We had an amazing day yesterday, under blue skies and sunshine.  We started the day with breakfast, which was low on yoghurt and fruit but high on sausages and beans.  The children ate really well and got ready to start the day.  Arthur B. was particularly pleased with his early morning cup of tea, which stood him in good stead for his "Moo Off" later with Eva!

Room inspections went well, with Owen scoring extra points with his blatant attempts at bribery by supplying the teachers with biscuits - it does not bode well that he has found our weakness already!  

We then launched into an action-packed day with children taking part in a mix of vertical challenge, buggy building, orienteering, survivor, abseiling and climbing.  The children have excelled at everything, pushing their limits, supporting each other and working together as a team.  We have been on the move constantly, with some extra journeys to collect more sun cream and hats (a problem we didn't think we would have!).

In Vertical Challenge, the children scaled rope ladders and tyres to climb high up into the trees - Leiah and Lauren screams as they reached the top could be heard for miles!  Orienteering covered the whole of the site (unless you were Dev, Josh and Owen who were found sitting on a bench in the sun!) with children racing to get different stamps - the Centre resounded with cries of "It's not that way!"  Abseiling took the children past their comfort points, but all the children went further than they thought they could go and were spectacular.  In Survivor, the children made shelters and some obviously have a future in home design, as our makeshift camps were equipped with dining areas, pet mansions (Maisie was thinking of eating the pet if things got really tough) and even outside toilets. Nathan even created a swing!  The children then made fires, although much smaller than the campfire we sat and sang around after dinner.

At the campfire, the children enjoyed singing (accompanied by Mrs. Brand on guitar), marshmallows and biscuits.  They probably did not enjoy Ms Linfield's and Miss Morris' dancing quite so much.

Back at the rooms and smelling of campfire, we had a worrying outbreak of sleeping bag caterpillars but it was soon resolved (see picture below!).  We had an earlier lights out as everyone was tired and we are now ready to start Day Three, which includes Shyla's birthday, a beach walk, aeroball, sensory trail, archery....and the shop!!