This week, we finished up Pancake Day with another serving of pancakes for dessert 🙂 I loved the look of astonishment on my daughter’s face when I presented her with a pancake with ice-cream on top. She said it was her new favourite pancake topping 🙂
We walked to a local park and the girls mostly had it to themselves. My daughter discovered some budding flowers and pointed them out to me 🙂 Whenever we find snowdrops it always feels like the first hint of spring 🙂 We found some other blue/purple buds – I’m not sure what they are but my daughter went to “say hello” to them too before we went home 🙂
When I got home, I made some ridiculously chocolatey brownies 🙂 I wasn’t sure if they’d work because the recipe uses a huge amount of brown sugar and I ended up making my own strange sugar mixture, made up of four different kinds – all that was left in the cupboard 🙂 But they worked out well – gooey in the middle and spongey around the outsides 🙂 The girls detected the nuts I’d hidden in them again, so I guess I’ll be eating them by myself 🙂
We turned the under-the-stairs space into a den for the girls with a big sheet and they played houses in it for a while. I love when you find a corner that lends itself to den building because I am definitely not naturally skilled at it 🙂 Afterwards, we did some spoon painting 🙂 I like to give the girls random things to paint with sometimes instead of brushes, just for a change. It was definitely messier and led to thicker application and slower drying, but the girls enjoyed the process, so it was worth doing. We just used a selection of plastic spoons and poster paints 🙂
We went back to Sea Park again. I love arriving in the morning when no one else is there yet 🙂 There were some of clearest views of the Cave Hill I’d seen there before and we made it before the rain moved in 🙂 We explored lots of rock pools and the girls waded in their wellies. They found a group of kids and helped each other to collect rocks to throw into a stream 🙂 Then, they made some more sand mounds, decorated with shells. We returned to the car when the rain started and listened to Roy Orbison and had some tea and snacks 🙂 I find it really peaceful sitting in the car with rain drops collecting on the windscreen, watching the sea and boats behind it.
Afterwards, we went to the library to collect some new books. I’m glad it’s still possible to borrow books, even if you just collect them at the door. I find it really calms the girls down when we have new books to read and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet 🙂 I got The Twits to read to the girls too. I think they are finally old enough to sit and listen to it. The pictures that appear every couple of pages help to hold their attention too 🙂
Yesterday, we walked to the donut shop and got some donuts for our Friday treat 🙂 The girls insisted on bringing their babies in their coats so I had to get a picture of their twin babies 🙂 We called to drop something at my parents’ house and they gave the girls some toys from when my sister and I were kids. We spent the afternoon playing Mousie Mousie. It’s a game we had in the 90’s – simple to play, but hard to photograph 🙂 Basically, you have to pull your mouse out of the way of a cup before it comes down on them and traps them 🙂 The girls also adopted an old baby doll of mine and gave it a bath 🙂 The kitchen resembled a swimming pool afterwards but in comparison to all the paint I’ve been clearing up recently, it didn’t feel too arduous 🙂
I printed off some Dr Seuss resources because apparently it is his birthday at the beginning of March 🙂 The girls enjoyed learning how to draw the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch and colouring in Thing One and Thing Two 🙂 I might use it tomorrow to do a themed craft 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 