40 Acre Plantation Lake

Another bank holiday weekend and Joshua is off doing an over nighter fishing with his mates Jake and Tom. This time they have gone to the 40 Acre Platation Lake over in stock which is a really beautiful lake and supposed to be well stocked with carp and cat fish. Weather wise Joshua has picked a lovely evening for it, but with it being bank holiday it was very busy over there so it may be a case of just too many rods in the water to catch anything. Anyway I helped him to set-up his bivvy and have left him to it, fingers crossed he ctches a nice cat fish like last time he went to this lake.

Joshua in his bivvy getting his lines ready for a 24 hour overnight fish.

The 40 acre lake over in stock is really beautiful.

This was the cat fish that Joshua and Jake caught last time they fished at this lake!

League Champions 21/22

Today was the final league game of the 21/22 season and whilst the game didn't go our way with a 3-0 defeat, today was all about celebrating the teams success this season and on being crowned league champions. I have now been coaching since Brandon was Under 6 nd this is by far his and my biggest achievement and has been a long time coming.

I think the boys had pretty much switched off for todays game (hence the defeat) and were just thinking about getting their hands on the shield and medals. Brandon had a stinker of a game and gave away a penalty which gave them their second goal. So for a brief moment after the game there was a few sad faces as they really don't take losing very well, but then when the champagne was flowing and the medals were presented, it was all smiles.

Hashtag U13s with the League shield. No one really looking at the camera as they are about to get sprayed with champagne. 

Brandon receiving his league champions medal. Something to treasure. I am so please for him as he really found his passion for football again this season.

 

And this is what it was all for, the league shield.

Hashtag name forever engrained on the shield.

That's my boy. Proud Dad day.

He hasn't always liked having Dad as coach, but finally our hard work has paid off.

The team coaches, Paul, Nick and Me.

To celebrate one of the parents bought me this nice glass with the team picture and the wording "Hashtag U13's Champions" with a bottle of Corona. So thoughtful.

Shark Gym Easter Egg Hunt

A bit of a late Easter post. Anyway this year Holly helped me to make our traditional Easter Egg cheesecakes with mango and strawberry yoke. Then as Auntie Nicky was isolating due to COVID we decided to take one around for her. Ours was absolutely delicious as always and was devoured in 2 days flat.

For our Easter Egg hunt this year I decided on a change of venue as there really isn't that many good hiding places in our back garden. So to encourage the kids in to the gym I decided to hide the eggs in my Shark Gym for this year. So twenty mini eggs hidden around the gym and the 3 kids found them all in about 5 minutes (although they needed major help from Tina finding the last one which was hidden in my weight jacket).

Holly helping me make our traditional Easter Egg cheese cakes.

The finished cheesecake with some mango and strawberry yoke and a few Aero chocolate balls.

Absolutely delicious as always.

Hiding mini Easter Eggs in my Shark Gym.

Some good new hiding places like under my bench.

Inside some bumper plates, sneaky!

Wedged between some dumbells.

High up on the wall rack bracket.

Even hidden in a knot on the climbing rope.

Disguised on the top of a blue fat gripz.

And a very tricky one hidden in an Olympic bar collar.

The three kids hunting around my gym looking for mini eggs.

Joshua gives up as Brandon and Holly hunt for the last one.

Movie Cars & Deadpool @ Bas Vegas

Whilst me and the boys enjoyed Easter Sunday at the London Stadium watching West Ham Vs Burnley, Tina took Holly over to Bas Vegas for some Easter fun, some arcades and they had a display of famous movies cars and characters on show. Apparently Holly wasn't too keen on having pictures taken today (which is very unlike her), but here are a few that Tina managed to get.

Holly and KITT (I bet she never knows what or who KITT is in her lifetime).

Holly looking very glam on one of the modern era Bat Mobiles.

Dead jealous (no pun intended) as Holly gets to meet one of my favourites, Deadpool.

This looks prime for a caption competition, what ever where they talking about?

Tina with Chewy.

Holly with Lightning McQueen.

Southend Junior League U13 Champions - Hashtag Utd

Super proud of Brandon's U13 Hashtag United football team. They are a great bunch of lads who work hard and have improved massively throughout the season. Brandon has been an integral part of the team since settling in to right back position and forms the foundation back three (with Joshua and Haiden). Anyway today their hard work has been rewarded as they are the unconfirmed Division C champions as they cannot be caught in top spot and still have a game in hand. Let the celebrations begin - "Hashtag are massive everywhere they gooo.......".

Hashtag United U13 Junior League Champions 21/22

One game in hand and cannot be caught in top spot. Only 1 defeat in the league in the entire 21/22 season. Outstanding.

Half Term Karting - Shark Helmet

Again trying to keep the kids entertained in half term I had booked the boys in to Go Karting on Wednesday whilst Holly was at her Gymnastics holiday club. At the Team Sport Go Karting they have these funny helmet covers which I think are mainly used for birthdays and parties. I always ask the boys jokingly if they want one and of course they always decline. Until this week when Josh said "I'll do it!". He was going to have the Red Elmo cover but then chose the blue shark. I have to say it made it very easy to spot him on the track.

Brandon has become a cracking little driver and really works the racing lines now. He won both his races quite comfortably with Josh in 3rd place, over 2 seconds a lap (average) behind Brandon. I think Brandon said his fasted lap time of 41.13 seconds would have put him second on the cadet leaderboard!! I wish I could afford for him to go more often as this is something he could really excel at, it is just so bloody expensive.

Amazingly Joshua agreed to have a shark helmet cover on.

How dare he take my Shark, he should have been Elmo or something.

Brandon smashed both races with 1st place.

Adventure Island in Half Term - Holly's First Ride on Rage

Whilst Tina was getting some sleep I decided to take the 3 kiddies out to Adventure Island yesterday so she could have some peace and quiet. The weather was an absolute scorcher and I ended up getting a sun burnt neck standing around waiting for them all day. The kids were all getting very hot and didn't hesitate to jump on the water rides to cool off a bit.

Holly's highlight was that she was finally tall enough to ride on Rage. She went on it the first time with both the boys and didn't hold her head right resulting in it banging around a bit and not really enjoying the ride. Then we told her to hold her head forward and she enjoyed it much more the second time.

Overall the visit to Adventure Island was a real challenge. The mistake I made was going to Thorpe Park earlier in the week and then doing Adventure Island second. Due to the size and scale of the thrill rides at Thorpe Park, the boys had pretty much zero interest in Adventure Island once they had done Rage a few times. So I had Holly wanting to go on every single ride, Brandon wanting to go on the beach to cool off, and Josh just wanting to go home and prepare for his upcoming fishing trip.

We did manage to catch up with Amy, Zoe and Rory whilst we were down there, so that was nice.

Woohoo, Holly's first ever ride on Rage.

We forgot to tell her to hold her head forward on her first ride.

Glorious sunshine as Holly goes upside down.

Cooling off on the water slides.

Brandon went on the single first and Holly and Josh came down on the double.

Josh and Brandon on the double water slide.

Somehow Joshua managed to get much wetter than Brandon even though he was at the back.

After the water slides, Holly dried off on the big swing.

Whilst we stopped at a picnic table for some lunch, Holly went on Fireball which seemed to take forever.

We bumped in to this little chappy in Southend.

Holly enjoying as many rides as possible whilst the boys just sat around moaning at how hot it was and how bored they were (so grateful!).

Holly on the surfer ride.

Finally I managed to talk the boys in to going on some more rides - sorry Josh, time to get squashed!

Holly enjoying another ride on her own.

Then to finish off the day all three kids went on Rhumba Zumba (I think this was Holly's first time on this ride as well).