Cycling at Palmer Park

General 

Elliott said he'd had a good day at school today and was really good after school. When it was time to leave cycling he didn't make a fuss that we didn't have any chocolate on the way out which was really good as sometimes before he has done.   

Activities

After school we got changed and went to Palmer Park to go cycling at the Oval there. He was as happy as ever charging around the track. After we got home he changed into his new Batman costume and we watched a Batman cartoon before he did some really good pre-bed time reading. He had toast for tea.

Mothers Day

General 

Elliott was good today.   

Activities

In the morning we went to football. Elliott seemed a bit distracted and was purposely falling over a lot but still seemed to enjoy himself. He was also really looking forward to seeing you after football for Mothers Day.

After he got back from your house he played some iPad, had some toast for tea and then did some really good reading before bed time.

Pizza Express

General 

Elliott was very good today.    

Activities

In the morning we had a lazy start watching Wallace and Grommit and having toast for breakfast. After we got dressed we did half of this week's numbers homework (adding and subtracting) and some old words homework. He did well concentrating on this for about 15 minutes before he got a bit restless. Then we all went to Pizza Express for lunch with Andrea where he had dough balls and Burro pasta which he seems to really have a taste for:

After lunch we went into Wokingham and did some shopping and had some coffee. After we got home we played with Lego and did some reading (one of his Star Wars books) before we watched the first 50 minutes of Ant and Dec's Takeaway as a Saturday night treat which he found hilarious.

Sheriff Elliott

General 

Elliott was really good after school today with no upset at all. He did get his name on the board at school but apparently it was rubbed off again when he got a house point for staying quiet and still during his school meeting.

Activities

After school we popped into Asda to pick up some bits and pieces and spent some pocket money on toy sheriff guns, badge and handcuffs set. After we got home we played with his new toy guns and with Lego before having wraps with humous for tea. After his bath he read me a school book about making a volcano called "it erupts" before I then read him some more of The Faraway Tree. 

Swimming Stage 1 badge

General 

Elliott was good after school today, although he did get upset when I asked him to hold my hand as we walked around the car park before swimming.  

Activities

Swimming after school went well and we picked up his Stage 1 badge now he's completed Stage 1, which was exciting and he's going to show you tomorrow. After we got home he coloured in a Star Wars Droid picture which he got from school. He's also going to show you that tomorrow. Then he read one of his school books "Tiger's Drum Kit" and the rhymes in his homework about numbers that add up to 10. We had wraps with humuous for tea while we watched a Deadly 60 Great White Shark special. After tea he got ready for bed and then read "how to be a Jedi" and then I read to him from a reference book we have about Star Wars Droids. 

Formula One driver

General 

Elliott was very good after school today. We did have a chat about the incident the day before with punching, but nothing too stern, just gentle reinforcing that fighting is bad. 

Activities

After school we went home and had a lazy time watching some Sport Relief television, playing on iPad and with Lego. Part of his homework this week is to record all his reading and when he's read to so we did some reading of a book of his choice - which turned out to be his Angry Birds annual. He read some words that I thought were more advanced than in his school books which was brilliant. Bath and bed time was very smooth. I'd also forgotten about his Sport Relief outfit so it was great to see him dressed up when I picked him up.

Pope's Meadow

General 

Elliott was mainly good after school today but he did get upset after we'd been to the park because he wanted to go to another park to find a different type of slide but there wasn't time. He calmed down after a bit longer than usual.    

Activities

After school we went to Pope's Meadow park in Binfield on way home as weather was nice. Lots of running around, playing on equipment and we also picked up a few new stones for our stone collection. After we got home we did the rest of homework apart from the last question as he was losing interest so thought it was best not to try and force issue. He also did some playing on the iPad and some really good reading. 

Stage 1 swimming passed

General 

Elliott was really good after school today and he had macaroni at lunch time. He did seem a bit sad and subdued straight after school though and said people had been rude to him at school. We talked about it and it sounded like people hadn't let him play his game so I gave him lots of cuddles and told him that sometimes people can be mean and that he was better than them because he wasn't mean. Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad and he did cheer up quite quickly.   
Activities

Swimming was really good today and he got his report which says he has now completed stage 1 and should move on to stage 2 - I think this is pretty good after only 2 terms. After we got home we had muffins for tea and he read his Peppa Pig "Dentist Visit" school book really well. 

Bracknell

General 

Elliott was really good again today. He did briefly complain about eating chicken for tea but he soon stopped and he was quite tired in the evening. He did wake up in the middle of the night though, saying he'd had a bad dream about ghosts, although he went back to sleep really quickly and without any problem. We'd watched a bit of Ghostbusters in the evening before and he seemed completely fine at the time and it is quite tame but I wondered if the two were connected and he did say this morning he thought the ghosts were scary - not sure why he didn't say at the time. Hopefully though it won't be an ongoing problem, I remember him catching a bit of The Emperor in Return of the Jedi on television a few years ago and being a bit scared. Anyway he went to bed with no problems tonight and didn't mention anything so fingers crossed. Finally he also asked to save the second half of his numbers homework to do with you so we haven't done that.  

Activities

In the morning we went to football and Elliott played well in the exercises. For the game they split them into three teams and he did well when his team was playing but didn't get the ball passed to him as much as sometimes. We finished by having some races with Charlie, Ethan and Adam and he deliberately fell over during one race and started crying but he did cheer up again quickly. On our way home we picked up some shopping from Sainsburys and he was really well behaved.

After lunch we went to Andrea's parents house for a bit where Harry, Jack and their Dad were visiting and he showed them his Lego Jedi Interceptor. Then we headed off to Bracknell to pick up some curtains and we made a bit of a trip out of it by having a wander around had some coffee together (he had orange and mango juice). After we got home we played with the rockets we made for a bit (as well as some Star Wars Lego) and we took a photo to show you:

Then we had Chicken Fajitas for tea with brief complaining before a smooth bath and bed and really good reading of his school book "Secrets of the Sands". I also cut his nails in the bath as one of them had a bit hanging off during football - hopefully I've done a decent job.

Granny and Grandpa's birthday visit

General 

Elliott was really good today. He did complain about a sore tummy before bed time but in the end I think it was some bad wind.   

Activities

In the morning we had a lazy start watching Tom and Jerry and having toast for breakfast. After we got dressed we did half of this week's numbers homework (identifying answers to questions about a random selection of numbers on the page, for example "which is closest to 40"). This went quite well but was a bit sporadic. Then we both made some rockets with empty bottles, toilet rolls and foil which was good fun. Then Granny and Grandpa arrived for their late birthday visit with presents for Elliott, including the Lego Jedi Interceptor he's been waiting for, which went down very well. He showed Granny lots of new things and told her lots about space from his school learning. He also did some excellent reading with them. Then we all went to Pizza Express for lunch where he had dough balls and Burro pasta which he ate very well.

After lunch we went to Ludgrove to do some cycling with Granny and Grandpa who were very impressed with his cycling skills:

After cycling Granny and Grandpa went home and we watched some television and had a laid back evening apart from the tummy complaints.

Star Wars magazines

General 

Elliott was really good after school today and he had fish and chips at lunch time.    

Activities

After school he went to visit Andrea's Mum and Dad with Andrea as I was told to finish some work - don't worry next time the answer will be no. Anyway he took his Lego X-Wing with him and he was full of beans when he came back. After he came back we split up his latest Star Wars magazines we're collecting and put them into the binder while reading bits and pieces. Then we had Darth Vader toast for tea (using a Darth Vader bread impression tool) and a good bath and bed time with more good reading.

Excellent reading

General 

Elliott was really good after school today.    

Activities

After school it was swimming and this really well. Then we had a nice time playing with Lego before a smooth bed and bath time and some really good reading.

Pancakes

General 

Elliott was really good after school today.    

Activities

After school we went swimming which Elliott enjoyed as ever. Then, after we got home, we had pancakes for tea and Elliott helped make them. I then popped out to the HPSA meeting and so Andrea did bed time and reading with him and apparently he was really good. 

Cycling around the Palmer Park oval

General 

Elliott was good after school today, although he found it a little difficult concentrating on homework after we got home from cycling. He said he was told off for fiddling around at school but other than that, and he'd been learning about space and the planets.   

Activities

After school we went to Palmer Park for cycling club and Elliott did lots of laps and had a good time, especially practicing standing up while riding. I joined him on some adult bikes they provided (though not for all of the laps):

On our way home we did some more science investigating and noticed car lights, street lights and traffic lights all emitting light. When we got home we wrote these up with pictures in his homework but he was a bit distracted. Then we had pasta for tea before bath, reading and bed.

Star Wars Clone Wars Top Trumps

General 

Elliott was good all today, only needing a bit of hurrying up here and there.   

Activities

In the morning we went to football training which he seemed to enjoy. They did some dribbling and heading practice and appeared to have been split into 2 groups possibly based on ability (Elliott was in the group without the really good ones, but he did really well when he was concentrating). After that they had a brief game and he did some good tackling in the game and a few good passes. Again the teams selected seemed a to have all the best boys in one team (not Elliott's) but Elliott's team did well and scored some goals. Then Bertie and Fabio played them against all the boys which seemed a bit pointless and Elliott lost interest a bit during this (seems to be an excuse for both coaches to show off and unfortunately lasted longer than the game between the boys). However Elliott did have a good time and was sad to leave even though Charlie wasn't there this week (watching his Dad run the Reading Half Marathon):

After lunch we did some homework. Elliott did this week's words (names of colours) by himself and concentrated on legibility which seemed quite good - not too big and not too small. Then we became science investigators looking for sources of light in the home (e.g. the fridge, or television box) and then drawing pictures of them and writing words to explain them - we filled in half the boxes and Elliott was keen on the drawing part, but not so keen on writing the explanations. I'll see what mood he's in but we might look for some sources of light outside in the next few evenings to fill in a a few more boxes.

Then we played Lego Star Wars on the iPad before visiting Andrea's Mum and Dad where Harry and Jack Jenkins were also visiting. Elliott played Clone Wars Top Trumps with Harry, Andrea and me and had fun playing with Jack too. After we got home we played Kerplunk and Guess Who before Roast Chicken tea that he ate really well and wanted more of when he'd finished. Then it was bath and bedtime and he read his orange book "I'm not scared" really well after bath and before bed.

Blast Off with Kid Carpet

General 

Elliott was good for most of today. In the morning he got upset because I asked him not to watch the iPad while we had breakfast (we were all sitting down together). He started being stroppy and a little toddler like so he went to his room to calm down. He did then calm down quite quickly and ate his breakfast without the iPad.   

Activities

We had a lazy morning building a Deadly 60 (not quite Lego) set he got for his birthday and a small Star Wars Lego set he'd been given for his birthday. He built the Lego Star Wars set with no help at all which was brilliant. Then we played with various Lego and the completed Deadly 60 set and he played Star Wars on the iPad.         

We went to Windsor for the afternoon. We had a picnic lunch by the river which was nice - rolls, fruit bar and apple juice:

After lunch we went to Daniels (the department store in Windsor) to buy a new toy with Elliott's birthday money. After some deliberation we chose the Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader doll that he's had his eye on for a while. He was very pleased about this:

Then we went to The Firestation (Arts Centre) in Windsor to watch a children's show by Kid Carpet called "Blast Off". This was really good and funny. It's quite hard to explain but it was basically about a singer who'd been sacked by his band (The Noisy Animals - a gorilla, badger, hedgehog and bear) who was going into space in a rocket and was asked to find a new sound for them by their manager Shakespeare. In the end Kid Carpet was back in the band. There were songs, jokes, a straight sidekick (Chris) and lo-fi video presentation which meant we felt like we were on television. After this we headed home and we had a spaghetti bolognese tea which he ate very well before  a good bath and bedtime.