Tuesday's photos

These photos took over an hour to upload which is why there are so few. However, we have taken LOADS so will upload them on our return to Borough Green and reliable wifi... the wait will be worth it.  Please don't worry if you haven't seen your child in a photo yet - we honestly haven't lost any of them - impossible with Mrs Watson's twice hourly religious head counts which are always double-checked by Mrs Pilfold! If you're wondering what the boys are doing in their pose I'm reliably (?) informed that it is called 'dabbing' and that we will see much of this combined with other impressive dance moves at the disco.... can't wait... perhaps they can teach Mr Oates a thing or do about dancing?!

Good (Wednesday) Morning

OK, so we've just had breakfast and are getting ready for our walk to Dinosaur Isle.

Yesterday was a warm, sunny day so we could make the most of the playpark at Amazon World.  The kids loved Amazon World: the Lemurs were one of the favourites, as was the sloth and penguins.  After lunch, which we had while watching the penguins, we played in the playpark then made our way to Carisbrooke Castle.

Carisbrook was very impressive: huge walls, amazing paintings and genuine artefacts.  Some children got to dress up as King Charles I, Henry Firebrace (his man-servant), Lord Carisbrooke and others involved in King James's attempted but unsuccessful escape.  The rest of the group had to choose a side: Royalist/Cavaliers (supporters of James I) or Parliamentarians/Roundheads (supporters of Oliver Cromwell).  Find out more about James I's attempted escapes here.

Dinner was a choice of pizza or fish & chips followed by treacle sponge and custard.  We went to the games room after that and played pool, table tennis, table football, giant Jenga and Connect 4 and lots of others.

Today we're making the most of the sunshine and walking to Dinosaur Isle then it's... surfing!  The kids are VERY excited about this activity.  One child commented that he is looking forward to seeing the teachers "fail" by falling off the surfboard.  We'll see about that, although it is quite possible.

Either way, it's going to be another great day; your children are being well looked after, well fed and having a great time.

Pictures are on there way but the wifi is quite slow so please be patient.

Hope all is ok back in Borough  Green.  Most of the postcards were posted yesterday, so hopefully they'll be with you soon.

Tuesday Evening

All is quiet on the boys' and girls' corridors after a warm and busy day. We've had lemurs on our shoulders, encounters with meerkats, dressing up at Carisbrooke (George and Dylan made very fine kings), a demonstration of Jimbob the donkey operating the well wheel ( very taxing - he walks on the wheel for 1 minute at least 4 times a day but always with a long break between shifts!!! ) a prolonged journey home through Newport in rush hour traffic and an evening in the Games Room. Everyone looked tired and rosy-cheeked so we're hoping for a quiet night of sound and silent sleep...

Much excitement on the way to Amazon World... Particularly about sloths and the prospect of lemurs climbing on our shoulders... Fortunately we have only endured one rendition of The Wheels on the Bus so far.
Yesterday's comments worth mentioning:
On glancing at the Roman Villa remains - "they haven't finished building it yet..."
Before walking to the beach - "Do we have time for a little nap?" (And, no, that wasn't from one of the adults... It was an 11 year old boy!)

 

A few photos from yesterday... sorry there aren't more at the moment... it takes forever to upload them.  Corey kept his sunglasses on all day hoping to inspire the sun to come out: by the evening he had been successful and we had a lovely time on the beach with a beautiful sunset in the background as we flew kites, searched for sealife, played football, blew bubbles ...

 

 

Good Morning from the Girls' Corridor

Everyone is up and getting ready having slept well despite a few concerns about tapping noises during the night in one room... the girls decided the noise was either mice or the radiators! Definitely the radiators!  In another room a HUGE spider with large hairy legs was spotted just before bedtime but has sensibly stayed out of sight since; however it was the first thing Olivia P mentioned on being woken this morning! Many of the girls slept so soundly they needed waking this morning.

We've Arrived

Just a quick note to say we have all arrived safely.

The children are currently getting their pyjamas on ready for a hot chocolate and then bed.

We managed to get on an early ferry (12 pm) so were able to drop our bags off to Winchester House before we went to Brading Roman Villa.

Brading Villa was very cool - we got to handle some Roman artifacts, be archeologists and look at genuine Roman mosaics, made around two thousand years ago.

After the Villa we chilled in the rooms for a bit, then had dinner: spaghetti bolognaise or mushroom carbonara followed by arctic role.

Before the sun set we went to the beach for a few games - it was a lovely evening; the sun set was beautiful.

Pictures will follow soon.