Hylands Park - Flint Cottage

With my Chelmsford marathon now only 3 weeks away we decided to scan out part of the course with a visit to Hylands Park which features heavily in the route. This was an opportunity for the boys to have a play in the park and to get some fresh air whilst we familiarised ourselves with the park itself and figured out where is best for Tina and the kiddies to position themselves to watch me on the day. It just so happened that on the day we visited the Park there was also a free dog show on and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the doggies going over the obstacle courses and parading around the arena.

 

For most of the day I was carrying Holly around in the baby harness and for the first time we noticed that she was returning waves at Joshua as he waved to her from the other side of the park. It was so adorable to watch.

 

Holly in the harness enjoying a giant swing with Daddy.

Joshua offers a helping hand with a push as Holly chuckles away in front of me.

Story time as me and Holly take to the "Once Upon A Time......" chair.

It was great to watch Joshua off enjoying himself cycling through the woods and around the park grounds.

Hylands Park seemed to have loads of ways to keep the kids entertained in addition to the fantastic castle playground area. This is good news for Tina as it means she should be able to keep them busy whilst I am running around Chelmsford for over 3 hours. Whilst we were there on Sunday we found the Flint Cottage, Hyland House, some beautiful gardens and an art trail.

Joshua and Brandon in front of the Flint Cottage.

All 3 kiddies enjoying Hylands Park. Next time we visit here it is safe to say I will be in pain with 26.2 miles of ground to cover!

Nice picture of Joshua exploring the gardens on his bike.

 

Brandon on the art trail and finds this metal dude chilling on a park bench.





Having been swimming earlier in the day and then spending all afternoon at Hylands Park the kids were all very tired and subsequently fell asleep really easy on Sunday evening. However we were woken throughout the night first by Holly and then by Joshua. Holly you kind of expect, but Joshua was a bit surprising as he woke up crying having had a bad dream. Tina went up to see him to find out what was wrong and he said that his bad dream was about Daddy dying instead of his Nanny. How upsetting.

Garden Fun with Holly

What a glorious weekend we had last week with near 23-24 degree temperatures which is amazing for late September. I used the opportunity to get the grass cut (possibly the last of this year) and then took Holly outside for a play in the garden. She had a go on her swing and the trampoline, then I thought I would try her on the little toddler seesaw for the first time. When it first rocked forward she had a look of panic on her face, but she soon realised she had to hold on to the handles.

 

Holly's first go on the toddle seesaw.

 

Getting brave as she lifts one hand off the handles.

After the seesaw the two boys wanted her to have a go in the Lightning McQueen car and the old Little Tykes Police car. She was absolutely loving sitting in Lightning McQueen and was turning the steering wheel and pressing the horn.

 

"Bib, bib, you are in my way dad".

"Anyone want to come for a cruise with the roof down?".

Oh uh, Brandon teaching Holly how to climb all over the garden toys. This is going to end in tears.

Not sure this is the correct way to drive a car Holly!

 On a slightly different subject it looks like Holly's 5th tooth is about to cut through.

Den Building Party

Yet another birthday party this weekend as Brandon was invited to Langdon Hills for a den building party in the woods. Another great idea and the weather was just perfect for all the boys. Can you spot Brandon in the den below?

That looks like a catalogue pose from Brandon. Shame the kid in the yellow top doesn't look as happy.

Now that's what I call a Superhero den.

Brandon hard at work collecting logs for the den.

All the superhero den builders lined up. Tina forgot Brandon's costume!!!

Disney Planes Pilot Jacket and Hat

Brandon has now been going to karate for 9 months or so and has got 2 red tags on his belt. Joshua has only been going about 6 weeks or so and to be honest I am surprised he has stuck with it. He seems to really enjoy it and is not in the slightest bit bothered that his younger brother is at a more advanced grade. Anyway as it looks like he is going to stick with it for a while we decided to take the plunge and buy his karate gi for him. I think it really suits him and it was great to see both the boys in a karate suit, just need to get Holly at it next.

 

My little karate kids.

If only the brotherly fighting was kept only to the karate club!

The karate suit really make Joshua look the part.

Earlier today we took a trip into Lakeside to start getting some birthday ideas off of Joshua as his birthday is now only 3 weeks away. Whilst we were there we went into the Disney shop and they had these absolutely fantastic Disney Planes Dusty pilot jackets and hats. The hats would make great winter hats and the jackets are just quality. I think these may feature on the boys Xmas lists!!!! Brandon is looking sad in the picture because he wanted to buy them today.

 

Biggles boys.

More School Bus

Joshua has been spending more time on the new school bus this week as his class have been making loom bracelets which they are going to send off to underpriviledged children in Africa.

 





Joshua's Year 2 class showing their loom bracelets to be sent to Africa.

Joshua has also done us proud this week as he was awarded "Star of the Day" on Tuesday for outstanding work in all of his classes.

Chucky

For the last few weeks Holly has learnt to make this really horrible scrunched up face where she breaths through her nose. Tina thinks it looks cute, but I think it looks really horrible. In fact every time she does it all I seem to be able to think of is the Chucky character from the horror movies. I know it is a horrible thing to say about my beautiful daughter, but take a look at the picture below and you can see what I mean.

 

Blue eyed Holly with her "Chucky" face on.

 

And then the real blue eyed Chucky!

Talking about Holly being a little monster - it was a good job I put the stairs gates up 2 weeks ago. Just look at the picture below and see where Tina found Holly a few mornings ago! 

Our little monster climbing the steps and then standing up on the stair gates!

 

 

Wick Park Kite Day

Yesterday afternoon we took a pleasant stroll over our local Wick Country Park for the annual kite flying event with a little classic car show thrown in for good measure. The two boys got to make and decorate their own kite and then take them outside to see if they would fly (and all free of charge!). In the end we gave up on the homemade kites and resorted back to the boys shop bought versions. This year there was some pretty amazing professional kites on display as you can see from the pictures.

 

Brandon posing with some of the classic old English cars on display.

Inside and the boys are shown how to make their own kite.

Brandon gets sticking his canes onto the back of his kite.

Joshua getting stuck in there (pardon the pun!).

Woops, not sure that helper is happy with her photo being taken.

And Brandon's kite is nearly complete and ready for decorating.

Check out this amazing looking sea horse kite. Brandon is standing underneath it to give you an idea of the size of it.

And the little igloo floor kite is pretty amazing too.

 

Probably the best kite of the day was this huge, 3D batman kite.

 

Batman flies over Brandon.

Joshua's 1st League Match

For over two years now I have been coaching and managing Joshua's football team and I would be a liar if I said it wasn't hard work. Just getting out of bed early on a wet and windy weekend to stand in a field coaching 25+ boys is a challenge in its own right. But today we reaped the rewards of all that hard work as our Under 7 Tigers had their very first league game in the South East Essex Mini Soccer League against Leighwood United Tigers at home. I think I was more nervous than the boys and barely slept a wink the night before through shear excitement of our first competitive game. It seems there is so much pressure on your shoulders as a coach to try and get the best out of the kids, adhere to FA guidelines and keep all the parents satisfied.

 

We arrived at Forest Glade early so that the parents could help get the pitch set-up whilst we warmed up the boys and did the meet and greet with the opposition. Coach Lee gave the boys a good luck charm as our Captain, Ryan, was handed a Captains arm band worn by John Terry when he captained England. The first half was very tense and very competitive. Despite our boys having multiple shots on goal, none of them hit the back of the net and then the one good chance Leighwood had, they finished it putting us 1-0 down. We knew Leighwood were a good team having previously been beaten by their Lions, but the Tigers were a different story and our boys stuck to the game plan and sure enough the goals started coming. At the end of a thrilling game we won 4-2 with goals from Alex, Ethan, Ryan and an own goal from Leighwood. Joshua played predominantly mid field and did well. He was making some good runs up front with Ethan playing the long ball forward towards him. The move didn't quite work out today but with a bit more practice I think these two could have a great link up on the field.

 

Ryan, Alfie and Joshua run back celebrating as Forest Glade get our first goal.

 

 

Ryan runs down the wing as Joshua makes a run into the box ready for the cross.

 

A bit of an unusual move where Josh lines up to tonk the ball but completely misses (I think his eyes were on relatives in the crowd and not the ball!).

Joshua takes on a defender to try and get a shot on goal.

 

Joshua about to launch a throw-in towards Ethan and Alex.

 

Our Tigers in their blue home kit: Alfie, Max, Ethan, Alex, Josh, Ryan and Lorne.

Today was such a positive start for the forthcoming season and the whole team did us really proud. I couldn't wait to get home a register our score onto the FA website. I know with the Under 7's the coaching should be all about child development and fun with no emphasis on the end result, but lets be honest, we all want to win and we play to win! SO tonight I can hopefully sleep easy and now look forward to seeing when, where and who our next fixture is against. Our journey has moved up into the next gear..........

 

Holly at Partyman World

Yesterday the boys had yet another party at Partyman World in Basildon. So we used this as an opportunity to take Holly along for her first soft play experience in the under 3 area. Whilst Tina overlooked the boys and sat down chatting with a load of the other Mum's, I managed to get about an hour of quality time with just me and Holly in the baby area. It was so nice as during the week, most evenings I might only get half an hour with her due to work, running the boys to clubs, doing homework etc. So to have an undisturbed hour with just me and my girl was such a pleasure. The soft play seemed to really exhaust her as she had a really good sleep that afternoon!

 

Holly's first visit to Partyman World.

"Who is that with the funny stretched head?".

My little girl wrestling with a crocodile.

Holly crawls into one of the bubble tunnels.

She is a but confused by the curved glass and banged her head a few times!

Eventually she braves it and tries to stand up.

She made it. Looks like she is in a little submarine.

Joshua with his little sister in the tunnel.

Joshua trying to teach Holly how to go down a slide.

Anyone seen where Joshua is?

Holly having fun in the ball pit.

Brother and sister. Brandon had disappeared off with his mates.

Honestly we do feed her, but she insisted on keep trying to eat the plastic balls.