Its been the second week of the Easter holidays this week and we’ve been at home for the week with lots of little trips out to keep us amused.

Sparkle 1 : My Lightbox

The unpredictable weather returned this week and we’ve had showers among the sunshine.  Our phrase this week reflects the weather but also a little game we’ve been playing on car trips.  I’ve been playing the Disney album and have been amazed how good Little Man is at identifying the songs and the films they are from.  This is the title of a song from Bambi to which we have all sang along to.

Sparkle 2 : A nature trail

The weather never puts us off on a little adventure and on Monday afternoon we went for a walk at a local nature reserve. It was just what was needed and we got very close to deer.  A little bonus was that a new cafe has just opened with what is being developed into a lovely nature garden for children.  The refreshments were much appreciated and it will be lovely to return later to see how the garden grows it looks like it has the potential to be an amazing area.

Sparkle 3: A military museum

Little Man adores soldiers and has a favourite local military museum.  It offers a ticket where you pay a fee once and can return as many times as you want in the year.  Being local this is brilliant for us, we get excellent value for our money.  Our visit this week was excellent, there was a new exhibition about the lives of 6 soldiers from World War 1, it was humbling and very well done, I was quite emotional explaining the stories to the children.  There was also an outdoor vehicle display at lunchtime which we enjoyed whilst having a picnic lunch on the grassy banks.  The display encouraged us to have a go in a tank, it was very rough and no photos were taken as we clung on!  However for the children the highlight was a new indoor soft play area with lots of military style activities and obstacles, it’s a fantastic idea and one we will return for.  It is a great museum and one of my favourite places to take the children.

Sparkle 4: Zootropolis

There have been lots of trips this week as Mr S worked from home on several days and given the nature of his work he needs quiet to concentrate.  He is very generous in providing a few pennies for our treats.  We saw the new Disney film, Zootropolis this week. I loved the themes in it, achieving your dreams by working hard, living together and respecting differences  etc…  A nice little film to watch with lots of humour and nice touches.

Sparke 5 : The new lifeboat

Today our town welcomed our new lifeboat.  The RNLI is a hugely important part of our town and the arrival of the new boat was a much anticipated event.  We went down to the pier to watch its arrival  and it was great to see it sail in, escorted by the current lifeboat, police boat, coastguard helicopter and a variety of other boats.  It was a real community event, the pier was bursting with people and there was real pride and excitement in the new boat.  It also made me think of the debt of gratitude, respect and commitment to the volunteers who rescue those who in need.  It was a moment of civic pride.

And finally

It’s back to school for me and the children next week, its been a good holiday and we’re now looking forward to our next where we will be going away, the countdown is on!