After the last school pick-up this week, I felt the need to trick my brain into thinking we had gone on holiday, so we went back to the beach 🙂 The girls had a long play in the playground and we had a snack picnic and hot chocolate on a bench. I think the photo below of my daughter’s hair sums up just how windy it was! I love that feeling though – when it’s windy at the seaside and your hair gets wrecked and it blows all the cobwebs away 🙂 Afterwards, we went for a walk along the beach and collected shells and rocks. We walked towards Cultra and watched the waves splashing against the wall. The sea was really wild 🙂 Our little hidden beach was hidden under the sea this time, so we returned to the original one and the girls made sand mounds (bucket and spade-less sandcastles :))
This week, I got the girls some beads you assemble and then iron to make pictures. I used to love them when I was little and the girls recently tried them at a friend’s house.
We also did one of the girls’ art activities in the garden on Saturday. They just had to make little booklets or “zines” and make up stories/magazines with text and pictures. The girls incorporated sequins into theirs, so I followed suit and made one too. They worked away at them by themselves and guessed their own spelling of things 🙂
We went to a friend’s house and she kindly made us lunch and interesting food for the girls to try. We had quail eggs for the first time. Last time the girls tried starfruit and another fruit that was a mixture between a passionfruit and a tomato, so they are always exposed to new things at their house 🙂
Today, we went to a park in the middle of the countryside with my parents. I love looking at the hills in the background and I found it surprising how tranquil it was. There were more daisies than I’ve ever seen grouped together in one place before, so I had to take some pictures 🙂 The girls did lots of climbing and I went on the slide too 🙂 They were fascinated by the outdoor gym too and since no one was there, they got to try some of the equipment.
Afterwards, we went to Sketrick and the views were beautiful, as always. We had lunch in the cafe there and then we looked at the seals. The girls used some binoculars my dad brought 🙂 We bumped into some friends there, which was funny because I’d just been thinking about them 🙂 We wandered around the castle and the girls climbed into the little nooks inside it. There is an activity centre beside it now and we got some pictures with the teepees 🙂 The girls got some ice-cream and had it at a picnic table overlooking the lough before we left.
My mum and I returned to our jigsaw we started weeks ago, but it fell out of the holder and we had to start over 🙂 I don’t know if we will ever complete it, but it’s therapeutic anyway 🙂 My mum made me a latte and a lemon slice before we headed home and it felt like I was sitting in a little atmospheric cafe, with the kids busy in the other room and the sound of the wind and rain outside.
The Funky Thrifter 