Our long lockdown weekend happy – lots of garden time, egg hunts, quizzes and family! – Mummascribbles

Good Friday brought beautiful weather, hot sunshine, and another day in lockdown. We are very fortunate to have a garden and the kids were pretty keen to get out there early. While I was getting showered and dressed, the other half was out there moving their playhouse and getting the paddling pool out ready for them. I took the dog for his walk and when I got back, they had already been splashing around for a while! We basically spent the whole afternoon in the garden. We ate lunch out there, the boys played loads,

We had pasta for dinner which took barely any effort at all and then we skipped the boys bath because a) we couldn’t be bothered, and b) we knew they would be back out in the garden covered in suntan lotion the following day! The other half took the dog for his evening walk and then when he got home, it was up to bed for the boys.

We had arranged a Zoom call with our friends and one of them was going to be hosting a pub quiz! So we jumped on just after 8, bottle of wine and paper at the ready, and spent the evening having a right old laugh! Once the quiz was over, we stayed chatting with them all for a while before we all said our goodbyes and we headed to bed.

Saturday 11th April

The boys woke up at 6am and I had already pre-warned the other half the previous night that he was getting up with the kids, so I sent them off to him (I was in Oscar’s bed), listened to them go downstairs, and then moved into my bed and snuggled on down for more sleep alongside Buster! I didn’t think I had gone to sleep, but then the boys came up and I realised I had been in a dream! When Buster realised I was awake, he came over for a full on cuddle and Zach snapped a pic of us.

I soon got up and went downstairs where the boys were begging to do their first egg hunt. We had asked the Easter Bunny to make a special early drop off so we could have an extended series of egg hunts whilst in lockdown, and the kind Easter Bunny had left some treats in some plastic eggs in the fridge for Mummy to dispense around the garden for them – with leftovers for the next day! After the other half was ready, I popped out into the garden to hide the eggs and they soon came out and hunted them all down and then went back inside where they opened, unwrapped and ate!

After that, the other half had to make a trip to the supermarket to stock up on some lunch and dinner stuff and then when he got back and I had disenfected everything he bought, he then took the dog out for a walk. The boys and I video called Nannie, then I made them their lunch and when the other half got back, I made ours and we sat in the garden. It wasn’t long before they boys came out to join us and wanted their playhouse back out again. The other half disappeared inside for a while, I sat and coloured, and the boys were busy playing really nicely together for ages – it was all pretty relaxing!

Zach then asked to get the archery set out, so that came out of the shed and everyone had a play. I ordered a pizza hut for dinner which arrived around 5pm – more disinfecting of the boxes, and then we devoured it among us! Once we were finished, I took the dog for his walk, and then when I got back, it was time for the boys to get to bed.

Sunday 12th April

After a quick snug with the dog, Oscar and I went downstairs and Zach followed shortly after. They badgered me for a while for Easter egg hunt number two but we had to wait for the other half to get up. He eventually came downstairs and got ready and while that was happening, there was a knock at the door and our neighbour had left a couple of giant chocolate rabbits at the front door. I gave them a wipe down and the boys couldn’t wait to tuck in to a bit! I then I got on with the egg hunt set up and off they went in search of more chocolate which they very quickly devoured!

After that was done, the other half made bacon sarnies and then I got ready and took the dog for a walk.

When I got back, the boys were getting their swim stuff on so they could play with their water table without soaking the clothes they were wearing. I had some yummy scones for lunch, sat in the garden and did some more colouring, hung the washing up and then had a lengthy video call with my Mum and Sister. It was chaos with the kids but it was lovely for everyone to ‘see’ each other on Easter Sunday.

Once we had finished the call, it was time to do dinner and then after that it was time for the dog walk for the other half while I showered the kids and got them ready for bed. And once they were in bed, we decided to watch the new Spider-Man film.

Monday 13th April

I was not ready to get up when Oscar woke at 7.15. Pretty late for him but he had been up and down a fair bit in the night. So the boys went and got the other half up and I stayed exactly where I was in Oscar’s bed and went back to sleep – waking back up at 9am. I went downstairs, made tea and toast and then got ready after the other half was done. He then took the dog for a walk, the kids watched TV and then came upstairs to mess about for a bit, and then when we got back downstairs, it wasn’t long before lunch so I made us all some food while the boys watched Matilda.

After lunch, the boys came and joined the other half and I at the dining table and we had a bit of an art session. Oscar was busy using his magical pencils (what he calls crayons), Zach did some drawing, I did some more colouring, and the other half did some drawings for the boys!

Once they had enough of that, they went back down to the sofa and watched Indiana Jones while the other half rested on the sofa and I carried on colouring. They also had some tickle fun with Daddy!

It was soon time to do dinner and the boys were going a little crazy, but we managed to make it through until dinner was ready, we ate, I walked the dog, and then we got them up to bed. I did some VA work and then attempted to carry on writing this but was hideously distracted by Bridget Jones Diary!

It was a lovely, lovely long weekend. We were very fortunate with the weather, and it was just really relaxing. Being forced to stay at home is really forcing us to just enjoy the simple things, have restful (well, as restful as it can be with kids) days, and not worry about what other things there are to do.