Bouncing Before Breakfast

A family trip to Wales including swimming in rivers, waterfalls, castles, mountains and nature.

A home ed excursion to Legoland Windsor.

The four of us went to Brighton for the day and saw a couple of shows in the Spiegelgarden, including some acrobatics and improv.

Meet Zelma, our gorgeous Romanian rescue dog.

We spent a few days in Dorset with some home ed friends, and took a trip to Monkeyworld, a primate rescue centre in Wareham.

A family trip up to London for our friends' wedding. Such a treat after so long without sociable fun!

An Easter themed escape room style treasure hunt.

A year ago today we started our family podcast, as we went into the first lockdown in the UK. Tonight we shared some reflections from the past 12 months of living through a global pandemic.

A special story about a trip to the theatre in Victorian times, written by 12 year old Katie for World Book Day 2021.

Some snippets from January and February including baking, board games, snow, haircuts and ending with mummy getting her Covid 19 vaccine.

Some snippets from our festivities during this unusual Christmas holiday.

Baking gingerbread always makes us feel festive, and this year we're perfecting a vegan version.

We share stories about our cat Artois, a loveable rogue who made it to 19 years old before he sadly died. Also, a mudcake and a takeaway breakfast.

Making the most of fresh autumn days, and enjoying the beautiful leaves and fungi. Bike rides, US election results and Daddy fixes the loo!

A catch up with the ladies of the house, including what's been going on at the new school and a fun fact about the word 'hello'.

Two Sundays in one episode, both with a watery theme. The boys enjoying the water - at Bodiam boating station and then swimming at Falling Sands.

We are getting in the mood for Halloween, with a philosophical dinnertime conversation about ghosts.

We got our Covid test results the night before Mummy's birthday (negative; phew), and so were able to go out for the first time in a week, and enjoy the day.

A week after the schools went back, the first illness in six months hit our family. Some of the symptoms corresponded with Covid so we needed to isolate and get tested. The testing part was easier said than done....

A birthday in our house meant lunch out and a trip to see The Magic Flute at Brighton Open Air Theatre. It felt wonderful to be supporting live theatre once again.

Some random adventures and happenings as the summer holidays draw to a close. Daddy and Kyle went to Chichester Harbour, Mummy and the kids explored a nature reserve, and we all enjoyed a Macmillan coffee morning outside in our street.

Inspired by our trip to the British Wildlife centre, Katie has started a neighbourhood hedgehog project. We built a hedehog house, cut a hole in the fence, and then something exciting happened....

We learned all about British animals today, on a visit to the British Wildlife Centre. An inspiring and enlightening day out.

All four of us went cycling at Bedgebury Pinetum and found joy in the woodland trails.

We turned our front garden into an archaeological dig for the day, and found plenty of pottery, plus something else unexpected...

Daddy is off work this week and so we've been having a bit of a staycation. Lunches out in Lewes and East Dean, and a canoe trip with river swimming at Bodiam.

We found an exciting spider in the house, and got bitten by some harvest mites (not so exciting) in the woods. Also a trip to Michelham. Priory, where we were able to go back inside the house.

The last two days of our Shropshire holiday. We visited Powis castle and stopped off at another National Trust place on the drive home to Sussex.

Days four and five of our little Shropshire holiday. More socially distanced family catch ups, a monkey forest and an interesting hike around Hawkstone Follies.

For today's holiday excursion, we travelled to Dolgoch Quarry and Nature Reserve, where we discovered bountiful fossils of ancient sea creatures. A magical and fascinating place.

Days one and two of our Shropshire holiday. We made a socially distanced visit to see our friend Linda, heard owls outside the holiday cottage, and explored an abandoned mine that's now a nature reserve.

More sunshine meant plenty of outdoor adventures this week: bike riding, beach time, paddling pool and the woods.

A day of mudlarking for Daddy and the kids ended up with a minor catastrophe and the finding of a mysterious object. We also went to Scotney castle, and did some cool science experiments at home.

A stressful week with building work going on at home was made more bearable by a few lovely day trips, including a safely distanced event in the Bluebell wood, where we made bows and arrows and potions.

We swam in the sea and caught up with cousins for the first time since lockdown. Still socially distanced, but fun evenso. A rainy Sunday led to culinary delights of the Spanish variety.

Sunny days means outdoor adventures. We've had beach time, a walk up on the Downs (including a visit to an archaeological dig) and a swim in the river. The last birthday Lego set was also finished.

The end of an era for Katie, and a bit of normality back for Daddy. Also, the building of a BIG birthday Lego set.

A lockdown birthday for the youngest in the family. Lego, the big wheel and a Zoom party.

A week in our lives as we aporoach another stage of the lockdown easing. Some rainy weather activities, baking, playing and a trip to the playground for the first time in nearly four months.

A weekend of rope swings and bike riding. Exploring a new trail led to some fun splashing about in a river.

Picking fruit and veg from the garden on the hottest day of the year so far, and thinking about whether to go on holiday in the UK this summer.

A walk in the woods, baking whoopie pies (which Daddy thought were 'Wookie pies'), our first socially distanced playdate and some theatrical happenings at home.

Some extra bits that Daddy recorded while cycling up and down the Cuckoo trail with the kids this weekend. Topics include virtual reality calamities and slobbering dogs.

The last day of our themed suppers takes us to a favourite holiday destination: Greece. Kyle retells the Greek myth of The Minotaur, we talk about past holidays there, and have a go at Greek dancing.

A chilled Friday, rounded off with a Japanese supper and a socially distanced meetup in the park with grown up friends.

Two unexpected catch ups brightened the day, and we all enjoyed a Moroccan themed feast for dinner.

Next stop on our virtual holiday tour is Wales. We make Welshcakes and Rarebit, and talk about past holidays to Wales.

Our first National Trust visit since the lockdown, which felt like a real treat. Then this evening we had a virtual holiday to Mexico, with Mexican food, music and chat. And of course the obligatory sombrero!

As we can't actually travel anywhere at the moment, we decided to do mini imaginary holidays every day this week. Today it was to India, which mostly involved cooking and eating lots of delicious Indian food. If you are listening via Anchor or Spotify, the track at the end is from a film called 1942 A Love Story, and is the music to which I walked down the aisle when Ant and I got married.

We had our first takeout delivery of the lockdown on Saturday night, plus this weekend we made vegan cheesecake and milkshakes.

A parcel causes much excitement, we make a bird's nest from things in the garden and do some baking.