Y3 - 181/365: The Burbs

A little jaunt around the garden tonight revealed a few things (after Ryan applauded his Daddy's exit from the house on his way down to join us). The first was that our neighbours on the end have apparently moved as all the curtains are wide open on the property and you can no longer see pictures up on the walls.

Hmm, that was quick.

Probably for the best though since two of the teenage kids living with her were down in the lower garden earlier last week being destructive. They were forever moving the garden waste bins to represent goal-posts and even found a pile of scrap wood that they proceeded to chuck over the back fence and into the park.

Between the way they left their own garden (naked palm trees and unkept flower beds) and our other neighbour in the middle section who has neglected to clean up anything since last summer (as evidenced by the bins and bags of waterlogged, rotting apples and weathered pyrotechnics)...it's beginning to look like scenes from The Burbs.

The second thing that was discovered was a bit of vandalism. Last night Matt was out back and heard some kids from down in the park. He said he could hear snapping wood and the kids saying something about "finding a new hide-out." Low and behold, the hideout was our garden as they had managed to kick in an entire section of fencing panels in to allow enough room for people to squeeze through...even past the barbed-wire.

Needless to say we'll be ringing the letting agent in the morning to let them know about this so we can aim to get it repaired ASAP.

Y3 - 180/365: Just a Day

Another day...no calls for work. Boo. The only bonus is that I get to spend it with this guy! And he is loads of fun, let me tell you. We played racing cars, Mega Bloks, read some books, went down the slide -- okay, Ryan went down the slide while I watched and cheered...

...and we also played with the magnetic letters a little. He likes to pull off the lid and one by one pull the letters out and put them back in. (Look at that after-dinner budda-belly!)

And when he starts to get too loud, he knows how to tell Daddy to be more quiet.

Y3 - 179/365: All You Need is Love

A "quick" trip to Tesco tonight to get some more 12-18 month vests for Ryan turned out to be not so quick in the long run. We found the vests, although not plain white, short-sleeved ones like I was looking for...but along with that we found a pack of socks as well as a much-needed tub of magnetic letters.

SOLD!!!

With this being their only time together tonight, Ryan and Daddy played with the letters for a bit while I got Ryan's dinner ready so we could get him off to bed. When I returned to the room I signed "eat" to Ryan and he signed it back and came running over to me where I sat near his Bumbo. He went to turn around to sit in his seat, except his foot must have caught the other foot and he tumbled forward, his right eye narrowly missing the corner of one of the coffee tables!

Thankfully, he only suffered a small scratch, but Daddy and I still felt awful that he had yet another little injury to his perfect, porcelain cheek. He did whinge a bit, but the promise of yogurt quickly took his mind of of it!

Y3 - 178/365: Your Turn!

Sunday tea was hosted at ours this weekend. Ryan was super excited to show off his new slide to cousin Amy, but she wasn't much in the mood as she wasn't feeling very well. Still, that didn't stop Ryan from going down his slide and running over to Amy, clapping his hands together to show her how much fun it was, and then back to his slide to have another go!

Y3 - 177/365: New Toys!

So, after the exciting visits to Haden Hill Park and making use of the slide there numerous times, Matt went out last night to Toys 'R Us and bought Ryan his very own slide! To say it was an absolute hit would be an understatement because he was in LOVE!

Both last night and today he couldn't get enough and he's so proud of himself after he climbs the steps and gets seated at the top. Then he takes his time deciding when would be the best moment to let loose and glide on down...and glide he does with a squeal of delight!

For only £24.99 it can't be beat really.

Later this afternoon at the Great Bridge Asda-Walmart Supercentre we picked up a set of racing cars for £4.50. It wasn't until we brought them home and had them out of the package that Matt discovered their level of awesomeness exponentially increase as you could manually "rev-up" the wheels and let them speed across the floor. So, after the slide was put away, Ryan and Daddy spent the rest of their night together playing racing cars.

Y3 - 176/365: Friday at the Park

As planned, we went to Haden Hill Park as a family this afternoon and as expected, Ryan LOVED his time going up the steps and then, with some help from Daddy, down the slide! Each time he'd get to the bottom, he'd stand up and run full-Ryan-speed back to the steps to go again!

He'd get to the top and hold onto the bar above him until Matt peeled his fingers off, one-by-one, chuckling and telling our dear son that he had to let go and sit down before he could go down the slide.

Ryan would then squeal his little head off all the way down to the bottom, get off, and race back to the steps!

He ran over to the swings a couple times, but they were occupied by other children (a bit daft to only have two infant/toddler swings available in the first place, really). We told Ryan he would have to wait his turn and Daddy even tried to placate him with a ride on his lap from the big swing, but no dice, it worked a whole 30 seconds and then he wasn't having it.

Since we had taken our walk by the lower pool when we first arrived, this playground was the last stop before heading to the car and then back home...

...well, almost the last stop. While Daddy took a brief smoke break, Ryan and I walked across the car-park to the upper pool to say goodbye to the ducks. Ryan felt his goodbye would be more effective if he could get a closer look at his feathered friends.

Once we got home, the fun didn't stop there, because Daddy popped back out to get a surprise for Ryan. You'll have to check back tomorrow to see what it was though!

Y3 - 175/365: Sunshine Again?! I'll Take it!

Today was so refreshing compared to my stressful daily routine the previous 3 weeks. I was assigned to Reception, Year 1, and Nursery and despite this school being located not three quarters of a mile from where I used to be, the children, in Key Stage 1 at least, are so much easier to deal with. I was even gifted a beautiful dandelion at lunchtime.

In Nursery the children participated in a focus group working with cornflour and water. What a brilliant activity -- even I had no idea it would be so interesting. It gives resistance when you try to push it, acting like a solid, but then it will just dribble off your fingers and act like a liquid at the same time. I can't wait to try this with Ryan!

My day got even better when I arrived at the train station at 10 past four, thinking I was 5 minutes late for the 4:05 train, only to learn it was delayed and was only arriving in two minutes! This meant I was able to get home to Rowley almost 40 minutes sooner, grab something for tea at the Tesco Express, and arrive back to the cottage with plenty of time to change clothes and throw a load in the wash, throw another load in the dryer, get tea in the oven, and head outside to take some photos of the freshly budding garden before Matt arrived home.

Feeling great now knowing neither of us are working tomorrow, so the plan at the moment is to take little man back to Haden Hill Park so he can show Daddy what all the fuss is about!