caught!

On the morning of our camping trip I was making a list of everything we needed, you know toothbrushes, sleeping bags and...oh yes camera! I checked the memory card which was almost full so I took off the pictures while pottering round getting everything ready, I didn't have time to look at the photos so have only seen them now and well, they are VERY interesting.

It looks like Googs and Kiki got hold of the cameras (no they are not allowed to play with them) and took hundreds of pictures.
not something that I would choose to take a picture of...

many, many, many pictures of blurry pink fingers.
artistic shot
and here it starts getting interesting. That wood is a windowsill.
lovely sunny, very early morning while Mommy and Daddy are still asleep.
Daddy's car...
now wait! how did they get this shot? it looks remarkably like it was taken outside but surely not...
is that a bicycle behind that finger?
Yes it is!!!! the little monkeys had climbed out the window!!!!!
and even played on the swing.

back inside
more crochet
hard evidence of the culprits
and again
and back outside!!!!
How often have they been sneaking out? oooh those two make a formidable team! BIG mistake leaving so much evidence though :oP

Day 6. Last full day

Googs loves all bat games so I bought a bat and ball set which he played with for hours.
Chatting with Daddy.
Everyday, while on the beach, I got chatting to a local fisherman when he was going out for the day and then again when he came back in. Then on Saturday he surprised us by letting us know that he had brought some life jackets and asked if we would like to come out and haul in the crab nets. Hubby and Champ went out first and then Boo, Googs and I went out for a trip round the bay. He used a tractor to help with the boat.
The boys getting in. I couldn't take closer pictures as I was sitting with Kiki and all our stuff.
While the boys were out and Boo was looking for starfish, Googs and Kiki made a mountain.
These two aren't afraid of hard work...well until Googs dropped a stone on his thumb :o(
Then we made a bowl and they did some baking. Here, Googs is adding the flour and Kiki is mixing.
Racing sand cars.
At the little shop, I bought these magnets to pick up some metallic stones.
we ended up with quite a large amount which I intend to use when looking at magnets in science.
Icecream!
Across from the beach was a small art gallery which I had to pop into.
Aren't these vases fantastic!

This artist also paints, she LOVES bright colours.
see!
I just fell int love with this painting. It has some sandy texture at the bottom and has the most wonderful crisp light to it.
I am not as big of a fan of this one but still thought it clever.
When I got back from the gallery, I found my family giggling away at a game that they were playing.

Mermaid Boo.

Buried Googs.

Saying goodbye to the beach.

As you can imagine, the children didn't want to come home again. Now just to do get going on the MASSIVE pile of washing!

Day 5. Daddy arrives

Hubby was due to join us in the afternoon and stay for the weekend. My Mom also left today.
It's funny how quickly children settle somewhere, they were referring to the tent as 'home' and our house as our 'brick home' :o)
Kiki and Googs are very good about getting stuck into all the jobs around the camp. The older two will do jobs if told to but not with the enthusiasm shown by these two. Banana pancakes for breakfast, a good stodgy start to the day. I was amazed by how much the children were eating, about 4/5 meals a day!
After a tidy and breakfast we went....yup, to the beach again :o) If you could only see how calm and happy the children were at the beach, but I guess they did have everything they needed; food and water, the sea, creatures, rocks, warm weather, somewhere to go to the toilet...what more did they need?
Yet another starfish. The children just loved the changing nature of the sea and it's tides, there were different activities at high tide than low tide.

And just behind us, the river, which offered a different element too. Boo loved the ducks and spent a good deal of time with them. Gran bought the kids an entire packet of bread each to feed the ducks.
Low tide. The children found eels, crabs and starfish out on the sand beyond the rocks.
oh yes, and shrimps.
Googs watched Kiki play her stoney car game and made a car of his own.
A little dead crab that was admired.
Finding jet...maybe.

The children were excellent at inventing their own games without any toys, using just their imagination.

Here we were baking cakes.
Daddy arrives! The children all ran across the beach to get to him, I just couldn't get to the camera fast enough to get a picture.
Look at this Dad, come here Dad, watch me...
Rearranging the fire. It's funny how to control of the fire seems to automatically shift to the males of the family, I am not complaining, those sausages were delicious!