Fun at the beach

We all met at the beach this week. We were going to do some art but the children were having so much fun playing we decided to leave them to it.

We had two new families come this week which was really nice and it turns out Levi already knows one of the boys from camp a few weeks ago (and people think home educated children are isolated?)

I would just like to point out that, although it may look like it, Theo was not about to hit anyone over the head with that spade.

Whenever we go to the beach Levi wants to spend the whole time digging holes.

Theo brought his guitar and was most pleased when John gave him some pointers on how to play sweet child of mine by Guns and Roses.

Wendy and Kane made a sand boat.

Then Kane and Levi dug a really deep hole. They're both stood up in it in this picture so it was pretty deep.

Then on the way home we saw this man jumping up walls and doing other crazy stuff.

At first I thought he was going to climb up this but instead he just sort of dived head first through the middle of it. Unfortunately he was moving a bit too quick to get a good photo.

I definitely think he deserves the fruit loop of the week award.

Boogaloo

I took the children to Boogaloo for lunch today. We had nachos, a Mumbai mezze and a chicken and bacon toasted flat bread sandwich.

Gaynor's birthday and pina coladas on the beach

In the evening we went to the beach and had a little party as it was Gaynor's birthday.

Rebecca made a huge picnic.

The weather wasn't fab because it was cold and raining a bit but we sat underneath the pier so we were nice and dry.

We soon warmed up after a few glasses of pina colada.

We put a tent up for the children to sit in.

It may have been cold and raining but it meant we had the whole beach to ourselves.

Cheers.

BNSS

On Tuesday morning we went to the society and Theo gave a new home ed family a guided tour.

They were very impressed by his knowledge and we spent ages discussing the benefits of home education for children like him.

Visitors

In the afternoon Lucy came over with her children. We were sat chatting and this pigeon decided to pop in and have a nose around my house. Theo caught it and took it outside but it kept coming back in.

Visit to the Oceanarium

Last week we went to the Oceanarium. The man on the left is our tour guide and he is busy telling the children about the piranhas in the tank above their heads and why he would rather put his hand in that tank than the tank behind him which contains another type of piranha. According to him the ones in the top tank will only attack if they're starving and the ones behind him will eat you even if they've been fed.

To prove the point he went to the back of the tank and waved near the glass and all the fish shot straight over to where he was, thinking they were going to get a chance of something to eat.

He then told us that he has the job of cleaning the glass in the shark tank. According to him the sharks never bite it's the turtles that are a problem. Apparently he has a large scar on his back from a turtle bite. We tried very hard to get him to strip off and show us but he said he's not allowed to remove his clothes while he's at work so no photos I'm afraid.

We all got to have a poke of this lovely starfish. You can't really tell from this picture but it was a really vibrant shade of red.

They also had some Giant African Land Snails. When Theo asked if they wanted any of our babies he said that he already had some as he and his friend had decided to let some eggs hatch. They got them out to show us (they reminded me of proud parents showing off a new baby).

Orienteering

This week we decided to have a go at some orienteering at the coppice. The children formed two teams and completed three different courses.

Trampolining

Hair up.

Hair down.

Ham sandwiches

Wendy showed us how to meditate. Apparently you sit with your legs crossed and chant the word ham for a long time. Very odd! But then again she is wearing tie dye.

National Recycling Week 2008

This week is National recycling week.

I'm quite good at recycling already so I don't think there's an awful lot more I can recycle. I think instead I'm going to try and cut down on buying things (mainly food) that comes in non-recyclable packaging.

I found a couple of interesting websites to go with the recycling theme.

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ and http://www.wrap.org.uk/

YP Centenary

On Saturday evening Levi took part in the YP band centenary concert at church with Steven Mead and the SWT Woodfalls band.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Mead

Ours was the first corps in the Salvation Army to start a young peoples band. On Sunday morning Malcolm the current YP band leader got all the previous band leaders lined up on the stage, together they covered over 50 years of the bands history.

And on Sunday morning he sang in church for the first time with the singing company.

Also in the picture is Theo's girlfriend. She's the blond one holding the microphone.

He's going to be singing in another concert on Friday.