I woke up all cosy to the sound of rain hitting our tent. We just arrived at Holland's wood yesterday. If you ask me it's probably one of my favourite sounds. I checked the time and it was almost 8, I had the best sleep and shortly after my eyes were open, you, Forrest, started to stir too. Nixie and daddy were still sound asleep. 

You, Forrest, wanted to play some board games so we had a round of Counting Mountain and then Nixie, you woke up and watched us finish our game and then you wanted to play Shark Bite but your little toy fox Delilah had to play too. We finished our morning of games with Dino-snore. Just as we were finishing daddy woke up and then the three of you all went to the bathroom. Then it was time for hot chocolate and coffees and I don't think daddy could make them fast enough! Forrest you were dying to have one and asked about every 2 seconds when it was ready. You and Nixie played Dobble to make the time go by quicker. 

After our morning drinks the two of you wanted to ride your bikes. Nixie, you are a pro and you can go on your own especially here as this is like a home away from home. It was here where you learned to ride your bike. But Forrest, you still need someone beside you as you aren't very good at being aware of cars and this morning there were so many cars driving past as a lot of campers are heading home. When we got back to the tent daddy had made me breakfast and had it waiting for me at the table. You, Forrest were adamant that you wanted to try to get your stabilisers off your bike.

As I was getting our piles of dishes together, you, Forrest, were having so much fun with daddy’s bag of farts (which you got him for fathers day) and you kept hitting it on daddys bum and he would make the best faces which made you laugh so much. I went to wash the dishes. Nixie you came with but then decided to go back so you could ride your bike. The three of you were playing in a little clearing not too far from the tent. As I was walking back I saw a crowd and a pony laying down really not looking well. We thought there was something wrong but in the end got up and walked off.I couldn’t believe it, it was like she was playing a trick on us humans! The agister was even on his way.

Daddy and nixie went to try to find a wrench so that he could take the stabilisers off and you, Forrest were pretending to be writing on a stick with a stick, you were deep in imaginary play. It’s one of my favourite things to see. But then you had lots of upsets trying to get the bike back to the tent because it kept getting stuck because of the stabilisers and you kept falling and then your helmet became crooked and I took it off to fix it and you became so angry with me and shouted at me to never do that again. Then I asked if you wanted a snuggle and you did and then we sat snuggling cheek to cheek for 5 min. You are easy that way, whenever you get overwhelmed with big feelings a snuggle always helps you. Whereas with you, Nixie, you need to be left alone.

Afterwards we went for a little walk and stumbled upon a little Rove Beetle which you just fell in love with and just as we were putting it in a safe place daddy & Nixie came back with the right tools so daddy was finally able to take your stabilisers off. You were so sweet because you said, “I might fall but that’s ok because I’ll get better” and as an encouragement to you, Nixie said “ovvie!” as short for obviously which I had never heard before but love and will be using from now on. 

Then came the time to practise riding without stabilisers. This is super hard for you and you struggle with being able to balance and instead you keep leaning to one side. You think it's really hard. We started with getting you to just stand with your bike, walk your bike, be in a starting position for 5-10 seconds. Nixie, you said you were tired and went back to the tent . After a while I decided to leave the two of you as I thought you both could use some space and I came back to find you, Nixie, inside the tent on a chair sneaking marshmallows.

You, Nixie, needed to go to the toilet but didn't feel ready to go on your own even though we said you could. You and I went and then on the way back you waited for me to go ahead so that you could get the feeling of walking back alone. It was so sweet. I Never thought I'd see the day when you were no longer a flight risk!

We had a relaxing afternoon. The three of you played some more board games while I crocheted and then the two of you went into this little sheltered space and pretended you were on a train driving to Australia and then got on your bikes in search of Koalas. Daddy did some whittling. It was so nice just taking it easy. It was such a different experience from any of our previous camping trips where we would never spend any time at the tent and instead would be off on day long adventures. 

After a while, you, Forrest, wanted to have another bike practice. You were amazing and made so much improvement since the morning. Now you can stand with your bike in starting position and there's even little periods where daddy's not holding you but now you are working on keeping your arms fixed in position so that you can balance. Just before you and daddy returned a woman from the tent over a bit from ours came over with a little toy car and  told us she had found it in the grass and asked if either of you would play with it and it ended up being your new favourite toy.Then we had a little snack break. 

Then we looked at the tides and decided to go for an evening swim at our special little spot. On our way to our beach we came across a gorgeous herd of ponies with three foals, i never tire of being surrounded by ponies. As soon as we arrived, we put our stuff down and laid out a blanket. You, Nixie, were the first one in and I followed straight after and then I was so happily surprised that you, Forrest, came straight in too! Usually you don’t like to go very far in but today you were so into it. It was so incredibly refreshing and I loved being able to play with you both in the water. Daddy took too long to get in and by the time he was about to, the three of us were getting out and then he decided not to go in. 

Last time we were here we found just over 50 scallops and we were on a mission to beat that and I’m happy to say we absolutely did, this evening we managed to find 122 scallops, a new record! Forrest, you are still obsessed with custard creams and at the moment it is all you will snack on when we are out.You are also really into burping and love to make yourself burp so that you can burp on us. I personally find it hilarious and you were doing this to daddy which created the best smiles and giggles and snuggles between the two of you. On our way back to the car, Nixie, you saw a sleeping bumblebee on a thistle and you thought it was the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen. I just love how excited you get about our natural world. 

When we got back to the tent, Nixie, you really wanted to have a shower. We managed to convince you, Forrest, to come with us even though you were not in the mood but then in the actual shower you had the best time and loved it so much I could barely get you out. When we got back daddy had made us ramen and then we went to look for bats and Forrest, you, really wanted to look for frogs but it was a bit too dark to see anything. When we got to our usual bat spot we put our blanket down and all laid down but we didn't last very long as both of you wanted to go back to the tent to bed. You were both determined we were going to tell each other scary stories but by the time we were in bed you, Nixie,  just wanted to read The Witches and this upset you, Forrest, because you wanted to read Marshmallows and Martians so I ended up reading that one first as it's pretty short and it didn't take you long to fall asleep then Daddy read Witches and you Nixie were asleep very soon afterwards.