Catching up!!

I've not been blogging very much since I was ill, I suppose I got out of the habit! Anyway last weekend we went away to meet up with friends from Adoption UK, and had a fabulous time. Looking at the weather that weekend, I am SO GLAD I don't camp, and had opted to stay in a Travel Lodge!! Although Mr Messy looked at some of the very big and posh tents that other Adoption UKers were in and wants to camp next time! Hasn't he learnt yet that I DON'T DO CAMPING?!?! The kids are traitors too and want to camp - I don't care I'll be a Billy No Mates in a Travel Lodge!! They have beds, en suite bathroom, restaurant for breakfast - what is there not to like!?!

Anyway we had a fabulous weekend, meeting old friends and making new ones :-) I even got to hold one friends 6 month old baby - very cute :-) Little Prince asked to hold him too (a first as he has shown no interest in babies whatsoever) so I held baby on Little Prince's knee for a few minutes. Little Prince wasn't sure if he liked the experience as the baby kept trying to grab his face/hair/ears/clothes - he insisted that baby be held facing away from him, to try and stop this lol.

And even though the weather was foul for most of the weekend, we had a great time. The campsite was on a play farm, with a barn full of kiddie ride on tractors - Little Prince loved this :-) A well equipped outdoor playground, that he got to play on a for quite a while before the heavens opened. A large field where the campers pitched their tents, and there was room for a mad game of football - although he did complain that no one would share!! He was the smallest and couldn't keep up with the bigger boys.

We all went for a pub meal on the Saturday evening, and sat at two humongous tables there were so many of us!! The food was excellent and the portions were almost as big as the tables!! I was relieved I asked for the lighter menu - the 'normal portions were so big, I think the menu said they served 17" plates!!! How mad is that???

On Sunday morning, after our restaurant breakfast we headed off to the campsite to have a last hour with our friends before heading off to University Town to pick Little Miss Sensible up. Mr Messy couldn't resist a second breakfast at the campsite cafe, with some of the other campers - I'm sure he's part hobbit!! Little Prince had a last football kick around with one of the other boys and enjoyed himself a little more this time, despite being hit in the face by the ball. The other boy got quite exasperated with Little Prince as he wouldn't listen when he was told not to 'handball' the football!!

After an hour or so at the campsite we headed off to drive to University Town, the GPS got very confused and we ended up just following road signs to find a carpark. Unfortunately the one we chose was probably the furthest away from The Boyfriend's lodgings - so he and Little Miss Sensible had a long walk to meet us. The carpark was attached to a small shopping centre, so we took Mr Messy to Next and bought him a new belt (his jeans keep falling down!!), a new pair of combats and a couple of t-shirts, which was all for Father's Day as we hadn't got him anything earlier. All the way home Little Prince kept telling us about the presents he had got for daddy - a Land Rover, a computer and a machine with a green button that makes pies, and the pies make a huge mess!! By the time we eventually got home Little Prince had convinced himself that all these presents were real and hidden in his room - he was very disappointed that he couldn't find them!

On Monday morning I had to return the hire car to the depot, leaving Little Miss Sensible looking after Little Prince. Not long after I got back from this jaunt, I got a phone call from the nursery teacher enquiring if I'd forgotten that today was the day nursery children were trying a school lunch (part of their induction ready for reception in September). Yes!! I'd completely forgotten!!! Little Prince had been hungry all morning and was already eating his lunch and wasn't in uniform!! So we had to quickly (but as calmly as possible) get him changed, take his lunch away and get him up to school. Luckily it isn't that far away and it only took a few minutes in the car - we were met at the door by his teacher who whisked him away to the dining room, while I hung his coat and bag up in the cloakroom. I snuck a peek at him and he did seem to be coping fine, which goes to show how much more settled he is now. He usually needs warning ahead of time of any changes to his routine, or he gets very chaotic in his behaviour. When I picked him up later he told me he didn't eat any of his food and just spat it out, as he hates food. However, I phoned his teacher to check and although he was messy, he did eat it nicely!

On Tuesday evening me and Mr Messy attended a meeting at school for all the new starters to reception (about 7 of them). We were taken on a tour round the school by the headmistress and then sat down in the classroom (on teeny tiny chairs!) while the current reception teacher (and future one - current one is retiring) talked about what the children do in the class and how they are able to tailor the teaching to each individual child etc. The current teacher didn't seem to enjoy (lots of eye rolling!) the constant interruptions from the headmistress!! But the gossip is that quite a few people aren't happy with the change of head!! She talks a very good talk, we'll just have to wait and see if she can deliver!!