Nuclear Rookie Rush - Love Mud!

For years now I have wanted to enter the boys into the Nuclear Rookie Rush adventure race but for one reason or another I just never got around to it. My pure chance one of Joshua's friends (Luca) older brother dropped out at the last minute and his Mum kindly asked if Josh wanted the place instead. Needless to say we jumped at the chance and also got Brandon entered.

For the 9-14 year olds it is a 3k race with some pretty impressive obstacles to overcome. Joshua went flying off at the start as he always does and then gassed out leaving Brandon to storm home first in just under an hour. Joshua eventually came in 5-10 minutes behind Brandon and then Luca was another 10 minutes or so behind Josh. All 3 of them did amazing tough and didn't bottle out of any of the obstacles and in the course of doing so, got absolutely caked in mud. In fact the mud was so bad that I had to hose everything off in the garden before even contemplating putting it anywhere near the washing machine.

At the end of the race they were awarded a very nice medal for their efforts and all 3 are now dead keen to do the next Rookie Rush in September. The event was absolutely amazing and so well put on and run that I am happy for them to do more of these races, In fact once I got there and heard the music pumping and saw everyone lining up on the start line I just wanted to join in and run myself. I so wish they had activities like this for kids when I was the boys age, they are sooo lucky.

Luca, Brandon and Josh with their war paint on ready for Rookie Rush.

Brandon with his face paint ready to race.

The boys did the Rookie course for 9-14 year olds.

Two laps of the assault course!

Luca, Brandon and Josh at the Nuclear Race.

They might love the zip wire, but they weren't very good on it.

Getting warmed up to some dance music from the film Blade ahead of the start of the event.

There was no easing in to the race, it was straight in to muddy water.

Buying them yellow Nuclear Race t-shirts was a real bad idea!

Joshua went off quick at the start.

But it didn't take Brandon long to stretch out his legs and take the lead.

Josh with mud in his eye.

Clambering out of a ditch.

On this section of the course they had to drag a chain and ball around a maze.

Joshua dragging his metal ball.

Both Brandon and Joshua fell off of this obstacle into the muddy water.

Joshua trying a different forwards crawling approach - it didn't work.

Swinging across some mud.

And nearly making it.

Brandon on the zip wire on his first lap.

His grip fails him due to the slippery mud and he takes a dip.

Then has to try and climb out up this yucky mud bank.

Joshua following up on the zip wire.

Again didn't make it far - splosh.

Brandon climbing over the tire wall.

And leaping down ready to run again.

The muddy hands are too slippery for him to hold on.

But he did complete the swinging climbing wall.

But then squashed his nuts on the swing bar!

Joshua in action.

Also managed the swinging climbing wall ok.

I was giving B plenty of encouragement to fall in here, but he held on.

Joshua on the wobbling balance beams.

Then the rope bridge.

Crawling out of a dark tunnel.

Then over a wall.

Before tackling the big cargo net.

Commando crawling under a cargo net through thick mud.

Then sliding through a tube in to a mud pit.

They really weren't joking when they said you get wet and muddy.

Nearing the end of lap 1 and there is a large water slide.

In to yet more muddy water.

Crawling under the monster truck to start lap 2.

Another mud slide into more water.

Splash.

Climbing out of the water.

Brandon successfully managing to hang on to the zip wire on lap 2.

Through the tires and sprinting up the hill.

Another wall to climb.

Action shot of Brandon enjoying every bit of the race.

His nuts appear to have recovered as he straddles the tire wall.

Back on the climbing wall for lap 2.

Brandon on the wobbling balance beams.

Looking wobbly on the rope bridge.

But smiling as he comes out of the underground tunnel.

Nearly finished and B starts to knuckle down and push the pace.

SLiding off the wall.

Over the cargo net for the last time.

This was a lot higher than it looks. The kids were all very brave.

Brandon decided to do a proper commando crawl under the cargo net laying flat down in the mud!

Mud soup.

The yellow top is looking good!

Brandon coming out of the tube slide.

B coming down the water slide for the last time.

Cleaning off some mud, with more muddy water.

Still smiling.

The final sprint for the finish.

My little champ proudly wearing his medal that he definitely earnt today.

Nice looking medal.

If he didn't love mud before today, he does now!

Joshua on his final sprint to the finish.

And then being awarded with his medal.

Well earned Josh.

My two Rookies completing their first Nuclear Race.

After a little clean up the 3 boys almost look human again.

Holly also wants to have a go next time, but because of her age I have to go around with her (what a shame!). For today she had to settle for some bouncy castles and bouncy slides.

It's Confirmed - Disneyland Paris in 3 weeks!

For about 2 years now we have been saying that we will go back to Disneyland Paris as Holly has never been and she absolutely loves Minnie Mouse and the Disney Princesses. But for some reason we just never got around to it in previous years. Well finally we have taken the plunge and it is all booked up, just 3 weeks and we are off! Last time we went was 2012 which would have made Joshua around 5 and Brandon around 4. We are being naughty and taking the kids during term time (risking a fine) however it is much cheaper and we are hoping the queueing won't be quite as bad. Joshua has now finished all his SATS so their school work should not be impacted too much.

It's confirmed - Disney Paris 2019.

4 luggage tags for 5 people!

Hard to imagine how small the boys were back in 2012! No Holly in this picture.

Looks like we need to get this family pic updated with all 5 of us now.

Year 6 SATS 2019

So it all starts today for Joshua as he begins a week of intense SATS exam in preparation for Secondary school. He has worked very hard this year with SATS revision books, homework clubs and extra SATS booster sessions. I am sure he will do his very best this week. The two bits of advice I left him with this morning were 1) Read ever question twice to make sure you understand it, and 2) make sure you re-check every answer at the end at least once. He does have a tendency to rush his work so I hope he stays calm and takes his time over the papers. This time next week it will all be over and he can start to look forward to the summer ahead.

One thing the school have done for the Year 6's is arrange a cooked breakfast at school on the days of their SATS. This is such a cool idea as the kids are really excited about the breakfast club and wake up thinking about that rather than being nervous about the forthcoming exams. Also from what we hear all the kids came out of the breakfast club completely relaxed instead of stressed out with parents nagging them to try their hardest. Such a good idea if you ask me.

Joshua with all of his SATS revision books that he has been working through.

Family Time

6 years ago today I lost my Mum and the kids lost their Nanny. To this date it really saddens me to know that Holly never got to meet her Nan, but the boys still remember how amazing she was and how much she loved her grand kids and often talk about her. Last night KISMET family all met up at the Honeypot to celebrate Nicky's birthday and we had a lovely meal with great food and even better company. Mum may be gone, but she would have been as proud as anything to see us all together. We all lover her and miss her and would do absolutely anything to have her sitting at the table with us just one more time.

KISMET crew celebrating Nicky's birthday at the Honeypot.

Holly Loses More Teeth + Hot Tub Update

Holly seems to be losing teeth faster than what I used to have to change my company cars. She is certainly leading the way in her class and has now lost four. I had forgotten what it was like when they lose most of the front teeth and the voice changes with a slight lisp, it is so funny. So the tooth fairy has been very busy lately.

Holly's new smile less 4 front teeth.

Our hot tub has now been in a week now and I have to say it is one of my best purchases ever. It took a while to figure out the chemical balance but I seem to have it now and it has been used every day, if not twice daily. It is absolutely stunning to go out there late at night and sit under the moon with the led lights on and some music playing quietly out of the Bluetooth speakers. Just makes you feel amazing when you get out. Today was the first time Tina used the hot tub as we had all 5 of us in their after the mornings football. The size of the hot tub is perfect and easily accommodated all 5 of us.

The LED lights looks amazing of a night time. The light blue is my favourite colour setting.

Finally got the chemical balance right and the water is looking good.

And for the first time today all 5 of us enjoyed a bit of hot tub time to warm up after a very wet and cold morning at football.

Later in the day Holly helped me out to do some gardening as we trimmed half of the bushes around the outside of our house. I remember a time when the boys used to help, but now they are far more interested in the Playstation and leave it all to my little Princess. When I say "Little Princess" I mean that literally as Holly was dressed up in a Princess dress to do the gardening!!

Holly using the shears to help trim the bushes.

And of course when doing gardening you have to wear a Princess dress.

Hot Tub Upgrade

Having now owned an inflatable hot tub for 2+ years and using it almost daily between March to October I have been toying with the idea of upgrading to a hard tub for some time. Our old inflatable was starting to look tired and had a slow puncture last season which seemed impossible to patch and so I decided to sell it on eBay earlier this week. Given that we are a matter of weeks away from starting a house extension it was really a case of now or never as once the extension is done there would be no way of getting a hot tub in the back garden without the use of a crane.

So last weekend with the help of Michael, David, Matt and Nick we laid 700kg's of concrete to form a steep reinforced C35 grade concrete base capable of holding a 1.3 tonne hot tub!!!! Not sure my DIY decking would take that much weight (even with my over engineered approach). After allowing the base to dry for a week, the new hot tub was delivered this Saturday from a company based up in Chester. After lots of panicking about whether they could get the hot tub through my gates and whether they could drop it into a 26cm deep hole set in the decking, I am pleased to say the delivery, positioning and installation couldn't have gone smoother. 2 hours and it was all done and the 2 man crew were on their way back to Chester as we had the painful wait for the tub to warm up and the initial shock loading of chlorine to stabilise, but that was fine as I had about 4 hours of work to get all my decking cut nicely around the hot tub.

Anyway we are absolutely over the moon with the hot tub and got to use it for the first time this morning. I woke early and made myself a nice latte before slipping outside for about 30 mins to soak in the lounger seat at a rather pleasant 38 degrees C before anyone else woke up. However my peaceful morning watching the sun rise was soon interrupted by 3 little people excitedly running through the conservatory with swim kits on and a towel over their shoulders.

Farewell to our trustee Intex inflatable spa which did is proud for a couple of years.

Down went the concrete base for the new hard tub.

A bit of a tight squeeze as the sledge for the delivery of the new tub just about fit through our front gate.

The next challenge was the back gate which required a but of fence removal!

Then the biggest challenge of all, dropping 250kg of hot tub into a square slot that only has a few cm's of play each side.

The two guys that installed the hot tub did an amazing job.

And within no time we were pumping in the fresh water.

Despite taking more water than the inflatable it seemed to fill up pretty quickly.

Then on goes the lid and its time to sit back and let it warm up.

This gave me time to dodge rain and sleet to get the decking cut around the profile of the tub.

Without blowing my own trumpet, I think it looks bloody amazing.

A nice early start the morning after armed with a towel and a coffee.

Until these 3 decided to interrupt my relaxing morning.

Holly loves the water fountain feature. The hot tub also has internal and external led lights, plus Bluetooth speakers.

Holly gets "Star of the Week" Certificate

Well done to Holly for working very hard at school this week and receiving the star of the week award. Not only that, today she had to go for her follow up blood test and was such a brave little girl getting the needle put in her arm that she was awarded another "You've Been a Star" certificate.

Fingers crossed for Holly that all comes back clear from her latest blood test.

And then getting "Star of the Week" certificate at school.

So proud of my little H.