08-10.08 - Days 206-208 - Buckingham to Chelmsford
Thursday 8th August - Buckingham (Day 206)
Back home in Buckingham, we venture with Corinne on Thursday to The Patch MK; an entrepreneur farmer giving up some of a field for kids activities which all 5 kids thoroughly enjoy - from a giant maze amongst the sweetcorn with dinosaurs on each corner, mini golf, plastic duck racing, sandpits and slides, optical illusions back amongst the corn and a pile of hay bales.
To add a touch of serenity there is also a field of sunflowers and wildflowers where Sienna hand picks her own bunch.
That evening we’re back in the car and back down to Chelmsford.
Friday 9th August - Sunday 18th August - Chelmsford
(Day 207) Gwynneth and the boys are currently on holiday cruising around Norway, so we have a quiet morning completing the week's school work and stopping in at Grandma and Grandad’s to update them on the last week or so.
Uncle Pete fancies his putting prowess, so us 4 and him head to Little Rascals crazy golf which has a very thorough and intricate 18 holes. The kids love it even if they also wind each other up, the adults too but without the winding up. I take the crown, with Kate and Pete continuing the sibling rivalry coming joint second. A rematch might be required. McDonalds lunch prior and ice creams after add to the kids excitement for the day.
For dinner Hannah, Dan, Holly, Charlie and Pepper come over for fajitas. Charlie and Seb happily exhausting themselves on the trampoline and playing football, whilst Holly and Sienna opting for a slightly calmer activity colouring some mindfulness cards Grandma had left behind. Allowing the adults to indulge in some adult conversation without being interrupted.
On Saturday (Day 208, 10th Aug), Gwynneth, Graham, Euan and Ethan return from their Norwegian cruise early morning, whilst I am out trundling around the 5km Parkrun.
Mass morning tea at Grandma and Grandad’s hearing about the cruise, then more time in the garden and a trip to the allotment to make sure everything is well watered ahead of the next warm spell and to pick some beans, carrots, and beetroots.
Sienna’s excitement and interest in the allotment has been a slight surprise, but something we will try to harness more when back in Sydney, where she is already talking about acquiring some of the back garden to plant a few things (in addition to drawing plans for her ultimate allotment).