Lanterns in the Woods....

The boys have had a fun packed day today, started by them both going to work with daddy in his pickup.
They first went to collect some parts, stopping off for chocolate sustenance on the way, then on to Crawley where daddy fixed the SnapOn mans van. They came away with freebie hats and daddy came away with a r/c helicopter - like you do! On the way home they stopped off at the end of the runway at Gatwick to do a bit of plane spotting!!

The postman brought us a few parcels today, one that had come all the way from New Zealand!!
'A' has gone to bed wearing his glow in the dark T-shirt.

After some lunch we bundled, and I mean bundled, into pop's bone shaker of a vehicle (sorry!!) and trundled off to our 'Winter Warmer' at Tilgate Park.

First of all we had to make our lanterns. The boys chose a jar each and then using tissue paper and glue, set about decorating them. Tom, our guide fixed some wire around the tops to hang them from sticks that the boys had also helped to trim up using secateurs with daddies help.

The finished projects!!

At this point we all went off into the forest to find the campfire that was waiting for us. I must say at this point that it easy to forget that 'J' is only 2 and even though his legs are longer than your average 2yr old he does amazingly well at keeping up with everyone in all we do :-)

After walking for about 10mins we came into a clearing and our campfire.



We used a striker to light cotton wool balls that we had fixed onto twigs, to light the fire. The boys had a go at doing this with daddies help, sparks flying everywhere! There was one main rule around the lit fire, which was no walking within the log circle - daddy broke this rule and the boys made sure he knew it!

There was mulled juice and hot chocolate on offer, that was heated up over the fire. 'A' asked Tom, beautifully, if he could have a hot chocolate please and then both the boys sat on their logs, warm and cosy sipping their drinks. Whilst sitting, we were listening out for the blackbirds, that unfortunately we didn't hear, we did however hear a robin telling us it was time to put the fire out as it was getting too warm for him.

When it was time to go, the lanterns were all lit up and in a little procession we made our way through the woods in the dark, and by now the rain (again) back to the car park.

'A's favourite part was lighting up the lanterns and walking back in the dark and 'J's favourite part was having mulled juice by the fire. Daddy enjoyed lighting up the fire using the striker and I just enjoyed everyone enjoying themselves....even 'H' liked watching the campfire!