Summer Holiday Week 1 - Crafts and Fishing

So week 1 of the school summer holiday is over and not too much excitement to report. This week was kind of a write off as I started to have some pains and discomfort early in the week and ended up in hospital with an infected/inflamed epididymus! So I have ended up taken a few days off of work sick and am now on a course of antibiotics.

 

The kids have mostly pottered around at home however we have been trying to get them to do some reading and a craft activity every day. We have also been printing off some word searches and colouring pages to stop them spending all holiday on IPADS and PlayStation's! The first craft activity I set them early in the week was simply to make the best paper aeroplane they could. Then we tried making a volcano which was a bit of a flop. Then late in the week I got them to colour, cut-out and glue either a 3D car or a house.

 

The base for our volcano experiment which was to incorporate a sand mix, citric acid and some bicarbonate soda.

Brandon mixes the sand mix to make the actual volcano.

The boys get to work layering the sand mix to look like a volcano.

Not a bad effort. Now for some chemicals.

In goes the bicarbonate soda in to the crater.

With a squirt of citric acid it wasn't quite the volcanic explosion we was expecting,

The box certainly made the experiment look more elaborate than our effort!

In between the crafts we fitted in a spot of fishing and both boys pulled out quite a few roach. No carp today though.

I think Josh caught 5 and B got 3.

Brandon working on his 3D car project.

Whilst Holly colours her 3D house and Joshua glues his 3D Hummer.

For 3 years old, Holly's colouring is getting very good.

Joshua's completed Hummer. Looks good to me.

Holly gluing her house together.

The finished house which Holly was extremely proud of.

Last but not least Brandon finished his 3D racing car.

Damn Yankees American Car Show 2017



It has been a good few years since I have owned an American Car now and been to an American Car Show. So this weekend we was at a bit of a loss as to what to do on Sunday and decided to take a gamble with the weather and head to North Weald Airport for the 2017 Damn Yankees American Car Show. Despite our glorious summer to date the weather did let us down today. We managed to stay there for about 2.5 hours and got to see lots of cars plus the race car display. In between those we had a 15 min spell seeking shelter in the toilet blocks to stay dry from a thunderstorm.

 

Despite the changeable weather the was a really good array of cars on display and Joshua and Brandon were very interested in looking around, picking their best cars and deciding which ones I should sell the S-Max for and buy!!! Holly was not so keen and really just wanted to get a donut and then go home. I think Brandon and Joshua were linking a lot of the games to cars they have purchased or stolen in GTA5 and were also getting some good ideas for customising their cars more.

 

The race car display featured a road legal 740hp 1994 Mustang and then a full non-road legal drag car which was putting out circa 2000hp!!!!!!! Holly absolutely hated the race car display as she said the noise was too loud and it made her jump. Mean while me and Brandon were getting high on the sweet sound of the V8 and the smell of methanol fuel.

 

 

Plenty of custom American cars on display to give the buys inspiration for GTA5.

Check out how low to the ground this car runs!

Teaching Holly about the wonders of the Corvette.

Joshua with a very customised Mustang.

Surely this Mustang had air suspension or something. If not it will be trimming the grass as it leaves!

This truck was notable for us as it looks remarkably like the old truck out of the recent film "Monster Trucks".

A bit of education for the boys as I explain the Bullet Movie and if you look closer you will even see Steve McQueen in the car.

Some beautiful bikes and choppers on display as well.

More movie cars as Holly explores the A-Team van and Corvette.

My car of the show was this rather mean looking hot rod which was lower than Brandon.

Holly seemed to be attracted to any car that was bright yellow and really liked this one.

Plenty of Mopar muscle cars and this was one that the boys recognised from GTA5 and Gran Turismo.

There were hundreds of cars on show with something for everyone's taste.

This was the 2000hp dragster from the race car display. Just awesome noise out of a a V8. Holly was not impressed though.

Pizza Making & More Canoeing with the Norfolk Folks

The past weekend was a very busy one but a very fun one as well. On Saturday we had a lovely family BBQ at Auntie Nicky’s as Steve, Chris and Leyla were visiting in order to build some access ramps for entry to the house. This gave the kids (and me) and chance to test out Nicky’s new pizza oven and I have to say it is really good. Holly was first to use it and thoroughly enjoyed making her own pizza. Unfortunately once it was cooked she decided that she didn’t want to eat it so I had to eat it for her. Honestly the things you have to do as a father!!!! Joshua also made himself a pizza but he used a wrap type base rather than a full dough pizza base.

 

Later on Saturday, Leyla had a sleep over with the boys at our house and all I can say is we must have tired them all out as they were all sound asleep in about 10 minutes.  Layla and Josh were first up in the morning so after a quick breakfast and then a cycle around the shops, we decided to take Chris, Steve and Leyla over to the Chelmer for a spot of canoeing. It made me realise just how much the boys have progressed with their rowing when you get to see Leyla trying it for her first time!!! Needless to say it was a slow leisurely row from Boreham up to Papermill Lock.

 

The weather was great though and we had a really good canoe and then a nice picnic by the side of the river. Once we arrived at Papermill Lock we let Leyla experience the scrumptious chocolate cake that the tea rooms sell whilst Chris and Steve enjoyed their infamous strawberry cream scones. So all in all a very fun filled weekend, but also a very unhealthy one in terms of food consumption!

 

Master Chef class as me and Holly start making the first pizza for testing Nicky's new pizza oven.

 

 

Holly spreading the tomato base.

 

Concentrating hard as she strategically places her toppings on the pizza/

 

Looking tasty.

 

On goes the cheese and its ready for the over,

 

The finished product, yummy.

 

Unfortunately Holly didn't want to eat it though.

 

Joshua was next to get his wrap pizza made.

 

Not for vegetarians!

 

 

Leyla and Holly tried on their new dresses for Zoe's forthcoming wedding. Just beautiful.

Then Leyla decided to show Holly how to stick balls down her shirt so she had big boobies!!!!

Later on Sunday we enjoyed a picnic at Papermill Lock and did some canoeing.

Joshua with his choccie cake.

Tina and Holly chilling by the riverside.

A nice picture of Brandon, Leyla and Joshua taking by 3 seater out for a row. Good job my repair from last time seemed to hold out!!!

 

Joshua tried going out with Leyla and lost all patience with her rowing and eventually told her to stop and let him do it. Not very supportive or encouraging!!!

Brandon get Invested in to 1st Wickford Trojan Cubs

Brandon has been going to Cubs for maybe 6 or so weeks now and finally last week he was invested in to the 1st Wickford Trojan group to join his older brother. They had enjoyed an evening of water games and he looked a bit like a drowned rat standing there doing his salute and reciting the words from the leader. I really hope he sticks with the Cubs as both boys really enjoy it and get to do so much fun stuff that they wouldn't normally do. However he is getting at that age where dragging him out the door can sometimes be a challenge and he says wants to quit. Once he is there he always has a good time and never regrets going.

 

 

Brandon doing the Cubs salute as he gets invested in to 1st Wickford Trojan Cubs.

Getting his scarf and woggle fitted by the group leader.

A drowned rat Brandon with his Cubs certificate for being fully invested in to the group.

School Reports 2017



This week the two boys brought home their annual school reports and they have both done very well. Brandon is within age expectation for reading, writing, maths, science and computing. He needs to put in a bit more effort on his reading but has an excellent level of effort for his Maths. His NFER reading test has come out as “Achieving age-related expectations on test” and his maths is “Borderline: achieving age-related expectations/high achievement”.

 

It sounds like Brandon has really grown in confidence this year and is starting to come out of his shell. As a strength his report mentions that he is starting to feel comfortable performing in front of an audience and he is beginning to sing in tune and is working on controlling his voice (well he certainly doesn’t get that from me). Brandon also gets strong praise for his PE where he gives 100% and has had an excellent year representing the school in lots of different sports as well as making good personal progress. The report actually states “He has also been amazing at all sporting events” – now this he does take after me!


For 2017/18 Brandon will be staying in white class and his new teachers will be  Mrs Playle and Mrs Shaw.

 

 

Joshua’s report is equally as good and shows significant improvement in key areas which he has been asked to focus on this year. His reading, writing, maths, science and computing are all rated as “within age expectations” and he puts in a good level of effort in all subjects. For his NFER reading test it is rated as a 2 which is “Not achieving age-related expectations on test” – seems odd when earlier in the report it says he is within age expectation. His NFER maths test is rated as 3 which is “achieving age-related expectations on test”.

 

Again the report says that Joshua is beginning to sing in tune (I find this hard to believe if he is a son of mine). As with Brandon he also has a mention regarding the PE curriculum and how motivated and determined he is at sport (I can’t think where he gets the competitiveness from?). It is really nice to see that Joshua has stopped rushing his work and also there is a special comment about his massive achievement to stop sucking his thumb this year. His hand writing still needs neatening up but we know about this and do push him hard on this at home.

 

So overall I couldn’t be prouder of both the boys and overall I am pleased to say there were no surprises in either of their reports. Now the big decision is A) do I reward them for good reports and if so, B) what should I reward them with?


For 2017/18 Joshua will be changing to silver class and his new teacher will be  Mrs Becka. At first he didn't seem too pleased with this choice and a lot of his key friends are in another class. But he has had a few transition periods over the last week and

Brandon's report page 1

Brandon's report page 2

Brandon's report page 3

Brandon's report page 5

Joshua's report page 1

Joshua's report page 2

Joshua's report page 3