School Holidays, in no particular order

The boys are learning about English history at home through the medium of comedy this year; initially, with the [age-appropriate] books and DVDs of Horrible Histories, and currently, with the [rather less appropriate but with the same sense of humour] Blackadder dvds. The Cherub can do a very good Baldrick impression, and both boys are word-perfect on some of the songs from Horrible Histories, notably the list of English monarchs and The Party King song about Charles II. Cherub has also been inspired to express his obsession with these shows in creative ways, notably exploring role-play (aka dressing-up) ...



... and artistic expression (aka drawing.)

 

We had a nice, lazy time over the school holidays, chiefly to let Climber and me regain our equilibrium after the stresses and demands of high school. Lots of sleeping-in, lots of mooching round the house interspersed with some fun activities like a day at an indoor pool with a water-slide or a run in the park.



Our Easter was nice - I tried my hand at home-made hot cross buns with mixed results - the bad results were the fault of my oven (buns were pale on top and burnt on the bottom) or of my trying to bake when feeling ill (buns were flat and tough) - but the ones that worked well were delicious, so I'll try it again next year.

 

This is me being sick and pathetic later on Good Friday, the boys and the cat all ended up coming in for cuddles and stories. We're reading the His Dark Materials (aka The Golden Compass) trilogy by Phillip Pullman. I think the cat fancies himself as my daemon. 

 

The Easter Bunny left a delivery on the front door nice and early, and then I laid out a clue hunt for eggs-from-us in our garden. Kids love a clue hunt, don't they?  (Except sometimes I think Climber finds it a bit stressful, in case he can't work out a clue and "fails". My lad. So easily crushed. And he has always made fantastic clue hunts for the rest of us, since a young age, but gets too anxious to enjoy them when they're made for him.) All in all, with the bunny and the egg hunt and the gifts from extended family, they received a sickening amount of chocolate. It was all finished off within 7 days. I must be getting soft in my old age, there was a time when I would have rationed it far more strictly.



We went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and enjoyed it for the performances, the singing and the musical numbers, and most of all for the amazing effect of the car: driving, floating and flying, not to mention taking a bow at the end. I thought the script was a bit ... I don't know, a series of words designed to get you from one musical number to the next? Lacking finesse, I suppose, but that's an adult quibble, and the kids certainly didn't mind. The show was great though, the kids would happily have seen it again.