Today the children were up a little later and breakfast was a slightly quieter affair - I think they may be getting a little tired you know. The children had a hearty 2 course breakfast although many had seconds of the second course!!!

The children worked on their diaries straight afterwards and we then jumped on the coach to go to Morwhellam Quay where the children participated in 4 different workshops. First the children found out about Victorian clothing and they had the chance to dress up in a costume of their choice. Secondly, the children became workers and hammered rock to extract copper and fools gold - the children all proudly own their own piece now. After that we went to the Victorian school room and the children had some lessons, Victorian style. Callum received the cane and Elissa had her knuckles wrapped - pretend of course but the rest of the children found the whole affair so funny! Jed and a few others had to wear the dunce's hat.... it was actually very hard to balance it on your head!! The final activity was our children's favourite activity of the day.... we went down the copper mine on a mining train...a few of the children were a little anxious but actually thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was a very cold and grey day but the kids didn't moan once - I think it was because they were so busy to be honest. 

The children enjoyed tending to the animals back at the farm again this evening - more chicks have hatched and one of the rabbits had new babies too. Some children mucked out the pigs, herded the llamas and goat. A few played with Diesel as playing ball is his favourite past-time and a small group groomed the Shetland pony, whilst the others tended to the rabbits and guinea pigs.  We did have a few sad faces when it was time to come in for dinner - I think they would have stayed out until it got dark to be honest - they just absolutely love the freedom. 

You will be pleased to hear that tonight's dinner was a hit once again. A choice of pizza, spag bol or shepherd's pie was on the menu followed by chocolate fudge cake and ice-cream, choc ices, yoghurts and fruit. 

The children have had a great day and are a tad sad to be leaving the animals tomorrow. If the weather is good enough we will be going to Lydford - but if it does rain like cats and dogs then we may well decide to come straight home. Rest assured, we will contact the admin office to contact you, if we are going to be earlier. 

Please think of us tomorrow morning when we are trying to get the kids all packed up - you may well have a few stray socks or even gain a few pairs of pants!!! Some rooms have been far tidier than others let's say. One lad asked who was going to strip his bed - when I replied 'You!' he looked a little bit confused at first... I'm afraid there are no tidying or cleaning fairies who live at Stone Farm! I'll let you know how they get on. 

As I have had trouble downloading photos this week due to the wifi not being as efficient as school and home, I will upload a huge amount on Saturday. I'm sure the kids will want to share their experiences with you. 

I want to reiterate that the kids have had a great week and they have made our week enjoyable too. They have embraced all of the activities and challenges set. They have showed independence at getting themselves ready, succeeded at setting the table, were great meal servers, they were good at clearing away and could be trusted to carry out their activities and farm duties well.  They will be shattered when they get home to you so an early night will be needed I expect.

Finally a huge thank you to Miss Corcoran, Miss Crossley and Miss Lyddon who have worked their socks off this week. Up before 6am and being on duty until 11.00pm preparing for and looking after 27 very excitable children everyday with me (without a break) has been hard work so they are certainly ready for a relaxing weekend. Would they like to do it again next year???? Of course they do - we all love residentials because we are big kids ourselves!

See you tomorrow everyone. Text alerts and or emails will keep you updated on where we are.