Chill Pill Day!

I woke this morning with a sore back - still. It was a bit better yesterday, but not so today, so I popped a pill and hoped it would improve, but it didn't much :( Boo and Beefy were round at R's for the day, so I decided to leave big 2 boys to their own devices this arvo and head (slowly) down to Playworld (soft play) with the smallest 3. This was a better plan than I knew. We played I-spy with colours and shapes for the entire 15 minute walk, which C really enjoyed :D When we arrived, much to my delight there were comfy sofas (never been before) and quite nice food :) So I ordered myself a steak pannini and a latte, a jug of juice for the three and 3 large cookies and settled myself down on a sofa. The children mostly played beautifully then for the rest of the afternoon. When NJ had had enough (after over an hour of playing hard) he climbed up on my lap and I dozed off with him there for a few minutes, semi-conscious of the noise of the other two in the background. It was unexpectedly very quiet, probably owing to the fact that it was actually one of the few nice days we've had so far this summer, but they have an outside play area too, with a big climbing frame, swing and a huge sandpit, so outside was an option too :D All in all money well spent when I wasn't up to doing anything at home with them that required me to move!

As we walked home the swallows were gathering for their evening bug-catching flying session. It is fascinating to watch them, and to see how the flock has swelled in number over the summer (with the addition of this years brood). Our resident family has nested again (same nest) and the babies hatched yesterday and today (3 this time), so a few more days and they will be fledging too - hopefully we'll get to see it again - third time this season :D We really have become quite fond of our swallows and the way they dive-bomb us when they want to get to their babies and we are in the way! We will miss them when they are gone, which probably won't be all that long now. I hope we catch the moment when the, now quite large, flock gather together en-mass and fly south to Africa for the winter. I imagine it will be quite something to watch. Apparently they fly in large groups and return to the same area in the same groups in the spring. So I guess one day they will simply be gone and then with the arrival of spring they will suddenly be back :D