Highland Folk Museum & picnic at manse

I'm trying to catch up with sorting photos & my blog, so afraid that means a blog full of photos! And since these are from over a month ago, it's time I put them up here.

We organised a "field trip" to the Highland Folk Museum at the beginning of the new "school" year with a few other homeschooling families (our pastor & family and a couple of families from our homeschool group). It was a rather wet day but was lovely to spend time with good friends and visit an interesting museum! :-)


The children really enjoyed the playground!


Lots of things to climb on


Then we headed off to walk round the museum, which is 1 mile long and is an 80 acre living history site. It's a fantastic place for a day out with plenty to see and interesting for all ages.



A hen with tiny chicks


Colouring some pictures


more colouring


looking round some of the farm buildings


Farm site again


By the railway line and train station


It seems kids always want to climb! :-)


In the one-room school house - trying out quills and ink and slates


Abigial practicing on a slate


Heading across the forest with friends


Benjamin & Abigail running through the trees


next to a pond


Our favourite part of the museum: the 1700s township, with very authentic houses! Dirt floors, real peat fires, and no windows! The smoke inside was awful - can't think it could be very healthy to live in a house like this! lol Clement wouldn't go inside at all, as he's got hypersensitive sense of smell and couldn't cope with the smoke!


Benjamin trying out a broom


Leathermaking - was very interesting to get a demonstration of the man's work, though again, Clement didn't like the smell of the leather and ran off! lol


The children loved the wheel barrow


Abigail in front of a house


Playing together


Deborah relaxing and enjoying the back seat of the Phil & Teds pushchair :-)


The mill wheel


Clement riding on a purple tartan cat!


The church at the museum

We did get fairly wet before lunch, but thankfully it dried up later in the afternoon and we had a really nice time.

Then 2 days after the above outing, we had a Saturday afternoon church picnic (bbq) at the manse! The day was dry, though they were organised and had a tent (marqee) which was a very good idea and a nice shelter from the wind too! We had a lovely time there with lots of church friends and the kids really enjoyed the afternoon too.

#
The tent


My boys had *lots* of fun with their wagon!


Abigail attempting a sack race for the first time! :)


someone else in a sack!




Abigail getting a bit of help while in her sack! lol


The much loved wagon again




Deborah loves being outside and really enjoyed crawling around the grass


Clement looking a bit sleepy here...


and after we got home, we found him asleep like this! He obviously really was tired. :-)

Everyday life...

Nothing out of the ordinary happening here, so just a brief update with photos. I've been meaning to put something here for a couple of weeks, just so I don't get a pile of photos that need sorting! As it happens, this is only a portion of what I've taken recently. Hopefully I'll manage another blog soon, with photos from our day out at the Highland Folk Museum and a few from a church picnic at the manse. But for now, just some photos of the kids, of course! :-)


This was taken yesterday - I love her big blue eyes here! :-) The hat was only worn for a few seconds, as she refuses to have anything on her head or in her hair. I can't even seem to get her to forget about something being there - even a tiny headband. I think she's going to get cold ears this winter if she refuses a hat or hood!



As I said, she thinks it's a crazy idea to wear a hat! lol


Earlier this month we bought a new washing machine! It's a Miele brand and I'm very pleased with it. They say you get what you pay for, but I think I always assumed washing machines were fairly similar and they all washed your clothes equally well. But I was wrong! This machine has been getting dirt/discolouration out of clothes that the Bosch had left in for a while and I thought was permanant. And it's very quiet too, not to mention intelligent and will give an extra rinse if there's too much soap left, or will adjust the time if the load is light, etc.


All four children crowded round the computer - grrr! At least they're learning something (on Starfall.com)


Happy about the mess she's made and clapping her hands to show it.


Balanced on Daddy's back


Eating ice cream in the shade on a warm & sunny day


I actually managed to get a *tiny* hair clip into her hair without her knowing it and she left it for about an hour! :-O


Deborah & Clement playing together - they're becoming best friends, I think. It's lovely to see them playing together all the time - and thankfully Clement is being a lot nicer to her than he was a couple of months ago!


Benjamin & Deborah sitting in the basket of the (collapsed) Mountain Buggy, after I took the seats off for repair :-)


New harness (straps) which I sewed into the seats - so much better than the old straps.


Dumping the clean nappies & towels into the kitchen floor - she *loves* to empty things, regardless of what they are.


Nappies make good head gear - much better than ordinary things to wear on your head! lol (she was attempting to drape it over her head herself)


A quiet afternoon activity


Smallest two together again :-)


My darling little girl. Hard to believe it's less than 2 months until her 1st birthday! Though she's acting very grown up and tries to get into everything, and escapes out the front & back door and into the garden (on her own!) whenever she gets the chance.


She loves real books - the more pages the better! She is *not* interested in board books - she likes the real thing.


Having breakfast isn't her favourite thing to do, though standing up eating waffles is a bit more interesting than porridge or cereal! She does love her dinner though - meat, potaotoes & veg the best!


Making a chocolate cheesecake - and licking the bowls & spoons!


She found these ear defenders and was trying to put them on! lol I helped her out and thought it made her cheeks look so cute & fat! :-)