Ready Confetti for Senior School

I was clearing off our letter board last week and I stumbled across an envelope that Holly brought home on her last day of Junior School. The envelope was labelled "Do not open until the night before Seniors" and consequently we had completely forgotten about it. Anyway better late than never and we opened the letter to find a lovely poem and some ready confetti from her old head teach Mrs Blakeley.

Games Night with Holly

With the boys both being pretty grown up now, family games nights are kind of a thing of the past. Luckily I still have Holly who enjoys a good game or two of an evening. On Saturday when Tina was out working we dusted off the electronic Battleship's which she had never played before. Amazingly having not been touched in circa 8 years or so the batteries were still good. Anyway Holly really enjoyed Battleship's and we ended up playing two rounds. Unfortunately she lost both, but she did give me a good run for my money in the first game and took an early lead sinking 3 of my ships before I'd got off the mark!

After the Battleship's we then dusted off the classic Guess who where she completely thrashed me! 

Holly's first ever game of Battleship's and taking an early lead against me.

Then on to the classic Guess Who for the second game of our games evening.

Brandon's Provisional Driving Licence

So only a few months after getting Joshua successfully through his driving test and we are about to start the process all over again. Brandon now has his provisional driving licence and is keen to get his theory test booked as close as possible to his 17th birthday in January. He has already made a shortlist of what potential cars he wants for his first purchase which probably means me and Tina need to start looking now so that he has something to learn in (especially given that we sold the last Fiesta to Joshua as part of his forthcoming 18th birthday so that is no longer available to him)! His shortlist so far is a Ford Ka, Seat Ibizia, Alfa Mito or a Kia Rio (he absolutely doesn't want a Fiesta).

Brandon's provisional driving licence ahead of his 17th birthday. Looks like a criminal but at least he is smiling.

Holly's First Few Weeks at Secondary School

Really pleased to say that Holly has settled in to Beauchamp's Secondary School amazingly. At times she let's her anxiety get to her a little, but she has made new friends, she has no problems walking too and from school on her own, she has embraced the new uniform, she is being really disciplined with homework and making sure she gets at least one piece done each night and so on. So we really couldn't be more pleased with her progress so far. She also seems to be picking up at least one merit every single day which again is outstanding.

Last night was a good example where Tina went to work and I was downstairs sorting some bits and bobs out around the house and without any nagging Holly just quietly went up to her bedroom and cracked on with her art homework. I went upstairs half an hour later to check on her and run her bath and was amazed to see that she had cracked on and done the piece of art homework shown below completely off her own back. Oddly enough I remember doing exactly the same piece of homework 7 years ago with Joshua and having to painstakingly sit at the kitchen table with him going through it line by line.

Holly's first piece of art homework at secondary school.

Summer Holiday Theme Parks

A bit late for this blog post but once we got back from holiday Tina booked a trip to Chessington World of Adventures for her, Holly, Brandon and Maia. Joshua didn't want to go and I was back to work and thus as the numbers were reduced we bought the fast pass thingy again to make sure the kids could go on all the rides they wanted too (and multiple times). 

Brandon pretty much blitzed the theme parks during the summer holidays as he had this trip to Chessington, then he also went to Alton Towers and Thorpe Park with his Maia and her parents. So he kind of covered the bog three in a matter of 2 weeks!  Anyway I won't write much else about this trip or label all the pictures as I wasn't there due to work and can't really comment. Certainly looks like they all had a good day though and picked a great day weather wise.

6th Form Casual Wear

Finally managed to get a picture of Brandon all ready for a day at 6th form. Like I said earlier it is unusual seeing him head off to school not wearing school uniform. He has spent an absolute fortune on smart clothes to wear in 6th form the result of which means it takes him ages to get ready of a morning and will change clothes multiple times asking Tina to keep ironing bits for him!!!! Anyway touch wood so far the 6th form is going well and he is enjoying it. Next is to try and sneak a picture of Joshua heading off to college for his BTEC L2 Engineering.

Smart and smiling. Something must be going right this morning.

Holly's Day 1 at Beauchamps

And just like that the summer holidays are over and Holly has had her first day at Beauchamp's secondary school yesterday. She looked so grown up and very smart in her blazer and tie. Come to think of it, I think this is the first time she had ever worn a tie. Anyway she seems to have enjoyed her first day and settled in as good as you can hope. Tina walked her to and from school yesterday and then today she met up with a friend called Jessie to make their way to school and then walked herself home.

Brandon has also had his first day back as a 6th former - no pictures of him though. It does seem weird seeing him go to school in casual clothes instead of the school uniform. 

Joshua has his first day back at Chelmsford College tomorrow for his Level 2 BTEC in Engineering. After tomorrow we will have a better idea of his timetable for the next year, but now that he has the Fiesta to drive it shouldn't really impact us much.

First day at secondary school and it is all smiles.

How grown up and smart she looks in her new uniform.

Joshua's First Car

With Joshua starting college again this week we had to make a decision regarding whether he continues using the bus/train like last year, or whether to sort out a car given that he has now passed his driving test. It didn't make sense to put him on our insurance on the Fiesta as the premium was too high and it would have meant he doesn't accumulate any no claims discount.

So that left us with two options. Option 1 was to give him an advance to buy a car of his own and then him to pay us back when he gets his trust fund on his 18th birthday. Option 2 was similar only instead of buying another car we sell him the Fiesta (at a discounted parent rate) and put me and Tina on as named drivers so that on the off occasion when we need two cars - we can still drive the Fiesta.

I was completely sold on either option but I couldn't put by finger on why it didn't feel right. So after several discussions we decided on Option 2 and the Fiesta has now been transferred to Joshua's ownership and is thus his first official car. Oddly enough by adding me and Tina as named drivers on his policy seemed to reduce his premium. At least with option 2 we know he has a very good, very reliable, low mileage car that if he takes care of, should last him several years.

In the first few days having the car was very much a novelty and Joshua was off out driving here, there and everywhere. Meeting his mates, driving out to get breakfast etc.etc. It has been weird seeing him drive himself off to rugby training as for many, many years that has always been my job to run the kids to after school clubs. Anyway at least he has a car now and will be able to drive to Chelmsford college which also means I do not have to be late for work in order to drop him off at the station.

You would think he would look a bit happier as we have just sold him a very good car at almost half market price!

Very odd feeling seeing him drive himself off to rugby!

Brandon Smashes his GSCE's

An early start for Brandon today to anxiously headed into school for 9am to collect his GSCE results and see whether he had done enough to secure his 6th form placement for A-levels. He wanted to go on his own so me and Tina had to nervously wait at home until he messaged/called us with the news. 

Anyway there was really nothing to worry about as Brandon absolutely smashed his exams passing all 10x GCSE's/BTEC's with his lowest mark being a very respectable 5 and his highest a couple of D2's (Distinctions). He fully expected to fail French as he hated that subject and hardly revised at all for the exams, yet amazingly he got a 5 in his French. Likewise he really struggled with statistics as he was clashing a bit with his teacher thus not going to interventions and extra study periods, yet he got a 7 in this subject.

So overall he easily got the grades he needed for 6th form starting in September (which is lucky as we went out to buy him a load of new clothes for 6th form this Monday just gone!) and can move on to the next chapter in his education. For 6th form he has signed up to study Sociology, ICT and Economics. We motivated him with a financial incentive for his GSCE grades (like we did with Joshua) and thus I now need to pay up (ouch) - that is the downside of him doing so well. Hopefully tomorrow we will get out for a celebration lunch or dinner somewhere as we just didn't have time today.

Very proud of Brandon for passing ALL of his GSCE's and securing his place in 6th form.

Proudly wearing his class of 2025 fleece.

Search hard enough and you will find his name in the '25' somewhere.

The picture he sent us from school once he opened his results.

Great results passing all 10 with a lowest mark of a 5.

AQA results.

More from his results.

His navy and white hoodie that we ordered (Joshua's last year was black).

And of course the end of year book for 2020-2025 students.

This was Brandon's form, class 11TH. Brandon 3rd row down, 3rd from the left.

Something to go in his collectors box.

Cancun Mexico 2025 Day 12 - The Homecoming

Well all good things come to an end. Today was our last day (well half day) as we had about half a day to enjoy the last of the resort before getting the bus to Cancun airport around lunchtime for an afternoon flight. We had a minor issue with our plan seating where we were seated 2 and 2 around the mid of the plane and then the 5th person (me) was planned to sit right at the back in row 40 odd. Anyway luckily the TUI rep on site sorted this out for us and we all managed to get within a couple of rows on the flight back and thus within talking distance.

Obviously it was a night flight and we landed back in Gatwick around 7am the next day and then back home very jet lagged by around 11am. So a long days travelling. None of us really slept on the flight back so most of Wednesday was spent with everyone catching up on sleep and then  Thursday starting to get back in to a bit of a routine.

Anyway not much to report on the last day on resort. They weather actually came over a little cloudy and some heave rains for about an hour. That didn't stop me and Brandon from going in the pool and making the most of our last half a day. The others just sat in the lobby/bar area and had some food and drinks before departing. All holiday I had been meaning to try and get up early enough to try and catch some sunrise pictures through the hexagon sculpture on the beach. So today was the day as it was the last chance. A few clouds in the pics but I did manage to catch the sunrise. 

Up early doors to try and catch the sunrise.

A few clouds in the sky so not ideal.

The illuminated bridge to the beach looked spectacular.

And here I am at the hexagon sculpture watching the sunrise.

This is the shot I was after.

The clouds just about allowed me to see the sunrise.

Just beautiful.

Mesmerising.

More of the sunrise.

And more.

And one more for luck.

And that is goodbye to Cancun Mexico 2025. Thank you for another fab holiday with many fantastic memories made.

Holly waiting for our coach and wearing the new sombrero souvenir.

Nicely coloured like the Mexican flag.