Isle of Sheppey and Gymnastics Party

Well today was the hottest day of the year so far and for once we had a almost free day with no kids clubs to attend. So we made a bit of a spontaneous trip down to Leysdown in the Isle Of Sheppey to see the boys Nan and Grandad at their Chalet and to have some beach time. It was a nice surprise for the boys to also find Mia there giving them someone else to play with at the beach.

 

 

Brandon and Mia digging for cockles, razor clams and crabs.

I took the 3 kids on what seemed like about a mile long walk across the beach to get to the sea (the tide was out!). So Tina sat on the beach with Dad and Diane and we all headed off to get wet and muddy.

Joshua and Mia stripped off to have a little splash in the rather warm sea.

Brandon joined in but didn't want to strip his clothes off.

Brandon about to try and soak Mia.

Brandon pointing out that the tide is coming in and it was time for our long walk back to shore.

A final picture of the three of them before heading back with our buckets full of cockles and crabs.

Joshua found a live crab which he insisted on bringing home in a bucket! So the crab (which to date he has not named) is now living in our old fish tank in the back garden. So before going to bed he gave his crab a little bit of ham for dinner.

Meet Joshua's new pet crab!

Mia, Joshua and Brandon outside their Nanny and Granddad's chalet.

All of us having a little family piccy outside the chalet.

After lunch Mia took the boys off for a little walk around the site and to the park. We then went over to the play area to fly Mia's kite. 

Joshua chasing the kite as Mia and Brandon change over holding the string.

Joshua ready for the next kite launch.

And it is up, up and away.

We was actually having a great time and a really nice relaxing day in the sun. The plan was to leave around 4pm, head back and stop off in the swimming pool at the David Lloyd before heading over to the Sporting Village for the boys to attend a gymnastics birthday party. That was until at 3.30pm Tina found out the party was at 4.30pm and not 6pm!!! Doh. So the journey home is a min. 1 hour and we finally set-off at 3:37!! Stig style driving at nearly 80mph all the way home and we make it to the Sporting Village only 5 mins late. Phew.

 

The party was amazing. This was the first gymnastics party I have been too and the facility is absolutely stunning and what a great idea for a kids party. I am not sure who was having as much fun, me or the boys! I wish they had gymnastics party's like this when I was a kid. Roll on next Saturday when I get to take the boys back here for another party! Even better, Joshua has decided he wants his birthday party there this year.

Brandon climbing out of one of the safety landing pits.

Little B was running up and down the whole session, charging up the runways and leaping into the pits.

Joshua in a landing pit.

Brandon about to launch himself off a springboard.

Brandon on a balance beam, he even did the high beam in the background.

This picture is a bit dark, put check out Joshua hanging around on the high rings.

Then plummeting to earth landing on a crash mat.

You have got to love this picture of Joshua in a landing pit. This sponge filled pits are amazingly comfortable to just lay in.

Joshua demonstrating good balance.

How cool is this, a long trampoline type runway to practise jumps, spins, bum bounces etc.

Brandon launched off of the spring board and Joshua waiting to leap off the high horse.

Joshua trying his hardest to pull himself up on the parallel bars.



I may be 41 but I can still show the kids a trick or two as I climb the rope.

Little B on the parallel bars.

It was the hottest day of the year and the gym was not exactly cool inside. With god knows how many kids charging around exercising it wasn't getting any cooler. But the boys were allowed to go topless to cool down and it didn't take Joshua and Brandon long to strip off. 

Joshua on the rings.

At the end of the party all the kids have some chill time and lay down to take some deep breaths. There is just one or two very red faces there!

All the children at the end of the party (most of blue class and a few more).

So the end to another really great weekend and tomorrow it is back to school and work. The boys were absolutely shattered after their long day, so to finish it was a quick dinner in McDonald's (they easily burned off the calories at gymnastics) and then home for a refreshing shower and a late bedtime of 8pm. I think we will have two very tired boys at school tomorrow!

Little Firemen

Despite feeling like death warmed up today I had promised the boys faithfully I would take them to the Chelmsford Fire Station Open Day. So after football club I drugged myself up and off we headed. As it turned out it was a great day out and I think the fresh air did me good.

 

 

My two little fireman on board one of the display engines.

As usual there were bouncy castles and hammer/bell competitions to get the kids shouting "I want...." and to relieve your wallet of some hard earnt cash. Both boys won a prize on the hammer / bell although surprisingly Brandon was the only one who made the bell ring.

Both boys burning off so steam on the bouncy castle.

At this years display they had a Stansted Airport Fire Engine on show and the driver was remotely operating the camera / hose to mingle amongst the crowds.

Joshua and B inside the Stansted Airport fire engine.

Also new for this year they had set up a wooden house with a real fireman's housing and were allowing all of the kids to see what it is like to be a real fireman.

Brandon went first and need to a little extra support with the weight and force of the hose.

Fireman B concentrating hard.

This was his view of the pretend fire in the wooden house.

Then it was Joshua's turn...

.....he needed no help holding the hose.

Although it looks like his aim was a little off.

This was the range that they had to aim the hose to hit the house.

Finally my little boys enjoying some more time in one of the fire engine cabs.

ABACUS School Sports Day 2013 - double medal winner

Before I get into the blog update on Joshua's first ever school sports day, a quick update on the Bubby (Bubby is the boys pet name for the new baby!). Anyway Tina had a midwife appointment today (smack bang in the middle of the sports day events) and I am pleased to confirm all is well with mother and baby. We now have the first sound recording of the little babies heart pumping away at around 150 bpm. Tina is now into her 17th week of pregnancy and it is estimated that the baby weighs around 140g and is now 11cm from crown to rump.

 

Other updates for this week are that Tina attended Brandon's open evening at Abacus school last night to meet and greet the teachers. She also had to fill in various forms regarding what he can and can't do, what he likes and dislikes, how he interacts with other children etc.etc. Brandon has also been given his first piece of Abacus homework despite not even officially starting until September.

 

So onto the school sports day. The sun shone and we had a wonderful morning over the school field watching the foundation and key stage 1 & 2 pupils participate in their annual sports day event. Afterwards the children were then allowed to have a picnic with their friends and family before heading back into school for the afternoon.

 

To start the proceedings each class had prepared a banner and then they all walked a lap of the track almost like an opening ceremony,

 

Joshua on his opening ceremony lap, just behind his pregnant teach, Miss Goldsmith.

So after a short wait Joshua is on the start line and raring to go on his first event - the egg and spoon race. Prior to today he gave us no clue what events he was in which meant that I didn't really have time to help him and do some extra training. We have a toy egg and spoon race set so we could have had some good fun training for this.

 

Joshua on the start line eyeing up his competition.

Clearly Joshua needed no additional coaching from me as he storms across the line in first place and didn't drop his egg once!

Receiving his medal at the finish line.

Joshua proudly takes centre spot on the podium with his gold medal.

It was very emotional watching Joshua on his first sports day and especially winning a race. Tina had a little weepy moment but put it down to hormones with being pregnant, yeh right! So with one medal in the bag, the question was could he do a Mo Farah and take the double. His next event was one of the last of the day and was the distance run.

 

So back in the start line as Joshua prepares for his long distance race.

And he is off, full sprint at the start taking the outside lane of the track.

Joshua took a wide line on the first bend and never really recovered to the fast little Jayden who led from start to finish. However in the closing 10m Jayden pulled up whilst Joshua had his eyes firmly fixed on the prize. I might be biased but in my opinion Jayden pulled up too early and the video shows that it was probably a draw for 1st place, maybe even Joshua touching the line first. However Joshua was awarded a very good 2nd place.

Jayden starts to pull up early as Joshua storms through the final 10m.

Joshua proudly displaying his second medal of the day with Mummy.

The three medal winners from the distance race and Joshua's second visit to the podium in as many races.

 

Overall I could not be more prouder of Joshua. Being a very competitive sports person myself, I am very keen for both the boys to do well in sport and he certainly exceeded expectations for his first ever sports day. I know that they all say it's the taking part the counts and having fun, but it is also important that kids learn to win and lose and learn how to be competitive. Roll on next year when we will have Joshua and Brandon racing on the sports day (and Bubby will be born and spectating!).