Christmas 2009

Just got back from a wonderful few days in Hook. Santa did us all proud, as did Mike with some fabulous catering.

Grandad seems to be reverting to childhood - joining in with the horseplay now rather than trying to put a stop to it! Whatever next.

Christmas comes early

Grannykim and Grandad called in on Sunday on their way to Ragdale Hall for a few days relaxation and pampering. We also had Grandma Margaret over for a Christmas dinner rehearsal. OK, so it was roast pork rather than turkey, but we had bubbly!

Later on we had more snow (fortunately after Ma and Pa had arrived at Ragdale), so a good excuse for a bit of exercise throwing snow balls. Most of the kids in the street were involved at some point.

Snow!

It snowed on and off all day yesterday. Fortunately the boys had a half day, so they were back in Melton before it started getting dicey on the roads (and icy).

This is what it was like this morning when we ventured out into town.

Felt quite Christmassy - particularly when we came across this little chap in the churchyard:

Christmas Trees in the Church

It's that time of year again when Elaine and a few hundred other people try to get creative with Christmas trees. The annual Christmas Trees in the Church event.

This year, the theme was the X Factor, as in the Church Street Practice has the X Factor!

Florida

We got back yesterday morning from two weeks in Orlando - we left behind temperatures of 34⁰C and arrived to rain and cold! As you can see from the photos we packed in most of the parks. Our favourite was Discovery Cove, where we got in the water to play with dolphins and where we snorkelled over a manmade coral reef, complete with mantas, barracuda and sharks (OK, the last two were partioned off, but we didn't realise that until we got really close!)

While we were there Matt, Cleo and George came to stay for a couple of days (down from North Carolina). It was George's first birthday a few days before they came, so we enjoyed watching him opening our presents. He was definitely a big hit!

Judo Champs

Luke, Joe and I spent the day at a Judo club in Kettering yesterday while Elaine was learning how to cope with administering first aid to violent people! It was a huge judo competition with at least three clubs there. Both boys did very well, coming away with bronze medals having won one out of three fights.

Joe won his on points. Here is a clip showing how he nearly came a cropper when his opponent tried to do what Mike and I would call "mosquitos" but then came back to win a "Yoko":


Luke had a tough time in his last bout (the one he won). After the two minutes allotted there was no score so they had to go straight into a second bout where the first one to score a point wins. After a lot more stuggling Luke finally managed to throw the other guy to win! I then had to administer first aid as he had over-stretched a bit - feet in the air, lots of water, that sort of thing! Nice to see him trying hard! Unfortunately I had to switch to my mobile phone as my camera ran out of memory (he took so long) and I am having probs getting the video off my phone. To follow, I hope.

Wicksteed Park

Today, we took probably our last ever trip to Wicksteed Park near Kettering. Probably the last because the boys are getting a bit old for it now. Still we had a good day - managed a picnic, even though the weather was a bit grey (no rain today though). Our friend Patsy joined us at lunchtime with Joe's pal, Alex and we all ended up thoroughly exhausted!

Geocaching in the rain!

The forecast was cloudy but dry this afternoon. Yeah, right! Fortunately we had the presence of mind to take unbrellas with us when we set out from the car park at Bradgate Park this afternoon on the trail of 3 geocaches. It was a bit drizzly all the way round, then it suddenly got pretty heavy after we found the last one - soggy jeans until we got home!

Pair of Schoolboys

All set for the new term, with Joe now joining Luke at "big school" (not allowed to call it that anymore though - it is just "school" now!)

Joe starts next Thursday but Luke gets one extra day's holiday. It's such a big school that they have staggered starts!

17 Miles by Bike!

We headed off to Rutland Water mid morning to tackle the circuit of the lake. It was lovely and sunny and not too warm - perfect conditions really. We decided against doing the peninsula as well (which would have added 6 miles to the total) so just settled for the 17 mile route!

We had a few breaks on the way round - first at the Horse and Jockey at Manton, where we had a bit of refreshment. The only problem with stopping there when taking an anticlockwise route is that you leave the pub going uphill and I suffered from beer legs (I only had a pint!)

We stopped a bit later on at a lovely spot overlooking the lake for a picnic.

Here is one of the last stretches, across the dam:

Bristol Balloon Festival

We Spent the weekend in Bristol with Mum and Dad and came home without Luke and Joe. That was deliberate - they are spending the week there along with Freddie and Katie.

On Saturday we had a treasure hunt, courtesy of Grannykim, with fab prizes along the way, including Luke's birthday present of a wonderful guitar. Later on we went to Ashton Court for the balloon festival and arrived just as the Red Arrows started their display. It was a bit noisy and busy but we found a nice quite spot (the car park) for our picnic, where we could watch the balloons as they came over our heads.

Here are a few more pics.

Luke's birthday & cousins' visit

Yesterday Luke become a teenager - no tantrums so far but they are clearly brewing just below the surface!

Mike, Freddie and Katie came up on Saturday and we all spent the day at Drayton Manor and got thoroughly terrified on all the big rides. Mike went home from there but Freddie and Katie have come home with us for a few days.

We were late back yesterday, so just had time for a bit of birthday cake and to get the new Wii set up (early Christmas present for Luke and Joe!)

Today we went to Wistow Maze. We managed to do the whole thing and still have energy left over for space hopping, etc.



Here are a pretty mixed bag of photos

Babies!

Early this morning Penny gave birth to three little bundles of joy. So Lisa is a grandmother and she is not even 2 years' old!

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The Dad belongs to Joe's teacher, Jill Mallender, and came to stay with us for a while a couple of months ago and clearly did his duty well.

Swingers

We did a couple of quick geocaches in the Wreake Valley at the weekend while we had a brief dry spell and came across this rope swing. Lots of fun!

Norfolk Broads

Last weekend we picked up this rather fine boat from Wroxham in Norfolk and headed out into the Broads. We weren't really sure what to expect but were amazed at the scenery and wildlife we encountered as we pottered around. We went from deeply wooded rivers with kingfishers flying past the boat, to wide flat marshland with Marsh Harriers, grebes, herons and egrets, to the estuary around Great Yarmouth, where a seal swam by the boat one evening; and finally, a quiet little creek with amazing waterfront properties clustered here and there with long stretches of river in between where we spotted an otter at one point.

The only time we really left the boat for an extended period was when we spent the day at Great Yarmouth - a cross between Weston and Blackpool! The boys braved the North Sea and had quite a good dip in the ocean - it wasn't the sunniest day either! We had fish and chips for lunch and visited the surprisingly good aquarium.

Here are a few more photos.

Graduation Day

Well the official photo looks a lot better but I don't get it for 3 weeks!

Today was the culmination of two and half years studying for the degree of Master of Laws in Law of Employment Relations, to give it its proper title (LL.M. for short). Elaine and Margaret came as my fan club and did a great job. Strawberries and cake at the School of Law after the ceremony and lunch at a pub on the way home rounded it off nicely.

Here's the moment I waited for (don't blink!):

Woodland Avenue Street Party 2009

We had our second annual street party on Sunday and it was a great success. The three-legged race was particulary enjoyable especially as Luke and Joe came from behind to win it!

We had Woodland Avenue has Got Talent with recorder playing from Chloe, violin playing from Shafan and a magic show from Joe and Alex.



Margaret and Sid joined us for most of the afternoon and Sid brough enough sausages and burgers from his favourite butcher to feed the whole street! I was on BBQ duty again, of course.

High School Musical

It was the annual Juke Box Jive evening at St Francis last week and yet again some of the dads used it as an opportunity to dress up and pretend to be teenagers! Our performance of "We'll all in this together" was a big hit.

Birthdays

We have had a weekend of birthdays. Yesterday it was Evie's first (Dean and Louise's little girl). She had loads of lovely presents but she gave the biggest smile when the streamers came out.


Today it was the turn of Margaret and her friend Sid. It was Sid's 75th so he had a big party at this house (well in a marquee in his garden). The Sun shone, there was loads of food and drink, a nice way to spend Father's Day.

Grannykim's Birthday

Grannykim and Grandad came to visit this weekend. Friday evening we went to the wonderful Thai Sabai in town and managed to find enough non-spicy dishes to keep Grannykim happy, and enough coconut rice to keep Elaine happy. There was steamed fish too, so I was in Heaven!

Saturday morning we did our usual judo run with the boys to Oakham and Grannykim and Grandad were able to goggle at their fighting skills - they both did some very good throws. We even managed to pop into Oakham for a mooch and to pick up a last minute pressie in one of its high class charity shops!

We visited a few houses for sale and decided that we all liked the one in Great Dalby. Theringtones had seen it before and only Elaine had liked it that time - I don't know what was different this time but it has definitely grown on us all.

Today we wound off the weekend with a carvery at Eye Kettleby Lakes and a final trip out to Goadby Marwood to view a lovely 18th century cottage that is more than slightly outside our price range (but one can wish)!

Wreake Valley Geocache tour

I was delighted to find that someone had planted a set of new geocaches recently just outside Melton in the Wreake Valley and we decided to go and find them today. They are a series of 8 and take you in a circular tour over 3 or 4 miles, so it was not too much for a hot sunny day like today.

There were loads of other geocachers out and we studiously tried to ignore each other. I guess because they are so new they are popular with people who have done the rest in this area.

We stopped for a picnic next to the River Wreake...

...and found some little friends on the way round...

Water fun!

It was really hot Saturday afternoon, so we a great opportunity to try out the new waterslide. We had some friends round later for a BBQ and we had six kids sliding down it at one point. Needless to say it didn't stay in one piece too long. We are trying to patch it up with plenty of duct tape, but I don't hold out much hope!

Pondlife

Well river life really.

It's amazing what you can find in the little litter-bestrewn river which runs through Melton's country park (up near where we used to live). We took our fishing nets, wellies and a cake box full of water there yesterday for a poke around.

It is the same river that we were exploring on our farm walk at the weekend (the River Eye), so it is hardly surprising that there is some wildlife in there. But we were amazed at just how much:

The big lump in the middle is some sort of clam or mussle shell. This one was empty but we found a live one later about half the size. There are three sorts of fish in the cake box: bullsheads and another type of bottom feeder (I was calling them blinnies but I think I meant blennies, and then I'm not sure); and some smaller ones (minnows, possibly). Loads of snails and cheese-bug type things.

Bank Holiday Farm Walk

This morning we taken on a guided tour of local farmlands by a local farmer, Julia Hawley of Hall Farm. We went with our friends, the Ross' and Billson's, and toured all around the flood plain and the recently built flood defences just outside Melton. On the way we saw some enormous carp in the River Eye, mayflies, banded demoiselles and a vicious looking pike lurking just under the surface.

We also came across some very curious holsteins and Aberdeen Anguses:

The river and one patch of wetland on the farmland have been designated sites of special scientific interest, and the farm received a subsidy for maintaining lots of hedgerows and areas of scrub for wildlife. So we saw plenty of unusual flora and birdlife. We even found a couple of badger toilets!

A Sunny Sunday!

It was like a summer's day today - in Greece! We spent most of it in the garden wishing it was a bit bigger. It was so warm that the guinea pigs asked for a cool off - so we gave them a bath!

Apparently Dubai was even hotter today at 45 degrees according to Mike (who was at Atlantis Water Park on the Palm when he texted!)

Happy Birthday for Joe

It was Joe's birthday yesterday - 11 years old! He had a couple of friends over after school and we all went for a pizza in the evening. Elaine made this cake which went down very well - even after we had stuffed ourselves with pizza!

Joe was very pleased with all his presents. He also received a fair bit of money so is now trying to decide what to spend it on.

Skiing - in May?

Today was Joe' birthday treat - an afternoon skiing. We couldn't afford the private jet to Chamonix, so settled for the Snowdome at Tamworth. Great fun, even though it took 4.5 minutes to get to the top and only 25 seconds to get to the bottom!

It poured with rain all afternoon, so I am glad we went with the first choice and not the second (Alton Towers).

Kenilworth

We had a day out to Kenilworth today and met up with Grannykim and Grandad, who had been staying at Warwick University for a conference. What a wondeful place. We started off at the site of the old Abbey, where we managed to find a couple of tiny geocaches (SIM card cases!) We then headed off for a geocache find in the meadow behind the castle. We are sitting on top of it in the photo above.

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We headed into Old Kenilworth to a very quaint old pub, the Virgins and the Castle for lunch before heading back to the castle in the afternoon. It was very impressive, and so big! We were absolutely worn out after exploring all the ramparts and hidey-holes. It was warm too - so warm that Luke decided to act like a teenage girl (see the photos for an explanation of that one!)

Sherwood Forest

What a day we had today. We started off at Sherwood Forest where the forest rangers had hidden 3 caches, one of which was the biggest ever (see above). The other photo is of the Major Oak which is the biggest, and most famous, of several enormous old oaks dotted around the forest.

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After a picnic amongst the trees, we headed off to Blidworth, where there was a multicache trail to follow out into the countryside. It was one where we had to find clues on the way round in order to get the coordinates for the final cache. Unfortunately we couldn't find one of the caches, so couldn't find the final cache. Still it was a very nice walk.

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We were all thoroughly exhausted when we got back but all in all, a very good day. Here are a few more photos.

St George's Day Parade

This was Joe's first one as a Scout and he looked very smart in his new uniform. He had already achieved 7 badges, so he didn't stand out as a newbie.

See if you can spot him among the ranks:

For Sale

Want to buy a house? These two look quite nice.

Here are the details for our Rented House and these are the ones for our home.

A cup already!

Joe has really taken to judo - he is now a fully signed up member and got his red belt on Saturday (when we got back from judo!)

Each week this cup is awarded to whichever boy or girl deserves it, and Joe got it for the most improved over the week.

Whilst he does enjoy the judo lesson, I think he enjoys the play on the crash mats afterwards, while Luke has his lesson even more! Have a look at this:

If you go down to the woods...

...look out for Effingpots and TheRingtones in the trees!

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We were in Hook for Easter and had a lovely time. The weather was a bit wet but we did manage to get out on Monday to do a squelchy geocache in the woods and then trampolining in the sun before heading home.