Days 174-180 of Project 365

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174-180 of 365

174. Spiderman (We were fortunate enough to have a day sightseeing in London following the Britmums conference, and managed a trip on the London Eye for The Boy to locate the places he'd seen with Mr. TBaM the day before. Afterwards we were able to finally visit the Jubilee Gardens at its base, which we'd seen being built last year.)

175. Digging for Treasure (A simple day playing in the house and garden after an exhausting weekend. Nothing is better at the moment than digging for treasure. Especially with Toy Story sunglasses and a genuine pirate hat.)

176. Speedy (An absolutely beautiful evening meant that we were able to nip down to the local nature reserve, feed the swans and practice bike-riding amongst the bullrushes and bamboo.)

177. Playmobil World (More pirates, I know. What can I say? He's loving the hat at the moment. However, I returned home from work today to discover nearly every single piece of Playmobil he owns all spread out in the dining room, and 'pirate caves' created in the Ikea shelving. I love that his imagination is starting to kick in.)

178. Pavement artist (A simple activity which I often forget about; chalk drawing and writing on the patio, focusing on over-writing letters.)

179. On Target (We created a reward chart for The Boy this week, focusing not on behavioural issues, but on time and personal management. Having been for his Reception induction last week I'm very aware that he needs to speed up the rate at which he eats his meals – apart from anything else, the hour is driving us mad – as he won't have time in his lunch break to be chivied along. We've set him the target of eating within thirty minutes, and he's managed it at every mealtime! Other targets are getting dressed by himself – preparing for PE lessons – and tidying up. As a reward he was able to go to soft play with daddy while I was at the Summer Fayre this morning.)

180. Me and My Shadow (After the Summer Fayre, where I painted eleventy billion pink butterflies, we went for a long walk across Cardiff Bay Barrage to the pirate park, and scooted back. The sun was amazing and I love this shadow.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
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Days 125-131 of Project 365

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125-131 of 365

125. Silhouette (Earlier in the day Mr. TBaM and I had sold at a car boot sale, and we followed that up with a trip across the barrage to the Bay for some very special celebrations. Today was the day that Cardiff celebrated its football club returning to the premiership, something it hasn't experienced for fifty years. There was a huge event down in Cardiff Bay with tens of thousands of supporters and proud Cardiffians alike. Secretly we were only after catching a glimpse of Alex from CBeebies who made The Boy very happy with a wave and a thumbs up! We then walked back across the barrage to watch the amazing fireworks.)

126. Crash! (Monday was a stunningly beautiful day. The buzz of lawnmowers, sizzle of barbeques, shrieks of laughter from children splashing in their paddling pools and the buzz of the honey bees filled the air. We entertained friends that we hadn't seen in four years; I was four months pregnant with The Boy when we last saw them. I was going to show a photo of The Boy watering the garden wearing an incredibly cute straw hat, however this one topped everything. He settled down to eat his cheese on toast, asked daddy for a cuddle and within thirty seconds he was asleep!)

127. Hide and Seek (The day was milder than it had been over the weekend but still sunny, especially late afternoon. We spent the morning trying to find some Summer shoes for The Boy, which is the reason it's rained on and off ever since! When Mr. TBaM got home from work, he and The Boy had a mad hour in the garden playing hide and seek.)

128. Choo choo! (A shorter than usual INSET today meant that I was able to get home and play with The Boy more than I usually can on a Wednesday. I made this super train track, with plenty of space for the station master to sit and command the rails.)

129. Zoom! (I set up a free painting session for The Boy to get to grips with after breakfast but he couldn't wait to get to grips with it! Car painting is the easiest painting around, minimum effort and maximum fun!)

130. Quack! (We got home at lunchtime after finishing school and nursery, only to find a pair of ducks on the drive. They've been around the neighbourhood for about a week or so, but are starting to wander into gardens now. I phoned the local nature reserve and was told that they're 'wild' ducks and unless hurt (in which case phone the RSPB) then leave them alone. Apparently in the mating season they often take themselves off in pairs for peace and quiet. We probably shouldn't have fed them, but I The Boy was worried they may be hungry.)

131. Pink Snow (We nipped into Cardiff for a review of Wetherspoon's new menu and parked near the Civic Centre, which has a beautiful park full of cherry trees. All were in full blossom and as The Boy ran through the park, the strong Spring wind showered him in pink blossom confetti.)

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
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Days 41-47 of Project 365

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41-47 of 365

41: 'The Terrific Trio' (We were fortunate enough to be able to visit Mummy Mishaps and her boys today, and true to form we dragged them outside into the fresh air for their minimum of 15 minutes outdoor play a day. Hoods up, wellies on, find an old hoop and some puddles, and what more could you want? Really enjoyed our day, thank you Jenny!)

42: '3D' (Today I took The Boy to the cinema with Nana and his cousins, to see 'Sammy's Great Escape'. It's only the second time he's been to the cinema, the first time to see a 3D film. I'll confess that I wasn't sure how well he'd see it, I wasn't sure on the development of vision in tiddlers. However the moment he put them on, he reached out to touch the fish swimming towards him and he repeated this at least a dozen times throughout the film, before then lowering his glasses to try and understand why it looked like he could touch the images. It was really very magical and endearing.)

43: 'Zoomy paint' (Hugely productive day today: playdough, painting with cars and a themed waterplay – more on that another day, gymnastics, and outdoor play again. The Boy loved exploring the different way of mark-making with the paint.)

44: 'Solitary' (After nursery we went down the beach for a blast of fresh air to the system. 'Blast' and 'fresh' are both understatements here. It was freezing and windy. Oh and raining that irritating fine precipitation that gets everywhere! We managed a scoot to the end of the pier and back before collapsing into the warmth of the car. It is worth noting that we were the only people on the seafront!)

45: 'Shake and fizz' (A little science experiment today with some frozen vinegar blocks and coloured ice cubes, liquid vinegar, salt, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of inquisitiveness.)

46: 'Morning scoot' (I took him for his eye test only to discover he needs a more complex one involving dilating drops to check for a stigmatism, so we had to rebook. As it was 9.30 and we were dressed and out, we headed to Victoria Park in Cardiff which we last went to when he was too young to appreciate. He befriended a four year old little girl and they spent an hour happily racing around, holding hands, zooming down the zipwire, slipping on the ice, helping each other onto the equipment, and having a marvellous time.)

47: 'Hello up there!' (A bike ride through the foggy parks overlooking the beach and back along the seafront to the car, interspersed with some pebble 'plopping' down on the beach. 15 minutes? CHECK!)

I can't choose a favourite this week because I'm very pleased with all of them; they show a mummy and her son who have had a brilliant half-term together.

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TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky
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Country Kids: Practise Makes Perfect

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One of our favourite jaunts is across the Cardiff Bay Barrage to Pizza Express. Today was no exception, and so with The Boy's bike and scooter accompanying us we trotted off in search of dough balls and coffee ice-cream.

It's a beautiful walk on a sunny day and today was just that; the air was crisp and the gloves were on. I love this time of year because the sunsets are beautiful and the light for photography is amazing. And can I just point out that while he's cycling and scooting on a road, no cars are allowed on it so it's safe!

Two thirds of the way across the barrage is a skate park, and I knew that The Boy would find it fascinating as he'd been watching the teenage boys skateboarding past us and he was trying to position his feet in the same way as them.

Pretty soon it was time to continue our journey, but he couldn't quite take his eyes off the stunts they were pulling.

One day my boy, one day.

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coombe mill

Country Kids: In The City

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The very title of this post is an oxymoron, but as I live on the outskirts of Cardiff it's very difficult to ignore all that it has to offer. I also know that Coombe Mill's intention with this linky is to encourage outdoor play away from electrical devices. So I'm going with it.

The weather's been relatively sunny this weekend but I can feel the turn in the air; it's been less of a t-shirts and shorts weekend, and more of a trousers and cardigan time. It also feels like we haven't done very much over the weekend, but having gallivanted around the country for the past few weeks it's been nice to just stop and relax.

On Saturday we took The Boy over to Roath Park so he could practise his scooting and bike-riding. Unforunately he was a lazy monkey and wouldn't ride properly which resulted in him being removed from said bike and mummy getting cross with him. He had a fantastic time on the longest slide in the city anyway, and while he started out cautiously he soon built up his confidence!

He was also fascinated by the listening funnels (don't know what they're really called) on the climbing frame, and the cargo net which six months ago would have given him a challenge proved too easy now.

On Sunday we popped over to Cardiff Bay to have dinner at Pizza Express and then give The Boy a chance to scoot around. He is so confident on it and really loves going as fast as he can. I know given time he'll be the same on his bike. We also taught him how to use the brake on his scooter because at the moment he does this funny little galloping hop to stop. It was fantastic to see the sheer exhilaration on The Boy's face as he steamed past the couples and families walking along, and a sense of pride came over me when I saw them smiling at his enjoyment.

And no trip to Cardiff Bay is complete without a turn on the carousel.

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