AMR2: Oxford Grandma to Brighton

Such a lovely weekend. I went to Brighton on Friday afternoon and came back yesterday. The boys were in end-of-the-week mode, which translates as tired but ultra energetic. Harry had a friend over and the last thing they needed was a 2 yr old brother trying to join in. So, I took Tom to Blaker Park for a go on the swings. As luck would have it, the ice cream van arrived. We treated ourselves to a cone of delicious vanilla with a chocolate stick to make things perfect. We came home and it was time for tea – fish fingers and chips and sweet corn. I was afraid I might have spoiled Tom’s appetite with the ice cream. Not a bit of it. After tea, FinC (Harry’s friend) went home and it was bedtime. I had brought Harry a crocodile to keep his toothbrush in and he was so pleased that he didn’t mind brushing his teeth. Our preferred bedtime reading is the children’s encyclopedia. We concentrated on the underwater fish pages and both learned a lot. He will remember the names of these weird fish. I won’t!

We went to Spring Barn Farm on Saturday. Harry concentrated on the monkey bars. He was determined to make it across all five. In spite of the heat, he kept at it and got to 4½ . Watching the resolution of a 5 yr old is a lesson. I sat on a bench watching him, praising him and complaining about the heat. Alison and Sian went out for a meal on Saturday evening to celebrate Sian’s birthday. The boys were in bed but within 5 minutes Harry came down to tell me that when he has a bad dream, he is allowed to sit up for a bit and watch telly. I reminded him that he had only been in bed 5 minutes so he said, “It was a very short dream.” Guess what? He stayed up with me and as luck would have it, they were showing a program about a giant squid which fit right in with our reading.