Rowney Warren

Well, that was another very lovely day... I could get used to this life! :)
This morning DS1 was first on the computer (Maths Whizz) - I think he was playing the bonus games that he'd earned with his credits, but that's fine by me - once he's spent them he'll have to earn some more by doing more Maths :)  DS3 was next on, doing Reading Eggs - I was quite impressed that they automatically emailed me to say he had finished a level.  I was also impressed that as he didn't pass the test at the end of the level, the next level will remain locked until he passes, meaning he has to keep on doing the lessons he's taken so far until he has mastered them (I was concerned that he was whizzing through a bit quickly & not grasping everything).  That said, I was also impressed by how much he had mastered - he got 6 out of 10 questions right, which for a 3 year old is quite impressive, I thought!  DS2 was next on - Reading Eggs today as he wanted to play the games he's just seen his little brother doing, but as with DS1, once the credits (or eggs) are spent - he'll have to work for some more - so it's all really positive.  As well as the computer programmes they all took some time to make some really lovely birthday cards - it's nice for them to have the time not to rush it :)
We had an earlyish lunch, and then drove out to Rowney Warren, a woodland area in Bedfordshire, to meet up with some of our fab new Home Ed friends.  It was utterly lovely wandering around in the dappled sunlight, breathing in the freshest air, watching my boys have freedom to run, investigate and play... I love being in the woods, can you tell?  DS1 brought his bug-catching pot and had a lovely time catching, inspecting, showing everyone & then releasing an assortment of minibeasts. DS3 got lost at one point near the end of the afternoon, after he tried to follow his big brother who had ran off, not realising the littlest was behind - and that was a pretty horrid few moments while we all looked for him.  I sent up a quick prayer for help, and was pretty confident we'd find him, but it was the thought of him crying while we looked that did me in :/  Ah well, he's learned that lesson now... hopefully...!  The rest of the time he had thoroughly enjoyed himself - was first out of my boys to have a go on the rope swing, which he did with a huge grin on his face... and he even had two bites of a strawberry (a hitherto spurned fruit).  He didn't eat it all, but I was impressed that he tried it at all - that's really unusual for him!
However, my absolute favourite thing about today was watching ALL my boys thoroughly socialising.  They could not have socialised more if they'd read a textbook on how to do it!  All the children there were happy playing across the ages, chatting to adults etc, and my three fitted right in.  DS2 was a little reserved to start with, which has been the norm lately, but once he recognised some faces he started to relax, and was soon running around, playing and shouting joyfully with the rest of them.  Even DS3 made a little friend (as well as joining in with all the big kids).   For me, that is what I will remember from today.  My stress levels from losing DS3 are nearly back to normal and will quickly be in the past, but what continues to make me really happy, is remembering my boys' relaxed, happy faces :)