Foxes Farm Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we managed to dodge the bad weather and get out quick visit out to Foxes Farm for their annual pumpkin patch which has now been running for 10 years. Unfortunately Tina had to go to work and Joshua was already at work (more to come on that in another blog) and so it was me, Holly, Brandon and Brandon's girlfriend Miai. 

As it was cold I dusted off the DryRobe thinking I was being smart but then when we arrived it was blue skies and I was roasting. Then literally within minutes a big grey cloud came over and it bucketed down for about 10-15 mins. Needless to say the DryRobe was a blessing and clearly I have brought Brandon up well as he gave up his jacket (albeit a small one) for Maia. Anyway luckily the rain blew over quickly, blue sky came out and we managed to enjoy a couple of hours outside picking up some rather odd looking pumpkins and enjoying a nice hot chocolate / coffee to keep warm.

10 years of Foxes Farm Pumpkin Patch.

Literally as we arrived a big dark cloud descended on us.

Before the rain came down and we had to seek shelter, we had a few photo opportunities.

Brandon and Maia.

Holly on the pumpkin patch tractor with our wheel barrow full of pumpkin picks.

Blue skies came out again.

A real mix of pumpkins from grey's, turks, and everything in between.

Me challenging Holly to try and do the balance beam with the wheel barrow.

Brandon and Maia again.

I swear the range of pumpkins gets more diverse each year.

Holly was more than happy to do the wheel barrowing.

And then she wanted one of these rather ugly grey pumpkins that seem rock hard.

They even had some very small ones.

I am officially 7 pumpkins tall!

We found some very, very weird shaped pumpkins.

Brandon, Maia and Holly on the Scarecrow Pull-A-Face.

Holly at the pumpkin pile-up.

The lovebirds. Note Maia wearing Brandon's jacket - good lad.

Even pink pumpkins!!!!

Happy Halloween from Brandon and Maia.

Holly pretending to be dead.

Our complete overhaul for the visit which cost around £24 in pumpkins, not too bad.

But the most unusual one of this year definitely goes to this rare specimen.

Star of the Week for Holly

How incredible is this, Holly received "Star of the Week" at school this week for progressing and exceling in all her subjects. This is such an amazing achievement for her as she does have some difficulties with her dyslexia and was also super anxious about secondary school. So far she is smashing it. She has even been going to a ready club 4 out of 5 mornings before school starts to help with her reading.

Joshua's 18th Birthday - Come Alive!

Yesterday Joshua's childhood officially expired as he turned 18 and enters the world of adulthood. His main present this year was the maturity of his trust fund which should now set him up nicely for years to come along with the "parent price" which we sold the Fiesta to him for. However we couldn't not get him anything for his 18th so we bought him a Boss watch that he wanted, an 18 throw type blanket (to stop him nicking other peoples) and the obligatory 18 pint glass with some ciders now that he can legally drink. In addition to this Holly bought him a couple of neck chains and Brandon got him a dashcam for his car.

In order to celebrate his big day we had also purchased tickets to watch The Greatest Showman - Come Alive show at the Empress Museum in London. We was somewhat surprised when he asked for this but he does like The Greatest Showman and given that we all enjoyed the movie, it was a rare chance for us to go to an event like this as a family. So we had a nice day in London having a wander around the Tower, Earls Court, the Embankment etc, grabbed some food and then headed over to Earls Court to catch our evening show.

The "Come Alive" show is absolutely incredible. We all had a fab time watching some truly spectacular acts and enjoying some West End quality productions of some of the big songs from the movie. Probably our favourite acts was a woman who performed some aerial acrobatics hung from her hair and a chap who did some amazing gymnastics on a tightrope that was just insane. Also I got to enjoy a beer or two with Josh without worrying about underage drinking restrictions which was nice.  

Your childhood has expired.

Joshua's new throw/blanket for those cosy winter evening's.

Birthday cuddles with the lady who brought him in to this world 18 years ago.

Birthday stroll around London.

A quick lap of the Tower before heading over to the Embankment.

Finally the front facing camera works on my new phone for taking selfies!

Traitors Gate.

Pumpkins out in Covent Garden.

Then after some food it was on to the Empress Museum to get ready for our evening show.

A few displays outside the Museum.

The Greatest Show on Earth.

Lot's of interesting displays and artifacts to walk around before the show started.

The inside was really well decorated out for old school circus feel.

The famous jacket from The Greatest Showman.

Me chopping my own hand off.

Enjoying a birthday bevvy or two with Josh.

It was supposed to be my rest day, but I found some circus weights to play with.

The Greatest Show.

Me and T really enjoying a rare family day out. We don't get many of these as the kids grow up and have their own interests.

Holly thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and had a good old sing-a-long to the show.

After exploring the museum and having some food and drink we took to our seats ready for the show to start. Absolutely fantastic views in a really theatrical top hat arena.

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.