Joshua gets Invested in to the Scouts







Joshua has been going to Scouts for several weeks now and finally last week he was invested in to 1st Wickford Pioneer Scout group. Unfortunately as his Scouts doesn't finish until 9.30pm it was too late on a school night to drag Holly out, so only Tina got to go along and see him invested. I'm pretty gutted really as I had been there for him when he was invested as a Beaver and a Cub. Anyway he seems to really enjoy Scouts which is a lot more grown up, even down to the green shirt they have to wear as opposed to the od red polo shirt.

 

 



Joshua making the Scout promise as he is invested.

Joshua with his new Scout leader, Colin (aka Skip).

Wales Weekend Part 3 - The Beach

We had the caravan in Wales booked for Friday right through to Sunday night, however the boys were supposed to be back at school on Monday. The weather was just soooo nice and we were having such a great time that we decided that they would both have a mystery illness and would be sick on Monday meaning that we had to stay Sunday night as well. Such is life.

 

On the Sunday through the daytime the kiddies were just happy staying on site. We played on the beaches, went to the indoor Splashworld pool, had a game of mini golf, played in the outdoor splash area and generally had a load of fun in the sun. Monday morning we had to be out of the caravan by 10am but stayed there until about 12:30 to explore some more beaches and to have one last go in the Splashworld pool (a great way to get the kids all cleaned up from the beach before the 5 hours journey home).

 

 

Venturing down to the beach at Trecco Bay.

The water was cold but that didn't stop the boys going in there.

Tina got Holly some bubbles to play with back at the caravan.

I'm forever blowing bubbles.

Tina and Holly chilling in the caravan.

Brandon enjoying some time at the beach.

Joshua at the beach. It didn't take him long before he was completely in the water.

Me and Brandon enjoying some fun playing Frisbee in the water (whilst getting sub burnt).

We made a game where I threw the Frisbee out to see and the boys raced out to see who could get it first.

Joshua just loves it at the beach and would happily spend all day playing in the sea.

I told you so.....

Holly not quite as brave as her brother and would only get her feet wet.

They all wanted a souvenir lanyard with a dummy rock attached.

Joshua playing crazy golf with his dummy in his mouth.

Holly still not grasping the concept of how to hold a golf club.

Doesn't Brandon look cool with that dummy. To think his Lanyard says "Cool dude!".

Holly searching for her ball in the water.

I tried the easy option and chipped the ball over the water.

Brandon enjoying the heat and going shirtless.

More golf for Brandon.

Joshua in the outdoor splashpark.

The boys teaming up with the water guns to spray everyone else in the splash park.

Brandon in action at the splash park.

In the evening Holly enjoyed the children's entertainment show in the showdome.

Then we found and indoor play park where she could burn off more energy.

The 3 kiddies lining up for the zip wire.

Holly is now old enough to ride the zip wires on her own and understands she needs to hold on.

Brandon getting a push off from Josh.

Exploring more of the beaches around the bay.

You just wouldn't believe this was in South Wales. Stunning.

Joshua and Brandon enjoying some wave jumping.

"Holly!".

Wales 2018 - it has been good.

Me and Brandon off exploring some bays.

Where we found this odd looking building. A vertically challenged lighthouse.

Wales Weekend Part 2 - Principality Stadium Monster Jam

So after wanting to take the boys to see the Monster Jam show for probably a good 5 years, I had finally managed to get tickets. However it meant us travelling all the way to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to see them. Still it was worth every single penny as me and the boys had an amazing time.

 

Outside the stadium the place was a buzz with the sound of fog horns which were driving Brandon nuts. He wanted ear plugs more for the air horns than the sound of the trucks. Before going in the arena I bought both the boys a souvenir t-shirt. They were very expensive but this was a once in a lifetime experience so it had to be done.

 

We had quite high seats in the stadium but that actually made for a great view of the arena. The show comprised of 4 parts which all kicked off after a laser light and music intro. The first part was a straight two lap knockout race which was won by Dragon. My shark truck called Megladon came last. The second part of the show was a 2 wheel challenge where each truck had two attempts to pull off their best 2 wheel stunts, be it wheelies, end overs etc. This was won by maximum destruction who performed the most sensational controlled end over balance driving on the front wheels.

 

The third part was after the interval and involved the freestyle stunt motorcycles. These looked pretty good but the visibility at this stage was poor as they had let off too much smoke for the half time laser light show. This was the only negative about the whole show. The finale to the show was the 2 min freestyle round where each truck gets to perform their own tricks and stunts and in about half of the cases they completely trashed their trucks to the crowds entertainment.

 

The noise of the trucks was just incredible. In fact it was so loud that towards the end of the show Tina and Holly were over in the park and could hear the trucks from the stadium so loudly that Tina was able to text me to ask if that was the last truck to run. Overall we had a really great day and the boys are now dead keen to go back next year. For me this is one item off of the bucket list.

 

Me and the boys outside the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

Waiting for the show to start and wearing their souvenir t-shirts. Love Brandon's American hunting style design.

The Welsh flag was flying proudly at one end of the stadium.

Dragon was amazing all day and was so close to winning the head to head racing event.

Earth Shaker was one of the surprise packages for us and was thoroughly entertaining.

Zombie got one of the jumps wrong on the very first event.

A difficult landing flipped the truck.

Over and over.....

Ultimately finishing in a bit of a scrap heap pile. Amazingly they got the truck fixed up and back out for event 2!

Out comes the recovery tractor.

And within minutes Zombie is back on 4 wheels.

My favourite Monster Jam called Megladon (the shark) was so disappointing and came last overall. Gutted.

Maximum destruction was on another level and showed its experience right up there with the great Grave Digger.

This picture shows the shear size of the Monster Trucks when you see it in comparison to the everyday green car behind it.

Zombie had repaired itself and came out fighting to perform for the crowd again.

Maximum destruction showing unbelievable control driving on its front two wheels.

The fore breathing Dragon which was so entertaining in every event and could easily have been the winner if it wasn't for Max.D, Grave Digger and Earth Shaker.

Dragon getting some BIG air.

Scooby Doo was a fan favourite with the kids but didn't really do much spectacular stuff.

Apart from at the end of its freestyle routine where it ended up on its roof and on fire!

Grave Digger lived up to all expectations and despite not doing great in the head to head, he was just in a league of his own in the next 2 rounds and was the easy overall winner.

Grave digger giving the other trucks a master class in wheelies.

And to top it off Grave Digger was one of two trucks that successfully landed the back flip. 2 more tried and failed dismally..