Trampolining, maths, general knowledge, friends, asthma, writing and board games

Our first visit to Flipout today. It's a new trampoline centre and it's just down the road from us. We met friends there and had lots of fun. The staff were wonderful and really enchanced the whole experience for the children ( and adults). Sam had to keep resting, as his asthma is making him so tired.

 

Owen said he was very achy afterwards

We will definitely be doing this again..hopefully when Sam is feeling 100 percent. We took him to the Docs but they were unsure how to proceed. 

Sadly, Sam had a very rough night..so did Owen because he was worried about Sam's cough. So we all woke up rather groggily today.

Despite this and the fact that  I know I wouldn't have sent either of them to school today..they decided they wanted to do some maths. It was clear they were tired but this didn't stop them working really hard.

And Some of Owens.

We put away the shopping, played UNO and did a general knowledge quiz.  I am drinking copious amounts of tea to try and keep awake. The boys waivered about jujitsu tonight but rallied last minute and got their kits on. Sam took his inhaler and I tried not to look nervous. 

The children were tired and still achy after jujitsu..Sam is still getting disturbed nights with his asthma flare up. They did free play this morning , keeping themselves happily busy together. After lunch we set off to meet friends. Both boys weren't themselves and Sam was fragile . We managed an hour or so before needing to come home and  it was nice to catch up with people.

We played the London board game...very good to help with planning and the destination cards give interesting facts about the places you stop at.

We are having Smart meters fitted today...I wonder if the engineer can attach one to my tired brain...but it's probably best he can't .

The boys decided to play a word game and Operation. I cringed inwardly when I saw they had pulled 'Don't Say It!' out of the cupboard...it's a describing game and we have only attempted it once before because it made them get all 'HULK SMASH!' When your children find explaining things hard and think you have the same mental image as them, they tend to shout the same word over and over at you in frustration. In this game you have to describe the word, are timed and other associated words off limits.

I nervously went through the rules again and set it out slightly differently. It's a number of months since the last time and they got it...yes there were lots of flappy hands and a few times the odd banned word got blurted out ( usually by me...poor impulse control much mum?) ..but wow, what a difference. We had great fun and moved up the difficulty level in the game. It's brilliant fun and a good tool to show the children how differently people think when they describe something. We talked about how Blokey and I don't always understand what they boys are referring to because we need more description sometimes. The children looked surprised and really seemed to take this on board. I can't believe the difference and skills they have gained since our last game. We had lots of belly laughs...*breathes a massive sigh of relief.*

Owen checks I have understood the instructions correctly

Sam ..bless him, his chest is so sore from coughing but he threw himself into this and soon looked more cheerful.

Afterwards we played Operation. There are plenty elements to this that help the children improve their skills . Impulse control, fine motor skills and mild peril ( it has a very loud announcement when you touch the sides). Owen has to really concentrate on his turn ..so Sam and I are instructed to sit very still and quiet.

Owen was disappointed he didn't win but he managed to do it gracefully.

After our evening meal, Blokey was roped in to play another raucous game of Don't Say It! It was quite interesting hearing some of his descriptions. Great fun was had by all .

Sam had another difficult night with his asthma , so I left a message at the hospital to try and get some advice. We are all very tired and didn't get much sleep. Despite this Owen decided he wanted to make some bread.

It was a fine beast.

I showed Owen the writing book I had purchased yesterday and he decided to have a try. He concentrated really hard. He's been saying how he wishes he could write better but I am trying not to be too keen because that would only put him off. He did really well today but finds it frustrating that writing isn't like a rust application....one attempt lasts 5 years. I explain that it really is a question of practice and he took it well.

A very tired Sam was meanwhile coughing his way through breakfast. I say I don't expect him to do anything if he's not up to it today. Sam said he wanted to play our cooperation game 'Wildcraft' so that's what we did. 

I asked if he wanted to look at the writing book and he decided to do a page. Despite having to take many breaks, draw some 'little men' and put in extra bits, he managed to finish the task.

Saturday involved getting medications in the morning and travelling to Manchester in the afternoon. We drove through the city centre, the boys enjoying all the wonderful Victorian buildings. They want us to take them back, so they can go inside the town hall and have a better look.

We were visiting a friend of mine and she kindly gave us a full set of Skull Duggery books..which Owen is already devouring with gusto. Having spent a lovely few hours out, we headed home in the snow. 

Sam starts his new treatment today, which I am nervous about. It snowed over night but the boys were less than impressed when they finally ventured out. It took longer to get them into warm outdoors clothes, than they spent actually in the snow...we haven't got very much sadly.

The children watched films and played Minecraft today. Blokey and I caught up on chores and later we all got together for a game of Scrabble.

Owen is tucking in to his new books with his usual enthusiasm for reading. He asks me to thank my friend for giving them to him.