Xmas Playtime @ Lake Meadows and Blow Pens

With such a mild winter and the nice sunshine we have had recently we took a drive over to Lake meadows earlier this week so that the kiddies could have a play in the park, have a kick around with a football and also have a cycle/scooter around the lake. It was just nice to get out with the little ones and burn off some of those Xmas calories. Although the boys have both been out running with me every other day since boxing day and doing between 1.2 and 1.4 miles. Joshua even cycle one of my run routes today and covered about 6 miles on his bike which is the longest he has ever cycled.

 

Whilst over Lake Meadows we found that they had added a few new wooden sculptures and also one of those park outdoor gyms.

 

Joshua, Brandon and Holly enjoying some time at Lake Meadows.



Happy little bunnies playing in the park.

Holly hanging on for dear life as her brothers spin her around.

All 3 kiddies on the giant rocking horse.

A new wooden sculpture of a dragon which has been added to Lake Meadows.

And Holly and Joshua with a wooden sculpture of the wizard.

Josh and B working those obliques on some outdoor gym equipment.

Brandon getting those hips going from side to side.

Joshua working hard on the X-trainer.

Joshua on a body weight rowing machine.

Brandon and Holly's little legs not quite big enough for the body weight leg press machine.

Brandon using a type of rowing machine.

 

As well as trying to get out and about over the Xmas break the kiddies are all having fun using their new Xmas presents. One of the big hitters for this year is the blow pens which Auntie Chris and Uncle Steve bought the boys. In particular Brandon who is getting very arty and creative and not only is he using the stencils, but he is adding his own ideas to his pictures, such as trees, sky, snails, grass etc.

 

Brandon's blow pen toucan bird that he painted tonight and added the tree, grass and snail. Love the idea that the blow pen box also acts as a holder for all the pens.

Brandon proudly shows his painting of a horse jumping a hurdle.

Nanny would have loved Brandon's owl picture that he did.

Little B using all his huff and puff to create his artwork.

Star Wars - The Force Awakens

The original Star Wars film was released back in 1977 which would have made me about 5 years old. Clearly I do not remember much about its launch and certainly don't recall going to the cinema to see the movie, but I do remember growing up in the Star Wars era with the two sequels and collecting all the Star Wars figures and spaceships etc. When the original Star Wars was released back in 1977 it took $775 million in the box office knocking Jaws from top spot. This record was not beaten until 1982 when E.T. was released. All great films in my opinion.

 

The prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005 and was therefore still before Joshua, Brandon and Holly were ever born. The prequels never really lived up to expectation of the original trilogy and as such we have never even bothered to sit down and watch these with the kiddies. However with the first film in the 3rd trilogy being released this month and having a 12A rating we decided that we really wanted to take the two boys to see the film.

 

The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles on December 14 and we managed to take the two boys on December 27th.  Critics compared it favourably to the original trilogy, praising its action sequences, characters, acting, special effects, musical score and emotional drama. Disney backed the film with an extensive marketing campaign and it has broken many box office records, including the highest-grossing worldwide opening of all time and the fastest film to reach $1 billion As of December 30, 2015^[update], it has generated a global box office gross of over $1.2 billion, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2015, the ninth highest of all time and the highest in the franchise without inflation adjustment. Episode VIII is scheduled for release on May 26, 2017, followed by the remaining film in the trilogy, Episode IX, in 2019.

 

The two boys really enjoyed the Star Wars experience and fingers crossed the next two instalments will be as good as "The Force Awakens" and we can share some more movie memories with the kids.

 

 

Joshua and Brandon wearing their new Star Wars t-shirts which Uncle Michael and Auntie Lea got them for Xmas and ready to watch it in 3D at Basildon Empire cinema.

Not really related to Star Wars in anyway. But a lovely picture of Holly that Tina took after trying to do her hair nicely one morning.

Wickmas 2015

This year we had another great Wickmas day on Boxing Day which was always such a special day for my Mum. It's so nice to still get her side of the family all together and to keep up with the Wickmas/KISMET Boxing Day tradition. I am sure she was looking down on us all with great pride. We had an absolutely fab day with loads of food, drink, presents, archery competition, DVD dog racing, pie face elf dress ups and so much more.

 

Holly riding her knew rocking horse which Auntie Nicky and Uncle Paul got her. She absolutely loves it and had ridden it every day whilst singing "see-saw" as she rocks backwards and forwards.

Some of the family in the living room enjoying with their present bag.

And more....(although Holly almost camouflages into Tina's dress).

And more family present time.

And the last one.

Auntie Nicky proudly shows her penguin travel bag ready for those business trips!

Some of the family chilling in the conservatory and enjoying some food and drink.

Joshua does enjoy a game of pie face (although I think it is because he likes eating the cream!).

Michael gets a pie face.

Great piccy of Nicky after a pie face with the cream stuck to her nose.

Auntie Lisa gets splattered with cream.

We struggled to get enough cream for David's nose (only a joke), but he still got pie faced.

Paul takes the eyes closed approach so that he doesn't see it coming.

 

Joshua laughing hysterically as his Dad gets pie faced.

 

Auntie Nicky brought over some funny face cards which make for some hilarious pictures.

Ever wondered what Brandon would look like with a moustache and beard???

Me with a rather wide baby mouth and a Christmas cracker hat.

Joshua with some very lush lips (ready to lick that pie face cream!).

The gathering ready to destroy the giant West Ham cracker to expose all the secret Santa presents.

Some say I was dressing up as an Elf, others say I was just showing you what Michael looks like when he tries to grow a ginger beard.

 

Elf alert!

 

David, Brandon, Nicky and Lisa prepare for a penguin race.

Holly is not amused and decided to pick up one of the boys Nerf crossbows and go around shooting everyone.

With Holly's hair getting longer you can just about make some little blond pigtails. How pretty does my little princess look? Love this photo.

Thanks to everyone for coming and thanks for all the lovely presents. Us 5 King's certainly had a great day and cannot wait until Wickmas 2016.

Christmas 2015

We have had a fantastic Christmas 2015 with just the five of us at home all day chilling out, opening presents, playing games and feasting like King's. On Christmas Eve night the kids all left out the magic key for Santa along with a bottle of beer and a mince pie for Santa and then a carrot and some milk for the reindeer's. As usual they were so excited to wake up in the morning to find only a few crumbs and the carrot top indicating that Santa had paid us a visit. As always we were nasty parents and made the kids get dressed, washed, teeth and have breakfast before they could open any presents. But once that was done the rest of the day has been a bit of a blur.

 

Holly was well into opening her own presents this year and has really enjoyed Christmas. She has even managed to join in with a few of the games which has been really nice. We had an unusually early Xmas dinner at around 2pm which threw the kids out a bit as they are so used to having lunch and then dinner later in the evening. The kids all got some great presents which have kept them entertained all day long and me very busy. If I have to assemble another toy I think I will go and hang myself!!!

 

Santa and Rudolph's snack all ready on Xmas Eve night.

The kids were obviously good and the tree was surrounded by stacks of presents.

Holly had a personalised Santa present sack.

As did Brandon......

And Joshua......although the sacks didn't really hold a fractions of their presents.

Brandon tucking in to his pile of presents.

Why on earth we bought the boys these most annoying duck noise blowers as stocking fillers is beyond me. When will they ever break. Even Holly is running around blowing it.

Brandon opens his main present which was a new half golf set.

Holly looking very excited as she gets loads of Minnie toys.

Joshua loved his soft play archery set.

Holly's main present was a little 7" tablet which mounts into an owl rucksack, the idea behind this was to stop her from keep going on the boys IPADS. 

Holly's present haul was very impressive.

Probably her favourite toy his her scoot along balance motorbike.



Joshua using one of his art drawing toys.

Brandon loved his new West Ham home football kit.

With his name and player number on the back.

Brandon with his football kit, duck bill and his new golf set and trolley.

Joshua is very good on his archery set already. Fortunately his set has an indoor target and can be used at home which was fortunate given how lousy the weather has been today.

Not bad, a nice 9 point shot.

Lovely to see all 3 kids playing 3D snakes and ladders at the kitchen table.

Love this picture, Holly's expression is magic.

Joshua likes his archery set, but the other main present we got him was a real winner. He has really taken to science at school and in particular electrical circuits. So we bought him a kids electronic set which can make some 200-300 different circuits by simply clipping the wiring pattern in place. Already today we have made a simply light circuit, a buzzer circuit, a dog bark sound, and rotating fan that blasts off, a door bell and an FM radio. He absolutely loves playing with this toy and making up new circuits.

 



Joshua with his science electrical set.



Our FM radio all wired up and pumping out some tunes.

Holly pulling her Christmas cracker with Tina.

All settling down at the table for an early festive dinner.

Holly and Brandon playing with her aqua doodle art mat.

 

Our family present this year was Pie Face and we had an absolute blast playing this with whipped cream once Holly was in bed. The game seems to be very popular this year and to be honest we really struggled to get hold of this as just about everywhere was out of stock. Some people on ebay are selling them for £50 to £100 as they are in such demand!!! Crazy!. Looking at facebook is appears just about everyone has Pie Face this year and is posting pictures of their family getting splatted with squirty cream.

 

Brandon has already had one face full of cream but still comes back for more.

Joshua take a pie face right on the nose.

Tina was a wimp and pulled back as the arm fired and got all the cream down her jumper and over the kitchen floor!

I took my turn like a man and got a mouthful of whipped cream much to the delight of the boys.

So Christmas 2015 is over and now we quickly move in to Boxing Day for Wickmas 2015 with the family tomorrow.