Monday we had the pleasure of the company of the Ellershaws for a board game afternoon. They wanted to learn Ticket to Ride and they had brought Pandemic for us to learn. In between it all we had a bbq. Anyway, it was a lovely atmosphere, the girls as always were very well behaved meaning it was a very pleasant day.
Tuesday we had a day with Charlie. The boys in Tom's class seem to have split into groups now. Finn, Lucas and Matthew are in one group, Harrison is sort of on his own - but is moving to Scotland during the summer and then there are Tom and Charlie. They aren't natural buddies - but are happy to hang out with each other. Because Alice and Pete work full time he goes to the childminder after school meaning he can't come round the house. So, we booked in a day with him so Tom had some friend time during the holidays. Alice also said it was ok for Charlie to go out around the village without me - so we planned a morning, where they could do what they wanted and an afternoon at the pool. I gave them various times when they had to come back and check in with me (all of which they observed). Charlie is obviously obsessed with sweets and spent all his pocket money at the sweet shop. Tom didn't - he's not fussed at all by treats.
We had our usual sulking session after swimming. Tom sometimes gets himself into a sulk and then can't get out of it. I call it 'onlychilditis'. Being an only child he doesn't have to negotiate, share or be at the bad end of a decision at home, meaning the only time he gets this is when he is with a friend. Recently when we have been out with friends, he has got into a sulk at some point about something ridiculous. Today when he got out of the pool I asked him to eat something as he was looking tired. I had given Charlie some money to buy snacks, expecting him to do a Tom and buy something and bring me the change. Oh no, Charlie was at the shop for ages - turns out he was working out the best way to spend all the money - ie get as many sweets as possible. I said he would have to share them with Tom which he was happy to do. Tom refused and I mean REFUSED to eat any of Charlie's sweets! How many children do you know stubbornly refuse to eat sweets when they are offered - oh yes that will ONLY be Tom then. I eventually managed to get him to eat 1 sweet! So I told Charlie to take the rest to his brother when he got home. Anyway, apart from that it was a good day and the children had some freedom which went well. Believe it or not once back from the pool they went over to the field for cricket - turns out that Charlie went to the newsagents again and bought more sweets! Tom bought a chocolate bar for Matt and said it was a present for working so hard for the family - bless him!
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| Knaresborough Viaduct |
Wednesday we were at a spare end. Decided in the end to go to Clitheroe for the day - had a walk around the castle, lunch in a very old fashioned tea rooms (very good food though) and then headed back. Tom went for the night at Pat and Bob's. This was so Matt and I could do the 3 Peaks, but the weather forecast was awful so we decided against it and instead headed to Knaresborough for the night. We walked around the town, had a beer or two and found ourselves in a restaurant where there was an early bird menu: 3 courses for £18. Wow! The food was good, and although the portions weren't ridiculous, once we stood up we were both in pain. The pain stayed with us for the rest of the evening, so we went back to our room at the pub, lay on the bed and groaned! Not the most romantic of nights away!
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| Collapsed bull |
Thursday started grey and then turned wet. Very wet. We made the right decision not to do the 3 Peaks. Instead we headed to Harrogate where we found a very interesting antiques shop - Matt bought a cricket bat (of course) We then wondered around Harrogate but it was rainy, grey and the centre seemed to be full of the usual dull, boring shops. We gave up and came home.
Friday, Karen and the girls were supposed to be coming to stay. We went out first thing to do a food shop and then returned to do some cooking and baking. They didn't come - Karen got a sickness bug that morning and was feeling dreadful. It was a shame. We carried on with the cooking - we had started so we finished. We then spent the afternoon down at the pool with the Bickerstaffs. We had another period of sulkiness (Seth told Tom he couldn't go on his inflatable, which lead to tears and then refusal to accept an apology and then sulks 'I want to go home now' ) but he got over it remarkably quickly and enjoyed the rest of his session in the pool. It was full of kids from school, so really there was no reason to not enjoy!
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