Out on the bikes

Today we went out with Abigail and Katie, they have just got new bikes so wanted to take them…so we borrowed Jap Taxi and took bikes…..

…they all rode around the sports court for a while but then some people arrived with a ball so we moved over to the play ground and had a play for a while….

It looks like Noah had been flung right off the ride but I think he was just clowning around (as usual!!)

Then the rain arrived so we went to the cafe for some chips and our picnics!!  Luckily the sun came back out and we went off riding again….

Caitlin normally rides for about 5 minutes then gives up but she was just riding around and around.  She also was trying to balance and so not using her stabilizers as much as usual….we might try taking them off soon I think!

Katie is pretty good on her bike and so Noah had found a speedy friend to race against!  They both had a great time speeding around the paths….

Austin was great too he practised his scooting but stayed quite near to us so we got to sit in the sun for a while….

They then had a go at skipping…..

…but when that was too hard, they made up a game where they had to guess the secret colour as they jumped over the rope….

…A fantastic day!!  I do love lazy school holidays with no morning rush and just playing around with friends.

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Zebu

The kids had been with Nanny and Grandad for the weekend and I went to pick them up and we went into town for some holiday shopping.  After we’d bought our crocs and shorts we went to the Albert Docks to see the tall ships as they were having an open weekend. 

During my sixth form I helped crew on one of the tall ships, Zebu.  I can’t remember which year I helped on or even how I came to be helping!!  I assume it started out with something to do with school?  I used to be part of our school rescue boat which used to patrol the sea off Colwyn Bay and we used to help out with events…possibly how I ended up meeting the Zebu and crew.  I know the Zebu is moored in Liverpool and so since that’s where I am from maybe they said I could help during my summer holidays…..maybe during the summer of 1991 or 1992?

Anyway I’ve taken the kids to see Zebu a few times but we normally just look from the docks.  Today we went on another tall ship that was open for visitors and whilst on board I spotted someone with a Zebu top on.  I asked him if Zebu was open for visitors and he said yes.  We went around to it but it was all closed up…so I went back.  Another crew member took pity on us and gave us a private tour!!!!!!!!!

Caitlin and Noah were fascinated with where I slept while on board….

…although it’s not a show ship and it wasn’t very impressive!!  But they loved having a look around, especially since we got it all to ourselves!

Cancelled party…

Today was supposed to be a little party for Austin…but since he was sick and then Noah started being sick..I thought I’d best cancel.  I didn’t want to be responsible for 7 two-ish year olds catching a bug….

This morning though it became clear Noah was better…..eating breakfast…bouncing around etc!!  Typical!!  So me and Austin went out to take Caitlin to school and for a quick drink.  While we were there a couple of people said they were going on to the park so I thought we’d join them and since it was out in the open I went home to get Noah.  Noah scooted all around and went on all of the playground…definitely better!!!

Austin also had a great time playing with 2 of his friends, and he shared his cake which was good.  Shame he didn’t get his party though…definitely next year, or I might try to arrange a belated party after half term!!!  Now we just have the rest of the cake and all the party food I bought to get through….

Friends for tea

Today Caitlin and Noah were both supposed to be having friends over for tea…..  Caitlin’s friend went home from school ill in the morning so she couldn’t come.  Noah brought his friend home but then Noah decided to come down with the bug Austin had had and threw up as soon as he got in!  So Caitlin ended up having tea and playing with Noah’s friend while Noah lay collapsed on the settee!!!!!!!!  This also meant I had to cancel the little party I had planned for Austin the next day…..

Austin…..

So Austin is now 2!  He is really good at climbing and is a complete daredevil.  He tries to copy everything that Caitlin and Noah do, he adores them both!  His speech isn’t great but he can say ro-a (Noah) and tay-tee (Caitlin)….but for some really odd reason he always says tay-tee in a really high-pitched voice…it’s the only word he says like that.  I must video him!

Talking of his speech we went to the health visitor today just to have it checked out.  She also did his 2 year check up while we were there.  Physically he is about right…a tiny bit ahead of 2 but not much.  That surprised me a bit as I thought he was pretty good physically, although part of it might have been him not doing things as well as he normally does…he didn’t jump as well as he can and looked at her like she was mad when she asked him to tiptoe even though he can.  Speech wise it is split into 2 sections, comprehension and actual speech.  On the comprehension front he was way ahead of his age by over 6 months…speech wise he was below but even that result was confusing.  His number of words was quite poor but he does say what and why in context which is quite advanced…this made his score for speech come out as below but not worryingly low.  She did  say his vocab wasn’t great though so she has referred him to a speech therapist.  She also gave me some very odd advice….  While we were there Austin started pushing me off the chair, obviously because he wanted to sit there!!  He didn’t say chair or off or anything else for that matter…he just pushed me and grunted!  I then pointed it out to the health visitor and said how even though he wasn’t getting his own way it still didn’t make him speak..thinking that she would be assuming that his lack of speech was a laziness thing because everyone just jumped in and did things without him needing to speak!  She then told me I shouldn’t let him get frustrated and if I understood what he wanted I should do it for him even if he hadn’t made any attempt to speak!!!!!???  Surely that can’t be helpful to make him speak??!!

Austin is a very fussy eater, his favourites are bananas, yogurt and pasta.  He knows what he wants even though he can’t say it….and has lots of tantrums when you don’t understand him!  He loves cars and motorbikes and does a great fire engine impression!

Austin turns 2!!

Today was Austin’s birthday and he woke up stupidly early at 5.30am…but when I went in he was covered in sick!!  Great start to his day…

I kept cleaning him up and dressing him ready to some photos of him opening his present’s but each time I thought he was ok and we could go and open them he was sick!!  Eventually it seemed to pass and he got to open them…..

we’d got him a balance bike and he seemed very impressed with that!  I had let Noah and Caitlin choose their own present’s for him and Noah got him some toy motorbikes and Caitlin picked plasticine.

He also got a big jet car which he loved and some clothes and other bits and bobs.

We stayed in for the rest of the day and he seemed much better so we decided to brave mini club.  I made him a car cake but totally forgot to take a photo of it!  We’d been there for a few hours and he still seemed absolutely fine…..

…and then was sick again!!!!!!!!!  So we made a hasty exit!!

Out to play

We always meet up with a couple of friends on a Tuesday (and sometimes a Monday) and we usually go to a toddler group, because it was almost Austin’s birthday we went to a soft play and stayed for lunch for a change.  He got a drill as one of his presents which he completely fell in love with!

He carried it around with him almost the whole time!  We also let them have a go on the go-karts which Austin loved…

 

The funny things they say….

I always mean to record the funny things they say but always forget…..

Over the weekend Noah has been saying when he grows up he is going to fit more exhausts to Elvis to make him faster than Jap Taxi (the cheek!!) but I’ll have to wait for him to be a grown up!!!

When ever we mention gardening we say how Nan is a good gardener (and used to do it professionally!)….again over the weekend Caitlin said “when Nan grows up is she going to be a gardener?”….errrm Nan already is a gardener…and she’s already grown up!

This morning Caitlin asked what happens to your car when you die!  So I told her that people could either sell it or if there was someone who really liked your car you could give it to them.  She then said she was going to have a pink mini when she grows up and when she dies she is going to give it to Cath!!  Noah then said he was going to give his car to his friend at school because he loves cars!!!!

London to Brighton

This weekend was the London to Brighton mini run.  Since we were down south we decided to call in and see Richards Grandma since she’s never met Austin.  Richard had called her on the Friday but she couldn’t hear him so we just had to hope she’d remember us and be ok with us visiting.  As soon as she spotted me she said “long time no see…the one with the car”…so she obviously remembered me!  She is now 93 and her memory isn’t as good as it was, she seemed really well though….doing brilliantly for her age!  She still lives alone in a normal bungalow and just has a home help call in, her hot meals delivered and has an alarm fob.

She loved Caitlin’s hair and said her mum would have loved it as hers was curly.  She let the kids play with her dominos which she thinks are about 100 years old!!!!

After we’d stayed just over an hour she seemed to be getting a bit tired so we set off for our B&B which we’d booked nearby.  Strangely the owner of the B&B had a mini!!  In the morning we headed off to Brighton for the mini show.

There were reportedly 3,500 minis on the run….

Austin seemed especially excited at seeing the minis and spent the first half an hour shouting mimi at every mini that passed!!!

Caitlin was on the look out for all of the pink ones and wanted her photo taken with them all….

….

…and was even more excited when she found a pink and a purple mini together!!!!!!

We even got to see some famous people….Ed China (from wheeler dealers) and Paddy Hopkirk (famous mini racer) who were driving a mini turned into a sofa around….

…it’s really cool, it has a pizza for a steering wheel!!

There was also a cool Spongebob squarepants mini…

and a not so cool….thing that claims to be a mini but is about twice the size…nothing mini about this mini!!

But a cool mini towing a tiny mini….

We thought they would all fall straight to sleep in the journey home but Austin managed to stay awake pretty much until 10pm when we got home!!!!!!!!!!

Find the gnome…

For the past couple of weeks Caitlin and Noah have been playing the find the gnome game with our neighbours!  Years ago our neighbours started a game with a friends kids where they would hide their gnome in the garden and the kids would find it and hide it somewhere different.  When the weather became nice a few weeks ago they started the same game with Caitlin and Noah!  They usually play a couple of rounds if we bump into them on our way out, and then we (or they) go out and the people left hide it again ready for the returning party!!

On Sunday G & N were on their way out so Caitlin and Noah hid the gnome and G & N said they would look for it when they got back in about 15 minutes.  At bedtime Noah insisted on going back out to check if they had found it and hide it again!!!

They love playing this game!

In that first photo you can see how clear our front garden is looking!  Nan transformed it while she was up…now we just need to plant our new plants out there.  In fact I need a gardening update!  We have a tiny veg patch in the back garden and lots of seedlings ready to get planted out in it.  The 2nd photo is our neighbours lovely established garden!