Firestation Open Day

Another family fun packed Saturday which has left is all feeling very tired. First it was off to Forest Glade Football Club for Joshua, then Chelmsford Fire Station for there annual open day, then off to Papermill Lock for a spot of kayaking and then finally home for a well earned BBQ! The local Audi dealer was supporting the open day at the firestation so Joshua got to have a sit in this beautful Audi R8.

Riding along in my automobile.

Once in the firestation they had an open fire engine for the children to climb in and sit on for photo's etc. The boys started off exploring the back seats before heading to the drivers cab.

Joshua scanning all the equipment loaded in the fire engine.

Fireman Joshua t the rescue.

Would you feel safe if you called the fire brigade out and these two little Herbter Sherberts turned up?

Check out Brandon wearing a real firemans hat.

In addition to the real firemans hat, both boys were treated to a toy hat as modelled here by Joshua.

It was good to see all the emergency vehicles on display including the big cherry picker, fire engines, fire cars etc. I was surprised to see that they also had a few fire ribs on display as well. Having recently had experience of kayaing, Joshua felt quite at home on this and showed excellent technique with the oar. 

Row, row, row you boat............

This was the cherry picker fire engine which they dropped teddy bears on parachutes from.

No surprises that an event like this has kids bouncy castles on hand to deprive your pockets of yet more of your hard eant money. But its all for a good cause to support the fire service. We thought the boys would have been all bounced out having had 2.5 hours bouncing on 7 or 8 different castles at the Abacus School Summer Fete yesterday, but no.

The cherry picker going up to drop some more parachuting teddy bears.

Only a small area of the inside of the fire station was open to the public. But it was good to get in there and show the boys some of the older fire fighting equipment on display and to use the infamous firemans pole. 

Me showing the boys and old fire hose nozzle. Believe it or not this was so heavy that Brandon couldn't even lift this one. Let alone the pressure of blasting water out of it.

Joshua demonstrating how to squirt a smaller fire hose.

And then an even smaller one which is almost Brandon size.

Last but not least was the firemans poles. Brandon seemed to enjoy these the most and was full of questions about just how the fireman get up and down them. 

Joshua managing on his own.

Brandon needed a little support as he could not control his bodyweight coming down.

At the open day they also had a good fire demonstration showing a typical chip pan fire which I guess is most common for households. They showed the one thing not to do which is throw a glass of water onto burning oil - the net result was a blast of flames shooting about 15ft up into the air. I think the boys were a bit shocked and startled by the blast and heat you could feel from the flames. As the fireman did the demonstration it was really good to hear them reinforcing what the kids cartoon Firman Sam teaches them, and that is;

When there is a fire you:

GET OUT

STAY OUT

GET THE FIRE BRIGADE OUT

Jubilee Street

Remember a year ago when we got those stunning pictures of the boys from Joshua's pre-school taken by "Little Urchins" in Urchin Street. Well a year later and the same company were back to bring us Jubilee Street. How can you possible resist purchasing such beautiful pictures? 

Next year Brandon will be at Pre-school and Joshua will be at Primary School. So it will be Brandon's turn to have his solo photo taken by the Urchins. So we have had Urchin Street and Jubilee Street, any guesses for the 2013 Street?

Blog Volume 3 in Hard Back

Volume 3 of my blog is complete and what a stunning addition to the collection it is. Some 386 pages with over 1,500 colour pictures. I sat and had a quick flick through with the two boys and they thoroughly enjoyed looking back on all the old pictures of themselves. I am so pleased I have kept the blog running as it will be invaluable in years to come to sit down and show the boys how they grew up and what they got up to in their younger years. This volume will now get stashed away somewhere nice and safe with the other two all ready to embarrass the boys at a suitable time in years to come. Volume 4 should be ready to publish sometime around September this year depending on how many blog updates I make over the coming months.

On a differrent subject Joshua is now starting to really understand family relationships and who relates directly to who. Our family like most is not exactly simple in heirachy or a traditional tree format. However I thought I would have a few more years before Joshua figured out the Mum and Dad situation. Guess what, I was wrong? He is already asking why my Mum is married to the Grandad with one leg and why my Dad is married to Nanny with the doggies. You can see his little brain desperately trying to piece together the links. Further to this he is starting to ask lots of questions about when he came out of Mummy's belly as he understands babies are quite big in comparison to belly buttons, and he knows Mummy wasn't cut open.

An observation on little Brandon this week is just how quick the little nipper is. I took the boys over the park last night to have a knock around with a football and was most surprised to see Brandon's little legs getting him to the ball at almost the same time as Joshua. He was only then losing out as Joshua is so much bigger and would out muscle him by barging him off of the ball. But there is potential there for a fast runner in the making.

Pirates Of The Carribasildon

I am continually looking for new parks or places to take the boys of a weekend. This last weekend Tina had to go to the dentist and so to kill some time I took the boys to this rather cool Pirate Ship park tucked away in the middle of suburban Basildon. With the blue skies and the sand ground you could almost imagine you were on a pirate ship in the Caribbean. I know I have said it before, but I wish the parks were this cool when I was a young lad. 

Move over Jack Sparrow, there are some new pirates in town. 

We are sinking, man the lifeboats.

Brandon is still under 1m tall and couldn't quite see out of the port hole.

Future tough guy in the making here as Joshua tackles the rope climb all on his own.

The spinning cup - this was actually our life boat as the pirate ship was sinking.

Brandon climbing aboard the sinking ship.

Now that's what a call a slide. How cool.

And this has got to be one of the ultimate swings. I managed to get Joshua spinning pretty rapidly on this one.

The boys climbing into the gold mine. The bucket and chain hoist was their cement mixer.

Up comes the first bucket of cement.

Brandon took on the task of ensuring the cement flowed down the pipe.

The gold mine slide.

Joshua climbing the ships lookout tower. I think this is the highest he has ever climbed on his own. I was a bit nervous to say the least watching him come back down.

Tuna & Pasta Bake

Today we participated in our first open evening at Abacus Primary school ahead of Joshua starting there this September. It was a very interesting evening albeit a little rushed as everyone was keen to get back and watch the England football game. The thing that surprised me the most (in a good way) is the amount of parental involvement that schools expect these days. I have to say that I think I am looking forward to it as much as Joshua. We already have a few family bits of homework to firstly prepare a collage to go in his Leraning Journal and to also prepare some stuff ahead of the fortcoming home visit.

We also got to sample some of the school dinners this evening and I have to say they have improved massively since I was at school. What ever happened to spam fritters and pink custard. The menu today had some very nice meals including tuna/pasta bakes, lasagna's, chicken curry, healthy pizza etc.etc. Brandon was happy as he found a big pot of sausages and therefore just tucked into them. Joshua was a bit more adventurous and really enjoyed the tuna and pasta bake. So next week I am going to make one for dinner and see if we can get Brandon eating it as well.

Happy Dad's Day



On the Eve of my 5th Fathers day I thought I'd write a little bit about just what being a Dad means to me.

One thing I have learnt is that being a Father and being a Dad are very different things. Any man can Father a child, but not any man can become a Dad. Dad’s, like Mum’s, are not born. Men grow into Dad’s - and it is a very important stage in their development. There are no measurables for what quantifies being a good Dad and no way of accessing your development. I am sure every father tries his hardest to be the best Dad he can possibly be, but ultimately there is only one person who can judge how successful a father has been at becoming a Dad, and that is the child itself. Only time will tell whether the boys value and appreciate all my efforts – but one thing for sure is that it will not be through lack of trying if I fail as I devote myself 150% to Joshua and Brandon. One thing for sure is that I will never look back on these early years and think to myself, “I wish I had done this”, or “I wish I had not missed out on them growing up so quickly”, or “Why didn’t I spend more time with the boys?” etc.etc.

Prior to having children I think I was a lot more self centred and materialistic than I am now. Children change you in a funny way because suddenly there is someone far more important in your life than you, and someone that needs you a lot more than you need any material items. You no longer are the number one priority and all those material items are completely worthless in comparison to having a child in your life. Until you have a child you will never fully understand the instantaneous love you have for that child and that unequivocal feeling that there isn’t anything that you wouldn’t do for that child. Without a second thought I would jump in front of a moving bus to save Joshua or Brandon, I would leap into a burning house to rescue them, I would jump into any sea to save them from drowning – there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect them even if my own life was at risk.



For me tomorrow should be called "Dad's Day" and not "Father's Day" as I would like to think I am so much more than just a Father to Joshua and Brandon. As I final thought for the day I stumbled across this rather nice poem about what makes a Dad.

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it ... Dad

Happy Birthday Mum

Yesterday we all celebrated Tina's 39th birthday (although to wind Tina up I have been telling the boys that it is her 40th). When we woke up in the morning Joshua came running downstairs and asked where Mummy's balloons are? He seems to have become accustomed that you get birthday balloons like you get birthday cards. Anyway since we forgot to get a birthday balloon then we improved and used some felt tip pens on some left over red, write and blue jubilee balloons.

Joshua had the honour of carrying his Mummy's birthday cake (lit candles hidden behind the England flag).

For Tina's main birthday present we bought her an IPAD and the boys left a nice little surprise on there with a video message of them both singing happy birthday to Mummy. The IPAD will be a great learning tool to have around the house and I think the boys will get as much use out of it as Tina will. Its pretty incredible to see a 3 year old happily navigating his way around a hi-tech piece of kit such as an IPAD. When you think back to what toys I was playing with at the age of 3!!! I already feel like I am falling behind on technology and will soon be asking the boys how to do things. They pick up how to use these devices so quickly.

Who would have thought a 3 year old can navigate around a IPAD with very little help!

Brandon playing a Monster Truck game on the IPAD.

Joshua's turn............will Mummy ever get to use her present?

I never realised until I sat down with Joshua and Brandon to write Tina's birthday cards just how much Brandon has improved in his own writing abilities and pen control. We always seem to concentrate on Joshua's homework and writing as the tendency is still to think of Brandon as the baby, plus Joshua gets homework sent home from school. However I drew dots in Tina's card to spell the word "Mum" and "Brandon" and Brandon pretty much joined the dots almost perfectly and knew exactly what he was doing. So a note to self that I must start including Brandon in our homework session as well.