Cycle slipper

Jim  was hopping around with both his feet stuffed into one of C's fluffy slippers. I told him it was a unislipper, and explained what that meant with reference to unicycles. He came back a little while later and told me he was still wearing his "cycle slipper"...

Canoe bickering

Nice day and no kidz, so we hit the river with Iano after a picnic on Mill green. We got a canoe for a change, and Caroline and I bickered all the way to Grantchester about who was making the thing go in the wrong direction. We'd got it sorted out by the time we came back though...

 

 

 

Lillie's party

Writing this a little late so can't really remember what we did. Jim had Lillie's party in Exning from 11 until 1 so we did that while the girls went to Kung Fu. Jim had a nice time at the party. He's a little shy to start with - there was an (annoying) entertainer who bade them all sit in front of him but Jim didn't want to. He wanted to sit with me at the side and watch from there. One other girl did the same, but he's not an instant joiner-inner like some of the kids. I don't think many of his close friends were there so maybe that's a factor. He warmed up after a while but occasionally complained that he goes to too many parties, so I shall bear that in mind next time one comes up... 

 

Can't remember what else we did. The house is full of hay and Lego though. Oh yes! We went to look at a house on Topcliffe Way [editor's note: we put an offer in and lost later in the week] Minnie liked it, Jim pronounced it "disgusting" before crossing the threshold and Amy said it reminded her of grandma-by-the-sea's house. Not in a good way I suspect.

 

Spendy Saturday

Put the kids to bed last night after a mixed sort of evening. Amy and Jim strangely grumpy - Amy because of tiredness and sats we think, and Jim because of the usual adjustment issues. This morning though everything was fine. A minor fracas over the Playstation was escalated somewhat by Amy but she calmed down, the little ones made cookies and all was well. A bit later we went in to town to get a present for Lillie's party tomorrow and ended up in Clarks buying shoes for all the children. Jim only has one pair of shoes and they are horribly worn. I wanted a pair of "home" shoes for non-school use so had his feet measured by the space-age QinetiQ machine and got him a pair of trainers. On reflection I was rather shocked by the state of his school ones so I got a pair of those as well. G will be pleased of course. Minnie got some trainers as well which were a bit big so she had insoles. Jim wanted "insults" in his shoes too. Got a Harry Potter DVD and came home via the car wash. Lazy rest of the afternoon for the kids while I assembled Amy's new desk and C did the tea, but I managed to catch most of the film. Jim very bouncy, but this could be to do with a big bowl of ice cream with chocolate buttons on top... C out for Giulz's part tonight, me watching Bayern vs Chelsea Champion's League final like a slob.

Warspite wheel

 

M&D 50th anniversary

This was at Moonfleet Manor near Weymouth over the bank holiday. It's a hotel in the Luxury Family Hotels chain. I'd quibble slightly with the luxury tag, just because the rooms were a bit small, but the facilities for kids were brilliant - indoor swimming pool and huge playroom included. Ours loved it. The trouble was, they were all in one room, which was so tremendously exciting for Jim that he didn't go to sleep until about 10 the first evening, after being allowed to stay up late watching Harry Potter. C had gone up relatively early as she was feeling rather coldy, and a little while later I had a request via reception to go upstairs. As soon as I got there they fell asleep, of course.

We went for a big family walk to Abbotsbury the next day, in unaccustomed sunshine and mucho complaining (initially) from Amy and Minnie. However, they settled in to it and all did extremely well - the longest walk they had ever done at about 5 miles. The only problem Jim had was with th very soggy cow field, where he wailed upon getting water in his shoes "but this is mostly COW WEE!" Very welcome pub at the end, then a swim at the hotel. Another nice meal, and children inevitably fell asleep much earlier. They slept until 8!!! Said goodbye to everyone and came home via the FAA museum at Yeovilton. It was good, especially the Ark Royal "carrier experience" but they really need a big carrier and some F35s to talk about.

Was good to be home. At Fleet services we all crammed into a photo booth and took a stupid snap. Felt like a proper family.