Lions and Reindeers

Happy Christmas everyone and a fast approaching Happy New Year as well!!! I know for sure that I will look back at this year, and a highlight will be the birth of THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS!!!

Today we had a festive CLUB by meeting up at the Zoo to go and feed the Reindeer. We all met by the lion enclosure and the boys got circled and eye-balled by a rather ferocious looking female lion. Fearlessly they stood and shouted at her.... "Hello Lion.... RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! You off on Olidays? where you going... RAAAAAAAAAAAAH.... come get me LION!!!!!"

I love it.... haven't we trained these little men well?!?! Eye to Eye - they genuinely asked the Lion to come and get them (Thank God for 10 inch thick glass). The smeared paw prints on the inside of the glass were enough to make me shudder!! She never did tell us where she was going on her holidays either! Bit Rude!

Reindeers are beautiful creatures. Jingle and Belle let us feed them, each boy with his mossy Laplandy bag of shruby goodness!!!

After a very successful turn around the zoo the boys were starving. We then had a very busy lunch at one of the Mums Houses!!! Serious Gold Stars for her as all 12 boys sat around the table, soaking up the Christmas Season and eating a feast.


As we left Tiger indulged in a hilarious red biscuit that made him look like he was bleeding/dying as it slowly smeared its way across his face and said to me... "Mummy I love the DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS"!

Wilber turned to me and said... "Mummy, wo liegt nördlich von hier würde ich gerne an der steigenden North Star aussehen??" (Yes....we still think he is German!!).

What a Delicious Morning!!!!

Blog you in the New Year!!! Bye Everyone!!! xxx

Legally Allowed to Hit!

Tell me that when the frost is out and the sun is so low it burns your retina, that it is not the most beautiful thing in the world!!

We all met at 10am in the freezing, freezing cold weather. Our little adventure started a bit too early when my parked car started to roll backwards, all the Mums shoved their kids into the boots (trunks for the Americans) of the other cars, and dramatically pushed the buggies out the way and we all jumped in to action and saved the world... it was MOST exciting - and no kids were harmed in the process of this almost disaster!

Our activity today was another simple one; Find a big stick and hit things with it. What was fun, is all the puddles had frozen over, so as well as hitting, trees, signs and each other.... we also got to break the ice and indeed tried licking it!! We did a Christmas chocolate coin hunt which went down a storm. By the end of the adventure though THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS had turned blue with cold so we ate frozen coins in the Mansion House Cafe and slowly thawed out. It was a beautiful, chilly, deliciously wintery success.... WELL DONE THE BOYS!!!

Santas Little Helpers

No one told me that having children would be like become a doctor. Out they pop and  BOOM; you become a pharmacist, a doctor, a nurse, and in my case this week I have become a fabric cleaner. The reality is you get repetitively vommed all over and then you have to spend the rest of your life cleaning up stained carpets, curtains, bedding and clothing in your house. 

Wilber is sick...again... DULL!!! He is well with it and continues to smile, unless I am trying to put him to bed, so yet again THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS was in question this week. BUT 3 little lads made it in the face of most of their friends also being ill....

The activity was going to be the classic, 'Hitting thing with Sticks' but the weather was so glorious and the puddles so entertaining, we actually just walked though the countryside. The boys... as seen in the picture also took great delight in scaling a large gate to look at the deers. 3 of Santa's little helpers, peering in, trying to get their heads around why the little horses had huuuuuuuuge things sticking out of their heads?!!?!?!?! We explained that they were 'deers'.... they were thrilled that in '20 sleeps' these little creatures would fly through the sky with an old bloke called Santa to deliver them some presents.... not an odd concept at all, huh?!!

We had the usual BabyCinos at the end and Wilber decided to unleash his stomach contents and thus abruptly ended another DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS... in a rather gross way. But in truth, I was delighted that we had overcome illness to be there and that Tiger's new fleece trousers had kept him warm enough to not make him go blue.

I write this with 2 tired little boys asleep in their room... thank you sunny fresh day!!!! 

A Dog, a Duck, a Girl, a Moustache!

An interesting title for a boys club?!! This weeks DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS started, from my side, with chaos and complete and utter lack of good decision making... a quality I hate in people let alone myself! The rain started to come down and most people had told me they were unwell and unable to come along today so I ummmed and arrrrrhed until I almost lost my voice, I texted and re texted, I changed locations and venues and activities... MAN ALIVE I irritated myself..... Finally though, we ended up where I had originally started and we had the BEST time!!! A lesson learnt me thinks, 'make a decision and go with it!!'

Because of all the indecision we ended up with a few added extras... beautiful Borris the DOG and even more beautiful Lottie - A GIRL!!! 

Our activity was so simple... find big sticks and go fishing for rubber ducks in gigantic puddles... it was very cold, very wet and great fun and worked really well... simplicity all the way! around the next corner we did a smartie treasure hunt followed by biscuits on the steps.

Finally we went into the Manor House of Ashton Court and had the most inappropriately large BabyCinos....

High on milk, and covered in milk moustaches, the kids played hide-and-seek and entertained all those who were looking for a quiet drink in the country... hehe...!!

Coughs and Rain and Feeling Rough

OK. So in the world of delicious blogging and 100% perfection, I would tell you that all of our Dangerous Boys has scaled Everest this week and shot their first bear... not so i'm afraid.

We have been thwarted with illness, poor sleep (to the point of desperation), and the worlds fattest, coldest, rain storms EVER!! My intention to hold a marvellous DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS was destined not to happen - I suppose sometimes you need a kick of reality to remind you to keep things real.

One by one, all of the Dangerous Mums, texted me to tell me their little kids were unwell and that the weather was too hideous... which it was. I had been stuck in our house for 5 days by this point with a poorly Wilbs and an even more poorly Tiger.

I decided last minute that I would dress in all my waterproofs and go to the zoo. It felt so important to get some fresh air and to see some animals... The zoo is a 10 minute walk away, so my friend and I wrapped up our sick babies and took our toddlers out for a wet romp around the zoo... it was 100% perfection in all of the ways I would not have imagined. We saw a lion have a pee, a crocodile, some blue frogs, pink birds and we looked at the fish.

When we came back I thought I cannot blog about THE CLUB because it didn't really happen... but actually it did... 4 little boys went to the zoo, they got wet and so did we and it was good!

Wilber at midnight struggling to sleep!

(I wonder why?)

The Great Bear Hunt

Do you ever feel a little high? Like you have slipped some sort of happy pill and your heart skips a beat and a little tiny bit of pee comes out? THAT my friends is how I feel today!!

Todays DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS was my favourite so far, we met in a beautiful estate, with a huge English manor house (which is sadly painted mustard), deers running around and autumn trees lining the steep hills. Add in 13 cheeky little boys and you have yourselves a happy morning.

All the boys brought scooters and bikes along with them. The younger boys cottoning on how to use such contraptions and the older boys delighting in leading the way and conquering steep hills!

Humungous great puddles lined the pathways and we would stop as the boys splashed, jumped and rather frequently fell over head first. It was so cute, the boys could not have bee more wet and muddy if they had tried!

One of the Mums went ahead and hid a whole load of teddy bears in the woods... the boys were told

"we are off on a bear hunt... who is brave enough to find the bears?"

They walked the woods discovering bears and sharing them out for cuddles before locating more puddles to jump in and more bears to find.


I think there are several reasons why today was so special. Firstly, the activity worked... another simple treasure hunt style game where the boys were trying to find something. Secondly, we went on a journey... the more energy expended the better when it comes to these little boys. Thirdly, the scootering was something we could dip in and out of so it was active and fun. Fourthly, you cannot go wrong with enormous muddy puddles. And finally... and this is where for me it was a happy pill moment... the boys really properly all played together... all of them hysterically, joyfully and muddily, playing with each other. Which I think, it's why today has been my favourite DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS yet!!! Bingo!

  WHERE'S THE BEAR?! 

Kicking Autumn Away

It is my humble opinion, that when the clocks have changed and one finds themselves needing to clothe the windows in cling film and occasionally wear boots to bed... that winter is finally upon us. This has happened uncharacteristically early, with the coldest Autumn in 14 years! So I thought today we could say goodbye to Autumn and welcome the Winter in!













Now if you are a parent you may have faced this dilemma before... what do you do when your kids are ill?

1. Do you stay at home?
2. Give a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down?
3. Soldier on?

Today I did 1) and 3) I am wholly unconvinced that i did the right thing, but there we go.

We all met... 13 little men, in an area where there were a lot of leaves. The task for today was to make a huuuuuge heap of leaves and then kick and throw them everywhere.... 'Kicking Autumn Away'. It was beautiful.... except that my two children cried perpetually from start to finish. I subsequently realised that 3) did not particularly work... so we moved on to 2)... SUGAR!!!

The next activity - I had purchased 3 bags of gold Chocolate Coins, a perfect treat to hide for a treasure hunt. You feel rich finding it and then you get a chocolate rush as you eat it, perfect! The boys particularly enjoyed this activity and all sat eating their coins, very proud of themselves! Again I realise that these simple hide & seek games are proving to be the best. 

Back to my boys.... We went home and they both practically put themselves to bed. They are not well, either of them... it is good to soldier on, but right now, I write this with them tucked under blankets just being a little bit poorly, which is ok!

Good bye Autumn, see you next year!

Think 'Big'

This week, I believe for most of the country, is half term. Quite a few of our dangerous boys were with their big sisters or on holiday... but a few were out in force on this beautiful Autumnal day!

Benji who became a big brother this week to Freddie also joined us which was very exciting... another boy to join The Club!!!!! Yippppeeeeeeee!

So our activity this week was to gather things and then look at them through a magnifying glass. Each cost about 70p from Amazon and although I thought this would be great fun... if I am honest, the boys didn't really get it. Maybe magnifying glasses, like telescopes need a certain way to look through them... like with 'one eye' or something??? and maybe because none of them can wink, it was bit wasted? Oh well.... magnifying glasses will definitely work in a few months I am sure.

The LEAVES however... well there is a story!!! The boys LOVED the dry autumn leaves and were rather hysterical when we simply spent some time throwing them in the air! In fact it was me who interrupted their fun by making them look through small glass things... it just shows, doesn't it, that the simple things in life, are not only free but often more fun.

I also took HUUUUUUUUUUGE pleasure in watching Tiger fall, get dirty, and then jump right back up again.... THAT my friends is progress!!!! Mud + Hands = Good!!

Bye-Bye Tractor

Midway through THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS a tractor arrived.... I informed everyone that I had paid for it to come and see us (I didn't.... it's a lie!!!) BUT the boys.... were transfixed.... this is them saying good bye to the lovely red tractor and the lovely man who spent at least 10 minutes circling the boys and dropping off leaves!!! Thank you (even if you were showing off to a besotted fan club - hehe)!!!

Rainbows in Fog

A few years ago Bristol fell in to a deep fog... I loved it. It was like living an epic Jane Austin film. All I needed was a handsome man to arrive on a black horse through the mist and I would surely have then died of consumption... or something like that.

Anyway, we have been day 3 of a deep fog and it is beautiful. The fabulous Autumn leaves were the focus of our DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS. We collected different colour leaves to create our rainbow of colour. I was a little bit gutted that the fiery red leaves seemed to have 'passed on', but enough of mourning over dying leaves (because that's the whole purpose of Autumn...is it not?). The boys collected browns, yellows and greens which we then pinned to a tree to make our pallet of colour

We then took out our rainbow cups and had babycinos... YUM!!!

The boys took to jumping and falling over and really did very well at getting muddy hands and not freaking out too much! gosh they are cute... being a DANGEROUS BOY is fun!!!

High (Muddy) Five... see you next week!

Benji turns 2

My toes were cold, my heart was warm!!

We British love to have a jolly good chat about the weather... not because we are dull, but because the weather changes from day to day. We live in an erratic climate and therefore it makes for an unquestionably good and safe subject of conversation... does it not?!?!?!?! 

Therefore, might I say that the season has definitely changed. The sky was a perfect blue but MAN ALIVE was it cold. I have purchased a cute little bear suit for Wilber, because bears are 'dangerous' but also snuggley. This week I will make it my mission to find some thermals for all of us... I must not be defeated by the cold! Although if I am honest I am wondering what the heck to do come the full-on winter time... ideas anyone?

Benji, a delightful little boy, who is an excellent climber, a prolific smiler and the worlds most lovely boy, turned 2 and so today we celebrated his birthday... Danger Style!

Benji's parents took on THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS - and excelled!!! I loved it, it surely is every boys perfect 2nd birthday party. To be surrounded by loads of little lads, to get filthy, to have snacks, find bugs and eat cake! 

The birthday party was simple... collect bugs and leaves and stuff to gain the clue to the treasure. The treasures were little blue boxes with snacks in. 'Simple' is almost an exaggeration, but truly this was one of the best birthday parties I have been to. 

A few things have struck me this week at the CLUB...

1) Tiger is slowly becoming more comfortable with getting his hands dirty... I think something a lot of 2-3 year olds find distressing!... we are getting there!

2) I am becoming more comfortable with getting my hands dirty.... something a lot of Mums find distressing.... I am getting there... thank  you!

  3) We are all treating bugs like they are friends.... Me, Tiger and the   boys!! 

I will leave you with a conversation Tiger had with a spider:

Tiger - "Ello Spider... what you doin? Off on holiday? Going on an aeroplane? How you feeling? You being naughty? See you later, I'm off on holiday!" 

The boys with their boxes of treasure

Stones!

This week a friend told me that a hall-mark of the 2's-3's can be a tendency to get mildly fixated on things. Last week I took my boys for a walk and we filled a small bag with sticks, stones and conkers. Since then Tiger has gripped one of these stones and has taken it absolutely everywhere with him. He eats, sleeps and even talks to his very precious pebble like stone.

So today, running with his love of all things stones, THE DANGEROUS CLUB FOR BOYS, went on a sort of fossil hunt (sort of, meaning I think they were all just stones, but who knows? One of them may be the start of the real Jurassic Park??!?!?).

I purchased a whole load of tooth brushes (x2 for 18p from Wilkinson). I gave each little boy a bowl and set them of on a stone, I mean fossil hunt. 

We all gathered back with our findings and using soapy water, we cleaned the stones ready to look at the shapes and colours. Interestingly the boys took great delight in brushing their teeth with the muddy water which we were all grossed out by, but equally deemed it to be quite DANGEROUS, and therefore rather apt for the Club!!