Caister Day 2

Well day 2 and guess who was last to rise and shine as usual - yes little Mr Lazy Bones himself.

Once everyone was up, fed, dressed and washed we headed down to the Caister-on-sea beach for a pleasant morning stroll. The beach is beautiful and even the offshore wind turbines seem to add to the scenic views rather than ruin them.

Here is Joshua posing on the beach.

And Brandon getting a helping hand from Mummy to cross the sands.

After the beach walk we went to the indoor pool for the first time. Both boys absolutely loved the water slides and despite being too short, Brandon managed to find his way past the life guards and onto the highest slide.

After the swim the boys got to burn off even more energy as we headed over to the indoor soft play area. I think I got just as much fun by building structures for the boys using the big colourful, soft blocks.

Joshua on one of his destructive rampages. Only this time the tower fell down on him.

This was one of my hair brain ideas to build a progressively higher set of steps which the boys could then use to leap off of and into the ball pit (Mummy was not impressed).

But before diving into the ball pit Joshua got some practice by jumping into these soft pillars.

The ball pit was pretty amazing as it was about 2-3ft deep and the size of a small swimming pool. Joshua was first to dive in. Ready, steady, go........

All smiles as he surfaces.

After watching his brother Brandon now knows exactly what to do and quickly follows suit.

Now tell me this is not a great picture of little cute Brandon.

Anyone seen two missing boys? Last seen playing in a ball pit in Caister.

Brandon needed help out of the ball pit as it was too deep for him to climb out on his own. But once out he simply jumped straight back in again. Check out the hang time here....

After all that morning activity it was back to the caravan for some lunch and a bit of chill time for the boys. Once their power nap was complete we headed out on a 4 seater pedal car.

Surprisingly Brandon really didn't enjoy this so he went off with Mummy and me and Josh were left to terrorise the rest of the caravan park. And believe me with Joshua doing the steering and me pedaling - we definitely caused a bit of havoc. I swear we managed to get airborne over one of the speed bumps!

The evening time was the normal routine of having a "nice dinner" and then off to watch the 6:15 kids show. Here you can see greedy the ape.

And here is me sitting with the two boys watching the show.

After the show had finished Joshua found it very amusing to chase the disco lights around the dance floor.

And Brandon joined me for a photo shoot with Roary the Tiger. Joshua was too scared and Brandon was too intrigued and would not look at the camera but just the Tiger's face.

To finish the day we went into the arcades to spend more pennies. Brandon would not part with his little money pot.

Check in tomorrow for Day 3 which was an amazing day out at Africa Alive.

Caister Holiday Day 1

Not too much to report from Day 1 of our recent holiday to Caister-on-sea. We arrived just after 4pm and spent a couple of hours unpacking, settling into our caravan and then familiarising ourselves with the local surroundings.

Our caravan was only 2 weeks old and was very nice indeed. Both boys enjoyed staying in the caravan. We tried letting Brandon and Joshua sleep in the same room for the first time but this was a big mistake as the two of them just chatted away for ages and then Joshua kept getting up saying Brandon was keeping him awake. So in the end we gave in and used the spare room so that both boys had their own room.

One of Joshua's highlights from the holiday was these 12V motorised motorcycles. I would say he averaged around 3-4 goes minimum every day. He absolutely loved them and of course every time he had a ride, Brandon had to have a go as well. So all in all this became a fairly expensive part of the holiday! These bikes actually became part of Joshua's behaviour motivation because if he was naughty and not doing what he was told we would simply tell him no motorbikes today and it worked a treat.

Brandon could not reach the pedals on his own so he had to ride with Daddy (shame).

Also within the resort were some pretty good slides along with a dragon tube. Joshua was fine coming down these on his own but Brandon was just under the height limit and had to ride with Daddy or Mummy. But as usual once Brandon hit the bottom all you got out of him was "again", "again".

In the evening we went to watch one of the kids evening shows which became part of our after dinner routine. Joshua really got into the shows and loved watching them. Brandon just ran around like a looney. After the show we always walked back through the arcades (which was another expensive part of the holiday) and in there the boys found their beloved Roary the racing car.

So not much to report out for Day 1. But the rest of the week got far more exciting so check in tomorrow for Day 2 which includes a fun packed day of the beach, swimming, soft play, pedal bikes, more motorbikes and dragon slides and finally a meet and greet with Roary the Tiger.

"Daddy Dar Care" Day 3

Daddy Day Care week comes to and end and what a pleasurable week it has been. Yesterday was a trip to the seaside to make the most of the fading summer. Another few weeks time and opportunities to play on the beach will be few and far between for another 8 months. Before hitting the beach we took a quick walk around the arcades to play some penny machines and have a go on the little kiddie ride-ons. Brandon could not be parted from his little money pot full of 2p pieces. Joshua was running around singing the theme tune from the American Apprentice series, "money, money, money, money".

Everyone who knows Joshua knows just how much he loves his neh nah's.

And driving cars...........

And just about anything else that moves...........

Here is Brandon on a Bob The Builder ride-on.

After the arcades it was off to the beach to play in the sea and sand and then have a picnic. Initially both boys were just picking up stones and shells and throwing them into the water.

It wasn't long before Joshua decided to get his feet wet.

Then his legs, and before long he was in up to waist height.

Brandon enjoyed playing with the buckets and watering cans. More often than not the bucket of water would end up tipped over himself.

We even took there little beach dumper trucks to fill with sand and water.

After all the activity Joshua's belly soon started rumbling so out came the picnic blanket. Boy had I forgotten the joys of taking a picnic on the beach and ending up with mouthfuls of sand in every bite. I guess that is why they call them "sand"wiches.

Matters were not made any easier when Brandon grabbed a spade full of sand and flicked it all over the picnic blanket and our food.

Here is a nice picture of both the boys have their beach picnic.

In the afternoon it actually started to get quite hot and Joshua was often cooling down in the water.

The left over lunch was fed to the seagulls and as you can see from this picture Joshua managed to attract quite a few of the birds around him.

We also dug a big long trench running down to the sea and then both boys took it in turns to fill the trench with water using their buckets.

Its great to watch the two boys playing together o the beach. Fortunately I remembered to take two of everything so there was no fighting.

And how do you know when both the boys have had an exciting, fun filled and tiring day. Easy - they are both in the land of nod within minutes of setting off for the journey home.