236. Not For Sale(Gathering up all our trash, we ventured off to see if it was another man's treasures at the car boot sale. Mr. TBaM went for the early start and then my mum dropped us down several hours later. The Boy sat quite happily in the boot of the car, singing his heart out while he did some more 'scratch and sketch' from a fab book I'd found.)
237. Skimmer (More skimming stones practise on a clear blue Bristol Channel. Perfect end to Bank Holiday Monday.)
238. Light (One of our regular trips to Techniquest science exploration museum with a visiting friend and her daughter. The Boy is captivated by layering these coloured acetates to make a fully-coloured picture.)
239. Slip (The Boy is desperate to do the monkey bars. He can manage the ones we have at home, but they are the same height as him so he pulls his knees up to his chest and can drop his feet to the ground if he needs to. So after we'd had quite a lovely last day together before I return to work, we went up the clifftop park for a quick run around. He really wanted to manage these, and needed a lot of coaxing. I even got him to drop from one to see how far the drop was if he fell. Finally I got him to launch himself from the platform and swing forwards from the second rung to third. Unfortunately, when he took his hand from the first to reach to the third, he didn't have a good enough grip on the second and swung down flat onto the ground. Straight onto his back. The thud was intense and he lay there for a nano-second screaming like a wild animal, until I scooped him up to cuddle him. The three mothers glaring at me didn't help, luckily the lone dad gave me a sympathetic smile. The Boy was fine but what a crap end to our Summer holidays.)
240. Bloomin' Marvellous (These are my bargain roses from Aldi, £2.00 for the bunch and five days after I bought them, they are still beautiful. Yep, first day back in work so it's a nonsense photo, thought I'd save a 'sleeping boy' photo for next week.)
241. Happy (An after-school visit to Costco to buy a skeleton for a school topic, and The Boy decided he'd have a little dance around outside to his favourite song while we were waiting for daddy. On another note, the 'crap photos after a long day in work' seem to be starting again, joy!)
242. Salt Sand (We drove down to Oxwich Bay as The Boy's reward for completing his chart this week. The sun managed to show itself halfway through the afternoon and we had great fun building a sandcastle with a moat and drawbridge, when The Boy decided that the finishing touches to the whole thing would be a sprinkling of 'salt sand' all around the castle walls. I have no idea what 'salt sand' is, but I think it's the magic ingredient to make the castle complete.)
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So sorry the end of your holidays finished like that but good on him for trying. Love the idea of salt sand – wonder if we have it here?!
I'm pretty sure with your imaginative glasses on you'd find some
Love the sandcastle and The Boy singing in the boot of the car. Sorry to hear about the monkey bars fall and the disapproving mothers. These things happen (they've happened to us more times than I care to remember). Glad he was OK.
Thank you, just one sympathetic smile from them would have helped. Especially as they were outside the park on their mobile phones and had nothing to judge me about.
Love love love the sail sand shot and the skimming stones one too. The boy has so much outdoor fun. #365
Thanks, I like to get outdoors to avoid the mess inside
such wonderful action shots this week. disapproving mothers are the worst, hope the boy was ok x
He was scared more than anything, I suspect he winded himself a bit as well. Thank you.
That sandcastle is amazing! The monkey bars are really tricky, my 12 year old can't even manage them! Hope The Boy is ok after his fall 🙁 Sorry to hear you're back at work too!
I don't think he'll ever manage them to be honest, he has my bone density and both of us have poor upper body strength. Got to keep on trying though!
i best it won't take long for The Boy to remember he did it and not that he fell (of course as mothers we remember the thud and the inconsiderate others around). Another lovely set of reminders of the The Boy as he was
Thank you lovely, he hasn't mentioned it since and seems quite happy to keep climbing; always a good thing!
The sandcastle looks fab – the salt sand must have done the trick. It's become a bit of a mission of mine to get H doing the monkey bars. He doesn't have a great deal of upper body strength, but that could be worked on if only he had the confidence. It's nice that the boy had the confidence – hope he doesn't get put off.
He was really worried about trying them again, but he had a go with me supporting him and luckily managed to get across. I don't think he's going to manage them because he's heavily boned and I don't think he's got the upper body strength either
Love both the seaside pictures, such style to them
Thanks, I do like a good seaside photo.
Oh bless you, glad you're all OK, and the monkey bar pic is awesome! Love the Salt Sand too, it's obviously a very magical ingredient! #365
I can't believe I had no idea about salt sand before, I've been missing out on this key ingredient for years!
The sandcastle is awesome! Love the other beach photo too – the light almost makes it look like snow!
Oh it does look like a frosty Winter's photo doesn't it?
I am loving the action monkey bar shot … and that castle is very impressive! x
Not loving the fact that he fell on his back though, #backtoschool 🙁
Love this weeks shots!
That scratch and sketch book looks fantastic… And SO MUCH FUN with a light box 🙂
…Your castle was WAY bigger than our last one!
If you want to check it out 😉 http://misplacedbrit.com/activities/sand-sensory-box-or-a-beach/
The sandcastle construction is directed by me, I must confess. I've always had a thing for them!
Love the skimmer shot and very impressed by your joint work on the sandcastle.
I do love a good sandcastle! Do you have beaches near you?
I always love looking at your seaside photos with a twinge of jealousy thrown in too! Those flowers look lovely.
Sorry! We do know how lucky we are to live here though 🙂
Well done to him on the monkey bars, you can tell he's really wanting to put his all into it. And well done to you for ignoring those mums too. That huge sand castle is really impressive!
Thanks, we do like a good old sandcastle.
Ah I love the last shot 🙂 looks like the boy really enjoyed building the sand castle 🙂 Did you enjoy technigquest? somewhere we need to visit again 🙂
We love Techniquest, always helped by getting a show free on every visit with our family card.
I'm dreading going back to work and the dull photos that are a result of being in class all day! Well done to the boy for giving the park a go – my boy wouldn't give that a go – and am glad he bounced back. Hope work goes well 🙂
The past two days have been hard, do you use Big Maths? We do and I've never taught from it or planned it. Last time I taught Maths was 5 years ago when we used jolly old Abacus which told you how and when to breathe. Have struggled, but am hoping that the next two days will be easier.
Always love your photos, though I know I rarely comment. Hope the wee man's ok after his fall! There are times like that where they need to learn that falling isn't the end of the world. 😉
Oh thank you lovely, it's such a nice surprise to find out the people who take a peek every now and again. Really appreciate your comment.
Ooooh the fall off the monkey bars sounds awful – glad he is ok 🙂 Lovely photos x
It was horrible, made worse by those judgey mums.
The dance moves and the salt sand just prove that the Boy has got rhythm!
I love the shapes that he pulls, although not the one flat on his back having fallen. Poor fella x
I wasn't particularly fond of that shape either. But you're right, he does have rhythm. No Ida where he gets it from as I have none!
Great photos. I love the beach ones.. I am very jealous of the time you spend there! Hope he recovered quickly from his fall from the monkey bars. I could never do them!
Gorgeous photo of the ocean! Your roses look lovely too.
So glad that he is ok – how scary and how grim of the other mothers not to give that sympathetic grin that we all deserve. Brilliant castle- we'll be imagining ourselves some of that salt sand here too. One more chance for a sunny beach day this week before school starts back – and I couldn't agree more about the fear of shots starting to be trickier now that we're all back in the grind- but I always like your angles and lighting so don't you worry!
I love his dancing photo – he has a great hip wiggle 😉
I get glared at dissaprovingly all the time – mostly when people realise Artie is a boy and has both long hair and (frequently) appears to be wearing his sister's clothes (he often is).
Balls to them, he's a wonderful little boy.
such a shame he fell from the monkey bars! good that he is pushing himself and his confidence though – he will master it soon and i look forward to seeing you capture it on camera.
i love the two beach photos – its your happy place as a family isnt it? always evident in the pics you take x
It completely is, and we're so lucky that we can pop down whenever we need to.
Love the skimming stones shot and that sandcastle is very impressive! Salt sand sounds like just the thing 🙂 Sorry about the monkey bars and disapproving stares, how rubbish. Another great expression in the scratch and sketch picture x
I rather like the idea of salt sand, sounds very magical
Sod the other mothers looking down their noses… you have a child that's learning to enjoy the real world not a child who's wrapped in cotton wool.
Sorry to hear about him falling and the mothers (what is wrong with people) but what gorgeous pictures and love the salt sand, such an incredible imagination! Lovely!
That is one impressive sandcastle!! I love the colours of the Bristol Channel shot and the all the dancing and singing. He is a very happy little chap isn't he?