Hollys 1st School Run

I always remember as a kid being told that girls usually develop faster than boys and I am starting to believe this with Holly. She seems so much more independent and aware of things at 15 months old than I ever remember with the two boys. For example she knows exactly where her bedroom is at bedtime and will go there on her own if asked, she knows where she sits at dinner time and will get a bib out of her chair ready if she is hungry, she knows our swimming routine at the David Lloyd and exactly where the changing rooms, pool is etc, she has learnt not to touch certain things around the house and so on and so on. The list of things she has learnt and can do is growing by the day. In fact when it is time to go out somewhere you can pass her a pair of shoes and she even tries to put them on her feet ready!!!!

So with all that said it will come as no surprise that Holly walked the entire way from home to school for the first time today as part of the morning school run. She seems to be absolutely loving having more independence and using her butterfly back pack reins.

Joshua and Brandon walking to school with their little sister for the first time.

It must be the equivalent of her running one of my marathons.

Looks like she is powering away and dragging the boys to school.

MOTM Against Great Wakering

Recently at football training we have been really trying to drill into the boys about zones to play in and more importantly defending. When the team keep a defender goal side as last man back they play so much better and are almost unstoppable. We have struggled somewhat to find a player who is really capable of taking in the central defending role as all the kids want to do is score goals.

Joshua has all the potential to be a good centre back but in the past whenever I told him to go in defence, his chin would drop and he wouldn't play his best. However today was a turning point as he volunteered to take on the defence role and really did step up to the plate. He played the best game he has played in sometime and run his legs off making several vital tackles and clearances. As a reward for stepping up to the role and doing such a good job he was rewarded with the MOTM medal. Hopefully this will further reinforce his confidence and belief that the best place for him to play is in defence.

Big strong Joshua confidently taking control in defense.

Joshua in action taking a mighty kick.

Another action shot of Joshua. He seemed to get more ball time in this game than he has in a long while and even got an assist.

My boy proudly showing his MOTM medal.

Holly's 1st Trip to London - Sciene & Natural History Museum

This half term I have only managed to take one day off of work with the kids and therefore I was determined to make the most of it. After much deliberation we finally decided to take the kiddies out for a day in London with the main aim of visiting the Science and Natural History Museum. So today was a lot of "firsts" for Holly, her 1st train ride, her 1st underground ride, her 1st time in London, 1st time using her reins and so on.

So armed with a packed lunch, comfortable walking shoes, bus/train tickets and 3 kiddies in hand, we headed off to the city.

Holly sitting like a big girl having her first train ride.

Brandon, Holly and Tina on the train.

Holly sitting with her big Bro for her first ride on the London underground.

Our first mistake of the day was going to the Science Museum before the History Museum. Whilst we had a great time in the Science Museum and spent around 3-4 hours there, when we left the queues for the History Museum were absolutely shocking. Nearly an hour wait if you wanted to go into the dinosaur display! I think we would have been much better off doing the Museums the opposite way around as the Science Museum had hardly any queues in the afternoon.

Brandon with the earth floating above his head.

The boys loved looking at the rockets in the space section and in particular the Apollo.

By boys with an Apollo space suit.

Holly with an old steam engine.

All 3 kiddies with an Stephensen's steam engine.

Joshua climbing on the back of an old steam engine.

The Model T Ford.

Brandon and Joshua at the bottom of the stack of cars.

Brandon found a nice little 3-wheeler car which he liked.

But then I think he preferred this red one.

Brandon driving a little half cut open Mini.

The boys learning about telephone exchanges.

Joshua and Brandon trying to figure out where to position towers to get mobile coverage.

Brandon learning about low energy solutions with a giant wheel game.

Little B found a plane which looks remarkably like Dusty with the pontoons.

As Holly had been sitting in the buggy for such a long time we decided to let her have a walk around the museum. To keep her close and safe we used her new butterfly back pack reins set for the first time.which we bought her for Xmas. She seemed to really love exploring the museum and did a hell of a lot of walking today. Joshua and Brandon were very keen to walk with her using the reins and kept referring to it as her dog lead!!!!

Holly walking around the Science museum with her back back reins on.

Lovely little butterfly back pack - or dog lead as the boys called it!!!!

Probably one of the best parts of the science museum is the Launchpad area up on the 3rd floor. As it was the school holidays we had about a 15-20 min queue to get in there, but it was well worth it.

Brandon playing with light reflections and colours.

B winding up some hydrogen power to cause a rocket to blast off.

Using his muscles to build up some air pressure.

Using a hand pump to blow balls up a tube.

Brandon simulating how dizzy a figure skater can get. Luckily the area was well padded.

Joshua and Brandon learning about pendulums.

So after a morning in the Science Museum we then headed over the the Natural History Museum. The queue to get inside was absolutely massive but surprisingly went very quickly, maybe 20-25 mins. Once inside the queue to see the dino's was about an hour and the boys really weren't interested. They were happy just walking around the blue zone and all the other exhibits, plus there was a new section there to learn all about humans. 

My 3 babies with a Stegosaurus skeleton.

Entering up the escalator into the earth quake zone.

A big T-Rex skull.

Big Dippy in the main hall with the queue to see the dinosaur exhibit meandering around the outside of it!!

Joshua about to get his ear pierced.

One of Brandon's favourite animals, a giraffe.

Joshua has got a real fascination with sea life and was more interested in visiting the blue zone than the dinosaurs. He is always googling about sharks, whales, killer whales etc and was quote fascinated by the hall which contains the big blue whale. He even enjoyed listening to the sounds that whales and dolphins make and learning about lots of new animals such as Manatee and Duggongs.

The blue whale in the blue zone. 

Inside the blue zone.

Brandon looking happy but Joshua showing signs of being tired after a lot of walking around.

The Lion King.

This picture is really funny. Joshua still sucks his thumb an awful lot and the giant baby in the background is also sucking its thumb. But the funny bit is Brandon sitting behind Joshua taking the mickey by sucking his thumb.

Joshua playing hopscotch.

Brandon having a go at hopscotch.

Time to head off for some dinner and home. Joshua looks after his little sis with her reins.

Messing around on the train on the way home after a long but enjoyable day in the city.

We had a great day in London and the two boys seemed to learn a lot. It has been lovely to spend some quality time with the family as I have been so busy at work lately and also travelling quite a bit. Holly has been a little dream all day and has been getting loads of attention and adorning looks everywhere she has been today.