Suns Out, Pea-Shooters Out

The clocks have changed, the days are getting longer, and last week we briefly saw a glimpse of the sun. With our summer holiday now locked in and booked Brandon is determined to get a base tan before we travel this year. So at the first sign of the big yellow disc in the sky, he had his little pea-shooters (can hardly call them guns) out in the back garden.

Sun's out, pea-shooters out.

Sod's law we had one good day of sun and now it is overcast again!

Lea's 40th Birthday

On Good Friday the family descended on Min and Lea's gaff in Suffolk to celebrate Lea turning 40 on the 8th April and also to celebrate Easter. It was really nice to catch up with everyone and enjoy the very nice Easter spread of food that they put on. We took a box of little mini Easter egg's which we used in their garden for a little Easter Egg hunt. We ended up doing it twice and weirdly ended up with more than 18 eggs which were originally in the box!

Me, Lisa, Nicky and Min.

Then another Bro/Sis picture with Brandon, Holly and Josh.

One of the seniors of the family (Auntie Nicky) being dwarfed by Josh and Brandon.

Always got their bloody phones in hand!

No college or Tesco's for Josh and thus we even managed to drag him out for the day.

Easter Cycling at Hadleigh

Easter weekend and we finally had some nice weather with blue skies and a bit of sunshine. Holly has been nagging for a few weeks now to go over to Hadleigh Olympic Mountain Bike Park so with the weather the way it was, Sunday was the perfect opportunity.

Holly had a good cycle around although she seems to have got much more cautious that I remember from previous visits! Me, Tina and Brandon enjoyed a nice walk in the fresh air and then stopped in the café for a coffee and some lunch. Meanwhile Joshua was at home enjoying a rare Sunday off of work (probably in bed).

Brandon braving some rockery to get a picture by the Olympic rings from 2012. Hard to imagine they cycled down this!

The good old over under tube is still going strong from the 2012 MB course.

There is something quite rewarding about riding this little bit of the track.

Holly enjoying some cycling at Hadleigh Olympic Park.

Holly's Year 7 Spring Report

And just like her older brother Holly seems to be excelling in her Year 7 Spring report as well. Despite her anxiety and dyslexia issues she has been rated 1's and 2's (with 1 being the highest you can get) across the board in ALL subjects including the ones she dislikes. How can you ask for more than that?

Brandon's Year 12 Spring Report

I think I have mentioned previously how pleased we have been with how well Brandon settled in to 6th form and seems to be really motivated (more so than in his year 11). Well his Spring report pretty much confirms this as he is on track for a B in his Sociology, C in Economics and a Distinction in his ICT. So the girlfriend and learning to drive doesn't seem to be a distraction and he is still achieving good grades which is great to see. If only he knew what he wanted to do after 6th form!!! 

Home Economics - Smoothie Project Winner

So Holly has now started home economics (or what ever they call it these days) at school and last week made a nice little pasta salad which she had for her dinner one evening. As a small breakout group they also had to design and come up with a brand and the marketing for their own healthy smoothie. To do this Holly's team surveyed other students to get an idea of flavours, colours, prices and then developed their smoothie which they then had to make in class. She brought it home and I have to say it was pretty damn good, a tad on the think side (more like a yoghurt) but very tasty and nutritious. Her group did so well on this project that she was awarded a certificate.

Holly with her certificate as the winning group for the smoothie project.

Beauchamps Year 7 School Swimming Gala

Really nice to see that even in senior school Holly is still representing the girls in the school swimming gala and recently competed in a district school gala in both individual and relay events. The individual wasn't great for her as she was put in a breast stroke race which isn't one of her strong ones. But then her school smashed the relay and ended up receiving a medal for their efforts. Well done H.

Holly with her swimming medal from the district gala representing the Beauchamps girls team.