Got out the door by about 10:30am for HIP, which wasn’t bad. Still arrived later than we might have done, because H was so irredeemably aggravating that I kept having to pull the car to the side of the road to shout at him. Eventually something got through to his 3yo brain and he sat quietly…for a whole five minutes. Grah. There were the usual personality clashes at HIP, so it was a relief that Mr Bat was going to follow (in Dylan’s car) once he had done a solid hour’s work at home without kidstractions, and pick up H to bear him off to Kingston in search of shoes. H went off with Daddy at 12:15, and the rest of us lasted til 1pm, when the kid-pack could not be deterred from harassing the hen and chicks so we decided it was probably time to leave. It was very sad to say goodbye to Jo and Kai, since it’s their last week here. We did offer to have Kai down at the farm for a few hours if they need space for packing through, so we might see them again before they leave.

K brought the blocks out into the learning room after lunch and got involved in building cities with C and later H. Both K and H played Poisson Rouge. Then K went blackberry picking for at least an hour in the northern paddock with D, while H and I read books together, he futzed around on the computer, helped me with the laundry, and we started doing a stickerbook together. D and K came back and went out again with H and they were out for at least 45 minutes. Very peaceful! Later on, it got less so, so I retreated with my two to my room, and H and I finished the stickerbook while K did her Four Seasons puzzle again, and got nearly halfway through with just a few suggestions about how to sort the pieces to make it easier for her.