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