The last few days, I’ve been feeling really burnt out and I’ve felt the need to spend time beside the sea, so we have been spending lots of time at Seapark. When homeschooling gets too much, it’s good to have somewhere to escape to, where you can spend time together but it doesn’t demand much of you. On Thursday, we went in the afternoon and walked on the beach. There is something about walking on sand that really helps me when I feel like I’m losing my grasp on things. We looked for stones to skim and the girls perfected their skill for ages 🙂 I love to see what they spend time doing without a bucket and spade or the option to paddle. 🙂 It was a misty kind of day and the mist seemed to be sitting on top of the Cave Hill. I love looking across and trying to work out which place is which on the other side of the water 🙂 The girls found a starfish and were very worried about the fact it had left the sea. They completed a rescue mission to return it to the sea on a shell, but I don’t know if their efforts were fruitful. We walked to Cultra, stopping along the way to watch the boats and the waves.
On Friday, we had our weekly donut ritual. We had a very rainy walk to the shops and remembered for once to bring wellies 🙂 My daughter got soaked jumping in puddles but she had a wonderful time 🙂 I’m trying to not let the rain stop us from going for a walk because you can still wrap up and it makes the return home to hot coffee feel even better 🙂 The girls chose coffee donuts and I wondered if that counts as giving your kids caffeine 🙂 Strangely, it seems to be their favourite flavour 🙂
I gave the girls an empty biscuits box that opens a bit like a jewellery box so they could decorate it and use to for their clip-on earrings 🙂 They stuck pieces of wrapping paper, stickers and lots of confetti onto it 🙂 I have a feeling it’s going to shed confetti all over their bedroom, but at least they have a box to store their earrings in now 🙂 If I’m too tired to plan out anything to do, I find giving my kids empty boxes, glue and craft materials keeps them occupied for a while 🙂 They always have so many construction and decoration ideas 🙂
We went to the sea again yesterday. We arrived early, so there were few people there. My daughter keeps finding huge shells on the beach and heart shaped rocks 🙂 I wonder where they come from because we always find more at Seapark than at any other beach. We spent a long time looking in rockpools. My daughter was determined to find a “real life” crab, as she calls it 🙂 Sadly, we didn’t, but we found lots of other living things and some strange spaghetti seaweed that the girls were fascinated by. I think I enjoy climbing across rocks as much as the girls do and it really stills my mind looking for interesting shells and creatures 🙂 Since we didn’t have buckets and spades with us, the girls decided to make sand mounds and to decorate them with stones, rocks and shells. They worked hard together to carry all the heavier rocks over to encircle it 🙂
Today, we had a slow day with lots of cooking. I made bread and tortillas for the week and roast chicken. The girls got out their sewing kits and worked on their handbags. They played with Play Doh too and made lots of cakes for a doll’s birthday party. I’m feeling exhausted this week, so I’m relying on materials that I can supply the girls with for their entertainment and funny films on TV 🙂 I’ve been reading Patti Smith and she always inspires me to write, so I’m hoping more will come next week 🙂 Some weeks I think you just have to live in a more receptive state and go with how you’re feeling instead of what you wish you were doing.
The Funky Thrifter 