Madhouse diaries : Last few days of holiday fun

It's the last few days of the school holidays so we've been packing in the fun activities and trips out, starting off with another session at the free skating rink in the middle of the Christmas market.

Pierre started off being pushed around again, then got brave and tried being pushed around standing up, hanging on to the back.

Before long, he was whizzing around all by himself, which was pretty good going, as he was too scared to even try standing up last time.

They stayed on the ice for over an hour, so we worked out that it would have cost us about £50 for the same thing when we were visiting the Madhouse grandparents last week in Hastings - I love living in a town where most attractions are free !

Juliette came off slightly before the others so we went and bought some steaming hot churros to warm up. There were supposed to be nine of them but the lady shoved in all the small pieces that had collected in the bottom of the tray, so we ended up with too many. Rather than put the remaining ones in the bin, we handed them over to a homeless man sitting in the cold. He was happy but I think the Madhouse kids were even more excited about doing their "good deed for the day" than he was !

Next, we headed to the winter fair, which comes to town for Christmas every year. Sophie tried and failed to convince someone to go on this huge white knuckle ride but nobody was game - she went back the next day with her friend and did it though. She's such a thrill-seeker ! Pierre was much more excited about going on the cranes.

I'd given each of them a few coins and said that they could choose what to spend it on. Pierre opted for the hook a duck.

 

He had the choice between some cheap plastic tat or a goldfish - so guess what, welcome to the newest member of the Madhouse Family !

 I can't believe how excited Pierre is - he keeps sitting there gazing into the tank and he's set up a little specially decorated area on his bedroom shelf with shells and pebbles for the goldfish to look at !

Last but not least, SLIME ! Pierre and Juliette have been obsessed with trying to make slime for months, but we didn't have borax or Cleopatra glue, so their attempts with shaving foam, shaving gel, washing up liquid  and white glue never really worked. I bought two bottles of Cleopatra glue on amazon as a surprise present for Pierre at Christmas and they've been having great fun ever since ! 

This just about sums up their slime-making experience !

It's sad for the holidays to be drawing to a close - the kids go back to school on Monday and I'm heading to Norway for a week-long school observation trip tomorrow morning - but we've definitely packed lots in so we can't complain !