School “summer” fair

Today it was the school fair at the little school Austin will go to nursery at.  He got his letter recently to say he had got a place so I thought it would be good for him to go since he hasn’t been for a year.  The weather wasn’t great but Richard was frantically trying to get Alfie back together so we can go away in him next weekend so we left him behind while we went to the fair….

There was loads to do at the fair, it is a tiny school but they have a great fair.  We had given them all £2 to spend…Noah loved taking target practice at one of the Dad’s….

The Dad didn’t manage to save the goal and so he won some sweets!  They did hook a duck and won sweets, guessed where the treasure was in the sandpit and got a sweet for entering, bought a cake, played in the playground and Caitlin decorated a little box to match the one she did last year…

They also had a go on the tombola where Caitlin won a big bag of sweets and Austin won a colouring book.  The teacher in charge of the tombola then made sure Noah won one too and he got a book.  At the end of the fair they reduced the price of the adult tombola so I gave them all some money to see if they could win me and Richard a bottle or 2!!!  Caitlin won some bath salts and Noah won……..I still can not believe that someone donated this to the fair…..

….a “Just Engaged” sign!!!!!!!!!!!!  Even more weirdly Noah loved it and now has it hung on his door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have never ever seen such a bizarre prize at a school event, they did have quite a few odd/rubbish prizes and Noah’s gave them all a good laugh!!  Austin had a great time looking around the school but is still insistent he isn’t going!

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Happy Birthday Richard

It is Richards birthday!!  So yesterday we went to campervan club (that’s not the same ring to it as mini club)

There were some other kids there about the same age as Caitlin and Noah so they were playing together, and they got a go in their truck.  We also discovered they were going to CamperJam..which we will be going to if Alfie is back together!!  Hopefully we’ll bump into them there too although we are in a different section to them.  After the club we went out for tea, but Richard was coming down with a cold so I didn’t take any pictures.

In the morning we gave him our presents and the cards the kids had made.  We got him some cd’s and the lego campervan….

I’ve been told it’s really hard so I’ll post again when it’s built!!!  But first on the priority list is getting our real campervan built!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Belated Jubilee Party

My Mum was desperate to have a Jubilee party for the kids but my Great Aunty broke her hip and had to have a hip replacement so my Mum delayed it until she was a bit better.   There were loads of flags….

….party food and Jubilee themed cakes….

…and a Jubilee cake with candles for them to blow out…

They also played pin the crown on the queen!!  A fantastic idea!!!

Caitlin got it pretty much spot on…as she always does with pin the whatever on the whatever!!  I don’t know how she always gets it right but she does!!  My Mum’s cousin had bought them each a craft kit which they all wanted to make.  Caitlin’s needed a bit more help so she saved hers and helped Austin make his….

By then it was getting quite late so it was time to go home to bed.  They each got a party bag with loads of goodies in and a piece of the cake to take home…not that Austin ate his!!

Bramhall Festival

Noah has been going to football on a Saturday morning for a while and his team were taking part in the Bramhall Festival.  They had to dress in their football kits and walk along in the parade.  It’s a shame they didn’t do something while walking….I’m not sure like what, but the local tennis team had brought a giant net and were passing a tennis ball back and forth across it which looked great and there were a few dance troops dancing along.  Caitlin joined them in her new Brazil kit!!  Her and Noah are going to the Football Olympics to see Brazil so I have got them each a cheap Brazil kit.

After the parade we had a wander around the village, but there wasn’t really a lot going on so we had some do-nuts and then headed home….

…and got changed to go to Nanny’s.

Fathers day weekend

Saturday morning started with the usual trip to football with Noah!  This week he got a medal…..they had all got a medal at the fun day we couldn’t go to so he got his this week.

He was very chuffed with his medal, even though it really annoys me when “everyone” gets a medal…real life doesn’t work like that!  Anyway after football it was straight off to a party for Caitlin….

It was at a soft play so I took all 3 of them…but Austin was sick so I had to take him home!  Luckily Caitlin and Noah got lifts home so they could stay.  After Caitlin’s party was one for Noah….

It was a super hero party but Noah decided to go as a King!!!

The next day, Fathers Day, Austin was still hot and not eating although he had stopped being sick.  They gave Richard his presents and cards…..with Noah being the funniest!  He had decided that the car air freshener he had given last year was worn out so we had been to several shops for him to buy a replacement.  Noah had also made a card at school.  He had come out earlier in the week and said “I have sad news”…..”you can’t tell Daddy”…to which I thought he had been in trouble!  On questioning he said he had made a card for Richard but they had MADE him do a super hero…”but Daddy isn’t a super hero”…ermm true!  I tried to explain that they meant Daddy was his hero…but he was taking it all very literally and was very very insistent Daddy was not a super hero!!  Eventually he accepted that Richard would just like the colouring he had done!

Austin was supposed to be going to a party but we had to cancel…and we had to cancel our Fathers Day meal out which was a shame…so we just had take-away instead!

Watching the football….

Since Noah is really getting into football I said they could watch the football, especially since England were playing and they are who he has decided he is supporting.  We got pizza tea and sat down to watch…only to discover it was delayed by an hour.  So we ate our tea and waited!  Eventually it came on and Noah was mesmerised by it.  Caitlin was completely distracted and a complete girl!  The conversation went like this….

Caitlin – Is that grass real?

Me – Yep…  (Although I later discovered – well my cousin said so and he knows way more than me! – that it was astro turf)

C – How do they get the stripes?

Me – They have a special rotary lawnmower that rolls it one way then they turn around for the next stripe so it’s rolled the other way.

C – Oh.  It’s really pretty isn’t it?

Me – Yes it is.

C – I like it, I wish we had grass like that.

Me – I just wish we had grass and not bald patches….

C – Oh look at his trainers…they’ve got pink bits on!

Me – which trainers?  (I was reading a magazine…well trying)

C – He’s gone now…they were really nice!

She lasted to half time asking all manner of questions!  God help Noah if he continues to like football she’ll drive him mad!  After half time she went to bed and Austin fell asleep on the settee.

Noah loved watching it and watched right to the end…cheering for all the England goals and crying when Sweden scored!!

Manchester Day Parade

Today we went to the Manchester Day Parade.  We went a few years ago and it was great so since we were free we went along.  First of all we called into the shops to look for  Brazil football kit and when we passed Early Learning we spotted a craft activity going on so they each made something.  Caitlin made a crown, Noah a flag and Austin a medal.  We then went to Exchange Square to eat our picnic lunch.  After our picnic we walked down towards the parade and on the way we passed a street entertainer that Noah was very impressed by….

We found a good spot, pretty much where we were last time and sat around waiting for the parade to start.  Once it did there were loads of great groups walking past….

Caitlin and Noah loved them all….

Austin refused to get out of the pram, mind you he is scared of big costumes and there were lots of giant-sized figures walking along.  Once the parade had finished along our bit of road we went for a quick drink where the kids played with their worms that we’d bought for them…

We then wandered over to the after parade party which was hosted by the co-operative

…it was brilliant, there was so much to do for the kids.  Hook a duck with fruit prizes, a digger to play on, an astro turf lawn with croquet and deck chairs, face painting…. Caitlin became a butterfly…

…and Noah a red squirrel…

There was also lots of little food samples…crisps, cake, chocolate, ice-cream….

We had a great time, and yet again it was another very late night by the time we’d stopped off for tea and waited for the train!!  Fortunately they are off tomorrow as well so we’ll have to make tomorrow a nice early night!!!

Finally a day of peace…..followed by another day out.

Finally after not stopping since our holiday we had a few days of no real plans…..which was great as we got to unpack finally, and catch up on the washing!!  On the Thursday Caitlin was invited out for her friend’s birthday which she really enjoyed.

On the Friday we were back out really early again, over to see Nanny and Grandad.  We had a mad action packed day!!  It was pouring with rain but we still headed off into Liverpool.  We went up St John’s Beacon which I have been meaning to take them up for ages.

It would have been better if it had been a nice sunny day, but never mind!  They still loved being able to see right across the city…..

St John’s Beacon is part of the shopping precinct, which now houses Radio City..Liverpool’s radio station.  It’s over 120 metres tall.

After the tower we went to the museum to the planetarium.

I have to say the planetarium was a bit of a let down.  The film was projected up onto the domed ceiling but it had a definite direction and to view it properly we really needed to have been sitting on the opposite side of the circular seating.  After the planetarium we finished off the duck trail that we had started when we went to book our tickets.

We also sponsored a duck in the charity duck race.  They were issuing randomly named ducks to people and  Caitlin got Lucy, Noah got Eddie…which is just bizarre as Eddie and Lucy are really good friends of ours….hopefully that is a lucky omen!!!

Lyme Park

After our late night yesterday it was another early start to go to Lyme Park and meet some friends.  We all took bikes which meant I got to test out my bike rack with 3 bikes on…it worked brilliantly, although it was really distracting every time I looked in my mirrors and saw big objects right at the rear window.  I kept thinking something was about to crash into us!!

Once we got to Lyme Park the kids all set off on their bikes….

When they cycled through the play area we stopped for a play.  There was a massive muddy patch but before I could get to the kids Caitlin was already in it!

Her right foot is completely covered in mud..half way up her shin, there is a shoe under all that mud!!!  Her left foot seems to have escaped the mud but only because when I got to her she had abandoned her left shoe in the middle of the mud!!!  I couldn’t believe it was Caitlin who got stuck in the mud and not Noah, when I got there and asked Noah how he didn’t end up in it he said he had walked around it!!  Wonders will never cease!  While Caitlin got over her mud bath, Noah was playing on the fireman’s pole which is really high!!

After the playground we put the bikes back in the cars and went for a walk up to The Cage.  I thought it was a folly but it turns out it was built for the ladies to watch the hunting from.

It is only open on 13 weekends of the year and on the way into the park there had been a sign saying it was open.  There were some people near to it on the phone complaining to the park wardens that it wasn’t open.  Apparently the sign was wrong and it wasn’t open.  While we were listening in to figure this out the kids had run off down the hill so we sat about and I took some “unaware” photo’s of them…

Just as they arrived back and we were about to go I spotted a National Trust van arriving so we stayed and managed to get a tour of The Cage.  Inside there were some antlers from the deer in the park which they were allowed to hold and look at so I got them to hold them up for some photos…

I would have loved to get a photo of all 3 of them holding them up, but they were really quite heavy and so they wouldn’t have been able to hold them long enough.

In fact Austin could only hold the very small antlers anyway….

After The Cage we went into the gardens and then had an ice-cream before taking a slightly less muddy Caitlin home!!

Caravan banger racing

The day after we got back from holiday we got up quite late and headed straight out to watch the caravan banger racing with some friends.  The weather forecast wasn’t looking good but it turned out to be really good.  We watched the stock cars and banger cars first and saw a few crashes….

…and some spins….

We had a walk through the pits and had a look at the cars.  We also looked for the caravans but could only see 2 which was a bit disappointing.  Once all of the proper races were done they had some banger cars tied together which was quite funny.

Eventually it was the turn of the caravans!  It seemed to take ages for the caravans to be on!  There were 2 caravans being towed by banger cars and 2 other banger cars which were only allowed to crash into the caravans.  It was brilliant, one of the cars drove through the caravan and knocked it off the car that was towing it!!

After the caravans we went for a pub tea as we had no food in!  There was a great play area outside so we stayed for a bit of a play too….

It was gone 9pm by the time we got back….yet another late night!!!