Half-term!
Unlike on Bank Holidays before, Cori dedicated the boys to time off from work this week, which means that there is little to report, other than a trip to the beach on Monday:
You will admire how dirty Oshin is. Once he'd committed to it, there was no going back!
This meant that this was how they got home in the end:
Once home, they all had to be cleaned off outside, which Oshin enjoyed...
This scene reminded us of his brother a three years ago...
When on the bike ride on the weekend, Orry was lamenting that he had to be on the back of a bike and couldn't ride his own bike. We leapt on the suggestion and I went out with him and Finn to ride along the prom. From the middle of the prom, to one end, all the way to the other, and back to the middle to go home again. My back was aching by the end of it, from holding Orry and his bike. He is definitely early on in learning how to do it - learning how to steer it and hold his weight, not at my taking my hands off him stage at all yet - but he definitely improved over the 30+ minutes we were doing it. Hopefully we can do it again soon and continue the learning.
Sadly, of course, since Cori & Oshin were at home, no pictures were taken. So you'll just have to imagine my holding Orry and trying to keep our social distance from people down the prom, as Finn dashed ahead and rides back throughout.
Wednesday was poor weather, so Cori treated them to a during-the-day film - a Film Day.
This meant that they got to watch something wholly their choice, without our pushing them to something we would enjoy also. So they enjoyed Hotel Transylvania, happily together in front of the big screen & projector with popcorn - what a half-term treat!
After the film-watching, they made a den out of the chair & cushions in the living room and decided to sleep in it, which was rather fun, and successful (in that they slept, ad didn't come up to wake us in the night!).
Cori had to collect something from Ramsey on Thursday, in better weather, and so they used the opportunity to meet up with granny and investigate the playing area up around Cronk Elfin:
(Oshin found a page of a book and wouldn't let it go, as you do).
They had a marvellous time up there. They walked for ages, going about the wood looking for it and getting distracted on the way, but no one complained, and they all had a marvellous time when they were there. A very successful trip!
The reason why Cori was in Ramsey was to buy a baby doll for Oshin, & Orry. It was a hit:
Oshin likes to hold it & stroke it's head, and Orry too like to share the baby with Oshin. They both really like it.
Orry has declared that the baby (a boy) is to be called 'biscuit', since he wasn't able to call Oshin that, and now the name has caught on.
It is an improvement on the rock baby!
Talking of Orry and Oshin getting on well, here is a lovely little bit of Orry reading Oshin a book - a very lovely thing:
A water ban was to come into effect the next day (Saturday), so everyone went out to the allotment to water the plants one last time.
Although Cori happily harvested some chilli peppers, it was a sad time as we admitted that there are rabbits in our allotment; not getting in, but actually living inside the fence. Our plants are doomed!
No idea how we're to get rid of them, but we'll work it out (or work out what's allowed in the rules).
Here is Oshin at lunch, enjoying his hula-hoops (and note the car in the sandwich there!):
If you're wondering, it turns out that Oshin does not like pickle in his sandwiches. We were quite surprised by this as he enjoys a lot of adult-tastes, like bitter or spicy things. He devoured the bombay mix which was in the house a week or so ago, and he is always stealing Cori's coffee to slurp (always followed by a satisfied 'Yum!'). - Shame, it would have been good to have a pickle-eater!
Saturday brought our first ever outing to see Injebreck Reservoir, which has the distinction of having an old bridge which becomes exposed when it is dry weather.
It took some wandering about before we even got to the water(!)...
... but eventually we saw it, but there was a river to cross.
There are a large trunk over it, but we didn't suggest to our boys to do it, as we didn't think they would. But without stopping, Finn sat down and edged along it to the other side. I was amazed at how fearless he was!
Orry was more nervous, and had to have me close behind him for much of it, but he did it too.
After I got over, it was Cori & Oshin's turn...
... but the weight was wrong, so Cori had to give up on that way. So she handed Oshin to me at a narrow point, with me getting wet feet in retrieving him, leading Cori to amaze us all in fearless walking over the log!
We were very impressed, and Finn as positively giddy with the excitement of it all!
The bridge was lovely to get to finally after seeing it on Facebook and the like for years - a successful outing!
Cori wasn't going to come with us on Saturday, but it ended up that Orry committed, and then Oshin wanted to come, but then Orry wasn't going to come unless Cori came, so it was just easier for her to come too.
So on Sunday she was happy to stay at home with Orry & Oshin, leaving Finn & I to go out in the lovely sunshine around Onchan looking for places with interesting stories - including a phynnodderree helping out in the fields, a cursed stone outside the church, and the Mooinjer Veggey on the (rather stinky) beach:
While we were away, Cori used Oshin's nap and more to create some clothes for Biscuit:
They came out very well, and Orry was later "filled with happiness" at seeing him dressed so and so cute:
Oshin has been really enjoying pouring his drink between two cups at the dinner table. We tell him not to, but he just ignores us and studiously pours from one to the other. So Cori treated him (and Orry) to a bath where he could do just that:
When we got back, Orry was interested in our stories of where we'd been, so he added a strange spirit to the trees, and made the tree a buggane eating Finn:
We then treated ourselves to a film night, watching our now usual Studio Ghibli film - this time, The Cat Returns. As always, we all loved it and had our imagination driven by it. It also, I realised, is a good moral anchor to our week, and a lovely thing for it.
The only thing left for us after that was the usual tidy-up after the boys were in bed, this time tidying up the long train track which ran around the corridor & kitchen in a loop - a fine creation to end the week:
