My poor washing machine – it’s been on almost constantly this weekend.  Not because anyone is sick, but because the children have had to get changed several times a day as a result of the ridiculous amount of water play we’ve done.  The sun comes out, the temperatures soar, and we seek out fountains to spash in!

The weekend didn’t start out sunny, so we spent an hour on Saturday morning at the lovely Carnegie Library for their Bear hunt activity morning.  Sophie and Alex made and coloured bear masks, potted little plants and went on a real bear hunt around the library.  “We’re going on a bear hunt” has been one of Alex’s fave books for years, so he anticipated each scene as we swished through tall grass, sploshed across a river (paddling pool), squelched through mud, stumbled through a forest and crept up on a bear gave – all in the little library garden!  Sophie got really into it, walking right up front with the group leader!  She was momentarily scared when the older children screamed when seeing the bear, but she soon recovered and was desperate for a bear hug!  You can just about make her out here in her pink tshirt trying to get close!

With the weather picking up substantially, we made a snap decision to head into town for a river walk.  So we headed to Rotherhithe and wandered slowly back to London Bridge along the Thames path, stopping to look at boats, eat ice cream and of course, get drenched in the fountains near City Hall.

Sophie was very popular as loads of Japanese tourists asked to take photos of her paddling – very odd!

We woke on Sunday to sunny and hot weather, so we packed a picnic and headed to beautiful Hever Castle.  It’s two years since we’ve been, and it’s as stunning as ever.  We didn’t experience the most welcoming start, with scooters banned and loads of “keep of the grass” signs everywere – not great for my pair of explorers.  But thing swiftly improved when we headed out on the lake for a boat trip, complete with Captain hats.  Here’s Captain Alex!

Sophie wore a little bowler hat (not sure why that was on the boat, but she loved it anyway).  She looks like a jazz baby – maybe I’ll see her dancing some Fosse moves in “Chicago” one day?!

We settled down for our picnic in the rhododendron meadow. It wasn’t long before both our pair were off running around.  Alex made friends with some slightly older boys and ran around like a maniac for half and hour – he got so red I was worried he was going to pass out!

So, after a successful attempt at the castle’s traditional maze, we went to cool off in the water maze – a thoroughly brilliant innovation that soaks you if you take a wrong step!  Alex quickly set about getting as soaking as possible

I love him here – look at that face!

Sophie was much more cautious, prefer to stay dry to begin with and jump over the problem stepping stones!

But it wasn’t long before her brother tempted her in!  And of course, then, I could hardly get her to leave!  Thank goodness I had spare clothes with me…

The water fun didn’t stop there.  Back home in London, we got out the paddling pool and water table, and had another very splashy session – this time with the children’s friends Sam and Una who popped over for a play date!  Sadly no pictures, but suffice to say, I had two VERY tired children this bedtime!  Happy days.

p.s Scotland blog coming soon…