Monday:

Back to school, still buzzing about my party. 

After school dance club eas a real highlight this week, Troublemaker by Olly Murs, one of my real favourites.  Dad reckons it was my standout performance of the term.  

I had my first quad kids session after school.  This is the event with a sprint, 400m, long jump and javelin (nerf bomb).  I was a real sensation with the javelin it has to be said, only being out thrown by one year 6 athlete.  

After all this after school we had to go into town.....

So I could spend my massive haul of Entertainer vouchers on the Lego fire station.....lucky boy or what?

Yeah, until you were walking back to the car and walked straight into a wall!

Grrrrr, I didn't see it until my face smashed into it.  Ouch.

Tuesday:

Netball was cancelled after school due to the rain....rain! So maybe summer is over already?

I had two landmark achievments today.  Firstly I tied a bow in in the drawstring that holds my jogging bottoms up.  Thats not even an east peasy shoe lace....Mum says I can have some cool new shoes with laces now.  Secondly, at gymnastics I managed a forward roll on the beam, completely unassisted .  I've also been put up a group to be with the year 2 age kids, so I must be doing okay I suppose.

We were a bit on the tired and irritable side so got packed off to bed as soon as we'd finished tea.

I didn't mind.

I flipping did, I kicked up a bit, but soon fell asleep, kind of proving the boring old grown ups right I suppose.....

Wednesday:

Our early night did us good, i was up bright and early and got my fire station finished, i was well pleased.  It was school trip day as well, this time the Ashmolean museum in Oxford to tie in with our current theme of the ancient Greeks.  It was really good, except we weren't allowed in the war section as our adult claimed she was a pacifist!  I thought this was a bit odd and a real shame.  It was a cool day out though, we even went on a bendy bus. Team Kennet went well again this week, at least it didn't rain!
Thursday:
I recieved a number of reports of my apparent good behaviour during the museum trip, that was nice.
It's not just Ned either, I got another shell for good work at school as well (literacy this time).  I've not quite reached my landmark 20 yet, they seem to be getting a little harder to come by these days you know.  I finally gave out my birthday party invitiations as well....how exciting.
Once I was home from dancing I spent the remainder of my afternoon drawing Greek soldiers.  The museum trip has rather enthused me.  I also really enjoyed the bouncing bomb anniversary programmes on telly.
Friday:
Last day of the week, the weekend beckoning, brilliant.
I had swimming, no Eva this week.  We got our results as well and it looks like i'll have to do this term again.  I wasn't too bothered, firstky i'll get to be with Eva again next term and secondly, I don't have to pay for the lessons either.
Once swimming was done and dusted (and the new park at Northcroft was checked out) we made our way to Andy's to get our stuff together for a weekend in Cornwall.  I was so excited, my new board was loaded onto the roof and we hit the road.
I stated catgeorically that I didn't want to go to the beach, didn't want to get in the water, didn't want to dig in the sand or anything.
Saturday:
We woke up to a gloriously sunny morning without a cloud in the sky.
And after a quick spot of breakfast we were soon westuited up and heading to the beach, I couldn't get there fast enough!  My defiance didn't last long.....
My new board was a bit of a handful for me to carry, good job I have a supporting cast of beach goods sherpa's.
It was lovley on the beach, hardly anyone there at all, we had it to ourselves really.

We did, we set about some digging and climbing of course before it was time to try out my surfboard.  Dad came with me and tried to offer a few useless bits of advice which was nice of him.  I managed to find what worked for me on my own though and within 20 minutes of splashing about with it (in some seriously cold water) I had managed my first stand up wave ride!  I was so happy, it felt awesome.
I decided to cut my losses at this point and swap to my bodyboard for a bit, before moving on to the skim board to round out the full compliment.  What a seriously great morning.
I had a few waves on my bodyboard too, but even better than that was Mum dragging me up and down in the shallow water at warp speeds...until I went a little too fast for the turn I was making and slid off...oops.  It hurt a bit, I decided to take a rest:

We sat and had lunch on the beach, did some more digging (the best thing about my surfboard has to be it's size, it's brilliant for making a camp):

and then Dad and I had a bit of a snooze on the blanket.
I did loads more rock climbing and was a little disappointed not to be able to go looking for fish in the rock pools because it was high tide.

We eventually decided to head back up to the caravan for a game of 'Extreme boule' and watch a little TV for a recharge.

Before we headed back down to the youth hostel for garlic bread, pizza and chips with a lovely sea view, perfect.

Then it was back for a game of sevens (Andy won) and to bed.

For an hour or so of giggling and messing about while Mum and Dad took it in turns to be quiet and go to sleep.  Ha ha.

Andy disappeared off early on Sunday to go and watch football, it was the last match of the season or something.

Yeah, whatever, we thought he was mad.

We had another trip down the beach for a bit more surfing.

And a frantic last ditch attempt at catching a fish in a rockpool as the tide was coming in.  We didn't manage it so I had to make do with a bucketful of slimy green seaweed.

In a rare appearance of some parental common sense we packed up just before lunch and then after a pub lunch set off for home.

We were home for tea time and got to bed at a reasonable time in the hope that we wouldn't be quite so tired come Monday morning.

What a great weekend, thanks for having us Andy.

It pretty much worked too, we weren't too bad on Monday morning.  My after school dance class was cancelled which was a shame.  Just as well really as I had to help Dad with the washing machine.  I also did some cool gymnastics work on my swing.

I had quad kids, Dad and Ellis arrived just in time to see me throw the vortex Javelin.  They were impressed, so were a number of the assembled Mum's and Dad's.  Without wishing to sound like a big head, i'm really rather good at it.

 

Tuesday:
I had my academic day cut short on Tuesday by the Schools Cross Country competition.  This year it was held at the Newbury Showground, not quite as cool as the racecourse but pretty swish all the same.  We even got to go there on a coach which is always huge fun.  We set up a nice team area on the grass in the lovely sunshine:

Dad turned up just after we got there, but I didn't take too much notice of him really, I was with my mates after all.  The year 3 and 4 girls were off first and as usual we made sure we were the noisiest and most supportive school like last year.  It was also a good opportunity to see where the course actually went, it looked a pretty long way.....

My race was up next, year 3 & 4 boys.  We had a strong team, helped along by legions of bellowing John Rankin fans posted at various points of the circuit.  I didn't do as well as i'd hoped really, coming 94th (out of 330ish).  

We had a great result as a team though, coming second overall.  We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the other races and stealing each others sun hats.  Much better than literacy, topped off rather nicely with going up as second lace team during the presentation at the end of the afternoon for a little bit of glory.

Of course with all this going on we had to make alternative arrangements to pick me up from school.  Thanks very much then to Laura for taking the job on.  Even more impressively she took me to gymnastics as well, which I gather was quite an eye opener for her.  I loved it, we got to ride around in her monster truck and even got to give her cat a little cuddle, even if it did give me a little nip.
Wednesday:
We got to go to the park after school, yay!  How I love the park after school.  There were a few of my friends there too which made it even better.
There was none of mine though....boring.  Maybe that's how I ended up holding a Nerf bomb throwing lesson for Ellis' friends.  They lapped it up, hanging on my every word and really trying out what I was showing them.  There was a massive improvement in them by the time we had to leave and they were throwing it miles further than they had beforehand.  
It's all true, he organised them good and proper, no mean feat considering they were three of the rowdiest boys from my class!
I was struggling a bit after my efforts at the cross country the previous day and decided against Team Kennet that evening in favour of some quality sofa time with Mum.
Thursday:
It was book day at school, at last, i'd been counting down the days to this one like Christmas! My team had produced a pretty decent costume it has to be said.  Mums artwork was surprisingly good and Dads hour he spent foraging for twigs behind the trampoline made for an excellent witches broom.  I enjoyed flying off to school.

We're still enjoying Thursday school dinners, best of all we get to miss out on a proper cooked meal in the evening and can have sandwiches instead.  For some reason today though we had to have proper stuff, not happy!

Friday:
We were all well and truly ready for a long weekend and were so glad it was Friday.

Yup, we sure were, both of us were proper worn out.

All that stood in our way was a day at school.....

And my swimming lesson.  It all seems to be going pretty well on the swimming front, i'm certainly still super keen and love seeing Eva once a week!

Saturday:
After a well needed lie in,

And a long awaited pancake breakfast.

We milled about the house for a bit, played in the garden, had a bounce on the trampoline, lovely stuff!

Even better than that though, we had a full group get together at the Craven Arms in honour of Nick's birthday.

Great idea from a grown up we reckon.  The playground is excellent over there, so we were sure of a good time.

Once we'd managed to clear the park area of sulky teenagers, thanks for the help Nick.

It was lovely to get all us kids together, we pretty much took over the whole park.

We also had a brilliant game of football which also included a sprinkling of grown ups to pad the sides out.  It was a great laugh, apparently I played pretty well, my sliding tackles were awesome.  We did have to give the grown ups a rest at half time though. 

Of course we had a bit of a late one......
Sunday:
But we were recharged in time for Darcey's 2nd birthday party! 

How exciting.  We even got to walk down to her house, which Dad loved as he had to carry her present, a rather bulky slide!

It was a right old gathering with one of the most amazing selection of cakes i'e ever seen...brilliant!

We headed home and played a few games of sevens, we're still loving sevens.

Monday:

Ahhhh, bank holiday, brilliant!

We went and got some picnic stuff and went down to the park, with a football, the Nerf bomb and our trusty blanket.

It was lovely, playing and eating...

And then popping over to the shop for an ice lolly.

It was a quick dash home and then on to the Laws place for a barbecue.

All the gang were there again so it was another full on, great fun day.

We always have such a cool time over their place, thanks for having us!

That pretty much rounded out our long weekend, it was brilliant, we saw so any of our friends and family.

And also the weather was amazing, so sunny and warm.  I thought it always rains on bank holidays?

Make a note of this one, it wad a beauty.

Tuesday:

The good times couldn't last of course and it was back to school on Tuesday.

The good news was that I got to leave at lunchtime!

The bad news was that it was for a hospital appointment!

It was only a follow up thing, and i'm happy to report that everything is fine and dandy.  The appointment itself was a bit of an anti climax though, we went in early, depriving me of quality time in the most excellent waiting room.

With all this going on, Mum had arranged to come and pick me up from school, i was seriously excited about this, even if it did mean I might miss gymnastics.

As it turned our, Dad and I were back in time to pick up Mum from work and the get Ellis from school.

This also meant I was able to make it to gymnastics, with Mum for the first time.

And after we'd dropped her off I also got to go to Sainsbury's and swap one of my duplicate birthday  Skylanders for my much sought after Ninjini!

Wednesday:
The good weather finally came to an end, just in time for Team Kennet.  We got soaked up there on the track.  It didn't bother me in the least, I actually rather enjoyed it, even if some of the others didn't.

Thursday:

I'm still really enjoying Ned doing after school dancing on a Thursday, i get to watch exactly what I want on the telly, even if when he does get home I get forced to play Skylanders with him.

Oh come on Ells, you son't want me to have to play on my own do you?

Friday:

Yay, Friday again!

We were getting marked during swimming lessons, It could go either way this term I reckon.  We'm no doubt find out soon enough.  As we were leaving Mum sorted out my birthday party own there.  Cool or what? I'm dead excited about it all.

Yeah brilliant Ellis, just like the rubbishy walk we had to go on after tea.  These light evenings do have their draw backs......

Saturday:

Another slow weekend start, we're getting good at these.

Yeah, was a pretty slow day really, with just a trip to Victoria park in the morning.

And a trip to Waitrose for lunch stuff.

Before an afternoon Monoploly session and then some Britain's Got Talent, which I cannot get enough of.  I think Davis Walliams is hilarious.

Sunday:

The big day had finally come, after what felt like years it was finally my birthday outing.  Mum had done a great job sorting my friends out and getting everything arranged in a pretty short timescale.  All my friends arrived on time...
So did Uncle Alan and Hayley, as they got roped in too.
We loaded our car up, with Mum, Dad and myself, as well as Alastair, Hugo, Teagan and Ella.  Dad had sorted us out a playlist on his Ipod, we pressed play and hit the road in our mobile party wagon.  It was awesome, singing, dancing and general merry making.
Meanwhile I got to chew Alan and Hayley's ears off all the way to the Moors Valley Country park.
We piled out of the car and straight off into the woods to check out the Go Ape course, it looked well cool.
Even though some of us thought it looked a little bit high in places.
We were about an hour early though so we headed for the playground and had a few snacks that the grown ups had been clever enough to pack:

The playground was a lot of fun, and a pretty good warm up it has to be said:

And then it was time to get kitted up and start monkeying around.
The harnesses were a bit of an effort to get into but we were soon kitted up, clipped on and climbing the stairs up to the platform, and then we were off.  Obviously us boys flew off at about 300 miles an hour.
While us girls and the grown ups took things a little more easily.  Well, it started off like that, but us girls soon dropped the grown ups too, they were pretty rubbish at it and made all sorts of excuses about being too tall for it and all that.
We ended up doing 3 laps of the first circuit and 2 laps of the second circuit, each lap ending with a descent of the zip line where invariably you ended up going in backwards in a shower of bark chippings.  The most important bit was how you left the platform though, with the really cool kids leaving by falling backwards without holding on......
It was great fun, but one lap of each was enough for me and the grown ups.  I was pretty glad, I don't think my ears could take much more of Mum and Hayley's squealing.
It was brilliant, I loved every minute of it.  Then we collected our certificates and several hundred badges before loading up and heading to Pizza Hut.  
Wow, what a day out. This time Mum managed to escape the party car and go with Alan, meaning I had to sit up front while the Ned gang went crazy in the back. I also got to be in charge of the music too...yes!!!!
We had a great time at Pizza Hut, even if some of us did get a little high-spirited at times....ahem.  One positive thing though was that we managed to sort out our own order to give to the waitress with a good dose of teamwork.  Dad was very impressed with that, he thinks we're a chaotic rabble I think.
Well, what can I say, my birthday has lasted pretty much a month now and it's been nothing short of brilliant.  I'd like to thank everyone once again for all the lovely presents and cards i've had.  I'd also like to thank Mum for organising the most amazing birthday party ever, that i'm sure everyone will be talking about for a long time to come.  I'd also like to thank Alan and Hayley for coming along with us, it is very much appreciated.