A frozen canal and the properties of metals

The weather really turned cold this week but there have been some really beautiful Winter days to take advantage of. 

One morning the boys and I went out about 8am and gathered loads of sticks to make a den. Here is Miles in the den, overexposed. 

Caden insisted on being photographed in it too.  We all really enjoyed this. It still needs finishing. 

Caden feels an affinity with a Robin he was watching from the narrowboat when our friend hung up some fat in a coconut shell for the birds to eat. Since then he feels that 'his' Robin is hanging out waiting for him and that it is quite tame. It's very sweet. The Robin was allowing the boys to get close.

The canal properly froze over one night. This was the first time we have experienced it. I could really feel the temperature go down overnight that night. It was very beautiful in the morning. 

The boys both had fun throwing sticks onto the ice and listening to the metallic ping as the sound reverberated around the ice. 

They adore their £2 hats which we got from Bletchley. 

Caden was asking about metals. He was reading about them in the car and telling me the properties of them. We decided to do a project where we would look for metals being used in our environment and try to identify them. We talked about alloys, Caden knows now about what an alloy is and what stainless steel is made from. He also knows what applications many metals have for industry, just things like he knows that aeroplanes need to be made of aluminium, for the same reason that his Robin has hollow bones, so it has less weight/density. We also learned that some metals are highly toxic - lead and mercury, and that some metals are essential for us to be healthy - zinc and copper. Miles was involved in this project and will be taking it all in too. We all had a bit of fun looking for metals that are used in everyday life. 

We found the buckle on my handbag, a screw holding a wooden table together, the clasp on Caden's shark tooth, a door lock, a radiator and the car too. 

Then we talked about money and how old coins used to be part actual silver. 

We have all been having some wonderfully relaxed times together on evenings. It is sooo relaxing on the boat with music on, the boys playing on their iPads or we are all reading a story. We cuddle together on the couch, we are close and talking on and off. In the other houses we have lived in, there was so much space that I felt I was always drawn away from them to do other jobs. It is a huge benefit to me and the boys to have this lovely relaxed aspect in our lives now. I am very grateful for it and they love it!! 

Caden some good work in his art class. This is on one side and I can't rotate it but you can see he has drawn fruit on a tree and made a dinosaur (which he apparently drew with no help at all). You can see the circles drawn where the joints are for the moving parts. Very cool! Also he has been colouring in the lines and using two colours to show where the light goes. 

Some more art work from this week. He has also practised drawing shapes. He loved his art class again. I think it is the highlight of his week. Miles and I used the hour respectively to study and mine! Miles is so good with the computer, I am beginning to wonder if I should encourage him towards that side of things early... I might try him with some coding too. 

Photography and Code Academy

This last couple of days have been fairly relaxed. I have been running errands and we have all been chilling out after a busy day at the zoo and a lot of stress lately. 

Caden attended Beaver Scouts with his uniform for the first time and came out with a neck scarf and yellow woggle. He proudly told me he was on the yellow team. He was given a disposable camera to take any photos he likes and bring the camera back next week. That was our Friday project. 

We have been watching lots of family films while it has been dark and cold outside, all three of us have enjoyed just cuddling up and enjoying the films. It's really cool that even Miles gets some of the funny bits so we can all enjoy some of the humour in the films. 

Our neighbour put a fat filled coconut shell in the hedge outside our lounge window. Caden spent some time watching a little Robin pecking the food out earlier. There was a Jay and a Thrush that we saw too. A little bit of narrow boat twitching. 

Lots of hanging out together. Miles is loving his toys right now, he loves to explore all the little things in the boxes that we have brought on board. He likes to set them up carefully in whatever game he is playing inside his head. Woe betide you if you step on one or move one slightly! 

Caden took photos of the boat, inside and out. He also photographed swans, a woman on a kayak and the canal itself in both directions. I had to stop him from taking photos of bums! I don't think that would have gone down well in scouts. I am not entirely convinced there are none on the film. I will brace myself when we go back to scouts in case I get taken to one side.... 

He really enjoyed the camera anyway and learned how disposable cameras work. It's funny to think that we always did things this way not too long ago. Technology moves so quickly. 

And.... Caden sat down and had his hair cut without a whinge or a complaint. All hell normally breaks loose so this is real progress. He looks the business now and most importantly he is really happy with his hair. 

We started Code Adademy this week. We started on Python but after a long chat with Caden's Dad (who is into programming) we agreed to do HTML. We have started and learned about hypertext. We put a little bit of code in and the process has begun. I hope we can do a little bit each time we sit down. 

I have renewed the Maths subscription but it doesnt start until the end of Feb so I will be leaving formal maths until then and then caning the maths for a while. 

Whipsnade Zoo

 Firstly I should comment about Caden's art class. He had been actually looking forward to this one as opposed to most others where he would rather play on his iPad. As some of you know, he calls himself an 'artist' and practises his drawing all the time. The teacher was awesome, she is an excellent artist. Her studio is in her house and there are various pieces of her work around the house. She is extraordinarily talented. Caden was impressed and asked me how she manages to get the painting to look exactly like a photo. He is inspired and wants to learn.

Having Miles in the class didn't work. Miles just mucked about with paper. I took him out after 30 minutes. Caden however, was engaged with the artist. He listened, told her about the things he enjoyed drawing, namely dinosaurs and dragons. He practised drawing with charcoal and watercolours. The teacher showed him how to draw an outline and then fill in the space and he listened and did what he was shown. He drew this little fellow. It might seem fairly basic but this is a new skill that he can take away with him and he does want to practise it. After the lesson he told me that he thought the lesson was great and will take his dinosaur pictures next time. I have decided that we will commit to an hour a week as he loves it so much and he can practise at home. It is a great outlet for him and whether it ends up being a vocation or not, it really doesn't matter. Having a creative outlet is so important and if he can learn how to do it well I am sure he will get a lot of pleasure out of it in his life. So it was a great start. 

We took a day trip out to Whipsnade Zoo with some friends for a birthday day out. We saw their new three week old baby pygmy hippo. Major cuteness! It is being shielded by Mum hippo here... 

I was eaten alive, headfirst to Caden's amusement!

The friends all played together, all day. They are talking about the relative sizes of the common hippo to the pygmy hippo here. 

We went to the cheetah enclosure, it was such a clear and sunny day, we were very lucky although it was freezing cold. 

The boys both said that the lions (and the tarantulas) were their favourite animals of the day, we compared the lion's mane to men's beards. 

Lion cubs.

Miles had chosen an enormous strawberry eclair earlier at the bakery, he was SO delighted to open it up and eat it at lunch time. He was covered in strawberry cream. Thank you baby wipes. 

Caden loved the outdoor play area. The kids had a blast together. They also spent a good hour just chasing each other and playing in the indoor play area after their picnic lunch. 

We went into the discovery centre and they had a lot of fun spotting the lizards, insects and snakes in their enclosures. 

Afterwards the kids all had a massive play of 'Sardines' and 'Hide and Seek'. They had so much fun that they didn't want to leave. We have some material to discuss later this week between us now about deforestation and the impact on wildlife. 

Christmas and the New Year so far....

So far it hasn't been a particularly great start to the New Year. All of us have been ill. Living on the boat with illness has been particularly difficult and there is always something that needs to be sorted out on the boat. It is huge learning curve. Despite that, me and the boys have managed to do quite a few activities and it has been really wonderful for them, mooring next to their friends. They have played out in the trees, with sticks and some toys in that really traditional way that many of us feel lots of children miss out on now. Seeing them playing out with their friends in such a wholesome way and doing activities with their friends all day, really makes me feel that living on the boat is excellent for the boys. They are getting a lot out of it. It has come with some sacrifices but I am learning all the time too. The adventure had to be tried. Perhaps it will be a temporary one. Who knows! While we are here we will make the best of it. 

So the things we have been up to include attending a Christmas Stories production. The two ladies pictured read out excerpts from various books. The kids did really well because it wasn't visually engaging and there were a lot of young children there. Caden and Miles were with their friends. That was very cool for them to enjoy the production alongside their mates. 

While we were ill, we couldn't go outside because of our coughs. So we had to find things to do indoors. We did get cabin fever (pun intended). Here is Caden practising his yoga one day. Miles had a go too. There was a lot of iPad playing and movie watching going on while we tried to recover. 

Caden and I talked about white blood cells, bacteria and epithelial cells another day. Miles, Caden and I did a game as well where I gave them the names of parts of the anatomy of their respiratory system and they had to put their fingers on the spot, 'Trachea' 'Lungs' 'Diaphragm' and so on. I showed Caden a picture of the bronchioles and alveoli and turned it upside down so he could see the 'Bronchial Tree'. They have also been doing loads of drawing, they are still doing Dragon drawings and there have been an explosion of drawings of various dragons and labelling them, so lots of writing and spelling practise built in.  I renew Caden's conquer maths subscription this month and Miles continues with mathseeds when he is interested.  

The boys attended a pizza making workshop at Pizza Express. It was pretty good, they talked about hygiene, ingredients and had a tasting new foods session. They both really enjoyed it. 

Miles is smoothing up the edges of the dough. 

After the cheese was sprinkled (Miles had wrecked his hat beyond all repair by this point). 

One of the finished articles which they ate for lunch and dinner. 

Caden lost a tooth! He is about to lose another. 

We spent a morning with our little neighbours making dinosaurs and crafting sets for the puppets to do shows in. 

Don't ask about Miles' fringe. I have now sorted it.. I think. 

Some outdoors play time with friends. 

We spent another day with friends at their house, Caden learned more about minecraft mods, there is some basic programming involved in this which I am hoping he will start to get the hang of, like his friends are doing. 

French and scouts continue to go well and they are starting a private art class today.