Winchester Science Museum

General 

Elliott was mainly good today. Towards the end of the day, when there were too many bigger boys at the skate park for it to be safe for him and Harry Higgins to have the run of the place to themselves, he got quite upset as he'd really been looking forward to going to the skate park with Harry. He would be upset and then calm down and then remember again and be upset again and then calm down and did this about 5 times. However eventually he calmed down and moved on and later in the car on the way home we talked about moving on from annoying things and how remembering things vividly can be upsetting.

Activities

In the morning we drove to Winchester Science Centre where we met up with Matt and Harry Higgins. The centre had lots of hands on exhibits (some more fun than others) and a Planetarium. After we'd had a snack in the cafe we went to the planets show in the Planetarium which was really good and Elliott was very interested in each planet as we looked at them and heard more about them. After the Panetarium show we went into the exhibits and the boys particularly enjoyed trying wheelchair basketball:

looking through a periscope:

rowing:

and testing their reactions on a reaction testing wall:

We also had a picnic lunch at the Centre and then headed out to the adventure playground:

After lunch and outdoor playing we headed back in to the Centre where they both spent about 40 minutes testing their reaction times on a 10 metre race track where their sprinting time was measured from a race start. After all the sprinting we all enjoyed a Van De Graaff Generator demonstration that included getting our hair to stand on end, making foil cake covers "magically" fly out of our hands and causing a big spark of electricity travelling from the big generator to a smaller metal globe:

After the Van De Graaff Generator demonstration it was time to go and we headed in to Winchester to a nearby skate park:

After about 20 minutes of scootering the park began to get quite crowded with bigger boys so we headed off to play football in the nearby park and this is when Elliott got quite upset. After he'd calmed down we went to MacDonalds for tea where both boys had chicken nuggets happy meals before we said goodbye and drove home. When we arrived home Elliott had his bath, brushed his teeth and went to bed quickly as it was close to 8pm by the time he'd had his bath and put his pyjamas on.

Twelfth Night

General 

Elliott was good today.

Activities

We had a lazy time in the morning at Granny and Grandpa's and we finished the final touches on the Dangermouse car. We also packed and got ready to go and grabbed some sandwiches on the way home for lunch (Elliott had ham sandwiches).

After we got back to Wokingham we went to the library to watch a performance of Twelfth Night for children done by a small group of actors. Elliott watched the performance very intently and laughed at the funny bits although afterwards he claimed he hadn't like it. However later he said he had really enjoyed it but didn't want to say so in front of other people because the story was about love. After we got home we went into the flat's garden and played some cricket. Then we went in and watched Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway on catch up while I cooked rice and burgers for his tea. After tea he had his bath, we watched more of Ant and Dec and then I read him another chapter of Jack Stalwart before bed time.

Skate park

General 

Elliott was really good again today.

Activities

In the morning we went to the skate park early, straight after breakfast, to make sure we had some time before any bigger boys arrived. Elliott really enjoyed himself on his scooter and was getting very confident: 

After about three quarters of an hour some bigger boys did arrive but they took it in turns with Elliott to cycle or scoot around the skate park and this seemed to help Elliott's confidence even more. Then, after some Easter Egg for elevenses, we headed to the Co-Op in Downton to get some chicken to make chicken fajitas for lunch (Elliott choosing to travel by scooter).

After lunch we went for a trip to Ikea in Southampton and Elliott was really good while we looked around. He especially enjoyed trying out armchairs to see which one was most comfortable (he decided on a recliner). After we got home from Ikea there was time for some toast for tea and then he glued some of the final pieces of the Dangermouse car together so we can finish it tomorrow morning. Then it was time for his bath, bedtime squash, tooth brushing and another chapter of his Jack Stalwart book before bed time.

Stourhead

General 

Elliott was mainly good today. However after we got home from going out he was upset that he couldn't go to the local skate park again as it was raining quite heavily. I did have a chat with him and then I left him to calm down and after about 15 minutes he re-appeared and was really good after that and apologised. When he was upset he didn't shout or behave badly, he was just sulky.

Activities

In the morning he drew some more pictures (this time of Batman verses Superman), read some of his Jack Stalwart book himself and then he even practiced his handwriting. Then we went to Stourhead with Granny and Grandpa (a National Trust house and gardens). They were running an Easter Egg hunt there so Elliott joined in with that and had to identify answers to questions from clues dotted about the property in exchange for a chocolate Easter bunny. He raced round this trail and got all the questions right: 

Then we had a picnic lunch before we went to explore the house: 

In the house they'd also made an effort for children and placed Easter Eggs to spot in the different rooms and Elliott enjoyed searching for the Easter Eggs and asking the volunteers how many there were to find in each room. After we'd looked around the house we went to the shop where Granny and Grandpa bought his a wooden tarantula puzzle and then we had some tea in the cafe. The weather was pretty good and held off until just before we left which was lucky.

After we got home it was still raining quite badly and so unfortunately, after we hoped to be able to, we couldn't go to the local skate park with his scooter to practice tricks. He was quite upset about this but after a chat and some time to calm down he put it behind him and then we made the wooden tarantula together. Then it was time for spaghetti bolognese for tea before he had his bath. Then he watched some Wallace and Grommit before it was time for bed.

Easter Eggs

General 

Elliott was really good today.

Activities

Elliott drew some more pictures first thing in the morning before breakfast including making an Easter card for Harry Higgins. After breakfast we went to Salisbury Cathedral for the Easter morning service. They had an Easter Egg hunt for the children for a lot of the service which Elliott enjoyed and during the hunt we bumped in to Tom Dudding and his boys Samuel and Oscar so that was good fun. After we got back from the service Elliott opened his Kinder Surprise Easter Egg which came with a Batman figure and had some chocolate for elevenses. Then he started filming a Batman film using his Lego App before we had lunch which was Roast Lamb and he had some broccoli with his meat and potatoes.

After lunch he finished making his Batman film before we watched the Boat Race and he had some more chocolate at tea time. Then we went to the skate park up the road with his scooter and practiced scootering before he had some hot cross buns for tea. Then he had his bath and I read him some more Jack Stalwart before bed time.