"If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm. "

Today i planned to take Opeie to his pottery class as we haven't been for the last two weeks. Mrs M was at college so i wanted to get out and about. It was quite cold but the sun was desperately trying to warm everywhere up so i wanted to make the most of it before we got more rain or even snow like yesterday. Opeie had other ideas though and being the bookworm that he is he just wanted to lie on our bed under the duvet and be read to. So after reading The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes back, Green Eggs and ham, Dr Seuss ABC, scrambled egg supper, if I ran the zoo, crazy colours, nutty numbers, dizzy days and how The Grinch stole Christmas, (It's been the usual Seuss fuelled kind of day) I decided it was time to get outside for a bit (but not before Opeie washed his hands a few times, i think he has a little OCD on the way).

I hadn't let the rabbits out at this point so I wrapped Opeie up and we headed up the garden. Opeie hadn't been up to the rabbits for a while as it was really wet and muddy. Today's burst of sunlight had dried the ground out a little so I put Opeie's outdoor table in part of the rabbit run so we could sit and draw while watching the bunnies. Being the organised dad that I am I printed off lots of rabbit pictures for us to colour in and keep Opeie entertained which he loved. 

Opeie must have known it was muddy in the garden as he opted for his fancy pink Peppa pig wellies (this next pictures for you nanny Roo).

The temperature dropped after about 40 minutes so we headed inside for a spot of lunch and of course an extra helping of Dr Seuss before picking up Seth from school.

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

Weve been looking about to take Opeie to some sort of toddler group for quite some time. Ive taken him to ball pits etc but our problem is that we find many of these places quite dirty. plus although its nice for children to run about we really wanted to be taking him somewhere a bit more educational. Opeie hasn't had a lot of interaction with other children apart from Seth and we don't want the inevitable going to nursery to be a problem so it was time to get him mingling.

Today we took him to a pottery class in Ironbridge which was a lot of fun, i studied ceramics at uni for a while so i was also in my comfort zone. when we got there we met Sarah...

... a lovely bubbly woman who welcomed her new class mates with open arms. There was lots of activities to choose from, not all ceramic based so we started Opeie off with some paper plate painting

as with most activities when it comes to young children after making his mark on three plates he had lost interest and wanted to turn his hands to something else so we headed over to the clay table and Sarah got us a large chunk of clay to play with. There was a great selection of cutters and tools, perfect for beginners. Opeie was happy pushing his hand print into the clay and then destroying it. Mrs M cut out stars and Opeie added texture but then.... yes you guessed it, destroyed them.

Mrs M eventually made a miffy without it being destroyed and i cut out a heart shape for it to go on. We cut out a bear and Opeie made some eyes with mommy while i made an upside down Muno-esque finger bowl. Their all going to be fired so hopefully when we go again we can have some fun glazing them.

The conversation was great and everyone was so friendly which was great as it was the first time we had been and sometimes these things can be a little daunting. I would definitely recommend this group to anyone that wanted to take their children to something creative and we will definitely be going again. after an hour and a half Opeie started to look sleepy so we got our coats to head home, but the fun didn't end there. Before leaving we brought some ceramic flowers and a magnet for Seth to paint when he had finished school (we didn't want to leave him out of all of the fun). So as soon as he got in we got the paints out.