Monday, December 29, 2008

Christmas 2008

Hi Guys. I thought I'd better get the Christmas news up to date before we start on the New Year Celebrations so here goes...


Christmas Day
We had a relatively quiet start in the Clarke household as we weren't off to my Mum's in the morning. She thought it would be easier to leave all the present stuff until Boxing Day and it was but it did feel odd not seeing my Mum & Dad on Christmas day.

The kids opened their gifts from Father Christmas who brought Amy a Build A Bear Elephant (as requested) and Ben a Winnie the Pooh Super Sleuth Changing Tree (see your none the wiser are you!)

Then we opened our presents to each other which included a Slow Cooker for Steve, a Radley handbag for me and an Air Hockey table in the playroom for the kids.

We headed off to Granny & Grandads for about 11.30 and things got a bit hectic from there. There were quite a few of us for Christmas dinner but Brenda did a brilliant job and the lunch was excellent.

There was lots more present unwrapping but Ben decided that he didn't need anymore presents when he got to the Henry hoover that Grandma had brought him.

The day went so fast it was bedtime before I knew where I was and I don't seem to have taken any photos of the actual day so I'm hoping that Brenda has got some on her camera.


Boxing Day
Ben awoke around 7am and his first words were "Hello Mummy. Where my hoover?!". We had breakfast with Brenda & John, Kirstie & the kids and then left for our next stop.


A brief call in at home to feed the rabbits and collect some presents and we were off to my Mums.



The kids had a great time playing with some of their new toys & dressing up in Nanna's clothes and then Brenda & John joined us in the evening for anther good spread.



27th & 28th December
We got home on the morning of the 27th and set about finding room for the lovely gifts we had received. Several hours later we had rediscovered our house and everything was back neat & tidy. We had planned on some family time at home over these two days but sadly we notices that Snowy was looking a little bit poorly so off we trotted to the vets to get her checked out.

She had a nasty case of ear mites which turned out to require some fairly expensive treatment and we had to go back again on the 28th with Fudgecake to make sure she wasn't poorly as well (she wasn't).

We did have lots of fun in the playroom on the 28th though making a big mess and playing on the air hockey table.

So now we are looking forward to New Year at Butlins with Paula & Gav. I had such a good time last year I hope it will match up to my expectations. I'll let you know and until then Have A Happy New Year.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Parties 2008

Sorry I'm a little bit behind and have a little bit of catching up to do as I'm a couple of weekends behind now.

On the 14th December we had our annual pre-Christmas family do at Brenda's where the kids get some presents that would be largely useless on the big day - Christmas crafts, Xmas socks etc and we all have a nice dinner & get together.

Then on 21st we had our other annual get together with our old friends. This year we went to the Regiment Way golf club and had a very good time at their dinner & disco evening. Afterwards some of the guys came back to our house and we partied til about 3am (the kids were sleeping at my Mums!).


I regretted it the next morning though as we were off to watch Ollie in the church nativity play and I didn't really fancy church with a hangover & not much sleep!! He was very good though. Then in the afternoon we went to Frankie & Bennys with Dave & Kellie and their three little-uns for our annual catch-up.

So how come I'm on here at 9am in the morning - why am I not chasing around after Ben & Amy trying to calm them down with only 2 sleeps to go??? - Cos they're not here. I haven't sold them on eBay - they're at Brenda's as they all went to the Zoo yesterday and it was a bit of a late return so they stayed over. I suppose I'd better get ready to go and get them!

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Lapland

It's been a busy old Sunday. We are just returned from a visit to Lapland UK and before you all panic not the dodgy one in Dorset with the swearing elves!

This was Lapland UK in Kent and were all had a very magical day...

We started by walking down a woodland tunnel strung with fairy lights before emerging on the other side to a landscape of snowy white Christmas trees.

Our first stop was to the rocking horse toy factory complete with a little elf sized entrance for the kids to go through, where we had a go a making a rocking horse.

Then we moved on the Mother Christmas' gingerbread house where the kids got to decorate (and of course eat) gingerbread men.

After that it was time for some tea and a little look around Lapland village - saying hello to the reindeer (real and not so) and the husky dogs.

And after that it was a visit to see the big man himself - Amy was completely amazed that he knew everything about them but I guess that's just because he's magic.

Finally we had a little turn about the ice-rink. Ben and I managed about 5 wobbly steps before he announced "my no like it" and I gratefully returned with him to a non-slip surface.

It was a wonderful, magical day and such a great age to have been able to do it with them!

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Future Cheer 2008

It was our first Future Cheer competition this weekend - and this one was being hosted in Brentwood, which was mighty handy.

As it was a local competition Auntie Ally came with us. She wasn't too sure what to expect as it's not very easy to describe the spectacle that awaits but she thoroughly enjoyed herself and got really into it.

Amy & Ben loved it as always. Amy did really well and is coming along marvellously. The DC49 seniors & the Boswell's squad were amazing, as always, the only way I can describe it like watching human fireworks going off but you really have to see them to believe it.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Famous Faces

Its been a hectic weekend but lets rewind a bit...

Ages ago I did a telephone interview for Chat Magazine to try and help promote Moebius and the research trust and it was published on Wednesday.

It wasn't too bad - I'm mean it's not The Time supplement but if I help raise awareness then it was worth doing. The article can be found here if anyone fancies a read.

So that's Ben's 15 minutes of fame done with!

This weekend we had the Tillings over to stay. We had a lovely time on Saturday afternoon and all walked down to Moulsham Street to watch the Christmas lights switch on and Santa parade past.

Then today we went up to London to Madam Tussauds. Amy and Ben love it there and never seem to tire of it but it was Evie & Morgan's first time.

The highlight of the day for our two was Troy Bolton! I think they could have stayed in that bit dancing and singing for quite some time!

We're back home now and I for one am pooped!
we saw an article on Ben published in Chat Magazine

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Where Have We Been?!

Sorry I've been absent for a little while we've been a bit busy and I've not posted about some of our recent family outings. So....

A couple of weekends back we took a family trip to Chessington. We stayed in the lovely Holiday Inn on the site again and we all had a great time.





Ben especially liked pretending to be a Vampire!!


Last weekend was the family pilgrimage to Blackpool to watch then play Ipswich and, sadly, for the first time in about 7 years Dad saw his beloved Blackpool lose.

The kids, mum & I had great fun at the Sealife Centre and we then took in Coral Island Amusement arcade - we had so much fun we we're late getting back to the others (and we had the car keys!).

Next year we're gonna try and go by train as Ben really doesn't take too well to being strapped into his car seat for over 3 hours!

The kids let of some steam when they go home though and rampaged around the bedrooms dressed as princesses! (yes both of them).

Then on Monday it was Mum's birthday so we went out to the Harvester for a little bite to eat. She's now the proud owner of a lovely bright purple iPod - I wonder if she's managed to get it working yet?

Then yesterday Ben had a development assessment, he's behind in speech as we know but is also a little behind in his general development as well which might explain so of his more manic behaviours! Of course, it could just be that he's a crazy old loon!

Anyway, that just about brings us up to date phew!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Birthdays & Sleepovers

I've got a bit of catching up to do again as I haven't posted for a while so I'll do brief summary of last weekend and this one just gone.

Last weekend we helped Eric celebrate his 60th Birthday with a dinner & dance at The Chichester. Steve & I and Gav & Paula had decided to stay the night to ensure a proper night's sleep and it was a brilliant idea. We had a great night and didn't care in the slightest that is was nearly 2am when we got to bed.


So onto this weekend. We had our first sleepover with Ollie & Molly this weekend and not to do things by halves we had them from 11am on Sat til about 3pm on Sunday. I didn't think that was a challenge enough so we were also looking after the nursery hamster for the weekend too!

The kids had a great time together and on Saturday we went to Apple Day at Lathcoates Farm. There were donkey rides and lots of animals to look at.

Then today we went to Old MacDonalds Farm Park. It was a little chilly but the kids didn't seem to feel it and spent quite a few hours feeding the animals and playing on the bouncy castles & slides.

We'll have to make sure it's not such a long time til the next one.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Molly, Snowy & Fudgecake!

I'm falling behind again and trying to catch up!

We need to introduce you all to Snowy & Fudgecake - our new bunny rabbits. We brought them home on Saturday morning and they are lovely, dear, sweet, little things. Snowy (as you've probably guessed already) is white and Fudgecake is black.

They are both 12 weeks old and have settled in well and seem to be enjoying their new surroundings.


On Saturday afternoon we all went to Molly's 3rd birthday party. There were lots of children there to help her celebrate and everyone had a lovely time playing in the garden (the weather is always nice on Molly's birthday).


On Saturday night Amy had Ellie from down the road over for a sleepover and made good use of her new bed!


Then on Sunday we made good use of possibly the last sunny day of the year and had an impromptu bar-be-que with two of the neighbours whilst the kids had great fun playing in the sunshine.

In other news, Steve starts his new contract with Hendersons tomorrow (his contract with BNP having come to an end - that's the Parisian bank not some heinous fascist group!) so good luck for tomorrow

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Amy's New Bed


Just a quick post regarding Amy's new sleeping quarters. Her new and very purple bed arrived yesterday and by bedtime she was all tucked up nice and snug - high up in the air!!

It's a lovely high sleeper thingy with a desk & futon chair underneath - so perfect for homework & sleepovers - in fact Ellie down the road will be christening the futon chair on Saturday night.

I think she found the height a bit daunting at first but she was very excited too!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Bikes & Birthdays

Important news in the Clarke Household!!! Amy can now ride a bike without stablisers!!!

I know this might not seem like such an amazing event for a 6 year old but we honestly thought she was gonna be one of those kids who never seemed to master it.


We were playing out the front with the other kids in the street and Ellie down the road lent Amy her old bike to try (Amy had outgrown hers but we hadn't got around to replacing it). Only problem was Ellie's old bike didn't have stablisers. There I was contemplating a trip to Halfords when suddenly she was off!




Today was Grandad John's 65th birthday and we have a little family gathering round our house. John spent most of the day in the garden asleep which is the way he likes to pass his freetime and the kids had a good time all playing together.




Only a slightly more sombre note; our pet rabbit Billy died overnight on 20th September. Amy was devastated at first but seems to be ok now and Ben hasn't got a clue bless and thinks Billy's on holiday. Rest in peace little bunny.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Granny's 60th - Part Two

Well yesterday was Brenda's actual birthday and she had quite a good time by all accounts.







After school the four grandchildren went round for tea, some present unwrapping and a large portion of birthday cake.




Then in the evening she treated her family members to dinner at Glades - it was nice to see Ces & John, Chris & John & Pat as well as Kirstie & Phil.





There were more presents and another birthday cake - courtesy of Chris - which was very spectacular.


Kirstie had the star present (in my humble opinion) as she has lovingly put together a scrapbook of photo memories from over the years which was a lovely gift.


Happy 60th Brenda!!

Monday, September 08, 2008

Granny's 60th - Part One

Brenda is 60 on the 9th September so she is doing a fair bit of celebrating which is only right!

So this weekend she took us all away for the weekend to Great Yarmouth (well Scratby to be precise). There was, Brenda, Steve, Me & our two plus Kirstie, Phil, Ollie & Molly. Oh and John of course!

We were staying in a little holiday camp called Summerfields and our little chalets were perfect and all in a row. Ben and Molly couldn't believe their luck at being so close together and we all had great fun popping round each others "houses".

So what did we get up to?...


Friday 5th
Well we arrived on Friday evening and after a very, very quick unpack it was off to the kids disco. All the kids had a great time dancing & playing party games as well as having a go in the soft play area.





Straight after the disco it was quick costume change and then downstairs to the main bar area for the kids fancy dress competition. Amy was in 7th heaven as the judge of the competition was Elle the Elephant - her face was an absolute picture.

We stayed in the bar that night for the show which was a really good tribute band. Unfortunately Ben passed out about 9ish but Amy managed to keep going until about 10pm and then we all headed for bed, leaving Kirstie, Brenda & John to enjoy the 2nd act.

Saturday 6th
On Saturday morning Brenda did us all a lovely spread for breakfast - including Bacon, sausage, eggs & beans which was no mean feat for all those mouths in a tiny little kitchen. After breakfast, the kids had great fun playing in the outdoor playground zooming down the slide and generally having a blast.

Then we headed to the seafront for a Maritime exhibition which just happened to be on that weekend in Yarmouth. The kids had great fun looking at the ships and they all made a little glitter covered crab to take home. Amy had great time meeting Beach Bunny (the mascot from the local radio station) and the highlight of the trip for me was when she pounced on him from out of his field of vision and completely took him out!

Ben & Ollie had fun playing on the Navy recruitment stand - honestly that's a lolly not a fag in his mouth I promise!!

Unfortunately, the weather then turned a bit grim on us so we headed back for lunch and then a lovely swim in the pool.



That evening it was party games (again with Elle) and we all had fun doing the hokey cokey!! The entertainment that evening was an adult magicians act which was a bit over the heads of the kids (thankfully!) but the adults enjoyed it.






Sunday 7th

Brenda did us another lovely spread for breakfast and we enjoyed a game of crazy golf and another swim before having Sunday lunch. The afternoon was spent in the soft play area and playing in the grassed area outside out chalets.

We left about 6pm with Kirstie & Phil not far behind and both girls putting on a good display of their displeasure at leaving!!

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Tussauds On Tour

This could be a bit of a mammoth post but it'll be worth it.

We have just returned from a week's holiday and we didn't even leave home soil. We have family annual passes for the Tussauds group so we thought we would spend a week touring round the places it lets us into free of charge!

Saturday 2nd August
We headed off in the morning destined for Chessington World of Adventures. We'd all been here before so there we no surprises and we knew we'd enjoy it.

The kids had a great time on the rides and they have a new Sealife Centre there which they really liked. We had decided to stay at the various locations on our tour at Holiday Inns (no expense spared eh!) and the one at Chessington is actually on the grounds which was brilliant. They even had characters from the park at the hotel during breakfast - very Disneyesque!

Sunday 3rd August
This was another day at Chessington and much fun was had by all. it turns out that Ben is a bit of a daredevil and would ride anything that height regulations permitted. Even the Runaway Mine Train for which he could barely see over the safety bar!!




Monday 4th August
We headed off for the next stop in our Tour - Legoland. The kids really enjoyed this one and so did we - but my goodness it's hilly and the queues were horrendous - still we had a very good time and Amy & Ben managed to both pass their driving tests!







Tuesday 5th August
We got wise today on our 2nd day at Legoland and discovered something called Q-Bot - it's Legolands version of Fastpass and it works very well. We managed to get a lot more rides done with our Q-Bot doing all the hard queuing for us.



Wednesday 6th August
We left our dwellings near Heathrow and headed to our next destination Warwick Castle. If I'm honest everyone was feeling a bit whacked by now and the long walk from the car park to the Castle (uphill) seemed to pretty much do everyone in so we left shortly after lunchtime and headed into nearby Stratford-upon-Avon.

This is one of my favourite places in the world and we took the kids to see Shakespeare's Birthplace (just from the outside) and had great fun in the gift shop.





Thursday 7th August
After a one night stop in Warwick we headed onto our last destination - Alton Towers. It had been a bit harder to find a Holiday Inn close by as Alton Towers is in a village location but we found a nice on in Stoke on Trent.

Friday 8th August
We all really loved Alton Towers and did much the same stuff on both days - although Steve did buy a fastpass for the big thrill rides on the 2nd day so he could do then without us having to wait around for him all the time.

We all did the rapids and a new ride called Battle Galleons where you get completely soaked (I mean that!) and Ben did another Runaway Mine Train - twice!

Saturday 9th August
Our final day so we packed up and headed back home. We had toyed with the idea of going back to Alton Towers for the day and travelling home in the evening but our luck with the weather ran out and it was pouring with rain when we woke up so we decided to come straight home.

Ben got a bit bored in the car on the way back and decided a bit of artwork would keep him amused!

We all had a really good time and are already planning another tour next year. I dread to think what rides Ben will go on when he gets a bit bigger though!

Click here for More Photos



Monday, July 28, 2008

Go Amy! Go Amy!


Last weekend was our first ever British Cheerleading Association Championship which was held up in Telford. Neither Steve nor I were sure of what to expect apart from the fact that both of us were fully prepared for Amy to get stage fright at the last moment.


We are very pleased to say that we were completely wrong. To say the girl has been bitten by the cheerleading bug is an understatement. She had an absolute blast.



The competition was over 2 days with the groups repeating their performance on both days and an aggregate score being calculated.


Amy's group came 3rd out of their age range and her squad, DC49, won lots of trophies over a range of age categories including a couple of 1st places!!




She now wants to attend the DC49 summer cheer camp at the end of August so we are just checking out availability and to go to the extra after school practice sessions on a Thursday night when they start up again in September.


Steve and I were immensely proud watching her and the whole of the DC 49 squad - it looked like very hard work.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Ben the Radio Star

For those of you who haven't heard it already I thought I should do a post about Ben's stint on Local Radio.

We managed to get an interview on BBC Essex to talk about The Moebius Research Trust and their major fundraiser - www.kiltsacrossamerica.co.uk

Ben was very much in awe of his surroundings but did start to come out of his shell towards the end and even managed a sweet little goodbye at the end.

Lets hope it works and we help raise some awareness & cash. We did a boot sale over the weekend with the proceeds going to the trust and managed a nice figure of £165 which is a good start and we should have enough stuff to do another one in a few weeks.

Here's an audio clip of the interview:


Monday, July 07, 2008

Go Lewis!!

Well this weekend was something special. Steve & Daniel had purchased themselves tickets to the British Grand Prix and I had once again managed to wrangle a corporate ticket to the event so we made a weekend of it.

We travelled to Milton Keynes on the Saturday morning and Steve & Daniel went skiing in the snowdome whilst I hit The Centre (MK's Lakeside). We both had a great time in our differing locations and after a lovely dinner in Loch Fyne we settled down for the night in our room at the Holiday Inn.

On Sunday morning we met up with two of my work colleagues and all set off to Silverstone. It's a fairly impressive site as you walk towards it - with the drone of the helicopters getting louder all the while.

We split up at the gates as Steve & Daniel were seated in Woodcotes and myself, Vin & Erick were going into Club Silverstone (our location might have been more prestigious but I think Ste & Dan had a better view of the race).

The race itself was electric and that's from someone who doesn't even get motor-racing. I think all the rain made it much more exciting.

In case you missed the results - Lewis Hamilton won - his first ever British Grand Prix with over 60 seconds lead between him and the 2nd place car. That's some driving!

It was a brilliant day out all round - same time, same place next year boys??!


Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Ben's 3rd Birthday Party


Now the English language is a funny thing could that title means two things and in this case they're both correct. It was Ben's 3rd party to celebrate his 3rd birthday!!

On Sunday Nanna, Grandad, Ally, Bea & Ann came over to help Ben celebrate his birthday bringing with them lots of lovely presents.

It was lovely to see Mum up and about again - albeit very gingerly (she's been in hospital which I may have forgotten to mention with a gammy leg).


The kids had a lovely time playing in the garden and for some reason they asked to be shut in Billy's (the rabbit) run! You can see The Sun headline now "Children Locked in Cage!"

Crazy kids! Anyway, Happy Birthday little man.

P.S. Just another quick update on some Ben related things which I may have forgotten to post - Ben went to Moorfields Eye Hospital the other week and we are now awaiting the arrival of some lovely little glasses for him. They will have photo chromatic lenses so that should hopefully help him a little bit when the sun shines - assuming we can persuade him to wear them of course!

Also yesterday he had his first appointment with his new speech therapist (he'd been transferred by the other one). She seemed very nice and felt his speech to only be about 6 months behind the average which was encouraging. We have to do exercises where he sticks out his tongue - he really enjoys those!!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

OK Try And Keep Up Now

It's been a bit of a busy few days for us so I'll try and bring you up to speed.


On Sunday 21st we had a little birthday party for Ben. We are doing Ben's parties in two halves - one with Steve's family and another with mine. Not cos they don't get on mind you, they get on like the proverbial house fire but my Mum has been in hospital and would not be released in time for the planned do.



So on the 21st we had Granny, Grandad, Kirstie, Phil, Ollie & Molly over and the kids had a lovely time playing in the garden. Ben had his first batch of presents and was very impressed with all of them. It turns out that Ben rather likes dinosaurs!!




On Wednesday 25th it was Ben's actual birthday and being a Wednesday we went to Wednesday Club at Kirstie's and had a party there too. There was a lovely pirate ship cake which one of the Wednesday Club mums had made and even more presents.












Keeping with the Birthday theme last night Steve, Alison and I went to see Bon Jovi in concert at Twickenham Stadium. This was our birthday present to Alison and we all stayed over in London as it was quite a late one. The concert was brilliant but the average age of the fan base has definitely increased as they have gotten older too.


Today we spent the afternoon with the kids at the school's Inflatable Fun Day. It was very good fun and Ben is completely and utterly fearless!!










Then this evening I went out with Paula to enjoy my birthday treat from the Tillings - a night at the theatre to see Potted Potter - All 7 books in 70 minutes. It was laugh out loud funny and very clever.

So tomorrow will be the 3rd and final birthday for Ben. That's one for each year. I hope he doesn't expect the same treatment each year!!!