Swallowfield Village Hall

General

Elliott was good today. However he did get really upset at the end of the day before bed time about having spent his pocket money and wanting not to have. I started off by being quite assertive with him over this and saying it was his choice and decision making, but as he wound himself up more and more I focused more on cuddling and trying to get him to calm down. He did calm down after a while and once he had we had a constructive conversation about money not mattering as much as other things (Like spending time with you and me and Libby and grand parents and his friends, etc) and also about making choices. I'm not sure if the pocket money issue was really the driver for how upset he got, I suspect it's also to do with tiredness and school being back soon, etc.

Activities

After I'd picked him up we went food shopping in ASDA where he was really well behaved. He spent his pocket money on some Match Attax and a Micro Machine Star Wars blind bag. After we got home he had a croissant for lunch with bear fruit.

After lunch we did some cycling before we went to Swallowfield Village Hall for a friend's 40th birthday party. There were lots of other children at the party and Elliott got on particularly well with Josh (6 years old) and Hugo (7 years old). There were playgrounds outside and also an all weather football pitch where quite a lot of Dads and sons had a kickabout including us. Then it was time for a sit down meal (Pork) before it was time to go. After we got home he had a quick bath and then got upset about having spent his pocket money. After he'd calmed down we watched a Dangermouse to try and help distance him from how he was feeling and then it was bed time.

Dragon making

General

Elliott was really good today.

Activities

In the morning we had a lazy time at Granny's watching the iPad and Elliott also made a Ghost Rider poster and coloured in some Star Wars pictures. We headed to Salisbury for lunch and had ham sandwiches from Tescos.

After lunch we met up with Peter, Charlie and Alice Sladen and went to Salisbury Cathedral where they were running a afternoon of craft to make a dragon's head. Charlie and Elliott had a lot of fun and made some good dargon's heads:

After the heads had been made we went to Boston Tea Party in Salisbury for some tea and met up with Carla and Poppy Sladen as well. Then we headed back to Wokingham via MacDonalds where Elliott had a chicken nuggets happy meal and enjoyed reading is free Roald Dahl mini book. After we got home it was straight in to the bath and then he finished reading his Wolverine book before bed time.

All The Cool Stuff

General

Elliott was very good today and also didn't get up until 7am.

Activities

In the morning we went back to the skate park in Fordingbridge with Granny to show her Elliott's new moves on his bike. After the skate park we headed to Ringwood where he had a ham and cheese toastie for lunch in the Boston Tea Party there.

After lunch he had a look around the toy shop in Ringwood before we went back to the skate park in Fordingbridge where we did some filming of Elliott's circuit around the park on his bike:

After the skate park we went to a shop in Fordingbridge called All The Cool Stuff which specialises in Star Wars, Avengers, Transformers, etc and we both enjoyed looking around there. We bought a Wedge Antilles figure and the man in the shop gave Elliott a new Star Wars Lego poster. We got back to Downton in time for tea and Elliott played his toys for a while before we had sausages and mash for tea with some broccoli. After tea he had his bath and then read more of his Wolverine book before watching 10 minutes of iPad and bed time.

Moors Valley Country Park

General

Elliott was really good today. He did fall off his bike 3 times, but each time after initial upset, he got up, dusted himself off quickly and carried on. Also on the way out of Moors Valley Country Park I accidentally drove through the barrier (which fortunately it was designed for so no damage to it or the car) and Elliott was very upset and worried I'd get in to trouble with the police, but we told the people running the park and they were very understanding and I told him it was an example of where it's good to be honest (as we could have driven straight off and they seemed quite surprised we hadn't).

Activities

In the morning we went to Moors Valley Country Park to meet up with Matt, Harry and Bertie Higgins. We started the day off in the adventure playground which was a lot of fun:

Then we had packed lunch of honey sandwiches and bear fruit:

After lunch Elliott and Harry got their bikes out and rode around the lake there while Bertie followed the Superworm trail on the same route. After the trail finished Elliott and Harry did a lot of cycling in the open spaces there and Elliott fell off his bike a couple of times and has a scratch on his chest. However he was absolutely fine and very much enjoying himself:

After we left Moors Valley and we'd sorted out the accident with the barrier we stopped at the park in Fordingbridge with the Higgins boys where we played some football and Elliott and Harry rode their bikes around a skate park. Elliott was quite cautious and sensible on his bike in the skate park, but by the end he had mastered riding up and down the gentler ramps and was rightly pleased with himself. After we'd said goodbye to Matt, Harry and Bertie we went back to Granny's house where, due to how muddy he'd got cycling around, Elliott had his bath before tea time and we also trimmed his nails. Once he was clean and had put on some clean clothes he had spaghetti bolognese for tea before he read some of his Wolverine book before bed time.

Wolverine

General 

Elliott was really good on the car journey to Downton and after we arrived at Granny and Grandpas house.

Activities

After we arrived in Downton Elliott had a quick bath and then we ready his Wolverine library book together before bed time.