Last weekend, I took the girls to the beach after they got out of school. It was freezing and there was a bitter wind, but it meant we were amongst very few people there 😊 The girls had the park to themselves for a while and they loved it. I brought some hot chocolate and snacks so we could warm up and then we had a quick walk along the beach before we retreated from the cold 😊
On Saturday, the girls decided it was one of their doll’s birthdays. (I don’t know why their dolls have no clothes left!) They made a birthday banner for her and wrapped lots of their toys in paper to give to her as presents 😊 I love seeing the creativity they come up with unprompted. Then, we made another trip to the museum. I was glad I booked it because it was a very rainy day. Some of the discovery rooms were open, and the girls enjoyed doing the “guess the skull” game in the nature room 😊 They just had to guess which animal each one belonged to. We looked at the fashion section and some of the trains on the dresses were crazily long. Then, we had a look around the art galleries, which have all recently been redone. There were quite a lot of sculptures and colourful paintings that interested the girls. Resisting the urge to touch everything seemed to be the only problem there 😊 We finished our trip with a visit to the art room where the girls drew pictures with their watercolour pencils and showed them off to the man who works there. They practically know him on a first name basis now 😊 My daughter asked me to take pictures of some of the art work on the wall so we could create our own collages using scraps of paper and foil, etc.
It was too wet to have a snack picnic outside, so we had one in the car instead. Sometimes I like doing that because you can listen to music and still look outside without the accompanying chill 😊
When we got home, the girls got out some play doh and made treats for their dolls with their mini tea set. I had found some cute little espresso cups and saucers in a charity shop for £1.50 during the week, so I made them their own little mini hot chocolates with marshmallows. They loved the novelty of drinking out of the little cups 😊 I had some tea in my lucky cat cup and we played some games.
I decided to experiment with a new recipe for carrot cookies and it worked out well. They were really easy to make and mightn’t be the most attractive looking cookies I’ve ever made, but they tasted good 😊 They had an orange icing that went really well with the carrot filling and they were a little bit like carrot cake. I definitely think the “Dining on a Dime Cook Book” is worth buying – I’ve found so many recipes in it when I’m lacking ingredients for other recipes.
We got out our miniature post box so the girls could send their letters to Santa. I like to get them to do it early so they have to commit to a present 😊 As always, the lists became quite extensive but they settled on a main present each.
On Sunday, we went to a park on the way to my parents’ house. It was freezing outside but it didn’t put the girls off playing. They did, however, ask for their gloves and hats as I was taking this picture 😊 We had a cosy day at my mum’s. The girls seem to always find plenty to do there. They were playing with a little computer my sister and I had when we were little. I was surprised it still worked. The girls put on sparkly make-up and played with my mum’s jewellery and I had some coffee and much needed peace 😊 We looked at magazines while the girls played and I found recipes I wanted to try. There was one for little meringue Christmas trees I’d like to try making with the girls 😊 I’m an early Christmas decorator and celebrator so I’m guessing the tree and Christmas recipes might make an appearance this weekend.
The Funky Thrifter 