Cornwall!

Back again, did you miss me?
This is how they packed me:

So we’ve been to Cornwall again, there were fifteen of us this year so there wasn’t many quiet moments.
We dug sandcastles at Watergate:

We had a rather one sided tug of war match with Sarah and John:

We had lovely weather on the beach:

Sat in the first class carriage on the steam train with Fen and Yanna:

…..and got grated cheese all over the seat eating a picnic:

I got over my fear of showers:

(steady now ladies)
Sadly the donkey derby wasn’t on so we had a nice cold drink overlooking Newquay harbour:

We had a lovely day out with Slim and Trace and dad tried to look like a lifeguard:

After we had been on the beach we went to have a cream tea in the middle of a farm. It was ace, there were chickens and geese wandering about and we threw apples for the pigs to eat in their orchard.
We all rode on bikes:

I think I’m probably pointing out the pasty shop in far off Padstow here. I was also armed and dangerous with a water pistol! Tucked in behind dads bulk I’d let rip with a stream of water at unsuspecting passers by. Dad kept me entertained on the bike by weaving through the others and racing along, although Chris and Alan were really zooming on the tandem.
We sat outside and ate like kings:

So just the same old same old really!
Other notable events had to include the boat trip to puffin island…. The weather was beautiful and the surf had all but died off so no one really believed the man on the boat when he said it was rough out at sea. We should have. The boat was getting tossed around like one of my bath toys. Now poor old Ben isn’t the saltiest of sea-dogs to be honest and I don’t think it helped with me shouting out ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ as the boat rocked from side to side. There were kids being sick left right and centre and Andy was laughing his head off. At least we saw a few puffins!
I kicked dad off his skateboard at the skatepark and started scooting along on it all on my own, that pleased him!
I caught some fish in a net with Sarah and John and Dad managed to drain a rock pool into a lower one by digging a really long trench in the sand….it was great watching the water rushing down and once it had all emptied, John had me running up to the top rock pool with buckets of water to fill it back up.
We played on a machine in the pub where a robber got chased by a policeman and when he caught him he hit him over the head! I was quite worried about it until mum explained it was only pretend, anyway, dad let me help him play a game called Area 51 where you got to shoot aliens…..not sure he should have done that?
As is customary on these sort of entries I’d like to thank Andy, Ben, Rach, Alan, Sonia, Owen, Linda, Chris, Kin, Melissa, Yanna and Fen for helping me have such a good time. Can't wait till next time!

Hot hot hot!

Blimey it’s been hot! I’ve been going to bed in just my pants to keep cool (steady on now ladies). My skin has been much better since I went in the sea last month so I don’t have to scratch myself hardly at all now.
Saturday we went to a barbecue at Yanna and Fen’s:

They had some really smart toys and best of all they had their own little wooden house in the garden, although no one would come in there with me as it was so hot. Melissa is great, she gave me beans and everything for my tea.
Sunday Uncle Slim and Auntie Trace came round to put their tent up in the garden:

It was as big as out house I reckon. I ‘helped’ Slim sort the ropes out….
They’re going on holiday in it next week and wanted to make sure it was all okay before they went. Dad even cooked them some dinner (a roast the silly fool, in that heat!) and we had a play in the garden.

Mum is off work so on Monday afternoon we went to the Coral Reef swimming again. They must have known something was up from the start as I couldn’t really be bothered with the small childrens slide, I had my sights set much higher….the flume rides! After climbing endless stairs we got to the top of the tower and there were funny tubes with water rushing down them. People were getting in them and zooming off before disappearing round a bend with a scream. It looked great. We sent mum off first and then I got on Dad’s lap and we were off……but really slowly. We splashed down (finally) in the pool at the bottom and I made sure we got another go…. This time was much better, he managed to get a right head of steam up and came flying out of the bottom bouncing off the sides like pinball before going right under water. I didn’t mind at all and wanted some more…we had about five goes in all before their tired old legs couldn’t carry me to the top anymore. On our trip around the pool I also noticed a tunnel and an open doorway I hadn’t seen before…we went through it and ended up outside, but still in the swimming pool! How weird is that? This bit was really good and I did a lot of really good swimming out here. After all the fun of the pool we went to a park at the lookout and I had Mum and Dad climbing and swinging after me all over the place, it was smart!
Today I went to see Grandma in hospital (she’s broken her foot) I took her some chocolate and a big picture of me and her to cheer her up, I know what the ladies like. She loved it and I entertained all the old dears on the ward before coming home for bed.
There’ll be no update next week as I’m off on my holidays tomorrow to Cornwall for a week and a half…so to keep you all sweet, have a look at some of my pre-blog web stuff on the following links and see how much I’ve grown:

http://uk.geocities.com/dhtraildigger/NEDSPICTURES04.HTML

http://uk.geocities.com/dhtraildigger/NEDABOUT04.HTML

http://uk.geocities.com/dhtraildigger/NEDWARMING.HTML

See you all soon!

Shoes, Strawberries and Steam engines

Another action packed weekend again. We kicked off early Saturday morning with a trip to Kingston upon Thames to go shoe shopping. We also took Andy, Ben and Rach along. We went all the way to the top of the multi storey car park, so high up we could see the trains in the station below us. Mum taught me that Dad and Andy were going to buy shoes and Ben was going to buy some boats…. When we got to the shop I had to help Andy pick which ones to buy as he was way out of his depth. I thought the shop was rubbish though as they didn’t have any small enough to fit me so I came away empty handed. We got some sandwiches for lunch and sat and ate them by the Thames watching the boats go by, all very civilised indeed.
Later in the afternoon it was time to entertain the oldies (Grandma and Nanny).
I had a great time showing off and even ended up in the paddling pool fully clothed, complete with shoes and socks (Dad was a bit ‘tense’ about this one). Dad cooked us a curry and we sat in the garden to eat it (I had Thomas the tank engine pasta though), the oldies even ate Samosa’s and Bhaji’s!
After all the food was finished we did some drawing:

We also had a few laps round the garden in Grandma’s wheelchair, a game of football and golf with Nanny (she’s still pretty sporty) and I did some top quality scootering.
Then it was Sunday. Off to Grandad and Anne’s for dinner which was nice and then on to the fruit picking farm for Strawberries and steam. Now this was really something…. There were all these low bushes in neat rows, and if you looked under the branches there were strawberries! I know, how mad is that?

Here I am with Anne checking out the fruit on offer, I can’t believe these things actually grow on bushes…where is the plastic container and cling film? I had a few sneaky ones before we paid for them of course.

In the field behind there was a steam fair. There were all these huge contraptions that sort of looked like tractors, but also looked a bit like trains….weird!

They moved quite slowly and puffed steam and smoke out all over the place, I think I quite liked them.
I had a go on my first roundabout:

Here Grandad is giving me a crash course in driving a steam engine. I was okay for a few spins but it started going a bit quick and I got a bit tearful. The man operating the ride (obviously a seasoned professional) tried to reverse the situation by producing a small fluffy dog to play with but in these situations only a cuddle from Mum will do. The ride had to be stopped so I could get off, so apologies to all the other children.
After all this fun and games we headed back to Newbury to watch England play again. I don’t know why they all bother watching it, they don’t really seem to enjoy it at all. Anyway, Katie had some smart fluffy toys that were far more entertaining than the match and I had a great time playing with Linda and throwing gravel over Katies nice lawn.

More football....

Sorry, late this week…..World Cup’s fault!
Last Friday we went out for a walk after tea. We walked through the farm over the back (which was good because there were horses and lots of tractors) and ended up at some playing fields with a rather nifty park. I never even knew it existed and I can’t believe it’s taken them this long to take me over there. There was a Fire Engine and a motorbike on a big boingy spring, a swing, a couple of roundabouts and a climbing frame/slide combo. The climbing frame had a really tricky section that I just about got the hang of although I was glad to feel Mum or Dads hand help me along on the odd occasion. As seems to be a bit of a habit the fool forgot the camera so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Dad was out for ages on his bike on Saturday so mum and I got bust sorting out his fathers day card and present….. Once he got home we had some lunch and went down the town. We saw Aunty Trish and uncle Al in Marks and Spencer which surprised us, stick to Amazingstoke next time! Grandad and Anne came round for tea and we sat out in the garden to eat it, it was really nice. After the food was gone we watered the plants with a watering can. Well, I watered Grandad’s feet most of all, it was really funny.
Sunday was fathers day so we gave him his card and present. The present was just a boring old CD and a DVD with really scary old looking blokes talking about funny little bikes, not my cup of tea at all. Dad and I got the paddling pool out and I helped him fill it up with buckets of water…..it took ages! We then went out to the shops and I got some nice new stuff, best of all was my new Spiderman sandals. We had a roast dinner on the patio again which was nice before getting in the pool!

Then Slim and Trace called round. Result. What you really need when you are out in the garden with a load of cold water and various buckets etc is someone like Slim to egg you on…..It all culminated in Dad sitting in the pool fully clothed and getting a good dousing from me (under Slims careful supervision)

We went round to Nanny's again yesterday to cut her grass. Once it was done Nanny and I had a game of golf on her immaculte lawn before haveing a cuddle and watching the horse racing.
England played again in the evening and it was our turn to provide the venue. Instead of the usual barbecue, it was a takeaway extravaganza and as usual I got fobbed off with a marmite sandwich before the real food arrived. I did alright for prawn crackers though, and thanks to Ben for the offer of sharing your chicken, but I didn’t like it!

World Cup!

In case you hadn’t noticed by now, the world cup has started. It’s my first one! Dad has taught me to say ‘World Cup’ (which I think sounds much better with a long pause between the two words) and mum has taught me ‘Come on England’ So I was ready to watch the opening match with Dad on Friday afternoon and the next one with all the usual suspects later in the evening. I had the honour of picking the names/teams for the sweepstake and between me and mum we made sure dad got Brazil. I’ve heard they’re quite good but mum reckons they won’t win as she fancies Poland!
Saturday we went to Paul’s to watch the first England game and have a barbecue (I can say that now as well, although it sounds more like ‘barcoo’). He had a smart little wooden house at the bottom of the garden that reminded me of the one in Scarborough (although it was bit bigger) so I had an imaginary tea party with mum in it.
In the evening we went to Aunty Tracey’s 40th birthday party, a Barbecue in the garden. It was lovely and I had all my favourites on tap:



I’m lead to believe Trish’s knees are now better after last weekends crawling round the living the room marathon. They were telling me all about the man in the moon, I never knew such a thing existed. I spent a good portion of the night with the birthday girl herself and finally said her name properly…..although dad din’t seem to manage to get a picture of me with her, oops! I had great fun delving in the water butt drink coolers and got completely soaked. Hope you had a happy birthday Tracey!
So after a bit of a late night on Saturday I was awoken early doors on Sunday morning to be told we were off to the beach. Andy came to pick us up, I love going in the back of Andy’s car because I can see much more out of the window than Dad’s.

We set up camp, Chrissy had brought the biggest umbrella in the world and provided shade for the entire beach I think. I had a bit of a grumpy start but soon cheered up once dad took me to the café and we shared a lovely chilled Twix. We dug holes in the sand, ate a picnic and eventually went for a swim. Anday was first in, followed by Dad and then Owen. Chrissy didn’t seem to fancy it much as initial paddling had revealed the water to be freezing cold. Owen however gave him some rather ‘gentle persuasion’ and he also took the plunge. I had my wetsuit on already and was desperate to get out there with them, so Dad came back in and picked me up before going back out into the little waves with me. I didn’t feel the cold like the other woopsies and really enjoyed it.

Here I am doing some digging with mum, notice the responsible parenting on display as I’m in the shade, sometimes they almost seem competent.

Eventually we gave in and had a nice kip in the beach tent before packing up and going home. I must thank Chris and Katie for letting me ruin their picnic and letting me scrounge most of their food off them, I think they’ve realised opening Raspberries around me (or crisps) is probably best avoided.

Summer at last

Right, straight onto it this week.
Wednesday we went to Pizza Hut with Nanny. It was really good, I ate garlic bread (and learned how to say it as well) before eating masses of pizza all the while keeping the nice young waitress sweet with long smouldering looks (well, a cheesy grin with pizza smeared over my cheeks). It must have worked because I got two balloons and a saucer of sweets from her…..
Dad’s been keeping up with the cycling home from nursery lark, although I was a right little devil on two days last week. Well how would you like to be woken up and strapped to the back of the fool’s bike? Have you seen the way he rides it?
Friday we went round to nanny’s to cut her grass. I helped dad out a bit by doing a bit of sweeping and helped nanny out by eating loads of her jaffa cakes (I won’t tell Dad, you’re allright).
We went home and had tea and then Nanny turned up with Trish and Al. I hadn’t seen them for ages so it was nice to have a bit of fresh blood to play with. I escorted Mum and Dad off the premises and then Aunty Chris came round too. We had a great time as usual, I even put her shoes on for a walk around the front room.
Mum went to work on Saturday because the weather was soooo nice. What a shame. Dad and I got up late and then went down to meet her for lunch.

We had a picnic in the park before playing on the swings.

All too soon Mum had to go back to work and then it was off to the pub.
England were playing football on the telly so it was quite a big gathering. I was surprised to see Max again so soon.

I quite enjoyed the table football but couldn’t really be bothered with the proper match. In fact Max and I got dad to push us on the swings for the entire second half.
In the evening, when mum got home we had a barbecue. I ate most of mums spicy chicken kebabs much to their surprise before getting sauce all over mums sun lounger and spilling a load of coke all over the patio….
Sunday I had a lovely half ten lie in before getting up to another lovely sunny day. We played in the garden all morning then Grandad and Anne came round for a little play. Anne’s sand castles were brilliant. We then had a Sunday roast sat outside which was quite novel.
Monday afternoon we went to the swimming pool again. After a bit of a hesitant start I made good progress again. I’ve started trying to doggy paddle under my own steam and I’m quite happy to get about on my own as much as they let me.
I’m also finding it quite funny to call dad Malc and Mum Sally, they try to ignore me but I can see them sniggering….

Street Life!

Hello once again.
You’ll all be sorry to hear I’ve been a little poorly lately. I didn’t got to bed very well last Wednesday night so dad came up to see what all the fuss was about. I was sick all over his feet through the bars of my cot. After a change of bed clothes and a cuddle from mum I was off back to bed okay for the night. The next morning I was sick again though so there was no nursery and a trip to the doctors instead. The doctor diagnosed and ear infection and I was given some lovely banana flavoured medicine. I was fine again by the afternoon and pretty much back to my old self.
Friday night we went West again to see Max (and Emma and Dean of course).
We went out for a pub lunch, I was allowed to sit in a real chair rather than a high chair which was nice. You could even see sheep out in the field behind. The weather was pretty wet so we went to Wookey Hole.

Here we are waiting to go into the cave. I’d never been in a cave before so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It was dark and wet inside and we had a man that took us in and told us all about the place. He was telling us all about a witch that lived there in the olden days pointing out some steps down that were surrounded by a red glow that were apparently the steps down to hell. Once he had finished his patter I pointed straight to the stairs and shouted ‘this way’ towards the steps in question….I wasn’t quite sure about the caves to begin with but I really enjoyed it in the end so that’s another experience I can tick off my list. Outside the caves were some huge dinosaurs and a massive monkey, apparently called King Kong:

I decided to call him Ting-Tong though. There was also an indoor playground a ball shooting arena thing and an old fashioned penny arcade:

Here I am on the bandit, didn’t win anything though. I did however have more luck on another machine where an arm swept your prize off of a revolving table (with a little help from dad). The spoils of our success were a pair of lollipops which I shared with Max. They have some funny ways down in wildest Somerset you know:

Here’s Max and I eating our lunch in traditional regional attire. Emma and Dean seem reluctant to join in though.
The weather did finally cheer up a bit in the end and we sat in the garden for lunch on Sunday:

What a banquet, we ate like kings before making Dean get every single one of Max’s outdoor toys out for us to have a play with. As usual, I had a great weekend, thanks Max.
We went out to feed the ducks in Hungerford yesterday. The problem was everyone else had beaten us to it. All we could find was a load of plump ducks who couldn’t be bothered to swim across the river to eat my bread. We had to walk quite a way up the bank to get some more eager takers. I found it really funny when they snapped their beaks at the pieces of bread before tossing their heads back and eating the stuff.
I tried English mustard for the first time last night. Mum put a big dollop of this yellow sauce on her plate and I wanted to try it. I stuck my finger right in it then put it in my mouth…..and pulled a face……then stuck my finger in it again……and ate it again. I’m not sure if I really like it or not…..seems a bit strong?

Wet!

I hope everyone is enjoying the lovely summer weather as much as I am? Good job I’m still enjoying playing with all my birthday presents still while the rain comes down outside.
As if it wasn’t wet enough we went swimming again last week. My confidence in and around the water is coming on in leaps and bounds. I went down the slide in every way I could think and even a few I couldn’t. I was seeking out the bubbles and jets of water and made a trip onto the pirate ship a few times to check that out. My biggest achievement though was jumping in off the side of the pool. I saw some older boys doing it and decided I was going to get in on the action. Mum was on the edge of the pool with Dad waiting in the water for my splashdown. My first attempt wasn’t too good to be honest, I only just made it over the edge and into the water. I’d also decided I didn’t want Dad to catch me either….On my next few goes I decided it wasn’t such a bad idea to let him give me a bit of gentle assistance as I was going right under the water. After about eight goes I had it down to a tee and was loving it.
Saturday we went to town in the morning, we saw one of Dads old work mates with her new baby. I’m really interested in babies at the moment and like to point any out that I notice during our comings and goings. In the evening we went to Ben and Rach’s to watch the Eurovision song contest. As usual there was a sweepstake but with the addition of a national dish from the country you had picked. Mum spent hours making what appeared to be the most vile drink in history while dad melted some cheese over a candle. Neither of them won any money as usual.

I spent a large portion of the night with my laydeez Jeanette and Katie.

I’ve even managed to distract Owen while there was a scantily clad lady on the telly here…..

Here I am making off with a mini toad in the hole, Owen’s interpretation of English fayre. Dad got extremely drunk and went to sleep even before the results came in, he’s such a lightweight.
Sunday we went to a big blue building in Bristol. I think it was called IKEA or something. It was filled with weird furniture and stuff. Then all of a sudden right in the middle of the shop was a mini playground! There was a smart tunnel/slide combo, some little tents, rocking chairs and loads of other stuff. I took some prising away from that I can tell you.
I decided on Monday night that I didn’t fancy my high chair any more and wanted to sit in a real chair. I had to admit it was a bit low so I was quite glad when Dad got my booster seat out. Two days in and it’s going okay, just wait till I have something really messy though…..

Wheels!

Hello once again, how are we all?
Dad’s been keeping up the bike trip back from nursery, even if it looks like it might rain, it's great. We haven’t been caught out yet so fingers crossed. I like to helpfully shout out the word 'Wheels' at every oppurtunity while we are ridning along, i'm sure Dad finds it re-assuring.
Mum had Thursday afternoon off so we went to Lepe Country Park:

The sun was out and it was lovely and warm. We had a play in the park and had a long walk along the seafront without the buggy. The park had a big metal tube to crawl through, it was really funny when I was half way through and Dad wacked it one making a loud ringing sound. He had to do it so much he got a sore hand I think.
Friday we took the car to the garage. I was quite worried when a man made the car go up in the air and then took the two front wheels off….how were we going to get home? Dad assured me it was okay as he was just putting new tyres on. Never the less I was quite relieved when the car had it’s full complement of wheels attached and was back on the ground once more. After all that trauma we went to see Nanny. We went out in her garden and there was a frog in the grass! He hopped really well until he disappeared next door.
Then on to the weekend! Saturday morning and we went to Fantasy Land. I haven’t been for a while so was well up for it. My climbing skills had come on a lot and mum was amazed at my skills. I made dad climb all the way to the top with me and then made him go down the big slide with me on his lap. I wasn’t too sure on the first descent but by the 7th go I was loving it although I’m not sure dad was quite so keen. After that we went to Nicks to watch some football match or other and then have a barbecue. What a good day I had. I played in the garden with Yanna and Fen (thanks to Kin and Melissa for looking after me while mum and dad took it easy on the sofa).

And then we had a pitstop:

Later on I made everyone chase me around Nicks house, my energy was boundless. Thanks to Ben, Andy, Owen and Nick for the physical effort you made to keep me entertained and arranging the bean bag so nicely in the drop zone.
Sunday was at a slightly different pace to Saturday. We had a lovely lie in before going to get Great Grandma round for lunch. I got to ride round on her lap in the wheelchair which was proper smart. After lunch I was helping the table clearing process along to speed up the arrival of pudding by depositing the contents of my plate all over Grandma’s feet…sorry!

After dinner was done and dusted, I let her have a kip and a cuddle on the sofa.
After we had taken Grandma home I helped Dad wash the car with Mum. I loved splashing in the puddles and bubbles.
Monday Dad got all brave and let me help in the kitchen! We made some shortbread biscuits with chocolate chips in them. I helped mix the ingredients together in the mixing bowl and then supervised cutting them out. I took charge of adding the chocolate chips…some of them even made it onto the biscuits! Once they were in the oven we sat and watched them cook through the glass door.
On Tuesday dad picked me up from nursery on the bike and we went down the park to meet Mum for lunch. Things took a bad turn when I dropped one of my lovely home made biscuits in the dirt and cried my eyes out. Not even the offer of another one could ease my woe. I got over it eventually and we had a go on the slide in my super slippery trousers. Once we got home dad got me to help him put a load of dirt in a big tray and then poke some tiny little balls into the earth. He then got me to spray water all over it..most odd! I don’t know what all that was about, maybe I’ll find out later.

Hello, hello, hello, hello....

Alright then blog-monkeys!
I’ve seen lots of people over the last week. Nanny came round for the afternoon on Wednesday and then she stayed for tea, I ate 67,208 raspberries and a good lot of strawberries, I love fruit. It’s okay though, I still love my cake too!
Friday afternoon dad finally decided it was time to tidy up the garden. He got the lawn mower out and cut the grass which was a good job done as it was very nearly up to my waist. Whilst he was doing it I sat on my bike and laughed at him wandering up and down the lawn over and over again. Once he was finished, I got my lawn mower out and finished the job off properly. He also got rid of Santa’s tree hat had been going brown around the side of the house since Christmas, I’m a bit concerned that Santa won’t have anywhere to drop of the presents next time….Just as we were getting my tent/tunnel combo out for a game Aunty Chris turned up with Nanny again, bonus! I got to play with them in the garden for the afternoon. In the evening Alan came round to look after me. We had great fun, he’s such a soft touch he even gave in to my bed time demand of my huge horse coming in my cot with me.
On to the weekend and it was potty training time. Mum had me naked from the waist down with my potty ready for action. I pretty much had the idea of it from the word go and had several wee’s in it as well as depositing some solid matter a bit later on. I’m still a long way from the finished article though. Slim and Tracey came round in the afternoon, I had great fun with them. I even said ‘Tracey’ for the first time, even though it was about five minutes after they had left.
We went down the farmers market on Sunday and came away with nothing but a few organic carrots. I ate some of them cold, but decided against them once they were cooked with my roast. I like to stay a bit fickle and keep them on their toes. In the evening, Aunty Chris turned up for baby sitting duties. That’s twice I was abandoned in one weekend! Then Laura and James arrived too so I made sure I got rid of mum and dad quicksmart.
I’ve really been enjoying my train set of late:

I’m really enjoying putting the track together and then sending Thomas and friends around my creations.
I’m also enjoying my medical kit:

I’ll now be known as Dr Atkins if you don’t mind.
Dad came to pick me up from nursery today as usual, but we didn’t go home in the car….we went by bike! It was great, we rode past the fire station and saw the nee-nar’s before going through the park and along the canal past the boats and the ducks. The best bit was the big bridge over the water. On the way back down we went proper fast over the bumpy bits which really made me laugh. We finished off by going past the horses in the field over the way. I hope he can be bothered to do this again, it was really good.