Happy 2nd Birthday Ben

Ben had a lovely birthday party on Saturday with his family. The weather a bit stop-start but we managed to get out to play in the garden for a bit and even enjoyed a rather energetic game of football.

He got lots of lovely presents, including a toy "henry" hoover which he didn't stop playing with for about 5 hours! - he even insisted on taking it up to bed with him.


He also got an electric Lightening McQueen car which lots of family members had put in together to buy and he was very taken with that. I suspect that he would have played out on the driveway for quite some time (as would Amy & Ollie) but it started to rain again so we'll have to save that one for another, brighter, day.

All in all I think he had a lovely time and at the end of the day he nearly had me in tears (I said nearly!) when we got him to say "Ta" to everyone for their presents.

Special Assembly

Yesterday was another special assembly for Amy at her school where all the parents are invited to watch their children.

They told us about what they had been learning about during the school year and showed examples of their artwork.

Then they sung some songs about bending and stretching and using their brains and bodies.

Amy had to stand up and say about eating healthily but she was so quick I almost missed it.

I can't believe the first school year is almost over already. Doesn't time fly eh!

Father's Day 2007

Today was Father's Day and I think Steve enjoyed himself....

He had a little bit of a lay-in this morning but not much as Ben was making too much noise downstairs - followed by lots of presents. We then went to Freeport in Braintree and did a spot of shopping before heading to Frankie & Benny's for lunch (Steve has been wanting to go there for a while).

After lunch we returned home and played in the garden all afternoon with Granny & Grandad who had just returned from a weeks holiday in France.

Amy and Ben had a wonderful time making a trap around their toy bar-be-que to stop the burnt bacon escaping - - - no I don't understand it either but they had fun!

Amy's 1st Sports Day

Forget the hoo-hah over the Olympics logo. Today saw a landmark sporting occasion in the heart of Essex!....... Amy's 1st school sports day.

Steve had arranged to take the afternoon off to attend and lend a supporting hand and voice. Surprisingly for the UK the weather just about held off and the event went ahead as planned.

They did various sporting activities and here are some photo's of the girl in action.

Just like My Little Pony!

Here we go round the maypole!

Look, one-handed!

A Magical Weekend

This weekend was absolutely magical. Steve had managed to get tickets to the opening concert at the new Wembley Stadium and it just happened to be George Michael who I have had a long running affection for!

We decided to make a weekend of it and for the first time in 5 years we chose to leave our kids for an overnight stay. I was a little apprehensive about it (I think because we'd never done it before) but to be honest, Steve and I are so knackered that we really needed a lie-in.

So on Saturday afternoon we travelled up to The Landmark Hotel in Marylebone. I didn't realise but Steve had booked us into a 5-star hotel and the place was magnificent - it was the sort of place that it wouldn't have seemed odd to bump into a movie star at.

Our room was lovely and looked out onto the main centrepiece of the hotel which was a giant glass covered atrium.

The concert was amazing - and his voice is still superb. The stadium was packed and we managed to squeeze ourselves into a spot pretty much where the centre circle would be for a football match. The noise down there was incredible and you really got a feel for what a buzz it must be to play there as a footballer.

The next morning we had a lie-in - bliss!!! and then we went to the hotel's trademark Champagne Brunch (where they pride themselves on never letting your glass go empty)!

We got home about 4pm and spent a lovely afternoon in the sunshine with the kids in the back garden. I think my Mum and Dad were pleased to see us back as the kids had kept them on their toes!!