South Weald Moo Cow

Another "Daddy Day Care" day out today as I took the boys off to South Weald country park for a spot of bird watching, some football and a good old picnic.

Joshua got very brave with the ducks and was actually hand feeding a few of them.

This little bridge must have taken about 30 mins to cross after Brandon had seeked out about 100 stones to throw into the water!

When we did eventually cross the bridge we got down to some serious football practice. The little red dot in the distance is Joshua!

All that exercise is hard work - time for a rest.

OK rest over, back to the bridge to throw some more stones.

After prizing Brandon away from the bridge for a second time we got some throwing practice in with the Frisbee (instead of stones).

The bird house proved very popular especially when the boys spotted 4 baby ducks right underneath us.

Both boys with their cameras taking pictures of the birds and the lake.

This is the stunning view out on the lake.

After already seeing deer's, duck's, swan's and geese, we then came across the grazing cows.

Both boys were brave enough to enter the grazing paddock, however Brandon stayed in the trailer and was saying he was scared.

However Joshua had no fear and got up pretty close. I had one of those tricky moments when one cow jumped on the back of another and Joshua asked what they were doing - "rush along now boys!".

After all that activity it was time for our well deserved picnic (and yes that is a BA blanket being used as a picnic blanket).

Forget ET phone home. Joshua was calling just about everyone on his mobile banana!

Climbing the stairway to heaven on our hunt to find the church hidden in the woods.

Look at this funny looking tree. It has a Joshua growing in it.

Brandon proudly showing me a flower he picked for me, how sweet!

More exploration as we continue our search for the hidden church.

Its not behind this tree. But there is a little Brandon if you look closely enough.

THE END - we only found the outer wall of the church and heard the bells chime. So another visit will be in order soon so that we can continue where we left off from today.

Party Man Videos

Remember a year or so ago when I did a series of blog updates called "Daddy day care" where Tina was off doing some extra work and so I took some days vacation to look after the boys. Well once again it is "Daddy day care" time for all this week.

With a slight change in weather, yesterday we decided to stay indoors and head off to the old favourite Partyman World. Me and the boys were the first people in their and had the facility all to ourselves for about 30 mins. Brandon is really good now as he can pretty much navigate the entire play area on his own which means you no longer need to climb and carry him about.

But more shocking was Joshua. For the first time ever he managed to climb the giant volcano on his own (see video below). He was so proud of himself he was asking Brandon to put his arms around his neck so that he could carry him up to the top!!!!

Little Brandon is equally as daring and can now get to the top of the main climbing frame on his own and then descend the giant slide unassisted. As you can see the boys are wearing particularly slippery clothes today making the slide a bit fast.

Easter Monday

The boys nursery ran a little competition this year to make an Easter bonnet. Unfortunately the boys entrants were submitted a bit late - but that didn't stop us having fun making them anyway. Check these hats out, home made chicks, rabbits, flowers, stems, the lot............ and as if this wasn't enough we still managed to get some hard boiled eggs painted and decorated as well.

To complete the glorious Easter weekend we spent the bank holiday Monday down the beach. As always the boys have been nagging to go to the beach for weeks and weeks, so given the fine weather it was only fair to take them. 4 hours on the beach and both boys were completely knackered, so much so that Brandon slept from 7pm to 8.15am and required waking up even then!

The tide was out but the boys still had fun in the paddling pool.

You can't beat a good old sandy beach picnic. Fortunately as the sun was beating down so much the boys took shelter in their little beach canopy.

Much to our surprise whilst having lunch there was two horses gallop up and take a paddle in the water. The boys were both fascinated by this.

The Pox Sequal

As we anticipated Brandon did catch the chicken pox from Joshua. The spots started coming out last Wednesday just in time to put a damper on the start of the little guys Easter weekend. Poor little Brandon seemed to suffer much worse than his bigger brother and probably had 3 to 4 times as many spots. Part of me is glad that they now both have it out of the way, but the other half of me is crying out for a good nights sleep as the past 3-4 nights have been tough going. Chicken pox is a cruel virus for the little ones to catch and it is heart breaking at times knowing there is nothing you can do but give them a hug (or in Brandon's case - a tickle!).

Brandon had about two days stuck indoors where he just didn't want to go outside. Fortunately he is over the worst, back to sleeping, eating and playing outside with his brother. Check out this cute picture for brotherly team work. Whilst cleaning my bike they decided to borrow my pump to fix their quad bike, only Brandon was too short to work the pump so he stood on a stool whilst Joshua held the base for him.

Also with all this fine whether we have enjoyed several BBQ's already this year. In order to stop the boys wanting to play with my big gas BBQ they each now have their very own BBQ. So we have been enjoying the taste of plastic sausages, burgers and rolls all weekend.

The highlight of Joshua's weekend was to meet Thomas Tank Engine and The Fat Controller. We was really hoping Brandon would be able to come along too, but with his chicken pox in full swing it was unfair on him and the other children around. So it was just me and Joshua this time.