Lightening Online

On a recent trip to Port Lincoln, we were fortunate enough to see the “One and All” while it was docked.

We had a friend who was heading off on a 5 day voyage so we were expecting it to be in Lincoln over the weekend.

Sunday morning we went to have a look.

The “One and All” runs youth development programs throughout the year.

It’s an awesome opportunity for young people to learn how to sail a ship, work as a team and achieve things they never dreamed they’d ever achieve.

Reports have it that kids are never the same after a stint on the ship.

Our school gets an opportunity to send students about once every 4-5 years.

But what we didn’t realise until speaking with staff is that you can nominate your child to travel on a voyage and they will slot you in to an available slot.

It’s a more expensive way of going on the ship but an awesome opportunity nonetheless.

While we were there, we were invited to come aboard and have a look at the ship.

We weren’t expecting to be able to go on board so it was a nice surprise.

We’ve told our kids that if they’re at all interested in going on the ship, we’d be happy to pay the money.  It would be an absolutely awesome and life changing experience for them.

And now that they’ve actually been on the ship, maybe they’ll even decide to do that?

Image via WikipediaArrr…… me hearties!!!

My 5 year old is having a pirate party next week to celebrate turning 5 and I think I need to get organised!!!! This week is busy with school visits so we had to wait until next week to fit it in.

Here are my plans so far. If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them.

CAKE

It all started with the cake. I have two children’s birthday cake books and my children spend hours pouring over them trying to decide which birthday cake they’d like. Trailer Boy chose a Pirate Ship and hence the idea of a Pirate Party was born.

LOOT BAGS

I had thought finding pirate party gear would be easy. It’s a pretty common theme at the moment. Turns out I was wrong. Perhaps it’s so popular that places had sold out? So, I turned to online sources and found this awesome site called Loot Bags. I thought for $3.25 each that these pirate loot bags were pretty good value. They’re like little mini showbags. Of course, I’ve bought some edible loot to add to them as well (I found a treasure dip, some gold coins and some edible jewellery as well as a few other bits and pieces - probably too many but I’m having fun!).

I’m usually one to be cautious about the cost of loot bags getting away from me (because they can easily run into $$$ if you let them) but I think I’m using a bit of retail therapy to deal with the fact that my baby is turning 5 so we’ve splashed out a little.

The contents are going to double as games prizes though so I don’t have any other costs in that department. The dress-up sets are going inside the pass the parcel so that everyone gets a prize and can put them on (should make for great photo’s). Other loot will be used for a treasure hunt at the end of the party.

GAMES

So far we have:

* Pass the Parcel (at Trailer Boys request)

* Treasure Hunt (also at Trailer Boys request) - we haven’t decided yet whether we’ll do a standard treasure hunt or a “follow the clues” type treasure hunt. It’ll come down to whether Farmboy can pull off an idea he’s working on for a moving pirate ship.

* Ships Ahoy - you call out instructions and they each have their own action (eg. scrub the deck, pull the anchor, dig for treasure)

* Captain Says - same as Simon Says only with “Captain Says”

* Musical Islands - like musical chairs only with island maps to stand on instead of chairs to sit on

* Water Relay - team race where you use a spoon to move water from one end to another

* Pin the Flag on the Treasure Map (if I get organised enough as I need to make this)

Back Up Games:

* Egg & Spoon Race

* Red Rover

* Peg Chasey (need to try and get each others pegs)

FOOD

Party is for lunch (10.30-12.30) and this is something I’m still working on.

Ideas so far:

* Golden Nuggets (chicken munchies)

* Hot Dog Ships (small red sausages with a flag stuck in them)

Any other suggestions for piratey type food would be much appreciated. Otherwise I’ll just go with traditional party food fare.

DECORATIONS

I’m a bit slack in the decorating department. I do have a few pirate balloons and a pirate tablecloth as well as a pirate door banner to hang up somewhere. We’re going to attempt to make a makeshift boat using some black fabric from my SIL (which is where we got the idea of making a boat from). That way the kids can play in it as well as it adding to the effect of the party.

So that’s about where I’m up to with it all and typing it out like this has been very helpful in pulling all those floating ideas together. Photographs and an update on how it went will be posted next wee.

Questacon was by far the most enjoyed attraction we visited while in Canberra. We purchased a 3 in 1 ticket which not only gave us discounted entry to Questacon, Cockington Green and the Institute of Sport but we were also able to return to the attraction of our choice for a second visit. We chose to return to Questacon for our “free” visit. Given we spent the best part of a day there the first time, it was good to know we could come back for a 2nd visit and do those things we hadn’t had time to do (and re-do the stuff the kids particularly enjoyed).

The place is divided into Galleries with each Gallery having a theme. I didn’t actually write down the names of the galleries but there were things like a sporting gallery, a sideshow gallery and so on.

This photograph is taken in the first gallery. In hindsight, I think we should have skipped the first gallery and headed to the top as it was quite busy when we arrived. I assumed it would be that busy all day which didn’t turn out to be the case. There was just a bit of congestion as so many people arrived at a similar time and started at the same spot. Aint hindsight great?

The one thing I did find disappointing, particularly in this first gallery, was the number of adults pushing in front of my children when they were waiting for an activity. I almost had a meltdown because it meant I had to be more assertive in order to make sure my children didn’t miss out. Is common courtesy a thing of the past?

Here is a photo of Trailer Boy playing on the clowns in the Sideshow Gallery. I think our admission paid for itself just with this one activity, when you consider how expensive they are to play at the show!!!

Another feature in the Sideshow Gallery was this free fall where you could experience what it’s like to free fall (I can’t remember how high it is - can anyone help me out here?). Farmboy was the only one game enough to give that a go:

The line was a bit long for the Roller Coaster simulation on our first visit but we had a go on that in the return visit. I was determined to have a go as it’s the closest I’ll ever come to going on a roller coaster (I’m no dare-devil).

Mini Q

Questacon have a section designed specifically for the under 6 age group and have it very well set up. They only allow a certain number of children into the section at a time so they have set session times and a ticket system. You can pick up a ticket to any session (providing it’s not booked out) and then you just come back at the designated time. An EXCELLENT idea for this age group.

Trailer Boy LOVED it and I’m sure could have played in there all day. They had a construction section, bakery, vet clinic, sensory play, a climbing gym, water play and more. Here he is filling his car with petrol in the garage section:

He didn’t want to leave when our session time was over so the staff encouraged me to pick up tickets for a later session so he could come back. He then went back for a third time with Farmboy on our return visit and didn’t get bored at all. In fact, it was really good for him to have some decent “play” time. I think it’s something he really missed while we were away.

Theatres

Questacon has a number of theatres set up for shows run at set times throughout the day. I took Trailer Boy to one on Dinosaurs which was designed for younger children.

We then went to a fantastic show on Rockets as a family. The guy presenting the show was fabulous and it was a lot of fun as well as educational. During the 30 minute segment, 7 rockets were launched, each one building on the concepts of what it takes to launch a rocket to the moon.

On our second visit, I assumed all the shows would be the same but there were a few changes so we chose to go to another show that was all about how planes fly. I was so pleased when Singstar Princess volunteered to go out the front (our kids tend to be a bit shy when it comes to that sort of thing).

It wasn’t quite as fascinating as the rocket show but we all learnt something about how planes fly.

Other Favourites

Other highlights were the Earthquake House (giving you an idea what an Earthquake feels like) and the Shark Cage (a simulation of swimming with sharks, complete with moving chairs).

I didn’t see many of the exhibits on the first visit as I was busy keeping Trailer Boy entertained while Farmboy took the older two through the various galleries. So on our return visit, we swapped roles and Farmboy took Trailer Boy while the older 2 took me to see their favourites. If you’re short on time, it would definitely be worthwhile having someone who has been there take you to the best bits.

We chose to buy lunch from the cafe there. I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to come and go and we didn’t really want to be carrying lunch in the backpack all day. The prices weren’t too bad and the food was lovely (when they finally got my order right after 3 tries). I noticed a lot of families had brought a picnic lunch and you can go out to your car so packing lunch is certainly an option.

To see it properly, I think you’d need at least 5 hours. We noticed that the afternoons were less busy than the mornings, particularly between 3.30 and 5.00pm.

If I lived in Canberra, I would definitely buy a year’s membership. It’s the kind of place I could imagine bringing the kids for a couple of hours to entertain them.

We also had lots of fun in the Questacon shop. They had lots of stuff for kids for under $5 and plenty of gift ideas. I love educational toys and books!!!

As promised, here are a few more photographs from our recent holiday.

Australian Institute Of Sport

This was enjoyable although in my mind was expensive for what you got. It’s supposed to be a 90 minute tour but our tour guide finished early so we ended up with only a little over an hour for our $40-something investment.

The Sportex section was great fun but we didn’t get enough time to do everything there and I felt they could have at least taken us back there for the final 20 minutes. It wasn’t a place you could spend whatever time you liked in, you only had the amount of time allowed as part of the tour.

It was fun though. Here are Lleyton and Singstar Princess on the winners podium that is part of the Sportex section at the Institute of Sport.

Space Centre - Tidbinbilla

One of the great things about Canberra was how many places you didn’t have to pay admission for. The Space Centre was one of them. We were able to see what Space food looks like (not very tasty looking!!!) as well as many other interesting displays and exhibits. It was fairly small but well worth the visit.

Here are the kids in front of a remote control buggy like those used on the moon. Lleyton is pretending to be in zero gravity.

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve

Tidbinbilla is a little way out of Canberra so we packed up a picnic lunch and headed off for the day. The Space Centre in the morning then onto the Nature Reserve for lunch and a look around. Things weren’t very sign posted at the reserve and we were rather disappointed with the lack of animals we could see from the picnic area. Thankfully, we decided to ask for directions inside the shop, only to discover we weren’t even IN the reserve as such. In fact, there were much nicer places to picnic had we had a clue (which we obviously didn’t).

Anyway, it was a rather hot day but we did manage to see a few animals. Here is the koala Farmboy spotted. There were a couple of other families there who would have gone home without seeing a Koala if it weren’t for his keen eyes.

I was most excited that we also got to see a Platypus. I’ve never seen one before. The kids were great and kept very quiet while we watched. Unlike the 2 gentlemen that were there as we were leaving. Perhaps no-one had told them to watch quietly?

Floriade

Floriade was free to get into but you could certainly have parted with some money whilst there if you weren’t careful. It was hot and we decided to buy the kids an ice cream and the cheapest we could get were $1.50 Paddle Pops. It makes me mad things are so expensive at events like this. Is it really necessary?

There were some great flowers to see though and I couldn’t help but take some pics of tulips that match my blog.

There are some more pics of Floriade on Lightening’s Garden.

National Museum

The National Museum was a little different to other museum’s we have been to. Because it focuses mainly on Australian History, a lot of the exhibits are more modern than what we’ve come across in other museum’s (which have old bones and artifacts from around the world).

We didn’t have time to see all of it but the things we saw were very interesting. I was particularly taken by this caravan, obviously built with me in mind. Too bad they no longer make caravan’s in pink.

Sir Donald Bradman Museum, Bowral, NSW

One of my brothers lives in Sydney so we arranged to meet for a picnic lunch at Bowral which is approximately half way between Canberra and Sydney. Lleyton was particularly interested in having a look through the museum there. By that stage of the holiday, we were feeling rather “spent” and so instead of paying almost $40 for the family to have a look through, we sent him on his own (costing us only $6).

Here he is in front of a statue that is outside the museum (cameras aren’t allowed inside the museum):

I hope that gives you a glimpse into our time away. I’m already missing being away in the caravan (life is so much simpler than being at home) and can’t wait to head away again. With harvest fast approaching, I think Christmas/January will be the next time we get to use it.

Canberra is a great place to take kids for a holiday. I can highly recommend it to anyone contemplating it.

We recently purchased The Australian Here & Now Edition of Monopoly. It’s been sitting in the cupboard unopened for a number of weeks, tormenting our children while we tried to find time to actually play it with them.

Usually we have a “Friday night Family night” but over the winter months, with being out late at sports training on a Thursday night and then having to leave early on a Saturday morning for sport, the games night went by the by.

So we brought this new game along with us on holidays, confident that without other distractions (eg a television), we’d find plenty of time to play.

However, we’ve been so busy since we left home that most nights we’ve pretty much fallen into bed after tea. It was starting to look as though the holiday would pass us by with the game still in it’s plastic wrap.

Determined not to let this happen, we snuck in a game after tea tonight.

As it turned out, I think this game will make a great caravan game. The board included a couple of places we’ve just visited this trip. The kids were having a great time looking at the locations on the board and discussing which one’s they’ve seen and which one’s they expect to see (eg on our trip next year). It had a lot more relevance than the traditional board game.

We also have a junior monopoly game which has been a great way to introduce counting money, change and so on to the kids. However, it was a bit of a jump in skill from junior monopoly to this version.

And I’m not just talking about the kids!!!

This version is all in millions and 10s and 100s of thousands. Kept my poor little brain going trying to work out the sums for that. A few more games and I’m sure I’ll be ready to be a millionaire!!!

Trailer Boy was so cute counting all the dots on both dice to work out how many spaces he needed to move. He got a little bit upset though when he got sent to jail. I think 4 is a tad too young for Monopoly. But of course, being the youngest, he has to do what the “big kids” do.

I just love the way games help kids with their learning - and without them even realising.

They had so much fun we’re now having some trouble getting them to go to sleep. I think they’re a little hyped up and a little overtired.

I’d been planning on writing some more about the various attractions we’ve been going to but my head is a little weary after such big days so it may have to wait until we get back. We’ll have to see. I’m also struggling a bit with the internet access here so not sure how often I can get online. Will do what I can as I can.

Some time ago, I participated in a Pay It Forward blog challenge designed to encourage bloggers to something nice for another blogger and to then pay it forward. My Pay It Forward offering was an interview with 3 other bloggers. Two of these were done at the time but the 3rd I chose to hold off on, knowing that this particular blogger had some exciting things happening in her “non blogging” writing life and that perhaps the interview could be used to encourage her to talk about that and help her get the word out about publishing her own children’s book.

Here is an interview with Karen from Miscmum, talking about her soon to be released children’s book, “Surprise!”:

How long ago did you write Surprise and what inspired you to do so?

Surprise! is inspired by a true story that happened to me back when my daughter was a baby. We were at our local library and I was borrowing a book for her, and as I opened the pages a lovely picture fell out. It was of a sleeping face, drawn with obvious love and flair and I kept it on my fridge for a long time as I thought of a way I could write a story to match that experience.

What made you decide to self publish?

I’d sent of the manuscript in the usual way other writers will be familiar with, and had several rejections. I just got impatient with the process and then late last year decided to ‘take back’ some of that power we often hand over to others and thought, “Well, I’ll give it a shot myself.” Plus, my daughter kept asking me to read the text and then wondered aloud, “Mum, why aren’t there any pictures yet?” And I thought, “Fair question! Let’s do something about that.”

What would say has been the hardest thing about Self Publishing?

Good question. I would say a few things. First, is although you have ultimate creative control, it also means you’re the one ultimately responsible when things can (and do) go astray. For example, there was a spelling mistake on my first lot of book posters which I didn’t pick up before printing. Then, the week we were finalising the files, a friend of mine flagged a grammar issue I’d overlooked on one of the pages. Moments like those you tell youself, “Phew! Okay, just breathe we can still fix this…” The second hardest thing is the sort of stigma some people feel towards self-publishing - that you’re not bona fide. I think, though, that amongst blogging-types - who are creative and are used to that kind of independance the Internet can provide in terms of software platforms and means of expression - they mostly stand up and say, “Good for you. Well done.”

What would you say has been the best part of this journey you’ve been on so far?

The best part is actively applying what I’ve learned about the publishing process and then channeling it into a project I’ve long had a passion and a ‘gut feeling’ for. Another great part is being able to turn to friends to help me along the way. For example, a friend of mine was the typesetter. It was lovely to be able to use her talents. The same with my illustrator, Kim Fleming. Really, ultimately, it was a ‘girls only’ project. The feminist in me is applauding.

(I will add though my husband came up with the idea to put on the inside back cover a kind of ‘pocket’ which I included because it was a good idea! Kudos to him )

Have you got one piece of advice you could offer to someone who would like to be a published children’s author?

Don’t get irritated if people give you a ‘look’ when you tell them you write for children. I’ve heard it said before that some people regard as writing for children as ‘lesser’ an activity than writing for adults. Actually, I think its harder. But if you are passionate about writing for children, you mightn’t care - you will chip away and keep going because you’re passionate about it.

Where can people purchase a copy of your book “Surprise” and are autographed copies available?

Surprise! can be ordered through book stores if they haven’t already got them on order or stocked. You can buy a copy off my Miscellaneous Press website through paypal and if you do it that way, I can make any inscription or autograph you like. Just ask!

Will you still remember me when you’re rich and famous?
Of course There’s a long way before that happens though (if ever!)

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experiences with writing and publishing “Surprise”?

This is the official ‘blurb’ for Surprise!:

Hamish, Alice, Meg and Thomas are four very different children with one thing in common - they love surprises! And you’ll love yours at the end of this story.

I’d just like to thank you for asking me for this interview and helping me spread the word. It’s been a challenging year, but now the fruits are back I’m just looking forward to hearing back from readers about the book. I hope they love it like I do.

Thanks very much Karen. I would like to wish you every success with the book and look forward to getting to read it. If you’d like to order your own copy, you can do so via the MiscPress website.

The BIG day has arrived. Today my baby turns 4!!!! It sounds so BIG, doesn’t it? Last week I was talking with a friend of mine who also happens to be one of the staff members at my son’s kindy (preschool) and she was sharing about a conference she went to which taught them to remember that the 4 year olds in their care were just 48 months old. When you put it like that, it doesn’t really sound so old after all does it? I think it was just what I needed to hear at the time.

My boy is SO proud of how big he is! It really is very sweet.

This year Lightning McQueen is featuring very heavily. For those of you not familiar with Lightning McQueen, he is a red racecar and the lead character in the movie “Cars”. I LOVE the storyline as he learns what it truly means to be a friend and to have friends. And that “winning isn’t everything”.

We gave him a Lightning McQueen beach towel and wallet (he FINALLY has his own wallet!!!! A fact he is very proud of. We tend to start teaching money management to our children from 4 years onwards - that’s probably a subject for another post). We also gave him a Leapster that included a Lightning McQueen game. Being the youngest, he is being introduced to computer games a little younger than the other two. DD now has a gameboy and our other DS has a Nintendo DS so this is TJ’s very own “gameboy”. They work out fantastic for travelling in the car - we drive quite a few km’s a week living so far from everything.

His grandparents gave him his very own tool set (with REAL tools) - it came with a hat, goggles and toolbelt and he is ecstatic. So in many ways turning 4 has become a significant milestone for him becoming a “big boy”.

On Monday he’s having a few little friends over for a “Cars” Birthday party. To the left is a copy of the invitation we used as a base for our invitations. Gotta love the internet for being able to find HEAPS of great party ideas. The children who have been invited are all quite EXCITED at the thought of a “Lightning McQueen” party.

The plan is for each child to make their very own Lightning McQueen car out of a cardboard box (the kind you stand inside of). I’ve printed off some Lightning McQueen faces to stick to the front of the box and there’s a red piece of paper with a “95″ on it to go on the sides. Then of course the paper plate wheels and steering wheel. DH is going to mark out a track on the back lawn so they can “drive” around it

I think it’ll be lots of fun. The cardboard cars will take care of most of the activity for the morning and also become part of the “take home” gift for each child. I have bought “Cars” party bags as well and in them will go a few lollies, a small packet of chips and a couple of “cars” colouring sheets I printed off the internet.

I’m hoping that by the time they arrive and settle in, make their car and race around in their car, there won’t be a need for too much other organised activity. We also have a blow up tunnel type thing my parents gave our children for Christmas which DH will set up and the sand-pit. I do have some blow up egg and spoons they can play with and if need be we’ll do an egg and spoon race or two and play a few games like Duck, Duck, Goose. I find the whole “winning/losing” issue with party games and prizes a hard one at this age so I simply solve that dilemma by avoiding those kinds of games.

We have a little boy coming who is allergic to eggs, milk, nuts and a few other things so I’ve worked on party food that he can have (usually his mum brings food for him but they’re close friends and it’ll be nice for him to be able to come to a party and just be “one of the kids” instead of being different). I feel very honoured (and a tad nervous) that I am one of the few people she will trust with the life of her child. His first sleep-over away from home was here.

Party Food will be:

* fruit platter
* popcorn with icing sugar
* iced biscuits with lolly faces (I know which biscuits he can have)
* plain potato chips (he can have Home Brand salt & vinegar but DH accidentally ate them)
* toobs
* pretzels
* jelly cups with jelly frogs in them (if I get around to making them lol)
* cordial (plus tea & coffee for the mums)

He can also have my Chocolate Fudge Cake so I’ll make that for the birthday cake. I prefer to keep things pretty simple all up. There’s nothing worse than spending hours making party food only to end up throwing a heap in the rubbish.

Today I have to make 2 birthday cakes. One for his family birthday tea tonight and one ready for the party on Monday. I’m planning on making a number 4 cake for tonight. The cake for the party is pretty simple (photo’s Monday night hopefully). I’ve bought a toy Lightning McQueen to go on it rather than attempt to actually make and ice a Lightning McQueen (like I said, I like simple ).

I don’t think it takes too much to put on a simple little kids party that can be lots of fun without being TOO much work. If I make things too complicated for myself I tend not to want to go through all of that again. LOL. This way, we all have fun and I don’t end up in a heap. Having it during the school day means I only have the 6 kids who are coming plus 5 mums (2 kids are siblings) and DS and myself to cater for.

Our family tradition is to have a kind of party tea on the day of each child’s birthday. Generally I let the kids choose what meal they’d like and so far they’ve always chosen a “party tea”. LOL. Just like their mother really - that’s what I used to ask my Grandmother to do when she would do a special birthday tea for my birthday. So naturally, I’m happy to oblige. No party pies this time though (I don’t have any at the moment!!!). But we will have “little boys” (cocktail sausages), fairy bread (an absolute must), cheese & bacon fingers (some people call them “toasties”), potato chips, salad platter and slices of watermelon. I’ve also bought some brandy snaps and cream as a bit of a treat. And of course, the birthday cake. I *might* make a few mini quiches if I get really energetic today while the oven is on - we’ll see.

I think I’d best go write myself a “what needs doing when” list. More details and photo’s will follow over the next couple of days.

Over the weekend as part of our “gradual” Christmas decorating, the kids and I made some Christmas stained glass window pictures with a Glass Deco kit I ordered through one of our preschools fundraising toy catalogues. On Saturday the kids had a great time making these and then on Sunday they were most excited as I peeled each one off and stuck them on our cupboard doors in the kitchen.

This first picture is the one done by my not quite 10-year old son. Each of them chose their own picture from those I had found and printed off.

DD chose an angel. No surprises there! (She gets to dress up as an angel twice in Christmas performances this year. Once for school and once for Sunday School. She is very excited about that.)

The black outlines are done first. I did them throughout the week in preparation as they’re quite fiddly to do. This meant that on Saturday the kids were able to fill in the sections with whatever colours they liked. The sparkly sections are done using a Glass Deco confetti kit (so the glitter is already in the paint). I think you can get glitter ones in some stores too but this catalogue only had the plain colours and the confetti.

This tree is my “turning 4 this Saturday” little mans efforts. How cute is it? I had to stop myself from encouraging him to use colours that I thought would be best. He needs to be able to express himself in whatever way he likes. He is so proud of this and points it out every day.

These are really designed to go onto glass - windows, doors, jars etc but they stick to any surface that is reasonably smooth. Stuck to my kitchen cupboard doors (the floor to ceiling ones) they sure do make my kitchen look festive.

I love things that the kids can do instead of using only store bought decorations. At the moment I am making some different pictures to add to jars for some of my homemade Christmas gifts. I’m hoping to have enough paint left that the children can make another one each for us to add to our glass back door.

There are some great Christmas colouring pages available all over the internet. I found these particular pictures here . I’m planning to print off some more colouring pages for them to colour in when school lets out for the year. Only two weeks to go now!! (my children have tommorow off so today is the end of week 7 here). They have a little over a week between school breaking up and Christmas Day so it’ll be helpful to have a few fun “Christmassy” type activities for them to do.

I like to use Epsom Salts in the bath when I have one. Apart from being good for your skin, you absorb the Magnesium and Sulphate through the skin. I seem to need more magnesium than I’m getting from my diet so it seems like a nice simple way to get it into my system. The sulphate is supposed to help with ridding the system of toxins. I’m no expert when it comes to this kind of thing but I figure anything that *might* help without a risk of being harmful is worth a go. I also tend to chuck it in the kids bath. They all suffer from dry skin (was excema when they were younger but has improved to the level of dry skin) and the Epsom Salts in the bath seems to really help with that.

I’d heard the cheapest place to buy Epsom Salts was a horse supply place so when I had the chance of being near one, we went in to ask about them. I thought I was doing the right thing asking for Magnesium Sulphate when I went in to this place that hardly looked like a shop at all (and was behind a scrap yard of all places!). All I got was a blank look from the guy behind the counter. Eventually he asked me if it was the same as Epsom Salts. LOL. Next time I’ll just ask for Epsom Salts. Anyway, it cost me $2.50 kg. Last time I purchased a 1kg box from Woolworths it cost me $5.71 so it’s quite a significant savings.

Are you wondering how all this relates to Science at Home yet? LOL. I’m getting there. On Sunday I had a bath using these Epsom Salts. I was in a lot of pain and couldn’t keep painkillers down so I figured a soak in the tub might help - as well as help with not getting dehydrated. Because I had a 5kg bag of Epsom Salts I decanted some into a glass jar.

Yesterday when DS got home from school, he asked me what the white stuff in the jar was. Not expecting it to mean anything to him, I told him that it was Epsom Salts. Turns out he DOES know about Epsom Salts. I think this 9 year old knows a LOT of stuff that I have no idea he knows.

This term he’s been involved in a program called “Challenge”. It’s designed for kids who find regular work reasonably easy and challenges them in other ways. So far I’ve been really impressed with the program (it has a fantastic teacher running it who has a gifted child of her own so she seems to really understand them). And DS seems to really love it.

Now he’s quite excited to discover that we have Epsom Salts at home and wants to show me an experiment they did with an egg at school. You add Epsom Salts to the water and a fresh egg that sinks to the bottom, will float instead. I asked him if he knew why that was. He said it was to do with hard vs soft water. Adding the Epsom Salts to the water makes it harder and therefore stronger and able to hold the egg up. So there you have it - I learnt something new. My understanding of hard water is limited to how it affects how much washing powder you need to use! LOL. If you live in an area where there are a lot of minerals in the water, you need to use more washing powder to get the same results. If you use something like rainwater which is very low in minerals, you need to use less washing powder. So I guess with Magnesium being a mineral (I have no idea about the sulphate part), by adding it to rainwater, you do indeed make the water “harder”. What I didn’t know was that “hard” water means it is stronger.

It’s nice to know he’s having fun and learning some new things at school. Next he wants to show me how putting an egg into vinegar with make the shell go soft. Should be interesting.

Well today is the first day of our mid year School Holidays and the kids are fighting like cat and dog. *sigh* I know they’ll settle down once they get used to being home (and once the 3 year old adjusts to having his “turf” invaded). At least I *hope* things settle down.

I’m trying really hard to be proactive rather than reactive but it’s not always easy. I remember in the past people talking about all the things they planned to do with their kids in the holidays and wondering when their kids got to have a break. I think though, as kids get older, they get more and more *used* to being entertained and the holidays can tend to drag on.

One thing I do want is for my kids to look back on their school holidays as a positive time.

So in an effort to be “proactive” I have posted a list of reminders for the school holidays on the fridge. Here’s a copy of it:

JULY SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Everyone would like to have an enjoyable school holiday, so here are some things to remember:

• Speak nicely to one another. Think about how your voice may sound.

• Be tolerant

• Respect one another’s need for space

• Get one activity out at a time. When you move onto something else, pack away what you’ve gotten out so that we don’t have a BIG job to do at the end of the day.

• It’s cold and wet a lot at the moment so keep your eyes open for opportunities to go outside (when it’s sunny and not too cold) as there may not be many – and it’s good to get some fresh air when you can.

• You can watch TV until 10am and after 4pm but everything MUST be packed up before the TV goes on in the afternoons. Other times will be by negotiation and dependent on the weather.

• Remember to eat breakfast!

I’ve also posted a list of ideas for snacks. I just hate it when the kids are constantly asking what they can have to eat. Here’s the list I came up with so far:

JULY SCHOOL HOLIDAYS – FOOD

If you’re hungry and would like a snack, the best thing to do is decide on what you’d like to eat before asking mum or dad if you can have it. So instead of coming and saying “can I have something to eat”, you come and ask “can I please have a biscuit” (this is just an example).

Snack Ideas:

• Fruit (need to have piece of fruit in between other snacks)
• Toast
• Biscuits
• Popcorn
• Baked goods (eg bun, cake or whatever we have made)
• Sultanas
• Yoghurt
• Cheese

I’ve also posted a list of *special* activities for each day. I have a few things in the cupboard that are only gotten out during times like school holidays. The kids have access to all their toys plus some writing/drawing things - but these are little extras that they don’t have regular access to.

So far we have:

* Hama Beads - these are a great low mess craft activity. Small plastic beads are put onto a peg type board and when the design is complete - you iron them so that the beads fuse together.

* Special Craft Box - with pipe cleaners, pom poms, googly eyes, popsticks and all kinds of things for making.

* Special Textas - magic markers, erasable textas, blendy pens, stampers. Over time we’ve collected some different kinds of textas that are great for rainy days or a school holiday treat.

* Card making - if we have a birthday or special occasion coming up.

* Craft Kits from Cheap as Chips. I have some that you make up little creatures with and some that are a sewing activity to make a puppet.

* Bubbles - for outside play. We seem to have collected all kinds of different bubble blowers. Straws make great bubble blowers too.

* Cooking - a great one for entertainment and also to provide those much needed snacks that the kids are constantly looking for during the holidays.

* DVD day - where the kids are allowed to watch DVD’s all day (instead of being restricted to certain times of TV watching).

For each of our home days, I’ve allocated just 1 special activity for the day. Most of the day the kids fill in their own time. But by having 1 special activity to look forward to each day, I’m hoping that my children will look back on their school holidays with good memories.

Tomorrow we’re having an outing to town to do the grocery shopping. While we’re there we’ll visit the library and have a special lunch at the bakery. I don’t find it possible (or even necessary) to go out each and every day but an outing every now and then helps break things up a bit.

What ways do you tackle the school holidays and what types of things do your kids enjoy doing? I always enjoy hearing new ideas and what other people are doing.