Beauchamp's School Athletics Team

Really pleased to write that both Joshua and Brandon were successfully selected for the school athletics team again this year and recently went to their first meet over Chelmsford. Joshua was selected for the hammer throw which he really enjoys and the the relay race. Brandon was selected for the triple jump and the 300m run. He's a pretty decent runner but has really enjoyed learning triple jump this year and has been hop, skipping and jumping around 8.5m.

2022 Beauchamp's School Athletics Team. Josh in the middle of the back row, Brandon 4th from right on the middle row.

Holly's 1st Covid Jab + Silver Award @ Rainbows

It has been a long time coming, but finally the smallest and youngest member of our household has had her first Covid jab. Holly has a HUGE fear if needles and had to be super brave today, but the first one is done and she is now vaccinated. This will for sure be of benefit for our forthcoming trip to the US later this year where travel restrictions are still pretty tight with regards to being vaccinated.

Also Holly has been reeling in the awards from Rainbows over the last couple of weeks. Firstly she was awarded her Silver award and then this week she brought home her Feel Good Stage 2, Camp Stage 2 and Jobs badges. One of her best friends, Ava, who goes to Rainbows/Brownies with Holly quit last week, but that doesn't seem to have deterred Holly as she still really enjoys it.

Finally for today Holly is a happy girl as her beloved Big Bear teddy which Auntie Nicky bought her was starting to look a bit flat again. So a quick Amazon order for some teddy stuffing and Big Bear is looking as good as new.

Yeh, brave girl Holly is now vaccinated against Covid.

They gave her a sticker for being so brave.

New Brownies badges that Holly received this week.

And then a week earlier she was awarded her Silver award.

Big bear looking as good as new with some added stuffing.

Nuclear Rush 2022

After 2 years of delays due to Covid me and the boys finally got to complete the 7k Nuclear Rush race yesterday. This was the first time the boys had attempted the adult course (instead of the Rookie children's course) and as they were under 15 I had to run with them. I didn't really want to fork out the £72 for my entry especially as I still had some injuries from Crossfit, however I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

We were blessed with beautiful 20+ degree weather and despite the recent dry conditions, there was absolutely no shortage of mud as you can see from the pictures. Unfortunately there is not many pics of Joshua as he hung back with his mates Tom and Luca. Brandon wanted to go off at a faster pace and so I stayed with him to make sure he was ok. To be honest we both helped each other around the course and it was a bit f a team effort.

Some of the obstacles were really impressive and very challenging. I think Brandon managed all of them except the really tall climbing wall (which his legs weren't long enough for) and then the final wall ramp. I missed this one as well as I was very worried about my calf muscle which was feeling delicate even before the event and had definitely got agitated further during the day.

Anyway we had really good fun and go absolutely caked in mud - certainly a very well earnt medal for the collection.

First time for the boys on the adult Nuclear Rush course.

Glorious sunshine. Luckily we had a 10:20 start time so it wasn't super hot.

Me and the boys all clean and keen before the start.

This obstacle was pretty daunting as it was about 20ft up in the air.

Loads of water slides to clean off some of the mud.

Rare picture of Josh and Brandon as B wanted to go off quicker so we left Josh behind.

Brandon after coming out of the mud pit. I tried to clean my camera as much as possible before taking this piccy.

Lots of rope pulls throughout the course to pull yourself up ramps or out of swampy waters.

Some of the water was pretty deep, but nice and cool on such a hot day.

In the background is the big water slide which is so much fun.

Trying to get traction in the mud.

The zip wire may not look high, but it was fun. Josh slipped off and landed in the safety net and had to swim across the lake!

A 15ft jump in to a lake below.

Quick selfie whilst I wait for Brandon on an obstacle.

In the fun zone me and Brandon were throwing foam and buckets of water at each other.

Good balance by Brandon.

Luckily neither of us fell off this wall in to the green water below.

One of the many climbing obstacles. Brandon's arms were sore the day after.

Some challenging terrain to negotiate.

Commando crawling under a cargo net whilst being sprayed with cold water.

Despite the recent dry weather, there was no shortage of mud.

Brandon on one of the smaller climbing walls.

The mud starts to sap your strength after a while.

Looks so easy, but we were both all over the place on this one.

Without a rope you would have no chance of getting out of here.

Crawling through the water tunnels.

More slippery mud climbs.

Brandon did well as he isn't the strongest with his upper body.

Joshua on the sandbag carry.

Me and Brandon near the end and still smiling.

Love mud, we did it. Very well earnt medals.

About 20 mins later Joshua crosses the finish line.

Not sure Josh loves zip lining as he fell off in to the safety net!

1st SUP of 2022

I think this is the latest in the year that we have ever got out for our first paddle boarding session. Tina was working nights and was sleeping so on Sunday I took all 3 kids to the Chelmer and we had a lovely day out on the river. My new electric pump was a god send and made setting up 3 paddle boards a million times easier than the old foot pump. Initially I was left walking riverside as Holly wanted a paddle board of her own and Josh is so big he really needs my adult board now.

We started with the usual 0.25 mile paddle to the lock heading in the Chelmsford direction where we enjoyed a picnic and the kids all had some fun jumping in the river. Then we turned back and headed about another 0.8 miles towards Papermill Lock to get a cake and drink (so roughly 2 miles of paddle boarding). Holly did really well on her own but only managed about 0.5 mile and was then too tired to carry on. So she ended up sitting/laying on the adult board with Joshua and I ended up on the other kids board. The problem with the kids board is it is too small for me to stand up on and balance, so I ended up kneeling all the way there and back which gives you a mega quad pump.

So it looks like it is time to take the plunge and buy another adult size SUP.

Initially I ended up the river side and the 3 kids had the paddle boards.

Bad luck for Tina being asleep, she missed out on our strawberry cream scones.

Joshua trying to figure out how deep the water is in a lock!

Brandon in deep thought.

Lunatic Josh jumping off of one of the bridges going over the river.

Holly got too tired after a while and just chilled on the adult SUP with Josh.

So peaceful and tranquil.

After out cake we had a really relaxing paddle back to Boreham with a slight tail wind which was nice.

Joshua ended up stealing my adult board as he is too big for the kids ones now.

Brandon still just about fits the kids SUP, but he really needs an adult size one as well.

Holly started on her knees but very soon got up on her feet and did really well.

All 3 of them enjoying the sunshine out on the river.

Nice to see Joshua having confidence to stand up on the bigger board.

The boys kept a close eye on Holly for me as I wasn't in the water initially.

Overhead shot of Brandon and Holly.

Brandon getting ready to jump off of the lock.

And off he goes.

Splash.

Holly did really well standing up and managed around 0.25 miles.

She was getting frustrated at times and I just had to calm her down and tell her which side/direction to paddle and then she was fine.

Lets hope for a good summer and get more days out like this.