Tuesday

Too hot for gymnastics, gave it a miss, stayed home and cooled off in the paddling pool instead.  

Wednesday

I'd been looking forward to this one for some time, County Quad Kids championships.  This year it was at Marlowe athletics track.  We took Charlie along with us, we chatted solidly the whole way there which didn't much help Mum with her navigation.  She got us there perfectly on time though and we helped Mr Swann set up the gazebo which was much much needed with it being so hot and sunny.

First up was the Vortex, I did okay at that:

Next up was the 600 metres, not my favourite event and certainly not on a hot day like this:

I ran good race by my standards but I gave it absoloutley everything and I was totall spent.  I actually felt terrible and Mum said that I had even gone properly pale.

As a result my long jump wasn't great but I did pull myself back together in time for the sprint.  It was a great day out though and I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with the Falkland team, some of which will no doubt be new friends of mine at Park House come September.

Friday

So the ongoing hot weather lead to our school sprts day being cancelled.  I was a bit disappointed about this for very slfish reasons.  Our house captain was away on holiday this week so in the unlikely event that our hpuse won the day in my capacity as vice captain I would have had the glory of doing the victory lap with the trophy!

Friday club had a water night again, I didnt realise until I got there so it's lucky I live close enough to come, get changed, grab a towel and go back.  The slip and slide was so much fun and so slippery.

I came home and decided I was cold, so got wrapped up on the sofa to watch the Crystal Maze.

Saturday

Up early and off to Aldershot Lido with Lola.  It was a good job we left nice and early, we got to the front of what soon turned into a massive queue all around the carpark.  The pool hadn't been open long so I think thats why the water seemed cold.  Not so cold I didnt enjoy it though.  I was the first one down the slides obviously as im cool like that.  We had a picnic for lunch and stayed quite a while which was lovely.

When I got home there was a letter waiting for me from Park House which was all rather exciting.  It had all the stuff in it about uniform and details of our upcoming taster day as well as some agreements that I needed to sign to agree on good behaviour and healthy learning ethic....I suppose Ned must have signed these too? So they obviously cant hold you to it.

In the evening we met up with the Halfords and went out for a curry at the Gun.  It was delicious too, Leo recommended the tandoori chicken for a starter, he was wise to do so, it was delicious and I loved it.  Ned reckoned his sheek kebab was......I hope your sitting down as you read this.....better than pizza!  We shared a curry and a garlic naan bread which were both really good to, consider us converts.  It was great fun sitting next to Leo,he's a real laugh and we had a lot to talk about with our Park House futures getting ever nearer.  We went back to their house afterwards and fussed Hartley, he's so lovely.  We also got in their pool, ran around as fast as we possibly could creating a full on whirlpool that swept us off our feet and span us round and round the pool at a hell of a rate. 

Sunday

Up early today, a trip to Cribbs Causeway for a spot of shopping.  I had a few things in mind for our upcoming leavers disco.  I didnt find anything i really wanted but I did enjoy trying on a lot of very high heeled shoes.  I did enjoy my McDonalds lunch though before we battled our way across Bristol to pick up Auntie Christine and Auntie Trish from the airport afer their holiday to Portugal.  Seems like they had a lovely time so good for them.

Monday

Weird day at school today, it was the St Barts taster day so most of year 6 were missing.  The rest of us spent the day painting the scenery for the leavers play.  To be honest, most of the oaint seemed to find it's way on to me or my clothes.

I also had a bit of accident involving falling backwards onto a table which had a pencil sticking upright in a pencil pot.  This ended up rather stuck into my head, which was quite alarming.  Amber pulled it out for me as I didnt want to make matters worse by ripping out a load of hair with it!

I went down the park after school, it wasn't great as people are being very antisocial by spending all their time fiddling with their mobile phones instead of actually interacting....

Tuesday

Gymnastics again, quite warm, rather pink face, still wearing a hoody.

We went home, quick pitstop thrn out to the pub to meet up wirh Anne for tea (Mike called away on family business on this occasion).  She still had my birthday presents, thanks Anne.  This deflated football as not one of them but it did make a rather fetching hat im sure you'll agree?

Alans train was late back from London so we had to wait a little longer for our meal.

Three way buttermilk chicken burger for me, very nice too I might add.

Thursday

Well it's year six, SATS have come and gone what else is there to do, Sex education! Bring on the giggling.  Bit boring though really.....

Friday

So Ned went a sleepover straight from school, bonus.  I got to have my favourite tea in front of the telly (plain pasta, half a bock of grated mature cheddar and a side salad).

I went to friday club but it was a bit boring this week with the boys playing football all night.

Went home and watched the crytal maze with Mum and Dad, its still highly entertaining.

Saturday

I had a nice long lay in today, took a leisurely lunch and then went to the school summer fete.

My last one!

We had a mooch around before Lilly and I did our stint on the nail painting stall:

I only did Sasha's in the half hour I was there.

I then went out into the playground and did a stint on a few of the games before spending the rest of my money on the bouncy slide, sweets, and ice cream!

I stayed until it was finished and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sunday

So the World Cup is still rumbling on......it's actually nice that Ned talks to us about it....well it makes a change from Fortnite/Fifa or whatever.  It was the scnd England game, so it was all round to Finlay and Millie's.  It was a great set up too, telly down the garden, sofa, armchairs the lot.  Having the telly so far from the house meant that we had to use Owens apple tv via his mobile for the broadcast.  This was a real stroke of genius, as everytime you sent him a text....it came up on the screen!

Dad and I made sure (and Ben) there were plenty of 'amusing' messages appearing:

The result was quite something, England 6, Panama 1, but the real reason was of course to have a nice get together on a loveky sunny afternoon:

To have a bounce on the trampoline:

To abuse Owen by text so much we was going to dunk me in the pool fully clothed:

And to perform physics defying tricks:

Monday

Its got proper warm, only one thing to do.....

But its taking ages to fill up, and straight out of the tap....its COLD!

I had a letter from school about the play, I need a pirate costume so it was out to the conservatory to raid the dressing up tub which I havent ventured into for years.....

Friday

Well we committed to going camping for the weekend, and because Ned is fanatical about the stand up surf board stashed under Andy's caravan we passed up on our usual Croyde and went all the way to Treyarnon instead.

The traffic was a little sticky, we enjoyed listening to Spain play Portugal in the world cup on the way down and we made the best of it:

We arrived while it was still daylight and pitched up being sure to situate ourselves to take in a lovely sea view.  I got stuck in setting up while Ned hid in the car....turns out he was fully asleep!  He was actually a bit under the weather (not hayfever as we all thought) so we can give him the benefit of the doubt I think.  We were all set up well within an hour, so it was toothbrushing and toilets and then bed:

Ned woke up in great form, cracking wisecracks and quips befire we all hit the sack.

Saturday

I woke up on a flat airbed.  Not ideal but I wasnt bothered and found it all rather amusing.

We took breakfast outside in the sunshine:

The sunshine didn't last for much longer, it all went a bit grey and wet but we didnt really care.  We walked around the loop stopping by at Gary's to pick up some rainbow coloured candy floss:

We had a kick about when we got back to camp, it was great fun, Ned didnt even get all competitive and nasty either.  I stubbed my toe and had to be carried off the pitch:

After lunch we went over to Harlyn so the boys could have a surf.  Mum and I decidd aginst it so just enjoyed being in the beach:

We went back to Treyarnon once they had got out of the sea (Ned took a lot of persuading to get out) and after a pit stop at Barnecutts in St Merryn for lunch and a little slouch about we all went in the sea at Treyarnon.  It was brilliant fun.  I got massivley turned over by a massive wave which I didnt really enjoy all that much at tye time, but its a great story now and I did get stuck straight back in.

We dried off, played Sushi Go and marvelled at just how close to our tent our new 'neighbours' had pitched up despite the field being largely empty.

Fish and chips for tea followed, with the hope that the airbed would last the night once re-inflated.

Sunday

It didn't.  I woke up on the floor again but shuffled onto Mum and Dad's much more comfortable, fully inflated airbed for a continued snuggle time until we got up.

It was pretty wet and windy out, so we didn't rush out:

We did eventually decide to move, and went to Annes Cottage to try and spend some money but I didn't really like anything.  

We had lunch and then everyone went in the sea, I didn't fancy it so went to Gary's shop for aweets instead. Mum came back soon enough as she didnt like it much so we had a lovely hot shower and spruce up.

Eventually we had to pack up and head for hime which was a shame, I love being inthe tent or out in the field and Ned was on great form which made a lovely change.

Monday

So the world cup is in full swing, better fire up the barbecue for the first England game.  We ha d alot round too which was nice, including the Aunties! 

England won the game and the trampoline didnt give way even when all us kids were bouncing about on it!

Tuesday
Lilly and I went to Mr Moo Juice by bike after school, a nice Oreo milkshake to share then ride home again via the park.  We're so outdoorsy at the moment as the weather is still so nice.
I got involved in a bit of a headstand competition at gymnastics, I lasted ages but got pipped to the win but only just.  My head was bright purple and my shoulders were killing me!

Wednesday
The parts in the leavers play were given out today.  I was a little bit disappointed not to get a bigger part, but I've got quite a few lines (17 I think) with some good comic potential.  I'm a one eyed pirate too, so eye patches will be required, arrrrrr!
We also had a visit from Miss Chandler from Park House school about us moving on after the summer.  I was surprised to see just how many of us there were going once we were all together in the room.  She went through a few bits and bobs and asked us if we wanted to be in the same house as our siblings (Yes please) and what friends we might like to be placed in tutor groups with.......

Thursday
I bought my copy of the script for the play home, highlighted all my bits and started some read throughs.  It was raining like mad the whole evening so I spent a very rare night indoors, not at all what I've been used to.  It turned into a whole family sofa/TV session with Ned serving a 'device ban' for the night.  It was quite nice actually.

Friday
Mufti day at school, so I was up early and raring to go.

Saturday
Holiday day today, we were going with Nate, Joel, Alan and Hayley too.  Bit of an unusual arrangement for us, going on a Saturday, at a civilised time on the afternoon from Southampton Airport.
We had all morning to get our packing finished before having a proper lunch and setting off which was all very nice.  Alan was obviously late over to our house before we could leave but it didn't matter as we arrived in plenty of time to get parked up (leaving a banana on the roof of the car), checked in and go through security.  The airport was really nice, much less frantic than the bigger ones we usually frequent. 

We boarded the plane a little late and got nice seats together which I was relieved about as Mum and Dad were to stingy to pay the premium for reserved seating.  It was one of those small planes, two seats either side of the aisle and propellers rather than jets so we all got good views out of the windows as we took off until we entered the clouds.
Nate and Joel were only a row or so in front so we could keep an eye on them too.
It was a shortish flight down to Biarritz so we were soon on the ground at an equally small airport as the one we had taken off from.  Getting our bags back was quick and easy and sorting out the hire car (well, bus) didn't take long either from a really rather jolly and helpful chap. He did rather downplay an area of 'slight' damage that a previous driver had caused but which was really rather funny.

We got loaded up, shoving the bags into the Mercedes Vito before hitting the highway, Alan helpfully reminding us all that we should drive on the right at every opportunity.
It was only an hour or so up the road so it wasn't long before we arrived at the campsite, reception was closed so we checked in with an initially very stern looking security guard.  We all decided it would be best not to muck him about.  His demeanour mellowed very rapidly though once he realised we were not a threat....ha.
Our accommodation was very easy to find, not too far from the pool or the shop either.
It was a double unit, separated by a nice deck area, complete with hot tub and full length retractable canopy.  Very nice indeed. The grown ups started on the complimentary wine:

While we concentrated on getting in the hot tub, which Alan declared too hot at 40 degress.  Other than that he was very complimentary of France itself, as this was actually his first visit!

Sunday
We had a quick dash to the onsite Supermarket for breakfast things and our chance to marvel at unusual foreign groceries (jarred duck or frozen chocolate pizza anyone?)

We got that wolfed down and then we had to take delivery of our hire bikes that Dad had arranged to have dropped off.  Joel got a cuddle from the man and I got to choose between two bikes he had bought for me for the most appropriate size.  

As you can see, the brakes worked very well:

We rode them to the beach, with Nate and Joel loving their trailer.

The beach was pretty epic, you couldn't see either end of it as it must have gone on forever.

Joel got to have a good old twizzle round with Hayley:

It had been a while since i'd had a go:

I think it took it's toll on Dad so I continued my acrobatics solo:

It all sounds a bit weird that we'd come here without Andy doesn't it? He had been to watch Fulham get promoted to the premier league yesterday so we went to pick him up from a town called Dax, he'd finally made it.

Monday
Well it had been a bit wet overnight, so a bit of water had collected in the canopy (and in Andy's shoes that he had left outside).

We decided it needed displacing, hence this team effort:

It ended in hilarity when Andy dropped the bin he was collecting the water in and soaked himself!

It was still a bit on the gloomy side so we went to Hossegor.  This is apparently one of Europes most famous surf spot, but the sea was flat! As it was last time Mum, Dad and Andy visited years ago.  We hit the shops, of which there were many and they were really cool too, a mixture of fancy surf shops with a sprinkling of decent tut shops too.

We had a grand cycle tour of the camp site in the evening, Mum took the empties to the bin in her very usefull basket:

Her bike wasn't quite as at home in the skatepark though:

Tuesday
So we took a ride into the local village Vieux Boucau by bike.  It was a lovely easy ride along a car free cycle path through the pine forest.  So here I am with a pine cone still attached to a branch that I found and thought was pretty cool:

People in France seem to enjoy cycling a lot more than us Brits as we exchanged many cheerful exchanges along the way.

We cycled through the village itself towards a lake formed by the sea:

It looked lovely, we rode about half way round and found a nice beach, it would have been rude not to go in for a dip, so thats what Dad, Andy and I did:

The bottom was covered in thick seaweed which took a bit of getting used to.  Having said thst it was last vely and soft to walk on once you'd got your head around it.  We swam about for a bit before a seaweed fight broke out.

Mum and Ned sat on a nice shady bank, eating sweets and enjoying the computer any of a rather greedy puppy that had managed to break free and was proceeding to hoover up all the picnic debris he could find, which by all accounts included a piece of sandy cheese amongst other things.  He was seriously cute.

We completed our circuit of the lake and made our way back to the campsite for more watery fun in the pool.   The pool was great, Nate and Joel seemed to enjoy it too.  

We had a barbecue for tea and then took off for another bike ride to the playground:

Then it was back for a bit of hot tub before bedtime.

Wednesday
Today we took a trip south to the La Rhune mountain railway.  The drive there was okay but got really good as we got into the foothills of the Pyrenees.

We bought our tickets and were warned there wouldn't be a view at the top because it was so cloudy. 

We boarded the train and straight away started climbing the hill.

It climbed quite steeply and the village was soon far down the hill.

The boys certainly seemed to like it:

The views were pretty good so far, but as we got higher we hit the clouds:

Then we passed the halfway point and crossed by the upward train:

It was brilliant watching the animals going about their day, clinging to the hill sides although thesheep  were way higher than the cows seemed prepared to venture.

The views from the top were as described by the ticket lady, on a good day you can apparently see to the coast and into nearby spain, not today though:

We loitered about a bit, I stole a bit of Alan and Hayley's Basque country cake which was quite nice and then we jostled with a school group to get back down again to have our picnic and a spot of parkour:

We loaded ourselves back into the van and headed to the beach at Hendaye, hoping the sun would come out.

And it did!

We got there just as the tide was coming in, so we had to get in with the boards quick before it was up on the rocks.  It was great fun and I loved it, I got hundreds of waves and managed to stay off the rocks until we d cided it was time to get out and go and see what Nate and Joel were up to on the main beach a bit further down.

Due to our rushed nature, no one took a camera so this part of our day was undocumented.  Which is a shame as the sun was out and the sea was beautiful.  And the sand, the sand was beautifully soft and so nice to dig in.  Dad couldnt help himself of course and dug a nice big hole just wherethe sea   was lapping up to on it's incoming tide.  I promptly put myself in said hole and then buried myself up to the waist as the water then surged in and lapped around me which was great fun.

The surf schools all got out so I got in.  Ned was already out the back taking loads of nice clean waves on his bodyboard but I decided to give bodysurfing a try.  For the first time ever I actually got the knack of it and it was a brilliant feeling being swept along with the water.

Nate certainly enjoyed the waves with Alan too, not sure how Alan's ears fared though.

So all we have to document the afternoon is this rather blurry shot I got out of the van window on the way back:

 We stopped off for a meal on the way back at the lake we'd visited yesterday at a place mum foundon the  internet.  It was lovely too, a really nice pizza with a lovely view and a vey cheerful and helpfull waiter.

Thursday
We rode into Vieux Boucau again, Nate and Joel tucked up nicely in their trailer and Andy getting mugged off by Ned into a bike swap.  Ned claimed to love the cruiser but we all knew he preferred wheelying the mountainbike.  To be fair though, Andy did love the comfort of the big sprung cruiser saddle:

We made it ther in no time at all and got kitted up at the golf course.  The lady was vey nice and made sure we all had an appropriate sized club to use.  Nate loved it to begin with but ended up more interested in the goldfish pond leaving us older ones to concentrate on the game, and hang out with the ever smiling Joel:

It was a good course, nicely laid out and very tidily kept:

Hole 11 was a particular highlight as you had to really whack it across grass to get back on to the green, good job there was a substantial catch net behind.

There were individual flashes of top play, like Mums hole in one on hole 9 which Dad claimed to have accidentally marked down a as a 2 initially, hence his 12 instead of a 2 in retribution.  Anyway, Dad played the most consistant game and was the clear winner.  We reckon Andy threw the game though in case his proper golf friends found out.

We headed back to camp and decided to cool off in the pool, we stayed in until it closed and we got kicked out and quickly trotted back to the caravan to carry on the water based fun in the hot tub.
We took a trip out to the beach after tea to watch the sun go down:

It really was very nice to have a paddle and do some gymnastics.

Friday
Horse riding today, there was a stable on the campsite with loads of lovely looking horses and I was quite keen to have a go.  I was too big for a pony lap like Nate had enjoyed so my only option was to go on a proper big horse on an hours trip.  All I needed to do was convince Ned to come with me...he was a bit resistant at first but he soon gave in, he loves a horse ride even if he tries to be too cool for all this sort of thing these days.  So we got booked in and sorted our helmets out before meeting our horses, Ned had one called Max and I got Oreo here:

I was a bit nervous when the lady asked me to lead her out, well, it's a big old creature so Dad gave me a hand.  Ned of course had no trouble with Max.  We got saddled up and that was it, off into the woods along lovely trails in the shade.

We went for miles, all along the sand dunes until we reached a military observation tower we had seen in the distance from the beach.  I got a lot more comfortable with the whole thing by the time we got back and I was really glad i had done it:

We met up with the others down the beach straight afterwards, they had made a brilliant camp out of a parasol, a bit of hole digging, and some blankets suspended between buggies.  

I went in the sea with Andy and Dad, it was unbelievably powerful thumping waves up the beach.

We had to leave the beach a bit earlier than we might have liked to get the bikes back to the bike hire man who was coming to pick them up.  He arrived at reception just as we got there, so that was good timing.  I think Dad wasrather sad to let them go.....

Still, the pool was open later than it usually was so we made the most of that until it closed.

We played Alans game Diamante in the evening, it's brilliant fun, highly recommrnded.

Saturday
We had a late flight home, so we were hoping for good weather meaning we could pack up and spend the day lounging around the pool.  We packed, we tidied and we made three hundred trips to the bin with empty beer and wine bottles.

The sun came out and we got the best selection of sun beds up in the deck of the pirate boat.

Lunch was a real revelation, the cafe at the pool was brilliant, may I present to you the worlds biggest and best chip baugette with mustard mayo (a goid portion of which I had already consumed by the time this picture was taken):

It was also the first time all week we managed to be at the pool when the slides were open (only two but both very good) and the wave machine was going (not a patch on Siam Park of course but good fun all the same).  It was so enticing even Ned got on board with it which was lovely.

We couldn't stay forever though so we loaded the van up and made our way to the airport:

Which was only just about an hour away and we were soon on the plane heading for home to begreeted by a manky week old banana on top of the car where Dad had left it:

Sunday
So while it may bave been a bit of a downer comng home from holiday, it was my 11th birthday!

I certainly had lots pf presents to open:

Before we were off for a McDonalds Breakfast, oh yes this was a great start to the day.
Dad disappeared off to do a bit of Cake baking which was a shame as we all know Ned is the best baker in the house.  He did his best though:

Obvioulsy as a thoroughly modern youngster I had to make sure I got a picture of my cake as it was presented to me:

We had a ride down to Mr Moo Juice for a spot of afternoon refreshment and sat by the canal in the sunshine to drink it.

Next up a trip to Snelsmore to test out one of my presents, a hammock:

It was reassuringly sturdy and really comfy.  It was so nice to lay back in it looking up at the leaves  above.

Sheek kebabs from the indian takeaway rounded out a good food day followed by the Britains Got Talent final on telly in the evening' perfect, what more could I want?

Monday
I wasnt too sad to be going back to school to catch up with all my friends?

Tuesday
Badge week at gymnastics.....no badge though. At least we could have tea on time without having to join the massive queue.

Wednesday
My Rhos project is not exactly flowing.  Mum keeps trying to chivvy me up but it must be said I am rather reluctant.  Our vague deadline isnt exactly helping me focus either.

Thursday
Play rehgersals kicked off in earnest today, it's going oka so far.  Some of us are still reading from the script but Jess knows all her lines by heart already and she's got loads!

Friday
Den day at school today, which i am always equally excited about and then disappointed about in equal measure when it doesn't quite pan out as I had envisaged it.

Saturday
I spent a most enjoyable day with Sasha and then in the evening I got to try out my new rollerskates with Lola at Northcroft.  I really like them, even if all the lace holes are a real pain.

Sunday
Mum and Dad were feeling the need to go out for the day and neither Ned nor I were really that keen.  Ned stuck to his guns but I gave in once I started to feel sorry for the poor old codgers.  We went to Hollycoombe, and I was actually rather glad I went as I got to meet this friendly chap after our picnic:

So Hollycoombe again, it's great actually, the silly music playing from punched paper being fed through the organ is mesmerising onthe carousel:

Dad was obviously feeling bold as he was quite open to going on the big wheel, most unlike him.  He wasn't keen on me swinging the car while we were stopped at the top to let people on.

Since the Haunted House has been back from refurbishment it's become a firm favourite of mine and I went through it hundreds of times.

Having said that, it's always great fun onthe Razzle Dazzle watching poor unsuspecting fools struggle to stay on the seat and not crush their children to death.  It was a bit of a shame the Steam Yacht was out of comission, but with the state of Dads knees after a recent bike crash it was probably for the best.

The scenic train ride was lovely though:

I took several thousand pictures on Mum's phone on the journey for good measure.

So after all that im glad I went.