A day out

We got our car back two Saturdays ago. My Dad is helping us out with it for a little while as he has another car now which is paid for. It will help us to move house come September, and we will enjoy getting to places we couldn't really without it until then. After that we'll have to see. We're not too sure how long we'll keep it for, but it will be a huge help for now, including leaving us a little time on Saturdays to spend with Michael, as the shopping and girls dancing classes shouldn't take as long as on the bus.

Michael is at the moment finding travelling up to Leeds on the train (for a 10 week plumbing course) preferable to driving, especially on the weeks when we can get tickets for about the same as or less than the cost of the petrol. It does mean an earlier start, but is much less stressful, you don't have to concentrate non-stop, and he can either sleep or get things done. He's enjoying the course a lot. He spent the first three weeks staying in York with a friend from his youth and her husband. He hadn't known until fairly recently that she was in this country, and enjoyed spending some time with them and catching up a little. Hopefully we'll all get to meet them before long. From this week he is sharing a house with a couple of guys from the course that he gets on really well with, and who are also doing some extra exams along with him, so they should be able to help each other out there if needed.

I promised the children that when we got the car back, and before all the schools break up for the summer, that we would visit Coombe Abbey again, this time midweek so it's not packed and we can enjoy it a whole lot more. We had a picnic lunch there, and Hannah managed to wait until she'd finished eating before climbing the nearest tree. :o)



Then we had a long time playing at the park there, mostly on all the things that aren't usually available when it's packed full of children. We had a lovely little walk through a wooded area and down to the lake to see the birds. We had taken a few identification guides with us, including one on dogs, which I think helped the girls to be a little more interested in all of the dogs (taking a closer look as they tried to identify them) and a little less scared! Rebekah got pretty tired, so she got interested in identifying the ducks and geese while she had a rest in the pushchair, and everyone else spent some time around the birds, Rachel and Hannah drawing them (of course!) in their nature books.








You probably get a better idea of what our children our like from the little video snippets, so I hope you enjoy these few, and maybe get a small feel for their characters and what they enjoy.









Rebekah had wanted a go on the "big swings" (older swings), so we went by the park on the way back to the car. Sarah then promptly made a friend and the two were inseparable, so we stayed quite a lot longer. It was nice though.





I took that really because it was fun watching Rachel and Hannah looking so much alike, which they do sometimes. We ended up eating tea (dinner) on the way home, and not getting back until nearly bedtime. It was a fun day.