7202/19722
There was a helicopter on my lighthouse island today. Some eccentric billionaire is going to beat me to this thing. Might have to do a crowdfunder. I reckon I could raise the funds if the punishment was that I had to spend a whole year on the island.
We had a very relaxed final full day of the holiday and just hung around in the house - the kids didn’t even change out of their pyjamas. We played board games, including Cluedo. A game like this wouldn’t usually hold the attention of Ernie and he had to play on a team with his mum due to his inability to read or reason, but he made up his own game and was in charge of the weapons and played the twin of the piece that his mum was moving around and it worked out OK. Later he even played by himself (reminding me of the many years I played board games - and snooker- against myself) enjoying making accusations against imaginary opponents.
We played a few last games of cricket, though Ernie again found it hard to be too engaged when he was a fielder. At one point he seemed surprised at a ball flying past him and we laughed for about five minutes about the idea of him not realising there was a game of cricket going on around him. He played along and kept on being surprised by the ball.
He has been quite good at chasing the ball and sometimes stopping it and his throwing has improved but he hasn’t really mastered the idea of catching yet. Yesterday I said I’d give him a million pounds if he caught one, but luckily he didn’t remember that as on one of my goes at bat, I knocked the ball towards him and he pulled off a fine catch. He was thrilled, not by the prize money that would allow him to buy three Scottish islands, but by the achievement. He probably won’t remember the first day he took a catch, but I will.
It feels like a long time since we’ve been at home, because it is. If I lived in that lighthouse I’d almost be home now.