Thursday photo #234

Half term is finally upon us. It has seemed like a long time coming this year, especially since many nearby schools had theirs last week. That said, we brought it forward somewhat with our trip to Blackpool and now we’re into the depths of school holidays, we are certainly making the most of it.

Parents evening

I always publish my Thursday photo posts first thing in the morning, so what we get up to on a Thursday often gets missed. But last Thursday was somewhat significant, being Lia’s first parent’s evening and Libby’s best parent’s evening so far.

It was wonderful to go into school and hear about two kind, confident little girls who are doing well in class. Having refused to draw or colour at home, Lia is developing good fine motor skills at school and mastering the basics of phonics and writing. Better still, she’s making friends and doing her best to follow the rules in class, which is lovely to hear.

For Libby, there seems to have been a huge breakthrough in her maths. Last time we spoke to her class teacher, she was struggling slightly with numeracy. This term though, her teacher regards her as one of the better mathematicians in the class. Better still, she’s always full of energy and enthusiasm and is happy and fun to be around. I couldn’t ask for any more from her.

Big weekends and little achievements

On Friday after school, we picked the girls up and headed straight to their riding lesson. From there, it was a quick pitstop at home before driving down to Hampshire. On a very cold night, we stayed in the van at a lovely little campsite, waking up to frost on the ground. It was great to put the van through its paces on a cold night because we intend to make full use of it this Winter. With the help of a small heater, it passed the test and kept us toasty and warm.

After a relaxed morning on the campsite, we headed to Wizard Weekend at the Watercress Line. Immersed in Harry Potter magic, the girls got into the spirit of the day and went away as even bigger Harry Potter fans than they’d been when they started. It’s the second time we’ve visited the Watercress Line and their events are always wonderful. I’m sure we’ll be back again in the future despite the fact it’s quite a long journey.

As usual, Sunday meant swimming lessons. Libby was delighted to have moved up into stage 6 whilst Lia continued with stage 2. I’m not sure why, but something seemed to click for both of them in the pool this week. Lia in particular had a real breakthrough. She’s never been keen on swimming on her back before but this week, we went swimming after her swimming lesson as usual and I persuaded her to practice backstroke. On realising how easily she could keep herself afloat and breath on her back, she was off. Not only did she swim her first width on her back, but she easily swam a whole length. Quite an achievement for the little girl who wouldn’t leave the side of the pool at the beginning of the Summer.

A week away

At Christmas, my husband bought me a voucher for an indoor skydive. I knew immediately that Libby would want to do it as well. Unsurprisingly, Lia decided against it, so Libby and I headed to iFly Manchester on Monday. It was an incredible experience and I was so proud of the way Libby took it in her stride.

We stayed in a stunning apartment in the city centre that I will be reviewing later in the week. Next, it was off to Lincolnshire to book into an idyllic cottage in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Throw in the small matter of a trip to the House of Lords on Wednesday, and this is proving to be a busy, exciting and really rather fabulous half term.

Thursday photo #234

It’s lovely to see the girls enjoying each other’s company at the moment. I love this photo from their Harry Potter day. It must be fun to have someone to share all their exciting experiences with.