Horses!

On Friday we spent the day with friends in Pulborough. We had such a great day! The girls played and chatted together, Hannah helped with the rabbits and guinea pigs, we walked through the fields along the River Arun with the dog, and went to the stables.

Hannah's friend has her own pony which she very kindly allows Hannah to ride when we visit. I find this incredibly generous of her as I know how hard it can be to watch someone else ride your pony and Hannah really appreciates it.

On Friday she learned to ride without stirrups and reins, sitting deep in the saddle and moving with the pony. Her friends mum is a really good teacher and Hannah trusts her completely - she is riding far more confidently than ever before.

Hannah said riding without stirrups was lovely and gave her lots of confidence

Trotting without reins or stirrups requires a helping hand from a friend for steering purposes!

Watching her friend ride.

After the horses were fed the girls hung out in the hay store chatting about......................................horses!!

Happy Days

This week all the schools went back to school, and we went to Barnham  to meet up with friends and ride bikes. Six families had the park to ourselves, it was so peaceful - the children all had fun, fresh air and exercise while we enjoyed the sunshine.

Hannah practising tricks on her bike.

Hannah also started this school years work this week. Multiplication was first on the list.

 We are also using these books which I love!

 And today she has had some new friends over for American Girl play. Three lovely girls all around Hannah's age and their mother came for the afternoon - we had a really fun, relaxed time.

 Hannah's week also included a visit to Grammy's house, skyping with friends, playing minecraft and Always Ice Cream and she even managed a swim in the (pretty cold now) pool !!

Priory Park Social

On Friday we went over to Priory Park in Chichester to spent the day with friends in the sunshine. Hannah had a lovely time with the other children, and I enjoyed catching up with the parents and relaxing while Hannah was occupied with her friends. Afterwards we did some of the City Walls Walk, Hannah climbed a few trees and we a took a few pictures!

"The historic City of Chichester dates from Roman times. The Roman walls and streets define the shape of the town. They date back to the third century AD. Today the Walls we see are medieval but built on the Roman foundations. They still can be walked after nearly two thousand years"

A Hotchpotch Of Our Week So Far.................

Hannah and her friend (also Hannah) have been keen to do a sewing project together, and friend Hannah's mum is a really good seamstress so she offered to teach the girls some simple embroidery and sewing to make a cushion each. 

Hannah learnt to embroider 'chicken scratch' in their first lesson.

 Then at home, inspired by a science session that her friend had told her about, Hannah wanted to learn about the parts of a flower and how they grow. We found a book with a simple to follow dissection and she carefully dissected several flowers and learnt the names of all the different parts of the flowers.

This week we have also worked on multiplication,

Language Arts

             Social Studies

and Hannah has been working on a 'Little House In The Big Woods' Lapbook.

 On Tuesday at Adventure Group the children all had a chance to try pendulum art. It was a lot of messy colourful fun!!

Afterwards the two Hannah's wanted to go shopping and had so much fun trying on heels together! They were so funny modelling 4 inch stilettos and posing in front of the mirrors!

 On the way home we bought a new basket ball which Hannah took to the hoop at Grammy's house yesterday where we played a very hot game of hoops in the sunshine!

and that is our week so far!

More Biking In Barnham!

Yesterday we caught the train back to Barnham to meet up with friends and do some more bike riding. Hannah is loving having a bike again and is really enjoying all the social time she has been having. Being an 'only child' means that social time is even more important for Hannah, she is learning about group dynamics, about give and take and about recognising her friends' wants and needs as well as her own - such important skills for life, and learnt in a happy, safe environment with good people.

 As well as bike riding there were Frisbee games, monkey bars, climbing, swinging, running and picnicking!

Biking With Friends

On Wednesday we caught the train along the coast to Barnham to go biking with new friends. We met a couple of families that we already knew, and a few more that hadn't met before, and had the best day! The children biked around the huge park, played in the playground, picnic'd and chatted and Hannah made some lovely new friends. Everyone was so nice and friendly and it was a really comfortable day. We stayed for over 5 hours! Hannah was exhausted but so happy on the way home and hasn't stopped chattering about her new friends ever since.

This is the field they all biked around (and around, and around............) You might just be able to see Hannah and her friends by the trees on the pathway.

And here is my super tired little girl on the way home!

Our friends over at The Gallivanters organised the get together and we'd like to say a huge thank you to them for inviting us and introducing us to everyone :-)

Catching Up

Ooops, I have fallen really behind with blogging (waiting for a new laptop cable to arrive!), but luckily it's been a quiet week so you haven't missed much!
Here are some of the things we have done -

Hannah had a campfire camp out for her American Girl doll Lanie (pictures taken by Hannah - well done Hannah)!

We have had a real campfire cook out for Granddad's birthday! He turned 81 last month, and we had a belated barbecue this week to celebrate. It was a beautiful day!

My mum, dad, sister and Hannah all together - my sister's partner also came but managed to duck out of the picture!

 It is the Easter school holidays here, so we caught up with Hannah's friend Coral and the girls had a lovely time together.

These two have been friends for 9 years, their whole lives, and Coral such a lovely friend to Hannah.

Finally,  Hannah has been crafting this week. She made some pretty spring fairies from a craft set that her nanny gave her. They turned out really well!

Now we are all caught up :-)