It's May at Auntie May's

This blog always reports the good in the life of Joshua and Brandon, so it is only fair that I also report the bad. After all Joshua's hard work and rewards at school lately, he managed to ruin it all this Friday. He had a very naughty day at the CLC where he was led astray by another boy in his class. The outcome was the two of them giving each other two fingers hand gestures and then drawing a giant on the floor and adding rude bits onto their picture!! Both boys were subsequently sent to the head teacher for a good talking too. So when Joshua got home from school yesterday the disciplinary actions continued and he was allowed no toys, no games, no TV or Wii. All he was allowed to do is homework and colouring and then dinner and bed. He now realises just how naughty he was and has hopefully learnt his lesson. Over the weekend he has been told he must write an apology letter to his teach for his bad behaviour. Fortunately Joshua's teach has promised us that the boy leading Joshua astray will not be in his class for next year which is really, really, really good news!

 

So with that little episode out of the way its time to move forward on our bank holiday weekend. Today we had a family visit to Edgeware to see my Aunt May and Uncle Frank. This was the first time the boys had met May and Frank and to be honest I was very worried about taking them as I didn't think they would enjoy themselves and that they would be all shy in a strange environment and around strangers. However I couldn't have been more wrong. The boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves and opened up to Auntie May and Uncle Frank very well. Whilst we were there we also took some time to visit the Silkstream Park over the road which is where we used to run around and play as little kids when we visited Auntie May's all them years ago.

 

Brandon playing in the park that I used to run around in as a kid when visiting Aunt May's.

The family playing stick racing on the bridge over Silkstream.

Joshua and Brandon got bored with badminton and found it more amusing to make a snow effect by hitting blossom off of the trees using a badminton racket!

Its snowing in May - poor tree.

Brandon was exceptional today and was was surprisingly very comfortable around May and Frank. He was very proud of himself as he showed them how he could spell his name and that he knows the address where we live. 

Little B showing Uncle Frank how his Mobigo works,

A family picture spanning 4 generations of our family.

I am really pleased that the boys have had the chance to meet some of our more distant family members and to share a little bit of my childhood by exploring the Silkstream Park. Auntie May and Uncle Frank loved seeing Joshua and Brandon and for their age they still had so much time and enthusiasm for the little ones. They were also great hosts as always and laid on a great spread of food for us all which was nice.

 

The only negative for the whole day was that shockingly Auntie Nicky's car was broken in to right outside Auntie May's house and their Sat Nav stolen. Both boys were pretty shocked that someone could do such a naughty thing and were full of questions as to why someone would do such a thing and what the police would do about it. They were also fascinated watching me knock together a make shift window repair using clear plastic and brown packing tape.

Angus Young

Probably one of my all time favourite bands who are right up there with Korn and Metallica has to be ACDC. Needless to say the boys are also big fans and both love a bit of Thunderstruck. So what has this got to do with Joshua or Brandon? Well now that the sun has finally started to grace us with its presence, Joshua is now allowed to wear shorts and cap to school as part of his uniform. So Tina gets him dressed for school recently and takes this picture of him and sends it to me at work. As soon as I see it, I straight away I think of the infamous Angus Young who immortalised the school uniform as part of his stage performances. Do we have a young Angus in the making?

 

Joshua wearing his Angus Young costume, I mean his Abacus school uniform!

The legend himself.

Vulcan Open Day

This weekend we took the boys to Southend Airport for the first Vulcan Bomber open day of 2013.The XL426 is a B2 Vulcan and was the 44th of the 88 Vulcan B2s built. Its maiden flight was made in 1962 and its final flight to Southend airport was completed in 1986 where it has resided ever since. The Vulcan Restoration Team are hopefully to get the Vulcan to taxi a runway at full speed by the end of this year, however unfortunately this plane will never get airborne again. The open day was the ideal opportunity to let the boys learn about this amazing piece of British engineering at its best and to experience what it is like in the cockpit.

 

The incredible XL426 Vulcan Bomber at Southend Airport.

Tina and the boys pose for a picture with the Vulcan.

You can just about see me and the boys in front of the Vulcan's front wheel.

 The Vulcan is painted with the insignia of No. 1 Group (A black panther's head).

Earlier this week both Joshua and Brandon were telling us how they wanted to be pilots when they grew up. So it was great to give them the opportunity to sit in an actual pilots chair from a Vulcan Bomber.

Captain Brandon on deck.

And Captain Joshua taking his turn.

The open bomb doors. Can you spot the small inflatable Vulcan toy which incidentally the boys both have hanging up in their bedrooms?

The tail of the Vulcan XL 426.

Joshua standing behind the rear wheels of the Vulcan.

Whilst we were waiting for our time slot to go into the cockpit the boys were both more than happy to kill time by watching all the other planes landing and taking off at the airport. We were even treated to a little drive by of some airport fire engines. 

This little blue helicopter gave us a very close fly by whilst we waited for a cockpit viewing time.

Me, B and the Vulcan.

 

Me and B checking out some of the bombs from the Vulcan.

Finally we got to have our turn in the cockpit. It was quite an adventure for the two boys to climb up the ladder and into the very confined cockpit. For such a big plane it is amazingly cramping and almost unbelievable that 5 pilots can work for up to to 16 hours in such a confined space. We even got to see the special urine tube that the pilots had to use, although nowhere knew what the protocol was for doing a number 2!

The cockpit of the Vulcan.

Joshua and Brandon inside the Vulcan.

Controls and dials everywhere.

Brandon sitting up high by the pilots chairs.

And up Joshua goes into the Vulcan cockpit.

I give Brandon a helping hand up the first stage of the ladder to get into the Vulcan cockpit.

Joshua was fine getting in and out on his own. But Brandon still needed a helping hand with his little legs.

The woman from the VRT team said Joshua looked like a natural the way he got into and out of the Vulcan.

Another great day out and hopefully the boys learnt a lot and have plenty to write about during story time at school tomorrow. It is such a shame the boys will never get to experience this amazing aircraft fly. Still at least they have managed to see it up close and personal and even go inside which is more than most people ever get to see.

Superman Onesie

Check these out for the ultimate onesie's which the boys nanny bought them. They both love them and now refuse to take them off as they want to wear them all day.

Star of the Day (again)

Following last weeks star of the week award, Joshua returned to school today and earned star of the day. The star of the day gets their name on the window and gets to stand at the front of the line at home time. So as the blind goes up all the parents can cheer the star of the day.

 

Joshua earned his star of the day for his weekend news letter. Apparently he wrote that he had a picnic at Auntie Lisa's studio and then went on some bouncy castles.

 

St Georges Day @ Wat Tyler

Today we celebrated St Georges day with a family fun day at Wat Tyler park. I can honestly say I have never seen Wat Tyler so busy as we queued for about 20-30 mins from the Tesco's round-a-bout to the car park! Fortunately the weather was once again fantastic and we had packed our first picnic of the year. So first port of call was a spot of lunch.

Picnic time in the sunshine.

After lunch the boys had one thing on their mind - bouncy castles. They had about 5 or 6 bouncy castles set up for the kiddies and charged a reasonable £2 a child for 10 mins. Great exercise for the boys to burn off their lunch. 

Brandon and Joshua coming down a bouncy castle slide.

Joshua flat out on his belly as Brandon looks on.

Brandon exits one of the bouncy castles.

Joshua charging around like a bull in a China shop.

The fun day was packed with activities and displays from martial arts, to brass bands, to crazy golf, bucking bulls and so on. There was even a few old classic cars and speedway motorcycles to view. 

One of the miniature horses on display.

The boys played 9 holes on the crazy golf and had a pretty good idea what to do having been down the driving range with me and also having played crazy golf extensively on the Wii. However keeping a scorecard was pretty much impossible as there were both cheating like mad (I can't imagine where they get that from!).

Brandon is first to sink his ball at the 1st hole.

Little B preparing to sink his 2nd.

Little B needed some help cracking a ball around this circular wire frame.

What a great back swing displayed by Joshua.

At times I think Brandon thought he was playing hockey more than golf!

Can you crown please hush as Tiger B prepares for his next Tee shot.

Joshua lines up for a put with Brandon looking on.

Can you spot Little B in the land of the little people?

After spending a good few hours over the family fun day we headed back to Lisa's Laboratory art studio to participate in some St Georges day arts and crafts. Both boys enjoyed relaxing and colouring in their Knights in shinning armour and then using the split pins to assemble them together. We ran out of time to build their shields as Joshua wanted to head over to the boating lake to play with his radio controlled boat. But we can make the shields up one night this week. 

Joshua all smiles with his Knight in shinning armour.

Brandon needed a little help but did a great job colouring in his Knight and he even managed to cut the shield out on his own.

Battlesbridge

Today saw us take a little trip over to Battlesbridge with our country cousin Claire and her daughter Leyla. Despite the temperature being in the low teens we had beautiful crystal clear blue sky and having already been outside playing football for 2 hours, me and Joshua have got sun burnt faces! It was a pleasant trip but to be honest there is not much for kiddies to do and there is only so much walking around antiques that they can take before the boredom sets in. So I had my work cut out for me today as I tried to keep the 3 of them entertained as best as I could.

 

Joshua and Brandon did keep themselves entertained for about 10 minutes playing pretend garages with these old Pratts fuel pumps. I am not sure the shop owner was too pleased and as we left she gave me a very cold look as she had to get up from her chair and put the pump handles back onto the pumps. Stroppy!



 

The boys playing garages with some old fuel pumps.

Brandon filling his imaginary car with diesel.

 

I have always said that for me one of my most memorable manly type experiences which I will never forget and makes you feel really grown up is the very first time you pick up a fuel pump to fill up your own car. I waited 17 years for this feeling, the boys have got to hold a fuel pump at 4 and 5 years old. Still I guess it is best they do this now as by the time they are driving the cars are likely to be fuelled by hydrogen, electric fuel cells or some other carbon free fuel type.



 

Leyla, Joshua and B at the Battlesbridge lock.

Despite the temperature being low teens, the boys follow my suit and don the shorts for the day.

Joshua was most impressed by this rotten old boat.

The car park at Battlesbridge was stacked with a few little gems today. We saw a gorgeous Aston Martin and a nice looking Porche. However mine and the boys favourites was thus stunning little Westfield. Joshua had never seen a car with exhaust pipes running down the side seals before and had a million and one questions about the car. I love it that the boys (especially B) are complete petrol heads. Coming home from Battlesbridge they saw an old muscle car and two wedding cars on the road and got so excited at seeing them. 

The boys admiring the Westfield.