Half term mayhem

This week has been half term... and it has been mad! Little chap started his week off from school with 2 1/2 days soaring temperature and non-descript virus type symptoms. We spent time doing art and craft projects, including some plaster of paris moulds of "monster trucks" which he painted, and attached to friction drive wheel bases.... lots of fun.

When he felt a bit better we went to a local theme park for the under 12s. It's a great place, not least because there are plenty of opportunities for parents to be big kids too. Our favourite ride is the bumper boats. These are like huge tractor tyres with an out-board motor that you ride on a boating lake. The aim of the game is to bump each other, and if you get the bow wave just right, give each other a good splash! The best thing is that for the 10 minutes that you are out on the lake, everyone becomes playground pals, and there is fun, laughter and banter freely flowing between dads, mums, sons, daughters and across all different ages. It is completely rejuvenating.

We also went to a local museum, where there was a temporary exhibition on the holocaust, persecution and genocide. I know it doesn't sound like a place to take a 5 year old, but there were beautiful, if haunting, pictures of people of all races, creeds and social situation, along with slogans promoting understanding and condemning prejudice. So my little chap and I sat on the bench and talked about not being fearful of people who seem different, but taking the opportunity to get to know them and understand the things that are different between their lives and ours. So it turned into a lovely positive moment, aided by a beautiful picture of an African boy of 4 or 5 years in age pulling a toy string on a car ... something boys across the world love to do.

I have not done much in the way of art or craft this week. Despite having a mega Amazon session and buying "one skein wonders", "Yeah, I made it myself" AND "alternacrafts"... so inspiration abounds, and I am looking forward to some "caged minutes" next week. This will, however, have to do battle with the need to finish some painting (of the redecorating kind) in the hallway, this quarter's VAT return, and another practice run at book keeping with the ultimate aim of producing a perfectly formed Trial Balance!!!! Oh! And Spring is coming, so the garden beckons with increasing urgency!