Bog Bear Blanket (BBB), Paramedic Brandon & Joshua's Cubs Fun Day



You may recall from an older blog that Auntie Nicky bought Holly a rather big bear at IKEA once. Holly keeps “Big bear” in her bed with her every night and earlier in the week I went in to check on her one morning and she was out of her quilt, lying face down and cuddling her big bear like a blanket. So adorable.

 

Holly keeping warm with her "Big bear" blanket.

Holly enjoying a children's coffee (hot chocolate) at a coffee shop with Mummy.

Another funny picture from this week was from Beavers where we had a paramedic come in and talk to all the kids about their job and some of the equipment that they use. Anyway the picture is of Brandon wearing the paramedics coat which could pretty much substitute as a tent for him. The kids all seemed to have fun, but the highlight of the session for them was blowing up the latex hand gloves and drawing a chicken face on them!!!

Paramedic Brandon.

Our May bank holiday weekend is going to be a bit disjointed as Joshua was at a Cubs fun day all day today and then me and Brandon are at the Beavers fun day all day Sunday. The rest of today I competed in the 2nd Annual Rayleigh Crossfit Games and then spent the afternoon knocking down the old shed ready to put up a new one. So not much family time. Joshua had a great time at the Cubs fun day and did abseiling, tightrope walking, mini bike riding, making rice balls, air rifle shooting, archery, obstacle courses and so much more. I hope Brandon's fun day is just as fun filled as it should be a great day for me and him.

Joshua walking the tightrope.

Marine Joshua tackling the obstacle course.

Minnie Boat & Rain Forest Homework

Everyone knows that Holly is fanatical about Minnie Mouse. It is her favourite cartoon on TV and she has numerous Minnie Mouse toys, books, play houses etc.etc. Well to add to her collection this weekend she got a new Minnie Mouse boat bath toy and she absolutely loved playing with it at bathtime tonight (mind you worryingly Joshua was also enjoying playing with the boat!!!).

 

What a lovely piccie of Holly with her new Minnie boat.

 

 

Today was the final day of the 2015/16 football league season for both Joshua and Brandon which meant the final chaotic Sunday for me with a 10am kickoff in Leigh for Brandon and then a 12 o'clock kickoff at Forest Glade for Joshua. Brandon's U7's team finished the season on a real high with their 3rd straight win and what made the victory even sweeter is that Brandon scored the winning goal! Joshua also played a great game today covering mostly defence and had a really tight game which ended in a 4-4 draw.

 

With the football done and dusted, most of Sunday was wiped out with only a little time to get the boys homework done before dinner, bath and bed. Joshua gets lots of creative homework from school at the moment and one of his projects for this term was to make a model of a rainforest. So this afternoon me and him set to work with some wood, play-doh, a glue gun, some old pens, some crete paper and some pipe cleaners. I have to say that I think we have done a pretty good job of our model rain forest.

 

Joshua with his creative homework - a 3D rainforest.



Complete with vines, roots, different tree types. Got to be an A+ piece of work.

Geocaching



On Tuesday at Beavers we took all the kids on a hike to participate in something called Geocaching. I have heard of this before but wasn’t quite sure what it was about and to be honest I have steered clear of it. However I have to say it is a genius idea to get kids outside, using their navigation skills and searching for little treasures.

 

 

Basically Geocaching is the world’s largest treasure hunt which you participate in via an App on a smart phone or tablet. All around the country there are thousands of treasures hidden away with the GPS details, along with hints etc stored in the Geocache app. The treasures are typically a small box which contains a list and a small object. The idea is that you use the App with its compass and map to navigate and find the treasure, then when you find it you remove the item, swap it for something else and add your name to the list to show that you found it. You can then update the App to show what item you removed and what you replaced it with and then track these items as they move around the country with other Geocachers.

 

 

During our Beavers Geocaching we managed to find 4 treasures out in the fields behind the Scout camp. One of them was a lunch box size container that had loads of little knick-knacks in it. We removed a whistle to move to another Geocache location and replaced it with a flower. The other three we found were just small containers with the paper list of names on it. Brandon took to the Geocaching like a fish to water and really enjoyed himself, so much so that once we got home and woofed down dinner, he dragged me out over the Wick Park where we went searching for another 3 or 4 Geocaches. We only managed to find one of them which was a box containing a Sagittarius keying. We removed this and replaced it with a little Lightning McQueen car. We still have another 4 or 5 to find over the Wick Park so I guess I will be being dragged out Geocaching more over the coming weeks. Brandon is also keen to set-up and hide some of our own Geocache treasures and upload them to the website (so watch this space for more updates).

 

 

This Geocaching will be a great activity for exploring woods and various places when we are out camping later in the year. Can’t wait.



Holly and Brandon on a Geocache treasure hunt over the Wick Park.

 

Using the phone to navigate closer and closer to the treasure.

 

Brandon showing us the compass on the Geocache App.

 

Finally after a bit of searching around we find the treasure box and swap our item over and add our name to the finders list.

Thumb Sucking Update

Joshua got owned by a 2 year old earlier this week when he was sitting in the car on the way to swimming and his little sister turned around and said "Josh thumb out!!!!". How funny, just goes to show how many times we have to nag him for her to pick up on it and learn.



A few weeks ago I booked the two boys in to another Crossfit class at Rayleigh Crossfit where I train. Joshua made the mistake of sucking his thumb a couple of times down there which was a big mistake. Thumb sucking in a gym with an ex-marine instructor was not a good idea. So the coach punished him with 5 burpees every time he sucked his thumb. What a genius idea! Why have I never thought of something like that? Needless to say we have carried this on to see if we can finally get him to stop, today he has ended up doing 25 burpees so far.

 

There is a bit more light at the end of the tunnel with the thumb sucking though. Historically I have been dead against the kids having chewing gum, but Joshua had some the other day and whilst he was chewing it I noticed that he didn't once suck his thumb. So for the short term we are allowing him to have chewing gum more regularly to see if this works as well. Maybe it is just one bad habit to another..........lets see what happens. So far the chewing gum seems to work although he likes playing with it, so instead of saying to him all the time "take your thumb out", we are now saying "put that chewing gum back in your mouth!".

 

You never know in a years time I will either have a world champion at burpees or son who can blow the most awesome bubbles with chewing gum. The shocking thing is that to try and incentivise him to stop, we have promised him his own single seater Challenger canoe and a pair of Heelys and yet he still won't stop!!!!!

 

Joshua is ready for a single seater canoe, but not ill he stops sucking that thumb.

Brandon has a pair of Heely's already, Josh wants a pair but he has got to stop the thumb sucking first.



Mountain Biking at Hadleigh Again

A mixed bag of football results this weekend as Joshua's U8's lost 5-1 to a team who I really thought we would beat and then by contrast Brandon's U7's team probably played their best ever game with a 4-0 win. After the football the boys were very keen to head over to Hadleigh Mountain Bike course again and had planned to meet up with one of their friends Zac. This time I also remembered to take my mountain bike as I was so envious of the boys last week,

 

We spent about 2 hours or so cycling around Hadleigh and had an absolute whale of a time. Brandon was growing more and more in confidence and actually ventured onto the hardest of the three stunt courses this week. Since we had been last week they have tarmacked over the track which ad made it really smooth and looks fantastic.

Joshua on the newly tarmacked stunt track.

Zac in hot pursuit of Brandon.

The stunning views looking out across some of the trails.

Joshua and Zac again chasing each other around the track.

Brandon, Zac and me all cycling down the bumpy track.

Brandon did absolutely amazing when you consider he wouldn't touch this course last week.

 

Absolutely fearless despite having a few falls.

 

Brandon going around one of the banked corners.

 

Brandon just kept going around, and around, and around....

 

Zac, Joshua, Brandon and Louie at the top of a hill, you can just about see the Hadleigh Castle ruins in the background.

 

Brandon out on the actual MTB course attacking the sharp descent through the water pipe.

 

Then Joshua's turn.

 

Out Brandon pops from the other side.

 

Then Joshua with Brandon poised at the top ready for another go.

Hadleigh Olympic Park Mountain Biking

To finish off a really good weekend we took the kids over to the Hadleigh Olympic Mountain Bike course. Incredibly this is the first time we have been to this amazing facility despite it being open for over 4 years. There are multiple small stunt loops for the kids to play on which all get progressively more challenging, plus there is the large Olympic mountain bike course which is packed with ascents, descents and various obstacles. Most of the main course is a little too challenging for the two boys, but boy did they love the stunt loops. There is also a small park area for Holly to play on and a cafe for the mums to sit and chat.

 

I was a little worried about Brandon as he lacks a little confidence on the bike and at the start he had a few falls which could have easily deterred him from continuing. But he soon learnt his capabilities and really enjoyed the courses and was actually getting very good by the end. This park is such a good way of getting the boys out for some fresh air, getting some exercise and learning really good bike skills. Joshua was pushing the limits a bit too far and had a couple of near misses plus a few falls. They both ended up with a few scrapes and scratches and Joshua was complaining about a sore wrist from one of his falls. But it was all good fun.

 

Now that we know where this facility is and how good it is, I am sure we will be spending more of our weekends over here. Only next time I will remember to take my bike as well as I was gutted to have left it at home and really wanted to have a go on some of the trails myself!!!! Next time.

 

Brandon going up and down some bumps on one of the children's stunt loops.

This is a nice small stunt loop with a few banked corners to help build up the kids confidence.

Brandon did amazingly well considering he isn't the most confident cyclist.

Little B riding around a banked corner.

Joshua managing the course no problem and wanting bigger challenges.

Nice picture of Joshua attacking the course at speed.

Action shot of Brandon.

Brandon out on one of the nice easy family trails that go around the outside of the park.

What goes up.............

.............must come down.

Joshua getting really confident and tackling some rock obstacles.

Even Brandon had a go, but he new his limits and kept to the smoother side.

Love this shot of Joshua on one of the larger stunt tracks.

Joshua coming down part of the Olympic course trail, locking the back wheel up and doing some good skids.

Again Joshua taking on one of the more challenging stunt tracks.

Park Run 19th April 2016 - new PB for Brandon

Joshua's U8's team were supposed to be playing against Ecko Whitecaps on Sunday morning, but for the second time they cancelled due to not having enough players. We are starting to think they are scared to play us as they are now also saying they are not available next weekend either!! Anyway with Sunday being the last day of the Easter Holiday, the sun shinning and no football on, we decided to make the most of the day with an early start for the park run.

 

Before the race started Joshua was called out to receive his award for his half marathon wrist band which is a fantastic achievement.

 

The conditions were really good today and both boys were running really, really good. As usual Joshua started off too quickly and left Brandon behind. But after one lap complete Brandon had caught up with Joshua and then the two of them worked together to pace and push each other along. This really worked out well for Brandon as he was pulled along to a new PB time of 9 min 47 secs, 14th in his age category out of a field of 104 runners. Joshua did equally as good placing a very impressive 12th in his age group and only 2 seconds ahead of Brandon, 7 seconds away from his own PB.



 

Joshua is called out the front to receive his half marathon wrist band.

Lovely to see the two boys running together and using each other to pace themselves along.

Brandon was pulled along by his big brother to achieve a new PB.

The sprint to the finish line and Joshua just beats Brandon by 2 seconds today.

Hi-Gear Oasis 8 Tent

Despite my company having a pretty good year last year, the annual incentive bonus was not that good and will certainly not pay for our usual all inclusive holiday abroad. So for 2016 we are planning UK based holidays and predominantly camping which I am really excited about. Tina has finally come around to the idea of camping and the boys absolutely love the camping that we have done recently at Beavers/Cubs.

 

However as much as I love my Mum's old tent and it is perfect for garden sleep-overs and for Beavers, it is not big enough for a family of 5 on holiday. Therefore to convince Tina that camping holidays were a good idea we needed a bigger tent. We looked around at some inflatable tents which looked awesome, but the extra £500 premium just couldn't be justified when the only benefit is saving yourself 30-45 minutes in pitch time. So after looking around many camping shops we all agreed that we liked the Hi-Gear Oasis 6 which is a 6 berth tent and looked more than big enough for our needs. However for only a little extra you could get the Oasis 8 (8 birth tent) and so with a bit of arm twisting I conceded and we went bigger!!

 

The foot print for the new tents is around 6.75m by 5.5m and therefore would not fit in our garden. So the only way of having a trial set-up was over the local park. For our first pitch I think between me, Josh, Brandon and Tina we did a pretty good job and the tent went up very easy. I would say it took us around 40 mins from start to finish which isn't bad when you consider we had Holly jumping all over it as we were trying to put it together. Anyway the tent is amazing and so spacious. Its an absolute monster and resembles a marquee more than a tent. The middle roof section is so high that I couldn't reach the top to clip in the middle 3 bedrooms clips!!!! So when we pitch for real I will need to make sure I have something to stand on to be able to clip these in place.

 

The kids loved getting involved with the tent and Holly was rolling around and generally acting like a lunatic inside the tent. I think we would have liked to have kept it up a little longer to try everything out and check everything was OK, but the Park Ranger came over a got a but funny saying they have had a lot of illegal campers in the park and was concerned that we were going to camp in the park. Not sure where he got that info from as we have lived on the Wick for 15 years and I have never seen a tent other than a fisherman's tent in the park. I told him we were just trying the tent out to make sure it was all OK before holiday and he asked me if I would start taking it down!!! I said no because we had got so far and I told him we needed to finish it to make sure everything was OK because if not we had to get back to the shop within 4 weeks otherwise the whole tent would need to be sent off to the manufacturer which would then put our May camping holiday at risk. Honestly some people are such a jobs worth. 

 

Our new Oasis 8 all ready for 2016 camping holidays.

There is a side door coming out of both sides.

I went for a nice solid steel pole tent, I know it is heavier but my experience with the carbon pole tents hasn't been great.

We have 3 bedroom's inside which sleeps 2-4-2. The boys want the two end rooms so I guess me, Tina and H will have the big middle room. Note the top bedroom clips not in place as I couldn't reach them!!!!

So much space inside and Holly absolutely loved running around like a lunatic.

  

First picture of me and the kiddies with our new super giant tent. The canopy area at the front is really nice to have. Amazingly they sell a canopy extension for this tent as well!!!! Not sure we will need that.

 

This picture gives you a good idea of the size of the tent.

Joshua and Brandon standing in the front door area whilst I am inside sorting out the bedrooms.