1st Picture in the Paper

Another 1st as Joshua gets his first picture in the local paper. All of the schools in the area get a class picture taken which gets put into the Echo. Joshua's teacher, Mrs Goldsmith is 3rd from the left in the back row of the picture. Joshua is the 4th pupil from the right in the back row. As he is one of the taller children he gets to stand at the back. Hopefully this is only one of many which I will get to collect over the years.

 

Joshua's first ever class photo and his first picture in the paper.

Spiderman



Both boys continue growing faster than my wallet can keep refreshing their wardrobes with new clothes. Today we had a little shop, predominantly for Joshua as his clothes are all starting to get a bit tight again and the cold winter looms, but Brandon still managed to pick up some new gear himself. Here are both boys posing in their new pj's.

 

Spiderman Brandon - notice how good his eye is looking now.

Joshua in his winter football champion pyjamas.

Joshua's 5th birthday is now under 3 weeks away. His party is all booked and today we started getting ideas from him by walking around a few toy shops. If anyone is thinking of buying him clothes for his birthday then make sure they are size 6-7 as most size 5-6 will not fit him as he is so tall for his age.

Bruiser

Following yesterdays surgery to remove his cyst, my poor little baby work up this morning with a very black, very swollen and very closed eye. What with his missing front tooth he looks like a right little bruiser - a cage fighter in the making!

 

Last night before going to bed I wanted to show Brandon his eye in the mirror so he could see what had been done. When I asked him he responded saying "I can't see my eye as it doesn't come out silly"!. Another funny comment he made was when I put him to bed. We finished his story and I said to him "right close your eyes and lets get some sleep". He responded with "I will close my eyes gently so I don't hurt my bad eye!". He is very proud of his black eye and was showing everyone at Joshua's school and his nursery this morning.

Brandon's Eye Operation

Today was the big day for Brandon's eye operation over at Nuffield Hospital. After nearly 3 years of waiting until the time was right he was finally ready to get the cyst removed from his eyebrow. Hopefully this will be the first and last time that either of our boys ever have to have a surgery. So it was an early start to get Brandon all checked in for 7am in the morning.

Brandon all checked into his private room with Winnie The Pooh theme.

The sister looking after Brandon was called Fiona and she did an absolutely excellent job or looking after the little man and trying to comfort him as much as she could. She even gave him this V.I.B teddy bear which he was allowed to bring home. 

Brandon with his V.I.B teddy which he named "Lady".

It was all fun and exciting at the start of the day as we played hide and seek in his room and then took turns hiding "Lady" and playing colder/hotter. 

Brandon hiding under the hospital bed.

Brandon's hospital gown was a little on the large side for him!

Then we had some chill time whilst he watched some children's programs and had his feet tickled.

The anaesthetist came around shortly followed by the doctor who put a little ink mark on the side of Brandon's head to indicate which eye the cyst was on.

Ink marking the eye, this will be most peoples last view of Brandon's cyst as he readies himself for surgery.

Brandon had to have "magic cream" on both his hands in order to numb the pain when the put the needle in his vein. He initially found the cream intriguing and was squelching it around underneath the clear plaster. But when it was time to take the plaster off he was not a happy bunny.

Magic cream and Brandon's hospital wrist band.

At this stage Brandon was still all smiles and having fun.

The early morning started to take its toll and he settled down to relax on his hospital bed for a while.

At about 9am it was time for the surgery and it all seemed to happen so quickly and must have been so daunting for little Brandon. He did not want to be wheeled in the bed down to the theatre and therefore I carried him down there whilst the bed was pushed in front of us. Once there I sat him on my lap whilst they anaesthetised him ready for the operation. At this point my emotions got the better of me and I turned into a blubbering wuss. Nothing can prepare you for how quickly they suddenly fall asleep and then suddenly its all a big rush to get him on the bed and get cracking. The nurse assured me he was in good hands but it was all still very emotional.

An hour later and I was called down to the recovery room as he was starting to come around. The first half an hour or so was awful as Brandon was clearly in pain and very confused. He was crying a lot, arching his back and no amount of comforting, soothing lullabies or tickles seemed to calm him down. Finally he was given some more pain relief and then soon enough he started to settle. Having not eaten or drank since about 7:15 the previous night he was pretty famished and agreed to have his lunch ordered at about 10:30. 

Finally Brandon settles after the surgery and I reward his Bravery with a giant size Monster Jam car.

Short term Brandon's eye looks very swollen and bruised but the doctor assured me all of the cyst was successfully removed.

Nuffield had a great menu for me and Brandon to pick our lunches from. I went for a nice healthy chicken salad option, but Brandon had fish fingers with chippes followed by vanilla ice cream. I was pretty amazed how well he ate and drank so soon after surgery and have you ever seen a kids dinner with 6 fish fingers!!!!

Brandon reaching for another chippie.

This is the only medicine Brandon needs.



This is his 1:24 Monster Mutt toy for being such a brave boy.

By about 12:15 Brandon was pretty much back to himself and nagging Fiona that he wanted to go home. So I quickly ate up my lunch and we were discharged. He still has a lot of the sticky pads stuck on his body as he really doesn't like them being pulled off. I managed to get one of them off and he wasn't going have any more of that pain. 

Back home and the swelling and bruising are really starting to show. The scar is in the eyebrow and has been glued together with a butterfly stitch over the top.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the other sticky pads off of his body.

First days at school

Joshua's first days at school are going very well and he is enjoying them immensely. When you consider that his nursery hours were not too dissimilar from his school hours, it is absolutely amazing just how shattered he is when he gets in from school. Arguably what he does throughout the day is similar with the pre-school nursery class to his foundation school class, but something is seriously tiring him out. He comes home of an evening and can barely get through dinner time and is ready for bed. Then it is a case of about 2 pages of a story and its lights out, he is out for the count. I can only assume it is the higher levels of concentration and discipline which is contributing to how tired he is getting. That and maybe the running around during dinner/break times.

Joshua's blue classes first day at school.

First P.E. session playing in the hall with the big parachute.

Brandon seems to have settled into nursery  now and is adapting to the 5 days a week instead of 2 and not having his older brother around. I think it is doing him the world of good not having Joshua around as it is forcing him to finally have some independence and get some friends of his own. Previously I think he hung around his elder brother too much and all of his friends seemed to be the same as Joshua's. Last night we were talking about who they were going to invite to their birthday party's and for the first time Brandon was mentioning his friends names rather than Joshua's

Kite Flying

One thing about having children is that it appears that there is never a single spare moment for the rest of your life. Each and every weekend is spent chauffeuring around clubs, or swimming, over the park, playing, painting, drawing etc.etc. This weekend has yet again been no different. Saturday was full on with Forest Glade Football Club, then the Wickford Carnival, then Wickford Fire Station Open Day. Sunday wasn't any easier as it was Little Kickers Football Club, then swimming, then a bit of gardening before heading over to the Kite Festival over the Wick Park.

 

The Wickford Carnival was great and the boys thoroughly enjoyed the parade. After the parade we headed over to the Open Day at the Fire station where the boys got to wear some fire gear, play with some real hoses and climb over some fire engines.

 

How cool is this miniature fire engine as driven by Joshua and Brandon.

Joshua getting ready to man the hoses and Brandon checks the hand brake is on.

Joshua wearing a real fireman's hat.

The two boys checking out the back of a full size fire engine.

And then riding in the front but under strict instructions not to touch any buttons.

How cool is this, Brandon manning a proper fire hose from an engine.

Pretty heavy bits of kit and even Joshua needs two hands to lift the hose.

The boys quickly worked out the house was heavy and decided to work as a team.

 

Brandon has been a little sporting superstar this weekend. He joined in at Forest Glade Football yesterday and did extremely well against the much bigger boys, then he was outstanding at his own Little Kickers Club today and then to top it all off he did about an hours swimming today with no buoyancy aids at all. His confidence in the water is starting to equal Joshies. Joshua also did well today and is starting to get some good speed with front crawl as he is using his arms a lot more instead of just doing a doggie paddle.

 

Anyway this afternoon we went to the Kite Festival over the Wick Park and both boys were given a kite free of charge which we built up and flew. The kites were amazing and flew very well. Both Brandon and Joshua had no problems handling the kites and were keeping them up in the air so well that I could easily managed keeping an eye on both of them and not having to run around picking up kites and untangling strings.

Joshua and Brandon showing us their free kites. Brandon is tickling Joshua as he did not want to smile for the picture.

As Joshua wouldn't smile for the picture they decided to cover their faces with their kites.

 

After the kite flying we went to the park for a while and something dawned on me as I watched over the boys. That is - just how many fights they are going to get in too! Why? Because they know right and wrong very well and tell other children off if they are being naughty. Joshua was politely but sternly telling much older/bigger children over the park that certain things were naughty, or not to do that etc and I just thought to myself that if I wasn't there to look after him they would probably lump him one. I think I need to teach the boys some tact or to keep themselves to themselves otherwise I will have to face the consequences of the two of them getting into the odd scuffle or two.

New Forest Day 5 - Legoland

The final day of our New Forest camping and it was an early start for a wash and breakfast, then get our camp packed up as early as we can. The plan was to try and hit the road as quick as we could with the intention of making the most of our holiday and stopping off in Legoland on the way home. Breakfast took a little longer than expected as we had a few uninvited guests to attend too!

 

Breakfast with the donkeys.

Tina had to hide the cycle hats as the donkeys took a bit of a liking to them.

Once the donkeys were gone the tent came down. The boys were both quick to offer a helping hand.

Guide ropes off and Joshua and Brandon start to collapse the tent.

Going...............going..............

Gone.

The boys pull out what is left of the carbon poles.

 

How is this for team work.

After about an hour and a quarter on the motorway we arrived at Windsor which is home to Legoland. We waited in a queue and I almost died when I saw the entry prices - £45 for an adult. Some quick thinking was required here otherwise I would have landed and entry bill around £160 for the 4 of us. So first we blagged Brandon as an under 3 year old to get in free. Then the woman behind us in the queue had a spare 2 for 1 voucher. So we ended up getting in for just over £80 in the end. That's a bit better!

 



Lego land entrance.

There are some amazing Lego sculptures around the park. Like this giant robot dinosaur bursting out of a building.

First ride we went on was a sort of Lego flying car type thing. Slow, but it gave you a good view around the park.

Brandon rode with Mummy, so Joshua rode with me.

From the ride you can get a good view looking down on all the Lego towns etc.

Everyone knows Brandon likes giraffes, so you can imagine how pleased he was to find a giant Lego giraffe.

This is one of those amazing 3d floor painting which appear stretched over a large area unless you stand in a specific place.

This was a little Lego zoo which the kids could blast water jets at. Although Joshua had more fun trying to squirt other children in the park.

Brandon giving his Lego giraffe a drink with the water squirter.

Next ride was the Lego rescue helicopters. Brandon and Mummy in the yellow copter.

Me and Joshua in the blue copter.

This was a nice little Lego boat ride through loads of Lego made nursery rhyme scenes. Everything from little red riding hood to the 3 billy goat gruffs.

 

As we approached midday we arrived at the driving school and the boat school. To start with both boys went on the smaller driving school cars where the successfully passed their test and were each given a driving licence.

This was Joshua and Brandon's driving school class getting their debriefing.

And then they were off in their Lego cars. To our amazement Brandon went in a blue car and not yellow!

Whizzing around a corner.

These were a little slow for Joshua. So afterwards we blagged him as a 6 year old and got him onto the big boys driving school sponsored by Fiat.

The Lego train takes you around the park with stunning views over the boat school.

Probably the longest queue we had all day, but finally the boys got to obtain their second licence of the day for driving boats. Tina had to let another family go in front so that Brandon could have a yellow Lego boat!

What a cool Lego shark head!

Another really cool ride for the little ones is the Lego fire station ride. This is also great for a hot day as you get wet. Basically as a team you have to steer and power the fire engine to the flaming building, hen jump out and pump water into the burning building until the siren goes off. Then its back in the fire engine and race back to the start line. I have to say its bloody hard work getting speed up by pumping the handles to get these things moving. 

Me and Joshua rode fire engine number 1.

These are the handles you have to pump to get the fire engine moving.

Joshua did the steering whilst I did the pumping.

Brandon rode with Tina in fire engine number 2.

Joshua firing his water into the flaming building whilst I pump the water, team work Sam!

Then it was the race back and as you can see we easily beat the number 2 engine with Tina and Brandon on board.

We then went up, up and away on some Lego hot air balloons.

To go higher and higher you have to pull down on the rope.

New for 2012 is an amazing underwater submarine ride which is sponsored by sea life. You board a large Lego submarine and then ride through an amazing fish tank full of real sharks, rays, eels, nemo fish etc.etc. As a bit of humour they even have the odd Lego fish down in the tank. Unfortunately no pictures as flash photography is not allowed in the submarines in case it scares all the fishes.

Joshua, King of the Seas.

The Lego submarine.

 

Whoever said there wasn't much to do at legoland clearly doesn't know what they are talking about. It was now nearly 3 o'clock and we were only around halfway around the park and only 2 hours before they were due to close. It was time to start speeding up and prioritising the rides/attractions we really wanted to see as clearly we were not going to cover the whole park in one day. We had no buggy due to it being squished under all the camping gear. So I opted to piggy back Brandon in order to get around the park that bit quicker.

So next was a Lego dinosaur jeep ride.

Due to running out of time we were insisting on not having more than one go on each ride. That was until we arrived at our star attraction of the day - the Squid Surfer. This may not look very impressive but it is an amazing ride that goes pretty damn quick. You stand in this hover pod thing and surf around the water whilst random water jets blast up and give you a good soaking. The boys absolutely loved this and we ended up having several goes on this one.



Tina and Brandon on the squid surfer.

Getting faster.

Then a water jet blasts into the air giving everyone a good soaking. Perfect given that it was such a scorching hot day. Shame about my camera - doh!

Me and Joshua about to get the full force of this water jet.

Why did I let Joshua steer - I am now very wet indeed!

After the squid surfer we made our way back towards the entrance whilst hopping on as many rides as possible. As we were rushing to cram in as much as possible the camera's started to get forgotten at this point in order to save time. Why oh why did they have to close at 5! In our rush to the next ride we did catch an amazing pirate show in the lake which had jet skis, high jumps, explosions etc. 

Anyone remember the Star Wars film where chubaka carries C3PO all broken up in his backpack. Well he us me carrying Brandon posing next to a life size Lego chubaka - awesome.

How cool is this - a full size Lego F1 racing car. I guess I better start buying more sets of Lego.

Brandon the Lego racer.

The Joshua's turn.

Joshua asked for his picture to be taken with these Lego men outside the shop. He is holding his new Lego dumper truck he bought as a souvenir. Brandon bought a yellow sea plane. 

The end of a great day in Legoland and we just have time to sit down by a Lego dinosaur for an ice cream before the gates close.

Legoland was an absolutely perfect end to our holiday and a place where we will definitely go back next year. I may even consider a two day visit and stay in the Lego hotel in order to make sure we have more time in the park. The boys were shattered for the final journey home, but duracell Brandon stayed awake all the way back whilst Joshua caught 40 winks. Time was pushing on so there was one final treat as we stopped off in pizza hut for a cheating dinner.

 

The end of another camping holiday. No more vacation now until Lapland in December.