Social Distancing at Langdon Hills

A little bit late but last weekend we had a very pleasant social distancing meet up with Lisa and David over at Langdon Hills. The boys wanted to take their bikes to test out a woodland dirt track that we had scouted out a week or so earlier. I am pleased to report that both boys (Josh in particular) was more sensible than our recent visit to Hadleigh and thus no injuries incurred today!

Anyway we had a lovely walk around the woods with Lisa, David and the dogs and as always it was really nice to catch up. After a few snacks under the shade of a tree the weather seemed to turn all of a sudden and in no time at all we were loading the bikes back on the car in the rain.

Cycling through Langdon Hills woods.

This was about as brave as it got for the boys today as they were being very sensible.

No injuries for Josh, hooray.

Brandon on the bike track.

Brandon using my bike as he blew his back tire out a week or so ago doing skids!!!

Lovelt picture of B coming out of the trees on his bike, he seems to hve really shot up this summer.

Social distancing walk with Lisa, David and the dogs.

Love these three.

Teddy behaving, but Gino was barking at everything that moved.

A quick snack before the weather turned and the heavens opened.

Brandon's Lock Down Art Project

As part of Brandon's lock down art project he was given the task to recreate a famous artists picture in real life. Brandon chose the artist/picture himself (its a bit dark and twisted), but I think he did an absolutely fab job in his recreation of it. Silenced by the money, money talks, interpret the picture how you see it.

Which is the original and which is B?

Holly's Fairy Garden

We are still under lock down but as of 1st June it is now possible to have a limited number of family members around in your garden as long as you still socially distance. With these new relaxed rules it was really nice to have a visit from Lisa and David today predominantly for Lisa to help Holly build the most beautiful Fairy Garden.

Holly absolutely loved getting her hands stuck in the soil, planting the various plants and then decorating the garden with loads of beautiful stones and of course the Fairy's. The Fairy Garden now takes pride of place in our front garden and Holly has claimed it was the best thing that she has done today. So a big thank you to Auntie Lisa for making a little girl very happy today.

First job was to get your hands dirty and fill the garden base with soil.

With the Fairy Tower in place it is time to start planting in the garden.

Holly carefully usig a spoon to add the covering stones, she soon gave up on the spoon and was pouring them in by hand or lid.

The garden soon starts to take shape.

And here is the finished masterpiece.

The Fairy's take their position in the garden.

And here is the finished product proudly on show in the front garden with one very happy little girl.

First Day at School Since Lock Down

Yes you read that correctly - it's June and Brandon and Holly had their first day back at school in 10 weeks or so since going in to lock down! Although they have gone back to school, it is a very different school to what they remember. Firstly they have to adhere to strict social distancing, then there is only 8 allowed per class, the class is arranged in a circle and everyone has there own bubble of space etc.etc. It is not mandatory to send kids back to school and a lot of parents have opted not too, but we think the Covid-19 risk to kids is so low and the school have implemented all the correct measures to ensure the safety of the children and staff. We even got sent home videos before school opened so we could show the kids how things will operate.

It seemed weird sending them off this morning as it really felt like the start of a new school year and the first day of school. Holly has been so excited about going back to school and seeing her friends, in fact this morning she was awake at 5am and already dressed in her uniform. Brandon was also excited to get back to class and see his mates. From what they have told me they both had a really good day and do not seem to phased by all the Covid-19 measures that are in place.

Brandon will now be going back to school Mon to Thu which is great for him as he gets to have some sort of closure to Juniors. Holly will only be doing Monday and Tuesday for the time being. There is no sign of Joshua going back until September which is a real shame as I think he probably needs the school routine and life more than the other two.

Woohoo, excited Brandon and Holly with their first day back at school since the lock down.

We did buy masks for the kids ready to go back to school, but they were not mandatory and they chose not to wear them.

Holly has this black mask plus Tina made her a homemade pink one.

Picnic in Hylands Park

What a spectacular weekend of weather to end May 2020 which is now officially one of the driest May's on record. Keeping up with our outdoor exercise we made the most of the glorious weather by heading out for a picnic at Hylands House in Chelmsford (whilst maintaining social distancing). For me Hylands House brings back memories on the inaugural Chelmsford marathon which I ran a few years back (and got my best ever marathon time!). However today we got to really explore the grounds, the gardens and the serpentine lake as the children's area was still closed off due to Covid-19.

We had a lovely picnic on the lawn right in front of Hylands House, discovered the flint cottage, played some garden bowls and even a spot of badminton. Brandon is really showing how his fitness has fallen off since the lock down started as he was complaining of having very tired legs just walking around for a few hours (I suppose the heat didn't help). We couldn't walk quickly as Joshua was still hobbling around after his fall on the bike at Hadleigh yesterday.

The beautiful Hylands House.

Some lovely flowers in the house gardens.

Holly exploring the gardens.

These hedges are cut to look like large bowling pins!

A canopy of beautiful flowers.

Holly wanted me to take a picture of the lilly's in the pond.

Holly enjoyed scooting around the grounds but was often going off a bit too far as we hobbled around with Josh.

Holly by a sun dial and the 75th VE Day plaque.

Another request from Holly for me to take a picture of this caterpillar.

Love the way Holly is looking up to Brandon in this picture.

The flint house that used to be home to the servants of Hylands House.

Brandon exploring the flint house.

A stunning view of Hylands House with beautiful blue skies.

What better place to settle down for a family picnic.

And then a bit of lawn bowls in front of the house.

Holly takes her shot at the jack.

After our picnic we found the serpentine lake where the kids wanted to dip their feet in the water to cool off.

Brandon and Holly soon followed Josh.

And then they were met in the water by a family of ducks.

Hadleigh Cycle Park

Today we continued to enjoy the British summer and getting some fresh air and exercise be heading out to the Hadleigh Olympic bike trails. Holly has only been riding her bike for about 4 weeks so this was a bit of a tester to see if she could cope with some of the easier trails. So I didn't take my bike this time so that I could keep an eye on her, but next time hopefully we will be able to take mine as well.

Holly did amazing and spent most of her time on the skills track. Within no time at all she was managing the meandering bends and the undulating mini bumps. Brandon was helping me to keep an eye on her and guide her around the course. Joshua however went off way to confidently and injured himself within minutes of being there and could no longer participate. Basically he took one of the rock jumps and some how jumped over the track, down a bank and flipped the back over on the side of his leg. So he has been hobbling around ever since and didn't get back on his bike - this suited me as I could use his bike and mess around with B and H.

Probably the best bit of the day though was the fact that by pure coincidence we bumped in to Min and Lea over there which was just amazing. We've hardly seen any family since the lockdown started 10 weeks ago and we all miss them so much. So it was just amazing to see them both and to have a brief catch-up. One thing is for certain - when this Covid thing is done and dusted we will never underestimate being able to go out and see family again! 

Holly's first time at Hadleigh Cycle Park since she has been riding on 2 wheels.

She spent all her time on the skills course and did amazing. Not a single fall.

I kept her on the flat sections at first before moving on to the more bendy and hilly parts.

Great action shot of Holly riding.

It didn't take Holly long to get to grips with some tight cornering.

Lovely picture of Holly in action.

And Brandon was never to far from her, no Joshua though as he was injured.

Langdon Hills Trail Walk

Half term has been a complete write off due to the Covid-19 lock down. Whilst we did give the kids a break from home schooling, I still had to work from home and so we haven't really been out other than for our daily exercise. So as soon as Friday night came around I was desperate to get out and so we decided to go for a nice evening walk around Langdon Hills, and it was heavenly.

It seems like years since we have been to Langdon Hills and it was really nice exploring some of the trails and seeing the kids playing in the woods. The boys even discovered and stunt dirt bike track hidden away in the middle of the woods - so that will get a look in next time we go. The two boys went out wearing face masks which we have brought ready for Holly and Brandon's return to school next week. It's weird seeing people wearing masks and hiding their faces.

Be afraid - a masked Josh coming through a woodland trail.

Holly was running and scooting everywhere.

I loved just watching the kids playing in the woods.

Family walk at Langdon Hills with the two masked boys backing up their Mum.

Holly found some really good hills to scoot down.

Holly looking out over a smelly field of horses. 

The end of another week and some quality family time chilling in the sunshine.