The dreaded nits

Yes, we had a houseful of them. Naomi was scratching a lot, and on closer inspection had quite the infestation. Then it turns out we all did! Or at least we all felt itchy enough from the very thought of it! Naturally, of course, this came one week before our lovely summer holiday, so we all got a treatment of the special shampoo (even me - having just returned from Prague, which I'm sure would have counted as quarantine...) Yet, weeks later, the darn things keep making a comeback! It's enough to cause nightmares - what's that screaming? Aaaaargggh!

(emphasis may have been added for dramatic effect - in fact these later covert photos suggest that there was even some enjoyment of the whole affair. Stranger and stranger it gets.)

Messy Church

Messy Church is becoming a fixture on our calendar! About once every 6 weeks or so, the girls really look forward to going to it and it is a really nice way for as all to "do church" as a family. There is a good mixture of crafts, songs, a message and food. Naomi has taken one of her friends once (she is really keen to take her friends to church stuff: it makes us very happy that she likes to share), and we get to meet with church and non-church families who also come.

Generally a highlight of the weeks that it is on.

Lydia starts school!

Lydia is now in Primary 1! This has come around mighty fast.

All ready to go!

Already in the paper... this is her whole class.

This means we now have three to get out to school in the mornings, although this is actually a bit easier as school starts 15 minutes later than nursery, is closer to the house, and Esther doesn't go to nursery for another year. It does though mean that we have a bit of a production line going in the morning...

I close with a few other girls happy to be getting back into things...

And Esther, who is now a little sad that she doesn't have any sister to play with in the day time any more. It does, though, mean she can go to places the Briarlands a bit more easily.

Granny's house

Just before school started we managed a quick trip to Granny and Grandad too. Lots of outdoor fun here and a nice way to round off the holidays!

Esther really likes swings!

Naomi really liked this one!

There is a shiny beetle in this picture somewhere...

Esther's growing up

Only a month or so on from putting up the bunk beds for Lydia and Esther, things were going well enough that we were able to take out the cot. It's now found a home thanks to the second-hand shop in town that specialises in children's stuff. The end of an era! No cot in our house for the first time in nine years....

Of course, soon after this Esther realised she could climb out of bed herself and has been giving us a lot of challenges at bedtimes the past few weeks. Ho hum.

Somewhat related, Esther is also now sporting big girl pants! Her she is excitedly sorting them out the day we bought them. So far she is doing very well at the potty, so it's possible that we will also be nappy free in only a few weeks' time too. Jings!

Summer holidays!

This summer we managed to get in a proper summer holiday, a big trip with activities and visits to friends and family, all in one! Despite being done on a bit of a shoestring budget we managed to squeeze an impressive amount into nearly two weeks worth of travel to London and back again, at the high of the summer heatwave...

The first of many new living rooms to play in... this is at Auntie Liz's house on the way down.

And the first of many parks, this one in Loughborough.

Next stop was at my sister Heather's in Chingford.
Lots of paddling pool fun. It was HOT in London!

A very excited Miriam and Lydia getting to try out Uncle Theo's car!

Naomi getting somewhat adventurous at the park in London.

A most welcome ice cream break.

It so happens there was a funfair at the park near Chingford so the girls got to try out some classic amusements. A shame the steam trains that run in the park weren't on that day...

More of the funfair

Cousin Kirsty came over for a visit with her sausage dog slinky (recently also featured on Supermarket Sweep; yes, really), and the girls overcame their fear of dogs

On the hottest day we went for a train ride to the cinema with our cousins

Miriam was most pleased to be seeing Toy Story 4!

Esther just liked having a ride on the train!

Another day and we went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.
A really fun day out.

The museum has lots of classic toys 

And a few other fun things!

...including a puppet stall for children to have a go at.

On to Jay's sister Fay, and inheriting a lot of Barbie stuff. Here they are giving it a workout on day one.

Biggest swing ever!

A grand day out to a certain block themed adventure park.
Brilliant.

Lego everywhere!

And a lot of rides very suitable for wee ones.

Lydia having a go at controlling our helicopter.

Miriam had a shot too...

A brilliant puppet show to entertain us during lunch.

Lydia, Miriam and Naomi had a go on the cars (Lydia was on a different track for smaller ones) but I only got a photo of Miriam. It looked really fun.

Best part of the day was seeing Miriam on rides like this. It turns out she *really* likes them - lots of squeals!

Miriam liked this pirate ship one too.

Naomi had a great time as well, but just trying to capture a natural-looking picture of her happy is too much.

Hey, a local landmark!

Back to Loughborough and a Pizza Hut with friends. This means some Ice Cream Factory action!

There seems to be a theme of foot-related statues in Loughborough.

Naturally, of course, we still needed Pancake Saturday!

All in all, a brilliant time had by all.