Beaches (& A Generally Amazing Summer cont.)

Saturday 27th August

So much catching up to do with all our adventures and wonderful happy times this summer (will gloss over the less happy times….needless to say it is all getting better but being a SAHM can have plenty of downs along with the ups and it is still incredibly challenging to the point of barely coping at times). And what a summer. It feels like a really long holiday – other years having been barely 5 weeks, this year has felt so much longer. I had got as far as organising us up to France, but realised that on our return, we still had two and a half glorious weeks to go!

I have been feeling so unsettled by decisions concerning H’s imminent start at school. I rang the Head to see if decelerating until 2017 was still an option but got a point blank NO. School is very anti starting in January rather than September – but she has only just turned 4 for goodness sake, since when should that involve formal education?? Please don’t turn around and try and tell me that Reception Year is mainly playing because I don’t buy that. They are expected to read and write by then end of that time. She will always be the youngest, pitted against those up to 11 and a half months older than her. She iwll be 15, not 16 when she sits her GCSEs. So I feel I have let her down in a big way by not fighting for her to wait another year. But I have come to the decision, after much agonising earlier in the summer, pre the holidays and STOPPING, that to have another 4 months of preschool and playing will be so much more beneficial than the downsides of mising out on the settling in of friendship groups and learning initial phonetic sounds.

Other than that, we have caught up with old friends, seen family, we have camped, travelled by ferry, played on numerous beaches, swum in lakes and seas, made sandcastles, made boats out of recycling and raced them, been on treasure and scavenge hunts, visited various playgrounds, read LOADs, sung even more, cycled lots and lots. We have picked raspberries and blackberries, redcurrents and beans, wild grasses and shells. Drunk lots of cups of tea and cold cold juice (oh, and probably too much of the pressed grape variety!). Had plenty of BBQs. Been messing about on rivers. Just, in a nutshell, lots and lots of good, old fashioned fun.

Sat in very very, excrutiatingly slow traffic yesterday on the way home from Mum and Dad’s – bemoaning the fact that our car does not have air conditioning – and stopping off for a quick run around and cold drink at Gilly and Phil’s en route. Got home in time to get the garden decked out with tents, paddling pools for water fights and water slides, sand play, BBQ with Cousins Alex and Autumn, and Charlie. Sometimes the best place to be is at home when it is that hot and lovely.

Today we took Alex and Autumn back to West Wittering (Leaving home EARLY), which was wonderful. Enough cloud and cool breeze not to burn and feel too uncomfortable but enough warmth to make it thoroughly enjoyable. Swimming was bliss. Tide was going out then slowly starting to come in so were able to swim out to sand bank ‘islands’ then safely enjoy the current as the tide raced in through the channels. Big sandcastles (trying to avoid very small people ruining castles made by slightly less small people)?!

A perfect day was finished off with a picnic tea (hastely purchased from the local shop) by the tree (with the new amazing swing) at Bosham – complete with pealing bells and brides no less!

 

Photos will have to follow – as I then try to catch up with all our exploits from July (and June?) Opps, finger off the butten. So many changes in the the kids, so much achieved/completed/learnt/enjoyed….