421 + 317 Weeks

There have been no dramas this week, which is always a blessing!  We had a family game day at Collers Beach, where we played bocci ball and croquet, followed by some rock pool exploring.  It was nice to spend time together, as lately I have been working every moment that I can, so if Jeff is home I'm usually up in the studio.  The kids have been great about less mum time though, and have become quite independent and industrious.  They are both working on creating comic books, and the amount of work they are putting in is mind-boggling.  We also got a Wii, so they are keeping pretty busy playing it (which our OT says is a great compromise), as well as just playing with each other in general.  Jeffrey took the training wheels off Arley's bike this weekend, and he has had two unsuccessful attempts at it.

Arley did however learn to canter this week!  At Monday's lesson, he asked Milea if he could canter, and he spent the second part of his lesson trying to get Rocky into a canter.  The darling horse was totally refusing, for at least 15 minutes, protecting Arley, like he didn't think Arley could do it.  The trotting got faster and faster until finally they were cantering.  And then at today's lesson,  Rocky totally had faith in Arley, and he cantered every time.  Carmie started learning to canter on Percy, and left the lesson telling me she wants to be a jockey when she is older.  They just love it!

The kids also had their second tennis lesson, and still love it.  They had a play with their old carer Wes, and their new carer, Jake, and a sleep over at Lolo and Dida's on Tuesday, with Wednesday spent over there too.  This afternoon we met up with their old homeschool friends who now attend school, for an after school play at the horse park.  We want to keep those connections strong, as the kids miss them so much.  Carmie and Arley are so busy these days, I'm thinking next term we might drop some activities, but they seem hell-bent to do them all.  They even liked their social skills class this week!

Arley canters for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxeWBgxNZqQ

Carmie learning to canter on Percy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOjRFC6IeKU

Arielle's second lesson cantering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHtlYcsNcGY

Games at Collers Beach

I found these two drawings up on the wall this week.  Arley's portrait of me.

 Arley's picture of some guy.  Apparently he did not eat that person, that is just his t-shirt design!  Might be my favourite picture of Arley's.

 Getting ready for their tennis lesson

This morning, ready to ride :)