Happy Birthday to You!

Greg had his birthday treat today with his friend Kate and the clan. They went over to Southampton to see a film about a noodle munching Kung Fu Panda.... Afterwards they had picnic at Mayflower Park and then shared his birthday cake.

Greg's been telling everyone he's met that it's his birthday, including the man on the Hythe Ferry.... So I'm sure you all want to wish him a ...... "H..a..p..p..y B..i..r..t..h..d..a..y to G..r..e..g..o..r..y!!!"

But now it's time for bed and Lewis is going to play him a beautiful rendition on the guitar

Shiver me timbers!

A quick cuddle with Greg tonight at bedtime reminded me that he'd be getting up early in the morning... "Why's that then Greg?" "....Because it's my birthday Dad!"

This photo is not a new image but a nice reminder of Greg at his best; photogenic, feisty and above all fun to be with!

Tomorrow he'll be six years old.

Tonka Toy Boys

It's been a bit gray today but that doesn't stop us having fun - all you need is a few Tonka Toys and a barrow load of sand!

We've also been out with Lewis friend Josh on an impromptu BMX trail across the forest. We managed to find some great trails and everyone came back smiling.

Do you dig it?

Another Olympic standard race track shapes up in readiness for the 2012 preparations. Not sure if our sand pit will be attractive to the world's best athletes but we're going to use it as a test ground for our bid. Lewis is now talking confidently about being part of the British team, so who am I to ask questions?

Massed

A nice summer's day for a change...! We had a nice bike ride down along the coast to Calshot and Lepe, and back via Blackfield. When we were at Ashlett Creek Lewis spotted little fish leaping out of the water, hundreds of them like shooting stars. Then we noticed crabs scuttling across the mudflats, and again there were scores of them, everywhere we looked - the mud was alive!

This afternoon as the tide was up and the water was very inviting, we took the boats down to Calshot and paddled back towards Ashlett. In the saltgrass we saw flocks of Curlew (about 300 in one group) and Oyster Catchers. The wind this afternoon has been quite strong compared to this morning, but it's been warm and sunny.

A good match

It's not every day we have two photos but tonight, one is not enough!

Greg had a football match tonight against a Salisbury team at the playing field. Although they did not win Greg put in a good effort, and did the running! It was also great to be one of the parents cheering on the all the guys, none of the ultra competitiveness you see from time to time at this sort of thing...

Greg enjoyed himself a lot, and beamed as they finished, triumphant. Win, Lose, what's the difference?

Snout in the trough

Found this frame from a few weeks ago as Mippy headed off to feed the chickens and piggies. The boys are still talking about whether they should have helped the piggies to escape, but I'm staying quiet on this one - I don't know if I could cope with any ALF tactics at present.

Lewis has been watching the first episode of the man who cycled the world and he emerged to tell me that he's going to do that when he's older only faster. "I'm going to start training on the weekend...."

Tonight Miranda and Greg have swopped teddies, so not sure if we'll make it through the night without one or other waking and discovering they are without soulmate!

Highly polished

At bedtime I was having a chat with Greg about his day. After all the stuff about playing, and friends coming round for lunch etc he finally managed to squeeze in "...and I did the washing up, after tea"

"Oh that's interesting Greg, had you run out of plates?"

"No it's my one of my duties now..."

The hand we're dealt

Lewis trying to make sense of his hand of cards, hoping it's a winning hand. He likes playing games, it's just that he likes winning more....

Tonight he was in high spirits as he's received some Tour de France cycling gear from the Burke boys, and I think there's a chance he may have work it to bed. That's all I need to make him ride even faster, .... a new team strip.

Still he may have speed, but he doesn't have my stamina ... (yet)!

Scrub a dub tub!

Before you know it the weekend is over, and it's bathtime, hairwash and bedtime. We've had another action packed day today, having cycled from Brockenhurst via Bank to Rhinefield, all fueled by Hampshire pasties... which I have to say are not really as good as Cornish ones. They were OK, but not quite as convincing, I'd say. However the Pain au Raison was exceptionally fine. We found a nice 'table and chairs' in the forest today, in a nice pleasant spot so we'll have to come on this route again.

Like catnip, but more so...

Life settles back into it's little routines. It's le weekend, so we have a bike ride, and footie in the park, some playtime on the swings and slide, and to top it all off we pick blackberries for tea. Our box is rather large but we manage to get a healthy pile. I'm sure the box would have been filled, had it not been for Miranda who prefers to eat them while they are still fresh. ie straight off the bush, or straight out of the box...

She's just as maniacal as last year with regards to blackberries - no quantity seems to satisfy that urge!

Caught in action

Whilst I was waiting for Mippy to do her business in the lavatory, I skipped outside briefly (as there were a few others in attendance too). I just happened to have my camera on my shoulder, and caught Greg peeking at some motorbikes outside.

He loves everything motorbike related...

Famous Four

All they really need is a dog, and they'd be more or less complete. This shot of the happy campers out on a mission describes the fun of hangingout with your peers, at ease with the world.

It reminds me of a few pictures I took years ago of Greg and Lewis as they walked along in the forest, chatting idly

Cornish Pasty

Freshly back from our camping hols near Falmouth, tonight we’re going to post a few pictures from our adventures. I think we’ve been very lucky because everyone seems to have had really bad weather, but we managed to have a great time despite having just a few showers (!)

We set off bright and breezy and found a great campsite on the Restronguet Creek, by early afternoon we’d cycled around the area and stopped off for our first beer, and we knew we were on the right track for a great holiday.

We’ve managed to do everything we love doing, although next time we come we’ll definitely bring the kayaks. We cycled most days, including one day coast to Coast across the tin trail leading from Devoran to Portreath, …..and back! 22 miles off road is not bad for a 5 year old….!

It’s a fab location, and we’ve visited some idyllic Cornish villages and coves. We have surfed and swam in the sea, we’ve paddled in the rock pools and walked the coastal path.

We were also very lucky to make friends on the campsite with James and Sam, and their three kids Beth, Eleanor and Rachael who proved to be inseparable from our clan. It’s great to meet people who share the same passion for the stuff we like to do. Naturally the kids did not want to part, but after a week of gymnastics (…thanks for the lessons guys), and boat rides up the creek, and all sorts of fun and games, it was soon time to say cheerio!

Roll up and shine...

We just got back home from our Summer Holiday to Cornwall, so here's a little vignette from the campsite. The story concerns some enterprising kids who have set up a stall to manufacture and sell their own brand of fizzy drinks, and here they are just getting the stall ready.

About an hour later we were amazed to hear them charging back to the tent to tell us that they had sold their first bottle!

We had a fab time on our hols, but are very tired as today we cycled the Camel Trail before heading for home - the trail is an old railway line that skirts the Camel estuary from Bodmin to Padstow.

Holiday log will have to wait until tomorrow....