Holly Cuts Her Second Toothie Peg

Holly has now cut her second tooth on the left bottom row at the front. All the classic signs were there this weekend with the snotty nose, not eating very well yet trying to gum everything she could get in her mouth. A little bit of Calpol and she was fine though and back to her usual self. Auntie Chris was the one who noticed the tooth as she came down for a visit this weekend. Whilst they were here I made the mistake of heading over the park for a knock about with a football with all the boys, when we came back home the girls had used some loom bands (I think) to tie Holly's hair up at the front like a little unicorn!!!! 

 

Holly with mucky chops and her hair tied up for the first time.

 

Photo bombed by Brandon again!

Also at the weekend we had our final football training session for the FG U6's. They will now have a well earnt 4 week summer break before coming back to training in Aug for pre-season as Under 7's! Everyone is really excited about the prospect of being able to play in the mini soccer league for the first time. Anyway as this was the last session of the 2013/14 season we had a bit of fun. The session started with an obstacle course which we timed all the kids on, then a team of parents and finally the biggest cheats of all (the coaches). The parents and coaches were all gassed after just one round but the kids were happy to keep going around!

 

For the end of the session I had purchased another giant inflatable football for the kids to play with and whether it was by luck or by pure miracle, it didn't get burst this time. Also one of our other coaches had managed to borrow a football radar system which you set-up behind a goal to measure how fast you can kick a ball. So we made a little competition with the kids and the parents. Joshua hit a 28mph and 23mph kick, Brandon was about 18mph. The best kid managed a very impressive 50+ mph and the best adult was over 70mph!



 

 

Joshua takes a good run up for a 23mph kick.

His second attempt and he gets a better strike of 28mph.

 

Brandon then comes charging in for a very impressive 18mph for his little legs.

Joshua and Ethan trying their best to burst the giant inflatable football.

Coach Jason gets the ball in the air for all the kids to chase down.

I think that is called a hand ball!!!

Beaver Canoeing Trip

Today both the Beavers had their Beaver canoeing trips which were held over the Barleylands lake. The weather forecast was pretty grim with predicted heavy rain, but fortunately the weather was pretty good. We had one small rain shower mid way through Brandon's session, but otherwise lovely and sunny. Both Joshua and Brandon thoroughly enjoyed the canoeing and were almost old Pro's compared to most of the other Beavers.

 

Brandon's Wickford Oak Beavers group went out first and they had about an hour on the water using large Canadian kayaks. During the hour they got to practice their oaring, but mostly to have fun and gain confidence on the water. Each lap of the lake that they completed they had to do another skill, such as waving to parents, standing up on the kayak, swapping seats, climbing into another canoe and best of all, standing up and singing "head, shoulders, knees and jump" and having to jump up high in the canoe as they shouted the word "jump". Very funny.

 

The terrible trio ready to hit the water, Brandon, Zac and Harry.

All the kids lined up for their safety briefing before getting given life jackets and then getting in the water.

This is the launch jetty at the lake where the kids can safely climb into the canoe's.



Brandon like an old Pro oaring away and swapping boats with ease.

As much as I love canoeing it was actually nice to stand on the banks and actually watch the boys for once.

Brandon with Calum who is one of his Beaver leaders.

The number of times I have been to Barleylands and never even realised there was a canoeing lake there!

A nice shot of Brandon over the top of some lake reeds.

All the canoe's rafted up and the kids standing up singing "head, shoulders, knees and jump!".

Brandon's session is over and its time to head back to the jetty for a picnic lunch.

After a spot of lunch Joshua's Wickford Lilliput group started to arrive for their turn on the lake. His group is starting to look a bit like our Tigers football team with 3 of the Tigers now part of his lodge. 



Is it 1st Wickford Lillyput or FG U6 Tigers, Joshua, Max and Ethan.

Joshua climbs into his canoe.

On Joshua's first run around he was stuck in the middle with no oar! But this didn't last long and gave him the opportunity to look at all the fish in the lake.

After a boat swap Joshua was soon at the stern and rowing very strongly with good technique.

I wish I could have done activities like this as a kid. These two boys are very lucky to have what they do?

Like Brandon's group they all rafted up for a verse of 3 of "head, shoulders, knees and jump".

Joshua was very confident at the stern and was jumping quite high in the canoe.

Once the kids all sat down the raft split and they all raced back to the jetty. Joshua came 3rd in a race that was far more interesting than the Oxford vs Cambridge affair!

The water looked lovely and clear and full of fish including some rather large koi.

Race on as they all charge back to the jetty.

So another Beaver event over and both boys have now earnt their canoeing badge - so some more sewing for Mummy! It was a really enjoyable day for everyone and even Holly enjoyed a little Daddy snuggle as we walked around the lake watching the boys and looking at all the fishies.

Class of 2014 School Pictures

Here are the two boys annual class photos from 2014. They are the same patchwork, elongated type of prints that the school used last year. I am still not sure I prefer these from the "old school" photos where they simply had the class sat nicely in about 3 or 4 rows on various heights of benches and chairs so that you could see everyone. Also not sure whether it is just me, but the cost of these pictures i getting ridiculous for what they are and having two kids in school makes this quite painful! Can't wait until Holly is at school and I have 3 lots to purchase, NOT!

Blue Class of 2014 - Brandon far right in the back row. In the middle is his main teacher Mrs Lee.

Orange Class of 2014 - Joshua back row, 2nd in from the right. In the middle is his main teacher Mrs Corbin.

Brothers and Sisters Rocker Chair

Almost 40 years ago my Mum and Dad took the picture below of me and all my brothers and sisters (Nicky, Lisa and Michael). I am pretty sure the picture is in my old Nan Pugh's back garden and features the infamous springy rocker chair which we used to try and "ping" baby Michael out of.

 

Nicky, Me, Lisa and Michal in his sprung loaded rocker chair.

 

So 40 years on and I decide to do my own version of this picture in our back garden. Obviously there are only 3 kids as opposed to 4 and the baby rocker chairs have improved substantially in design and safety. Holly's little chair has various height setting, clip on toys and a soothing vibration mode, but no chance of pinging her flying out of the chair as we used to with Min.

21st century re-creation of the rocker chair picture.

School Sports Day 2014

Today was the boys annual school sports day and for Little B it was his first ever sports day. Expectations were high for both boys as Joshua took home a gold and silver last year and Brandon's running has got really good this year and in training he has not been beaten at the sprint. Joshua was competing in the obstacle course and the long distance run (which e came 2nd in last year). Brandon was competing in the quoit and the sprint race. The weather was gorgous and the school has also arranged for the parents to have picnics with the kids after the event, so I decided to book the whole day off and make the most of it.

 

After the kids had all done their opening ceremony lap showing their respective class flags Joshua was up first in his obstacle race. In training he said he kept coming last as he couldn't get the jumping with the ball between his legs part. However on the day they changed this to simply kicking the ball and subsequently he stormed the race. The first leg they had to run with a bean bag on their head (which Joshua dropped), then they had to drop it in a loop and pass the loop over their body (Josh was very quick here and made up ground), then lastly they had to kick the ball and sprint to the finish line. Joshua's technique needed a bit to be desired, but he was ultra competitive and stormed home in first place for the gold medal. 

Joshua lines up ready for his obstacle course race.

Joshua makes up ground on the hoop having fallen a bit behind after dropping the bean bag.

Joshua on the podium with his gold medal, fellow FG Tiger Max came in 2nd and Sam was 3rd.

One happy boy with his first medal.

Next up was Brandon in the quoit event which is basically running with a hoop on your head. I could see this was going to go wrong from the start as he seemed to have the ring tilted right back on his head. As expected he dropped his quoit and then had too much ground to make up as he crossed the line second from last. Still I was proud of him and he thoroughly enjoyed his race even if he didn't get a medal. 

Brandon sets off in the quoit but has the ring too far back on his head.

He picks up speed at the end but cannot challenge the leaders.

Brandon posing with the eventual winners of the event (far right).

Next up was Brandon's sprint race. As I stood down field in anticipation of the start, I think I was probably more nervous about the race than he was. Brandon was a bit slow out of the blocks and little Jack to his left got off to a flyer. Brandon was very confident in his run and at about 3/4's of the way up the straight he was looking over his shoulders to make sure he was clear knowing that he was catching up with Jack. In the last meter or so he eased past Jack and crossed the finish line in 1st place. Unfortunately the teachers must have got mixed up or were not watching the end though as they gave him a solver medal. I double checked my camera and the video footage and he definately won the race. I decided not to say anything as it was all about fun and I didn't want to appear to be a disgruntled parent upsetting the apple cart. I knew Brandon had won and I would later show him the video just so that he knew he won the race as well.

Brandon a the start of his sprint race with Jack on his left.

Brandon gets off to a slow start and has ground to make up on Jack. But he is running comfortably with his arms down low.

With the finish line in sight Brandon starts to pull clear of Jack and takes the win.

Very proud that B got on the podium with one of his races, just a shame that he is not standing on the "1st" place box which he earnt with a hard fought race.

Joshua was in the final event of the day which was the long distance run, 1 complete lap around the track. Once again he had fellow FG Tiger Max in his group. This was the event he came 2nd in last year so the big question was could he go one better. He set off quick but lost ground to Jake who flew off like a rocket around the first corner. Joshua must have fallen about 5m back at the halfway stage and then slowly started to close the gap. Unfortunately there was not enough race left and he came home in 2nd pace in the end. Had this of been a two lap race he might have got a bit closer to the 1st place winner. Still very proud of his run and another consistant 2nd place.

 

 

Joshua lines up on the start line of the long distance race.

He runs well but leaves too much work to do at the end and cannot catch up with Jack. Great run for 2nd place though.

Joshua on the podium for the second time with his silver medal for the long distance race.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sports day and was so glad I took the day off work. Joshua repeated last years performance of a gold and silver and Brandon took a gold. So a good days work with 3 medals out of 4 races. I think its great that the school are giving gold, silver and bronze medals to teach the kids how to be winners and losers. I have never been a fan of the "everyone is a winner" approach and not awarding places. Everything in life is competitive and in my opinion it is important that kids learn this at a young age. How can our nation ever become the sporting powerhouse we once were when kids are not taught the value of winning and losing. Yes it has to be fun, but you should also reward the winners.

Priory Park Choir Concert

Another beautiful summer day means only one thing - over to Papermill Lock for some more canoeing and perfectly timed given that both the boys have a Beaver Scouts canoeing event over Barleylands next weekend. I don't think I have ever seen the water so stunning as it was today. It was crystal cleat, as flat as a mill pond and very refreshing on a scorching hot day. We had a lovely leisurely canoe from the usual bridge up to the lock and en route we stopped to look at loads of wild life and plants. At times it was just nice to stop rowing and listen to absolutely nothing other than the odd bird tweeting.

 

Joshua did some amazing rowing on his own today and is really starting to get some very good boat control. He was actually managing to dig an ore into the water to stop the canoe from spinning if it was going in the wrong direction. I think next time we go he needs a bit of practice rowing backwards / reversing and then he is almost there. For sure I think he will be ready for his single seater before he turns 8.

 

Joshua doing all the rowing as be and B sit as passengers.

Great control as he turns the boat around and steers into the slip.

Our leisurely cruise down the river Chelmer without a care in the world.

What a beautiful way to spend a Sunday morning.

The cafe at the Lock is quite a tourist attraction itself and when you see the range of cakes and scones that they offer you can understand why. They sell the most delicious chocolate cake and after all that exercise on the river, both boys were more than ready for a slice. Today they were extremely lucky as by the time we got to the front of the queue there was only two slices left!

 

Brandon tucking into his huge slice of chocolate cake.

Joshua ate his twice as quick and made four times as much mess. He is such a mucky pup!!!!

Both boys enjoying their canoeing interval snack.

After canoeing today we headed over to Priory Park in Southend to watch Uncle Michael performing in his choir on the Pavilion.  Holly was getting a lot of attention from all of Auntie Lea's friends and the boys were really enjoying the concert. They particularly liked Uncle Michael's wrap to "New York" which is a song they both love anyway. Brandon was using his knees as red and gold buttons like on Britain's Got Talent to rate the songs!

 

Little Holly with a beautiful smile as she has cuddles with Auntie Lea.