Thursday 3 September 2015

Minecraft Workshop :: Swimming

This is a middle of the night posting since I am experiencing insomnia!

On Tuesday we visited Rheged for the "Raspberry Pi" computer coding workshop. Sadly the original event was changed last minute but both Benedict and Pip did spend some time in the computer labs with team from Lancaster University.  They were each given a design brief for a Minecraft world, Benedict created an apple orchard for the farm and Pip designed a farm house.  It was our first and only family outing of the summer! 


 We were quite excited and thought we were following a Tiny House until we saw the rest of the loaded items on the truck! 



 Hmm, definitely not a Tiny House and more of your regular build home, ah well!



 "We're not scared of the Enderman!"



 A Baby Ender Dragon.



 Benedict pretending to be scared of a creeper.



 It's amazing what you can do with several cardboard boxes, some paint and sticky backed plastic!  Blue Peter would have been proud!



 Concentrating Hard.



 I did ask why he was coloured all in blue to which she replied, " He's wearing diamond armour!"  Doh, mum!




 Where are Ben and Pip?!


Yesterday was Wednesday, not normally an eventful day in the 22 Household but:



This view and ...



... curly wet hair can only mean one thing!  Yes, I attended my swim session, the first time in over twelve years :-)


There was only myself and another lady attending and Helen the swimming instructor was just lovely.  I hadn't forgotten how to swim backstroke but I had remembered how much I absolutely hate going under the water and getting water up my nose!  I also practised treading water.  The half hour went all too quickly and although very overtired and sore (my back is jammed again) I will be back again next week!  

As an interesting side note when I woke first thing and was struggling with pain, I thought " I cannot be bothered to go swimming today."  But then I remembered stating my intention here in cyber space last week and most importantly the reason why I want to be confident in the water, which is to be able to take the kids swimming and so in reality there was no excuse!  I'd like to think that I also practised what I often "preach" to the kids and that is, if you've made a commitment you have to follow through :-)
 

8 comments:

Eva said...

What is the "Enderman"? Is the swimming-pool heated? I would love to go swimming, but the pool here is just freezing. Pip did a good drawing job. Flora likes to color these days, she never used to, but almost every day she colors a new pictures.

Sandra Ann said...

http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Enderman You can scroll and paste to see one! They are basically one of the characters in the game and are generally avoided at all costs!

Yes the pool was heated thank goodness, it wasn't overly warm but when you are moving around it is amazing how much heat your own body generates. A warm shower was also my reward at the end :-)

We had a good day and it was really nice to get out of the house!

Looks like your first day went well and what with The Nutcracker Auditions at your end it suddenly dawned on me that before we know it, December will be upon us! I don't even really want to admit that autumn is on our doorstep as I must have blinked and missed summer!!

San xx

Sue Elvis said...

San,

I admire you so much for wanting to improve your swimming. I'm not a strong swimmer and could do with some lessons too, but never make the effort to arrange some because I don't enjoy swimming. I just don't like the whole experience of getting cold and wet and and having to wear a swimming costume!

Do you remember the spiced chickpeas you blogged about a few days ago? We followed your instructions and made some last weekend. They were delicious! We're going to make them again. I meant to comment on your post about writing some time ago. How is your writing going? I'd love to hear more. xxx

Sarah said...

The Minecraft workshop looks great, Aaron would be thrilled to go to something like that!

Well done with the swimming. I also hate going underwater but make myself do it so that the children see it is nothing to be scared of. I eventually figured out that exhaling continuously through my mouth makes it much more bearable, although my husband laughs at me for swimming underwater with my mouth wide open!

Sandra Ann said...

I might have to give your under water techniques a try!

Sandra Ann said...

Glad to read that chick peas were a hit! The writing is on a go slow at the moment as I have felt that my ponderings are not a good fit for this part of cyber space. Praying about what to do and where to share x

dorinalouise said...

I think it's better to blow out through your nose . . ? But it does sound interesting to be exhaling through one's mouth. I've never tried that.

San, I'm so impressed with your initiative. It's not easy to do things one doesn't enjoy. I was discussing it with my friend Janet one day . . well, I was complaining about taking care of my parents' house and having to find renters. She goes through the same angst with renting some rooms in her house and with a building she owns on Third Avenue. She has also been going through a dreadful divorce; thus, she's been doing a lot that she doesn't like! So she said to me, "It's okay Dorina. It's good to be doing things we don't enjoy. It burns new brain cells. It's very healthy. Here's to lots of no fun activities!" Ah, well, so, I'm trying!

We haven't had many family summer activities together. We had a beach day on Thursday, together even with Greg. We usually have several each summer, but this was only our second I believe . . and the only one with Greg. So, it's nice you got out with Pip and Benedict. It looks like it was a lot of fun :)

Love to all of you!

Eva said...

I see. I am glad there was some heat involved with the swimming :). Yes, all of a sudden we are heading towards the dark seasons. Kind of sad.