Emergency services at The Severals

Newmarket held an Emergency Services Day at The Severals (a park in Newmarket) during the summer holiday for the children to come out and meet police, fire fighters, and such.  The girls enjoyed getting dressed up and playing pretend.

Sophia, the police girl

Milton Country Park

We met up with some friends at a local park for a day of playing, picnicking, and exploring.  You may notice the range of clothing in the pictures, because although it was July, it wasn't very warm!  Good enough for a lovely day out, though.

Sophia enjoyed a giant swing with our friends, Ben and Joe.

Tessa was afraid of going too fast, so she wouldn't join them.

Everyone took a turn feeding the ducks and swans.

The kids wanted to play in the water with sticks and laying down was the safest way to avoid falling in!

Sophia and Ben enjoyed it also.

The four of them could have stayed there all day, if they hadn't been getting hungry.

Some pretty wildflowers

A wild creature in the trees!  Oh, wait, its Sophia.

A much deserved ice cream after our picnic.  Sadly, Joe's ice cream fell off of his cone seconds after this photo was taken!  I didn't take a picture of that!

Horse Riding!

Sophia has always loved riding ponies whenever she has been given the chance...I suppose most little girls (and boys!) do.  So when we found a house in Newmarket- "The Home of British Horse Racing"- I thought it would be a perfect place for her to take lessons.  After asking around and searching the web, I discovered that there actually aren't any places for kids to take lessons in Newmarket...at least, not advertised places.  We did find a riding school in a nearby village, Chippenham, and went to have a look.  Sophia was disappointed...not in the riding school....in the fact that she wasn't on a horse yet!  So I signed her up for the following week and she has been having lessons ever since!

Sophia at her first lesson

Sophia, across the riding yard...

Happily giving her pony a pat...

Standing up for trotting...

A nice, pink house across the field with a "To Let" sign...I almost moved, until I found out there was only one bathroom!

 After the lesson was over, we went to a local farm shop and cafe for lunch.  They also have a little play area.

First Tessa smiles for the camera...

...and then Sophia does!

 After that, we popped over to the base (the riding school is halfway between our house and the base) for a few errands and a bit more playtime!

Tessa loves pushing this thing around and around, but NOT riding on it!

So little sister pushes big sister!

At Sophia's second lesson, it was raining.  Her waterproof and wellies kept her mostly dry, but the tops of her thighs were soaked!  And I didn't get many pictures, but here is one at least...

Occasionally she looks so serious that I ask her afterwards whether she enjoys it, but she always says she loves every bit of it!  She is just concentrating on doing the right thing, I suppose.

School field trip and Moving Up Morning/Evening

Being in the British school system means that the children continue their summer term at school until over halfway through July.  However, there seem to be an increased amount of fun activities planned.  There is a school show, which was Goldilocks and the Three Bears this year.  Sophia was given the role of Dancer...she and several other children came onto the stage between scenes and acted out a dance to connect the scenes together.

Sophia and the other dancers at the end of the show.

Sophia is her second dancer costume...she had a different vest and hat on for the first part, but we couldn't take flash photos during the show.

Since the show ended so late, I treated the girls to Burger King afterwards.  Even though the food is just as terrible here as in the US, between the crowns and the toys- they think it is a special treat!

Tessa's class had a field trip to Shepreth Wildlife Park.  I was able to join the class and we had a fun time seeing the different animals and enjoying the playground at the park.

Tessa looked at the slug, but chose NOT to pet it.

The snake didn't bother her though!

This is a North American skunk!  I told Tessa that is where we are from also!

Capybara- giant guinea pigs from South America!

Tessa posing with some friends.

There are bunnies in the tunnels!

Have some hay, bunny!

A nice pat for the bunny...Tessa loved it.

Queen of the playground!

"Hi Mom!  I'm Jumping!"

Oink.

We can touch this meercat!

Tessa is very wary of crocodiles but loves sparkly things, so she was rather undecided about this statue!

On another day, parents were invited to the school to check out the work their children had been doing in their current classroom, as well as go into their new classroom to meet their future teacher.  The next morning, the children actually spent a few hours in their new classes with their new teachers.  Both girls were very excited about it and loved being in year 3/reception!  Tessa (and I) were invited to stay for Hot Dinners (school lunch) in the Dining Hall afterwards and it was delicious and exciting.

Tessa wanted her hair french braided for Moving Up Evening.

It was so cute...too bad I never have that much time before school!

Both girls had their hair braided, then wet and dried, so they would have curly hair for moving up morning!  Even though it is July, the weather was a bit chilly and wet, so they needed to wear their wellies (rain boots) and jumpers (sweaters), but Tessa was quite proud to wear the uniform dress!  Just wait until she has to wear a uniform every day though.  She has told me before that she cannot wear a certain dress to school "because everyone already saw her in that one!"  We may be in trouble!

Tessa doing a ballerina pose

Now dancing?!

After moving up morning, they went back to their regular classes (year 2 and nursery) but only for a few more weeks!

Conversations overheard

I asked the girls to clean up their toys in the conservatory while I finished cooking dinner.  They were in the middle of an elaborate imaginary game, as they often are, so Sophia said, "Let's pretend in our game that we have to clean up.  We'll be servants or something."  Tessa replied, "OK, but let's pretend that you are doing all the work and I am just lazing around, doing nothing."  Amazingly, Sophia agreed.  Then a few minutes later, I heard Sophia ask, "Tessa, when are you going to be done lazing around?"  To which Tessa responded, "Whenever you're done cleaning up!"

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Generally, I allow my daughters to listen to pop music, but try to keep them from videos containing inappropriate images for impressionable young girls (pretty much all music videos!).  They have occasionally seen their favorite singers on TV in public places or on a commercial or when I let them watch the award/singing/dance shows (and try to ff through unacceptable parts).  And yet, they are quite aware...


While playing with dolls, Tessa couldn't get an outfit on one doll, so she said, "I'm just going to stay naked.  I like to stay naked...that's because my doll is Lady Gaga."


Sophia replied, "Lady Gaga doesn't stay naked all the time.  She wears SOME clothes."


Tessa, "Yeah, but she shakes her booty a lot."


Sophia, "No, that's Beyonce.  BEYONCE shakes her booty A LOT."