Pirate Madness

Obligatory treasure chest.

I made the kiddies a treasure hunt with riddles for clues...

The treasure was hot chocolate...

...hiding outside by the car, in a tin :)

Papa interrupted his relaxing evening by making some balloon swords: most important for pirate wannabes.

Oil Painting, by Ballet Girl.

My Boy

A Play and a Treasure Hunt

After a lovely weekend with friends in the sunshine we were back to business.

The girls did a play about Christopher Columbus.  They were so enthusiastic :)

The Boy worked hard today...

Tallying dice throws.

To end the day he made a pirate map and Ballet Girl helped him climb the volcanoes, traverse through the yucky mucky swamp, sneak past the giant crabs...

...through the tall trees...

...and through the long grass (I suggested this part as he made his map, and while he was busy climbing the volcanoes - also known as 'the stairs' - I ran into our field next door where the grass is super tall and hid a treasure box with gold coins in the tree trunk of our favourite tree. He had no idea and thought he was just following his own map.  He was utterly delighted when he actually found treasure :)

Explorer work :)

A New Unit

We started our new unit today!  Explorers and Pirates 1400AD - 1600AD.  We chatted a little about Marco Polo and how he inspired so many, including Christopher Columbus.  And then we did a mini unit on 1492 and Christopher Columbus.  Monkey Girl asked if King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were the Ferdinand and Isabella monarchs who were parents to Katherine of Aaragon and she was utterly thrilled to learn that they were.  

A choice of chalk pastels or oil pastels to colour Christopher Columbus' three ships. They created their own designs.

Matching pairs game and puzzles for my darling son. 

 Monkey Girl's watercolour.

Osmosis and Shaving Foam Ice Cream Play

So my Husband informs me that food colouring won't work in the osmosis process of colouring flowers.  He made us a new vase with ink in...

And here it is a day later!

We soaked the elderflower heads we collected earlier this week in lemon and sugar for 48 hours...

...and made some yummy cordial.  

Today The Boy had nursery and then Story club.  He's often a little worn out by Thursday afternoons so I organised some fun messy play for them all.

I made cones with shiny card...

...and used shaving foam to make 'ice cream'...

 ...the ice cream shop...

And a table for messing about with baby lotion, raisins, seeds, and spices.

And then it started to rain and it all got a little crazy!

Papa's Home!

Papa has just returned from seven months in France.  We missed him lots and lots, but he's back for good now and we are enjoying every minute!  The Boy has spent hours helping Papa repair and make all sorts of awesome things in the past two weeks since his return, including a ramp for the garage step, a fully functioning bow and arrow for The Boy's friend when he came to play, bike repairs and tumble dryer repairs.  

Investigating a family of beetles.

This morning's dry rice play turned into soggy rice and rose petal play this afternoon.

The girls took themselves outside first thing this morning to build fairy houses in the garden.  I couldn't bring myself to call them in for school work as the sun was shining and the garden was just beautiful, so they spent all day making these awesome houses complete with mini-ponds and washing lines.

This afternoon/evening The Boy and Papa went swimming while the two eldest went to their tap dancing, modern dancing and then their gymnastics lessons.  Panda Girl missed her gym lesson today as she has conjunctivitis, something she suffers with a fair amount due to a tiny spare-tear duct she has on the side of her nose.  Conjunctivitis aside, the tear duct itself is incredibly cute and completely cool :)