I wish I could capture and save the beauty of today. So many of my friends and family are in good places right now.

My sister Shannon is about to compete in her second Ironman. That's 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.2km run. Shannon, there isn't a moment Sunday we won't be thinking of you! 

After school today the boys and I visited the National Museum Australia, for the second time in two days. We visited the Travelling the Silk Road exhibition and passed through Xi'an, Turfan, Samarkand and Baghdad. I loved this exhibition, I loved their use of senses. They had sound and scent displays! We were at the museum for three hours. I'm not kidding. Caspar and Otis were so well behaved. Caspar didn't want to leave. It was beautiful. 

Did you enjoy the recent posts (Part One and Part Two) on Screen Time? Ok, I admit it's not something I really enjoy talking about but I do think it's important. I was really inspired by the concept of TV Free Week and Five Lessons from a TV Free Household over at Simple Kids. Simple Kids is one of my favourite sites and one of only a handful that I subscribe to. 

I have also been thinking about children spending time outdoors. It's rained a lot here recently and our children at school missed out on outside play because it was raining. The old me, the before kids me, would understand. It's raining so you don't want the children to get wet, especially at school, they'll have to wear raincoats and possibly change their wet clothes, it's too hard. But the current me, the me with children questions this. Perhaps other parents won't agree, perhaps teachers would be horrified at the thought. But why not? It's easy to send your child to school with wet weather gear and most children already keep a spare set of clothes in their bags. It feels by keeping them indoors they are not experiencing the day fully, it feels like we are overprotecting them. So often I feel like my expectations of others, of our school are too high. But I'm a purist at heart and saying you cannot play outside today because it's raining doesn't feel right. I'd love to hear if your school allows your children outdoors in the rain. Does this happen? 

I have been meaning to share a new site with you. Aid to Life is a wonderfully simple site for children 0-3 supported by some of the most respected Montessori organisations. For Otis I've been following their information on toileting exactly. It's been working well, Otis can definitely tell when he need to go to the toilet. I cannot wait until he can walk though it will make it much easier.  

Take care and have a wonderful weekend!