FA Community Day - Hadleigh Olympic 2012 - Beaver Canoeing = Busy Weekend

Having just spent a week in Detroit with work, I had really missed my three little babies and was really excited about spending some quality time with them this weekend. Saturday morning I had to take Brandon over to Chelmsford for an FA Football Community day with the U7's team which turned out to be really good event. The kids all had a mini tournament against 5 or 6 other teams, then they spent an hour doing skills work with the FA coaches, then to finish the session off they had a fun inflatable area for the kids to play on. At the end of the event all the kids were presented with an FA goodie bag containing a ball, drink bottle and wrist band. Then the finale was a show by Colin Nell who is a world freestyle football professional. My god some of the stuff he was doing with a football was just amazing and unbelievable. Whilst me and B were at Chelmsford Tina took Joshua to football training and then took Holly to a dance school the get her registered to start in September.

 

Then today the boys wanted to go to Hadleigh Olympic Mountain Bike track again and so we headed over there in the morning. This week I only took the 3 kiddies bikes as I was feeling a bit tired and jet lagged plus I had a bad throat infection after my travels and just didn't fancy cycling. We explored some new terrain today and found some awesome rocky sections and wooden ramps (which made me really regret not taking my bike!!!). However we got a little off track and ended heading out to Benfleet direction and getting lost!!! Tina was not happy as she didn't have the best shoes on and the hills were not doing her Asthma much good. We ended up tracking back a long way up and down hills to rush back to the car as Brandon had his Beaver canoeing event at 2 o'clock and we still hadn't had lunch. So we all had a good workout over Hadleigh!!!!

 

The Beaver canoeing was enjoyable and the weather was great. Although Joshua is now a Cub, there wasn't too many Beavers there so I managed to pay for him to join in as well. So whilst the boys were canoeing me and Holly sat on the jetty feeding all the fish her lunch! After the canoeing we went and checked out the new festival leasure splash park (could be on the agenda for next weekend), then went home to enjoy the sun by getting our own little water slide out. Chuck in a BBQ over the weekend and it was a very busy one, but some good family time.

 

Brandon enjoying some football on a giant inflatable football pitch.

Great strike of the ball as Brandon shoots for a target.

Bradnon on the speed shooter, he hit a top speed of 28.2mph.



Brandon doing some dribbling skills.

Doing a step over.....

Then breaking off to shoot for goal.

And he fires one home for a goal.

At Hadleigh I didn't take my bike so instead I pushed Holly around some of the very bumpy London 2012 Olympic Course.

Joshua oing under and Brandon going over.

My 3 kiddies enjoying some chill time and playing over Hadleigh.

Me and Holly climbing one of the rock falls. Not sure I would be brave enough to cycle down this!!!

Joshua meandering down one of the new tracks that we found this week. This is the easy side!!!

Brandon was eyeing up the difficult side, but there was no way any of us were coming down here!

My 3 babies on the 2012 Olympic course.

Joshua attacking one of the wooden ramp jumps that we found today.

Later that day at Barleylands and Brandon is enjoying some Beaver canoeing with his friend Jake in the boat.

Brandon and Joshua standing at the front of their boats singing, "head, shoulders, knees and jump!".

All the canoes rafted up and using a sail to pull them from one end of the lake to the other.

Brandon got very competitive on the final race and powered through oaring like a madman to win the race.

Hadleigh Olympic Cycle Park and Scout AGM Activity Day

Another full on weekend and a very busy Sunday. No park run today so we was thinking of the beach or canoeing, however the weather was not quite as good as yesterday so we had a slight change of plan. Instead we went mountain biking over the Hadleigh Olympic Bike Course and then in the afternoon went the the Scout AGM / Activity Day / BBQ. In between the activities we were trying to keep an eye out as Andy Murray won his 2nd Wimbledon final, Lewis Hamilton won the Silverstone GP and France were playing Portugal in the Euro 2016 final. And that's not to mention the mighty UFC 200 which I have to look forward to tonight once the kiddies are in bed.

 

The first time we went to Hadleigh I only took the boys bikes and was so frustrated as I wanted to join in and couldn't. The second time we took my bike so I had loads of fun, but Holly felt left out and only had the play area. So today we took the boys, my bike and Holly's bike. Obviously Holly is on stabilisers and then I used the balance buddy to help push her around. She absolutely loved it and was going over all the rocks, up and down gravel hills, she even went around the stunt track with me pushing. She was chuckling away and kept on saying "again", "again", "again". In fact a couple of the other mountain bikers on the course commented that she was putting them to shame.

 

On the skills course there is one particular part of the track which has about a 3ft rock drop which I had seen a few people tackle and really fancied a go myself. The boys were edging me on and after watching a few people to learn the technique I plucked courage to tackle it and fortunately managed it successfully twice - so kudos in front of the watching kiddies (the only negative was I received a minor cut to the shin where the pedal hit me on impact).

 

 

Brandon on the skills course practicing some skills..

Me helping Holly across a rock trail using the balance buddy.

It was quiet enough over there for me to take Holly around the stunt track.

Joshua on one of the drops with Holly watching on and wanting a go herself.

Joshua whizzes down with a smile on his face.

Not sure Tina was impressed with me letting Holly come down this little hill.

But as you can see she lifts her feet off the pedals and has a grin from ear to ear. No fear!!!!

Nice picture of Joshua out on one of the trails. Believe it or not wearing one of Tina's cycling tops (he is growing too quickly!).

Brandon enjoying himself on the stunt course.

 

Whilst we were cycling around a large heard of cows just trotted across the park!

 

Lovely family picture at Hadleigh, from L-R, Holly, Brandon, Me, Joshua and Tina (woops I mean a cows bum).

Holly giving me a good workout up and down the various sections of the track.

Brandon out on the trails. Now wearing Joshua's old Muddy Fox cycling top. Looks like Brandon will outgrow this bike very, very soon.

Holly tackling a little rock path. Not easy with stabilisers.

 

Me and the boys managed to cycle all the way out to Hadleigh Castle.

 

So here is me trying to pluck up the courage show the kids I have the balls to go over a more severe drop off.

After lowing the seat and checking the bike wouldn't ground out, over I went. The picture doesn't do this little stunt justice.

 

After Hadleigh it was over to the Scout Hall and Tina decided to dress Holly in one of Brandon's old Beaver t-shirts. So all 3 kids in Beaver shirts.

 

Brandon and Holly making rice balloon juggling balls.

Joshua trying to climb a ladder to ring the bell at the top.

 

And over he goes!!! After about 20 attempts he did eventually make it.

 

 At the Scout AGM the kids got to do some archery, wall climbing, Nelson's ladder, playing in sand, playing in tents, backwards cooking, making juggling balls and of lets not forget the BBQ. The sun had also decided to come out and we had a really pleasant afternoon outside enjoying all the activities. I even had a go at Nelson's ladder myself (got to try and keep up with the kiddies!!!).

 

After the AGM it was home for the football and also time to enjoy some nice homemade mint Areo cheesecake which I had somehow found time to make up before we headed out this morning.

New Sand Pit Table

The boys old sand pit in the garden was looking a bit knackered to say the least with discoloured plastic and broken legs. So about 2 weeks ago we picked up a rather nice garden picnic type bench table which has a removable lid to expose a sand pit underneath. You would have thought the two boys (or at least one them) would have been keen to get their hands dirty and help me build it, but noooo. Instead it was Holly who was beavering away with screws and allen keys helping screw it all together.

I have to say for a cheap table it is pretty sturdy and looks good in the garden. Holly absolutely loves playing in the sand and every time she goes out in the garden she asks to play with this. Often she sits there pretending to make ice creams with the sand, sometimes she plays with the diggers and dumpers, other times she simply makes a good old mess and chucks it everywhere. But she is having fun. So a good buy and well worth the money

 

Holly getting her hands dirty helping me fix the new sand table.

 

She absolutely loves helping her Daddy doing jobs around the house.

 

Nearly finished and look what is on top of the table, yes we were using the instructions.

 

Holly is first to test out the new sand table.

 

After some minor modifications to seal some gaps the sand pit is ready to fill with sand and for the kids to play.

 

Holly and Joshua playing very nicely.

 

Maldon Promenade Nastalgic Car Show

With no football tournaments or matches today we found ourselves with a rare Sunday free to do as we please. So we started the day heading our to Chelmsford for the boys to do the park run. For the first time in ages Joshua beat Brandon and actually had a good run hitting his nest time of the year and only 3 seconds away from his PB. After the park run we decided to head over to Maldon Promenade as there was a nostalgic car show on.

 

The queues to get in to Maldon were pretty bad and it took us a good half an hour to get in, but that was nothing to what it was like trying to get home afterwards where we moved about 50ft across a field in nearly 30 mins. But it was well worth it as the car show was pretty amazing with over 1000 display cars ranging from Austin 1100's to Ferrari's to muscle cars to army vehicles. The boys are both complete petrol heads and absolutely loved walking around and looking at all the cars and dreaming about which ones they would own one day.

 

Before looking around the cars the kids all had a play in the splash park and then we had a nice little pic-nic. Holly was a little sceptical at first in the splash park, but once she was wet she absolutely loved it. Although the sun was shining the water was cold though and after about 25 mins even the wetsuits were not keeping the kiddies warm and it was time to dry off and go. After lunch and the cars we enjoyed a nice ice-cream in the gorgeous weather and then let the kiddies have a play in the pirate ship before heading home. Overall we had an absolutely fab day out and managed to catch a bit of sun as well.

 

Joshua looking a little cold in the splash park.

Holly and Brandon playing in the splash park.

Brandon running through some water jets.

Holly having an absolute blast running around in her little wet suit.

Joshua playing with some rotating water jets.

Love this picture of Holly playing in the splash park.

Joshua hiding under a water mushroom.

Holly admiring a fish on the floor.

Our 3 kiddies enjoying the splash park.

Warming up in the sun and having a family picnic.

A spot of tree climbing for the boys.

On to the car show and Brandon loved the GT40's. He has been driving these on GT6 on the PS3 recently.

Even Holly was admiring the GT40's.

Educating the kids on the beauty of the Corvette.

The 3 kids enjoying their time at Maldon.

Brandon playing in the sand pit area pumping some water.

Joshua digging in the sand.



Holly managed to acquire a spade from somewhere and was doing some digging of her own.

Joshua, Brandon and Holly posing with an old American racing car.

I have taught them well, the two boys admire probably one of the most stunning cars ever built.

Joshua with a Mustang.

Nobles, Lotus's and so much more on display......

This was the first ever C7 Stingray I have seen and it was an absolute thing of beauty in the flesh. The picture does not do it any credit at all.

Joshua is happy simply with Mr Bean's Mini though!!!

They even had some old buses at the show and this amazing bus was an open sided one.

This hot rod had a spider web roof and grill and looked like an absolute beast.

Brandon checking out a Ferrari and deciding whether to buy it on GT6 when he gets home.

Tina and Holly enjoying some ice-cream time.

A great day out in Maldon. Brandon had to lose the yellow shirt as it was attracting a lot of flies.

Holly enjoying the slide on the pirate ship.

And down she comes with a smile on her face.

Joshua being a good big brother and lifting his sister up to see inside an old classic car.