a pair of blue trousers, a white shirt and a beige waistcoat which are his own. I found a scrap of marabou trim which I knotted up and tacked to the trousers for a tail. I used one of my crochet bows for the bow tie, tacked onto the shirt. We had the bunny bonnet left over from the May Fair fancy dress. The red jacket was part of Alexandra's ringmaster costume (that she's out grown). I took the black trim of the collar and cuffs, and folded up the tails to the inside and tacked it in place (I can return it to its original state if I want to). The only thing missing was a pocket watch, so I made this one from felt, stuffed with cotton wool (my stuffing is way way waaaaaay back in the loft), with a chain made from a length of crochet. He got lots of "Awwwww..." as we were going around.
We almost didn't make it after all of that. There we were sitting in the car, the kids dressed up. already late, and the car would not start. We couldn't even jump start it. The battery had completely had it. Mr Bogert saved the day though, running off to buy a new (pricey) battery and fitting it to the car.
First we had to visit the bank to exchange some of our modern money for old. (farthings, ha'pennies, pennies, thrupenny bits and sixpences).
We visited the Grocers...
..The pharmacy...
...The drapers (oh, the lovliness!)...
...The doctors (I could live in this sweet little house. I would redecorate though!)...
...The Fair...
...and plenty of other places. We also saw the King and Queen of Hearts at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with Alice and the White Rabbit. The small people got prizes for dressing up, but didn't win first prize (well, what can you expect for a thrown together outfit) but the were quite happy.
Our last stop was to the Photographers to have our family portrait taken. We were shattered when we got home!
Today we went further back in time to watch the seige unfold at Kenilworth Castle. Several reenactment groups set up camp over the bank holiday weekend. We saw archers, trebuchets, ladders to scale the castle walls, knights on horses and the way the people were living in the camps.
This last photograph is a display of natural fibres dyed with natural dyes. Aren't the colours yummy? They've used combinations of things like madder, alum, copper and iron. I remember having to try different natural dyes back at school in A-level textiles, but I openly admit, I remember none of it, which is a shame.
A lovely way to spend a weekend, just sad Mr Bogert is returning to work tomorrow. How did you spend your weekend?
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