We have been mainly...........

visiting friends this week.

Instead of our usual trip into town and play dates we travelled to Wales to visit friends who have moved into a new house.

We set off on Monday, my husband had to drop something off on the way, as we were pulling away from doing that I realised that I had left some food in the fridge which we had to go back for, oooops!

On Tuesday we went for a lovely walk near Dolgellau, the forecast was for heavy rain but it held off and we had wonderful views too. We took the Kelly kettle with us and had a brew, hot chocolate and soup depending on folks' preferences which was much welcome, it was cold.

Wednesday dawned sunny. My husband went off for a canoe down the river behind the house whilst I went to visit an amazing wool shop, Colinette Yarns , nearby. The wool was beautiful, the shop a colour sensation. I was restrained and did not buy anything I will find a pattern first and then buy some yarn when I visit again. We popped into the local town for the afternoon and the children rode back on a steam train.

We returned home the next day in the pouring rain and had a chilled afternoon playing at home, whilst my husband packed for a weekend sea kayaking.

On Friday we dropped Daddy off early and went home and played games for the rest of the day. My youngest had fun with an old shoe box, it was a hat, a boat for dolly, a car for Lego mini figures, a shopping basket, a carriage on a train and a seat for bear.  They both had the play silks out which were capes, made the children into birds and kings. We had races with toy cars and built elaborate buildings with the wooden bricks. We had a wonderful day of creative play.

I also got creative making smoothies. I noticed when we returned home the day before that we had a lot of rhubarb in the garden. I picked some and cooked it to make something with. I did a bit of research and decided to make a smoothie with some of it. I picked bits out of various recipes that I found and came up with this recipe:

Rhubarb Smoothie

1 american cup stewed rhubarb
1 banana sliced
2tbsp coconut milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Milk

I put the first four ingredients in the food processor, I do not have a juicer or a blender this turned out just fine in a food processor, and whizzed until smooth. I then added milk and whizzed to get a thin enough mix. I used oat milk to make this, I am sure it would it would taste good using an alternative milk.  This quantity made a small glass for three of us or would make a large drink for one.  It was very moreish.

Over the weekend we were and about.  On Saturday we went to a birthday celebration for one of my eldest's friends. He had a great time playing with him and couple of his friends. We had lunch and cake before returning home. On Sunday we had an early start, and a full day out which you can read about here.  I hope you have had a fun filled week too, and when it is ever going to get warm?

We have been mainly............

outside this week, the weather was dry and cool with the odd moment of brightness.

We started the week with our usual trip into town, for shopping and the library.  We found a great book about worms, Yucky Worms beautifully illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg, whose parents have written many wonderful books, Peepo, Each Peach Pear Plum and The Jolly Postman to name but a few.  My youngest walked up the village to drop her brother off at Beavers in the evening, it is over a mile there and back and she did not asked to be carried, she went to bed much earlier than usual.

We had our regular play date the next day.  We took lunch with us this time.  Many games were played and the trampoline bounced on, we returned home tired and happy.

The next day dawned bright, as forecast, we had decided to meet friends at a local open farm.  We had a great day out.  The farmer introduced as to all his livestock, some of which we could handle and feed, and told us a bit about the breeds.  We had a picnic lunch and play followed by a walk alongside a river.  It was the perfect river for throwing stones in, the banks was a awash with them all perfectly round.

We visited our friends further south on Thursday.  We joined them for lunch and a short play before visiting a museum in the town.  It was larger than I was expecting and full of information.  The children really want to run around though, not the best environment for that activity!

On Friday we had a family day, we had hoped to go canoeing but it was cold, wet and windy.  We opted to stay at home and enjoy each other's company before daddy goes away again.  We play games, lego and watched a DVD together.

Over the weekend we visited a garden centre to get some much needed tools that have given up the ghost or fallen apart, said our goodbyes to daddy and did our monthly wood walk.  It was a warm sunny day perfect for a walk in the woods.  The wild flowers are now starting to come out in abundance and we enjoyed identifying them in our new flower book.  We watched a woodpecker come and go from his nest in the trunk of a tree.  We also tried out our new Kelly Kettle to boil water for tea and hot chocolate, the children thought it was great fun, I think it will have many outings in the future especially if we have a cool summer.  I hope you had a fun week too.