Tuesday

So today was my last Primary Schools cross country competition.  I've loved it over the years, even if it has become pretty clear i'll not be at the sharp end of the results sheets.

For the first time ever, Mum took me and spent the afternoon with us too which was cool:

I was ridiculously nervous before the race started for some reason, Mum was pretty worried about me I think.  Anyway, once it started I was okay and put in my usual 100% effort which was good enough for a finish just outside the top 100 (from over 300 entrants).  Job done I reckon?

Wednesday

We had a bit of a special assembly involving a viola recital.  It wasn't really up to much, but we too heart from the fact that we were far better sounding the the other class' violin playing.  On top of that I got presented with my swimming certificate, level five no less!  Add to this it being April fools day, it was a good assembly.  I had one of Ned's pretend spiders I shoved at anyone sat near enough to be a potential fright case.  Sadly no one fell for it but I certainly enjoyed myself.

With it being the build up to Easter we had the inevitable church visit.  Teh best thing about it was a specially comissioned piece of art work, depecting Jesus.....created by none other than my OWN SISTER!

High praise indeed, thanks Ned.

Once we finally got back to school it was time for our last ever netball training session.  What a rollercoaster it's been, but ultimatley very rewarding and a great lesson in team work.  The coaches have been on the whole, Epic.  Especially as they had got us all crisps and chocolate rabbits as a parting gift.  So we've stood down so the year 5's can take our places for next season. The John Rankin Netball machine marches on.....

It was our first outdoor Team Kennet session of the year.  So we wrapped up warm and got going.   I really rather enjoyed it, especially winning a 400m race (unheard of) and then putting one young lad in his place when he told me to 'watch and learn' as he threw the vortex.  It didn't go very far and he hadn't factored on me being under Ned's careful guidance in thsi particualr discipline.  I threw it MILES further than he did.

Well done Ellis!  I wish I had seen it, but i've now been bumped up into the under 13's group which means we get to do more recognised events.  This week I concentrated on the shot, which was a lot heavier than I was expecting!

Thursday

So the last day of term was upon us and we had a special film day lined up.  

Yeah, with our choice of four different films in four different rooms.  

We both chose Paddington of course.

And for the first time ever, Mum came to pick us up from our early finish.

She did, even though I disappeared stright off to Roberts for a sleepover.

When Dad got home I dragged him and Mum down the park to show them our extensive network of den's in the trees and do some vortex throwing.

Friday

A lovely, lovely lay in  for us without Ned around.  In fact he was gone pretty much all day so we didn't do a whole lot.  It was good to see Abi and Faye in the afternoon though.

And then we got a text message to say the caravan was available a night early for our Cornwall trip.

So as soon as I got back from Robert's after tea we were bundled into the car and hit the road heading west.....

Saturday

We arrived pretty late last night so it was a bit of a slow start really.

But that doesn't matter in Cornwall, especially when the sunshine is out.

I modelled something called a 'tea cosy':

We'd already decided that it was time for a new wetsuit for me, which meant of course SHOPPING!

Urgh, what a downer.  

We met up with Andy who was staying in with his Mum and Dad and went out for a walk.  I tried on a few at the shop up the top but none of them seemd to fit quite right so it was a trip to St Columb after we'd finished our walk around.

The waves were looking good and I was keen to get amongst them.

I had another load to try on in Anne's Cottage.  These were a much better fit and I was really pleased to get one with long arms and long legs as I do feel the cold, even in August!

I succumbed to the shopping as well i'm afraid, with a couple of pairs of jeans and a pair of Vans.

Once that was done we couldn't wait to get back to the beach.

I claimed the first wave of 2015 for our family which I was very pleased about.

And I picked up where I left off last year, totally loving it.  Especially in the relative warmth of my new wetsuit.
We were back at the van, showered with a luxurious hot chocolate in us in plenty of time to settle down in front of the telly for Saturday Night Takeaway.  
Perfect.

Sunday

So, the biggest day of the year, Easter Sunday!

We were up at a reasonable time for the big egg hunt.

Always great in a caravan due to the sheer volume of hiding places.

It was of course a great haul:

We invited Andy over for a game of Camel up.

Yet again it provided an all action finish with many possible outcomes.

I think he enjoyed it.

We then set about our homework project for the holidays, to have an adventure.

It was Dad's bright idea to scale the headland that gets cut off at high tide:

We had already consulted the tide table and worked out that a lunchtime trip was the best idea due to the low tide.

It also fitted in with the idea of having a picnic lunch up there too.

So we set off, it was pretty easy to begin with:

But it soon got much steeper and much more slippery.

Mum got rid of her wellies, preferring the extra grip her bare feet afforded.

And Dad completely split his jeans making a big reach.  Not the best of starts then.

It was however a pretty abrupt climb and we were soon on the top:

We have never seen anyone else up here so it really did feel like a genuine adventure.

The grass was so deep and soft it felt really weird to walk on.

But it was lovely to sit down on for a picnic:

Andy bid us farewell at this point as his mum was laying on a massive spread for them all. We waited anxiously to see him back down on the beach after his safe descent.

We enjoyed our very solitary picnic and took in the magnificent view on such a lovely day.

And then bit the bullet and took on our climb back down.

With a steady pace and a good helping of team work we all managd to get down unscathed to be greeted by John, Sarah, Mark, Amy and of course Connie who had come down to meet us.

In the afternoon there was more surfing to be had.  The waves were a bit smaller than the previous day but a lot cleaner.

We loved it.

Back at the van I caught a glimpse of a real life easter bunny:

What better way to round off a lovely Cornwall day than with a barbecue as the sun set?

Well, we sat inside and watched telly but Mum and Dad went out:

Monday

I had another of my top quality lie in's:

Absoloutely out for the count, even with Dad banging about in the kitchen making breakfast.

Once the slug had finally surfaced we went out for a walk with Connie.

We loved making a fuss of her and throwing her ball for her, she's dead good at catching!

We carried on over Constantine to Booby's bay.

The wreck was even more exposed than last year:

It was another lovely, sunny day:

I scuffed my toe on the way back, hence my rather odd choice of footwear, thanks for the flip flop Ellis:

I was in full Cornwall mode, bare feet!

We took lunch at the youth hostel, on our usual sea view table.

Lovely cheesey pepperoni pizza for me.

And a new addition to the menu, chorizo, and crusty bread.  Could it be any better than that?  Throw in a few of Mum's left over chips and a bottle of J2O and I think not!

We went to Gary's shop for pudding and told him all about our adventure to the island.  
He reckons he hadn't heard of anyone climbing up there for well over a year!

Surfing time again, this time Dad took my camera:

I tried out my swim fins for the first time and got on pretty well with them:

And I took on some big waves:

But got out before everyone else so I could play with Connie.

It was our last day so we had whatever was left in the cupboards for tea, tidied up and left for home.

But not until 7 o'clock so we certainly made the most of it.

So thats it then, our first trip west for the year, in glorious sunshine and the sea will only get warmer from here on in.

We can't wait to come back.

Tuesday

We had our last but one netball session this week, we were a little bit distracted towards the end, well, Tilly and I were anyway as Mr Gilham had just taken delivery of our brand new sports kit. Just in the nick of time for tomorrows rugby tournament:

It was all still in it's plastic bags with the labels attached, how exciting!

It's so cool Mum being around, she gets to perform taxi service here there and everywhere else we need to be like gymnastics.

Wednesday

Our big day out at Bisham Abbey didn't get off to the best of starts.  We were supposed to be going with Tilly and her mum but between their house and ours they had aquired a flat tyre.  So our car it was, albeit with Tilly's mum driving.  We got there in good time and got issued with our pink berkshire t-shirts which we were all very proud of.  We got the squad together for a team talk:

Before getting stuck into some of the other events on offer.  The big draw for me was the mountainbiking.  I might have narrowly missed out on winning our first race (due to an over enthusiastic warm up lap) but I made sure I had another go and put down an epic time for the win. 

The other highlight was the table tennis.  I abandonned Team John Rankin in favour of another all girls school and played with them instead:

They lapped it up.

After a lovely picnic lunch by the river (where a couple of rugby balls ended up in the water) it was time for the rugby:

As we had expected, it was pretty hard going.  We drew the first game, narrowly lost our second and then our third as well.  I did manage to be our top scorer with three tries, before I got substituted in the last game for getting a bit of a strop on.  I hate losing.  On the whole though it was a great day out and it was lovely to have Mum with me for the day and at least we didn't have to go up against some the frankly giant girls the Tilly's older sister did, I swear some of them were as big as Dad.

It was our last week at swimming, so we were looking forward to fun week.  We got races instead.  I suppose it was pretty fun.  In the evening it was the last indoor team kennet of the season.

I was too tired from my day at Bisham Abbey.

So I went on my own, I really rather enjoyed it.

Friday

I went home with Robert after school, for pizza and some gaming before the school disco.

I did a bit of shopping with Mum and Dad and got a couple of lovely fleece tops like Ned's he had for Rhos but in a much nicer purple shade. 

We managed to sneak the School disco in before Auntie Christines big birthday party.
Yeah, she was, now take a deep breath here.....60!
Yeah, I know, she doesn't look it and certainly doesn't act it!

Happy birthday Auntie Christine.
It was a bit of a late one up at Newbury Golf Club.  It had, without doubt the poshest toilets I have ever been in.  There were even hair tongs/straighteners in there.  I made full use of them.

Saturday

I had a mighty lay in and only finally surfaced because it was Sacha's birthday party at 11:30.  It was lovely, we decorated cup cakes with 'mushy pea icing' and got up to all sorts of arts and crafts stuff.
I spent most of the day down the park with my mates.
In the afternoon I fancied a snuggle up so we watched the Lego movie all together.

And then in the evening Auntie Trish came to babysit...so another nice late night was had!

Sunday

A trip to  the cinema to see Annie in the morning.
We were dead excited about seeing this one as we'd wanted to see it before christmas.
Then in the afternoon my third and final party, this time for my school friend Logan down at Northcroft.
We played the hotel game, Dad lost baaaadly.

Monday

We did gymnastics in PE at school, I loved that!
And we're doing dance for this term which is good, i've missed it since it moved to cross country night.
Speaking of which, it was my last ever cross country club tonight.  It's been four years of rain, wind, snow, ice and mud but i've never once not wanted to go out there and get stuck in.  Marc has done a great job and easily matched our enthusiasm over the years and made it a lot of fun too.  All thats left is tomorrows race!

Tuesday
High drama indeed at school today when there was a fire on the disabled toilet/lost property cupboard.
Yeah, full on evacuation, two fire engines and a police car turned up.
But Mr Jones had put it out by the time they arrived.
There were all sorts of stories about who had done it......
It meant we didn't get to visit the local church for some Easter themed thing or other, so I was pretty pleased about that.
Swimming carried on as normal though.  It was seemingly test week.  So after demomstrating we had the various strokes down it was a variety of jumping in tasks.  I think I did okay.....

Wednesday
I suffered a burst yoghurt at lunchtime, it was quite messy.  Somehow this enabled me to get a place at the 'top table' so that was a nice side affect.
We had a hastily entered tag Rugby tournament on Wednesday afternooon.  I told Dad not to bother coming to watch as we'd be rubbish.  We played four matches in out group stage, I forget who they were all against but I do remember Pangbourne and Whitleands were two of them.  We won all four games.  Hmmm, okay.  Next up was Spurcroft in the quarter final, knock out stage of the tournament.  We beat them too.  So it was a semi-final against Francis Bailey......and we won that.  So there we were, in the final!  
Dad had caught wind of all this on Facebook so we decided to get up to the rugby club quick.  We arrived in time to see the second half of the game.
Which we sadly lost to St Finians, but only just!  It had been quite an afternoon, i'd scored four tries and won myself a rather decent second place medal:

Best of all though, we had qualified for the Regional finals to represent Berkshire at the Sainsbury's schools winter games next week at Bisham Abbey along side St Finians as they had already qualified by winning another tournament.  A full day off!
 
Thursday

Finally I got to set up an Instagram account like all my friends at school.  So, i've filled it with silly cat pictures, supercars, a couple of selfies and cute animals.  It didn't take long to get loads of followers.  Robert was round after school, so I selfied both of us playing Forza Horizon 2:

After tea we had anothe game of Camel Up.  We're loving it.

Yep, we are.  Dad was struggling tonight though, with a new record low score of just 9!

For comparison my record high score is 42!!!

Friday

We found out the identity of the school arsonist, but we're all sworn to secrecy so no names here i'm afraid.

Even I couldn't get any details out of him.....

But in even bigger news, Mum decided she'd had enough of the new regime at work and decided to chuck her job in!

We couldn't believe it, in fact, I was pretty upset about it all, i'm pretty sensitive to change.

But once we'd talked it through and given it some thought we were all happy she'd done the right thing.

She'll be around a lot more for the foreseeable future thats for sure, so on that basis alone i'm happy!

Saturday

Mum had a shareholder meeting on Saturday morning, so once we'd dropped her off we embarked on a Mum free activity......Ice skating.

Yep, we decided to give Bracknell a go this time.  We were impressed by the size of the dry ski slope and certainly fancied coming back and giving that a go sometime.

But we were here for skating, I instagramed my skates:

The skating itself went very well, all the rollerskatng has certainly paid off.

Yeah, we did rather well it has to be said.

On the way home we stopped off for a very high class car picnic at Greggs on the M4 services.

We know how to live. The car park had an awesome Ducatti in it whch I loved.

And then a lovely old Ferarri Testarossa pulled in as well, we put our windows down so we could hear it's engine.
Mum got home just after us so we had the afternoon to go and pay another visit to Nate.

Yeah, he was laying in the bay window in his nappy when we got there, for medical reasons apparently.

We soon got him up for a cuddle session, he's so cool.

A quick trip round Waitrose and then off to rollerskating!

Two flavours of skating in one day, pretty impressive eh?

Sunday
Up and out nice and early for a Pump track session:

I'd been hassling Dad to take us for ages so I was well pleased:

I got bored of the biking pretty quick and decided to turn my attention to the park.

We got drawn in as well, and had a bit of a gymnastics session on some bars.

Even Dad got involved, even more suprisingly he was pretty good!

We had a trip to Anne's for lunch and we were going to meet her new friend Mike.

I was pretty nervous about it all, but I needn't have worried.  It all went very well.

We had a lovely dinner and a nice sunny trip to the park.

When we got home we managed a game of Camel Up before shower time, homework and our comedy highlight of the week on telly, Off their rockers.

MondayWell it was nice to have Mum around without us all being in such a rush this morning.

Yeah, and it was even better that she came to see our routine at after school dance club.  We did Hard Knock Life this week, with a prop of a cleaning cloth.  I even got to deliver a line from the song on my own!

Tuesday

Gymnastics continues and i'm still wearing my old ballet leotard, despite endless pleas and requess for a nice new one.

Due to our busy schedule it was our nominated baking evening for the upcoming Comic Relief bake sale at school on Friday too.

We finished our homework very quickly so we could help Mum who had her baking head well and truly on.

Wednesday

Swimming with the school again.  We had some fun this week with a few races and despite giving my opponents half a length head start I still took the win doing front crawl.

We had to have a school council get together to think up some questions to ask the potential new executive head in part of their interview, it feels quite a privelige to be involved in such a big decision making process.

Thursday

Well another game of football in PE, another three goals! I think Mum and Dad are trying to work out if i'm genuinely any good or just lucky.  I'm pretty low key about it though.

Once tea was done and dusted we were on to cake decorating.

And with a large supply of various coloured royal icing and a whole load of sprinkles and icing pens we were good to go.

The theme was supposed to be funny faces, which we didn't really stick to completely.

Nah, we're too creative to be constrained by stuffy rules and regulations.

We made a hell of a mess, which I would imagine took quite some clearing up.

We would love to have helped but time was getting on and bed was calling...

Friday

Comic relief day, adorned in various items of red attire we were off to school taking along our handcrafted sweet treats.

I was on one of the stalls selling, we got to skip class in the afternoon to set the hall up ready.  This also had the added bonus of being able to get our buying done before the masses descended assuring us of the pick of the crop.

By the time I got there most of the really good ones had gone.

But there were still plenty left to choose from.  It was pretty frantic to be honest, especially when the doors opened and several hundred cake fanatics rushed into the hall.

I stayed on until the bitter end to make sure everything was sold and cleared up.

We had a quick mission into town to get a few last minute items for Mum related events.

I also added a load of Lego sets to my list while we managed a a quick trip to the entertainer as well.

The new exercise equipment in Victoria Park was sadly clogged up with 'Teenagers'

As Dad pointed out I will soon enough be one myself so I shouldn't have too much of a downer on them.

We had a rare but pleasant full family slump and cuddle session in front of the telly in the evening.

Saturday

Ellis and I were up taking the weekend morning shift as usual while Mum and Dad had a lay in.  Then Mum's phone beeped, a message.....I quickly saw from the front screen it was Alan and that our new cousin was on his way by all accounts.

I was seriously excited, in fact I don't know if i've ever actually been so excited before!

So, while we waited for more news we got on with our day.  I had a taster session for Team Kennet up at the track where we could try a couple of events prior to us moving up to the under 13's category.  I chose long jump first, which seemed to rather wind mum and dad up as i'd already done quite a bit of that.  Doing it for an hour in a small group with two coaches was really good though and I improved a lot. 

I sat in the car with the little table up doing my maths homework.  It was pretty cool actually.

For the second hour I did javelin, with a proper pointy javelin rather than the vortex we usually throw.  It was a great deal harder than it looked to get it to stick in the ground.  After initial success and subsequent failure, by the end of the hour I had really got to grips with it.  Mostly due to the efforts of the coaches who were really helpful and had great advice to give.

In the afternoon we went for haircuts.  Mum had decided she would dig deep in her purse and take us to her hairdressers instead.

It was pretty cool, each seat had a telly on the wall in front of it showing the music channel.

I loved it in there, she even did me a nice few curls once she had finished, they loced it when I posed for a picture:

Mine took ages, even longer than Ellis did.  

We did a bit of shopping afterwards, well, a bit of modelling anyway:

We picked up a few items to give our new cousin which we were really pleased with.

A fluffy and soft cuddly rabbit.

An Elmer night light.

And a couple of packs of teeny tiny socks.

No roller skating this week as we were going to have some food and boardgames.

Alan and Hayley obviously couldn't make it.

But Andy still came round.

Alan did really well keeping us up to date with developments throughout the day and finally sent the one we'd all been waiting for.

Baby Nate had arrived at 19:45, mother and baby well, Alan fainted.

This news prompted a legthy dancing and excited squealing from me.

Sunday

Mothers day today.
So we were itching to bestow gifts upon Mum.
Especially the Lindor's we knew she'd need 'help' with.
I helped Dad do breakfast.
And I helped use the Ipad's charge.
Then it was off to Legoland for the first time this year, it only opened this weekend.
Not much has really changed, but thats fine by us.
So a couple of standard pictures:

Hiding on the Duplo train:

It was a pretty cold day it has to be said, so we took shelter under the railway bridge for out picnic, we drew some strange glances.
We had the totally exciting propspect of dropping in on Nate on the way home if he was still in the hospital.  
It all managed to come together and we left a Legoland a little earlier than we usually do to make a special visit.
Until we were thwarted by the 'no children on the ward unless they were siblings' rule.
So, we waited outside the security door while Mum went in.  So near and yet so far.
I burst into tears.
Dad did his best to explain the reasons behind the rules when Mum and Alan appeared at the door, followed by Hayley and the little man himself, all wrapped up in his blanket!
Alan wasn't having any of it and ordered us in to meet our new cousin properly, so we crept in, dodging the nurses until we were safely in their room.  Then the serious business began, cuddle time:

He was soooooo cool, totally laid back:

With the coolest little fingers and finger nails i'd ever seen.  It was totally the best thing ever getting to see him and having a cuddle.
Alan and Hayley looked really well and on top of everything.
So we didn't outstay our welcome and left them to it. I can't wait to see him again.
Yeah, i'm sure we've got plenty of fun times ahead!
As it was still mothers day, it was her choice for tea....and as she is very classy, it was a pitstop at Calcot McDonalds.
Then home for a first try at her mothers day game gift, Camel up.
We loved it!  Yeah, even me.

Monday

One of our potential new executive Head Teachers took assembly today.  It was pretty boring......

I had the afternoon off to attend the league finals for Netball at St. Gabriels.  It was a soggy, wet, windy and cold afternoon.  Still waaaaay better than being at school though.  I got well and truly stuck in and gave it everything despite the conditions.  Dad and some of the other Dad's loved my all over the court, hustling action.  One of the umpires didn't seem quite so keen which was a shame.  We ended up fifth on the day out of the ten qualifying teams, from the original 26 teams that entered the competition.  So on the whole, pretty good I reckon, even though it didn't really feel like it at the time.  So thats pretty much it for my netball career as this was our last competitive match.  I think we might have the traditional game against last years year 6 team to come and thats that.

Because of this I didn't get picked up from dance on time, I got to hang out with Becky for a bit until Dad turned up and tell her all about Nate so that was no real hardship!

Another game of Camel up after tea too!

Tuesday

We just about got our costumes finished in time for explorer day at school.

So here we are, Jaqies Cousteau,

And Neil Armstrong.  I'm sure he wore oven gloves to the moon too.

We had a visitor for assembly, a real life explorer that had been to the top of Everest.

And very grim it sounded too, frozen lungs, altitude sickness, falling into ravines and climbing over frozen dead bodies on the way.

Not only that but it was miles to the nearest shop as well.

So if it was supposed to inspire us to aim for the highest heights, I reckon it may have backfired a little bit.  Other than that it was business as usual so we still went swimming, in costume!

I even kept my outfit on for breaktime, although it was a bit on the chilly side.

Wednesday

One of my friends Bella is leaving school.  Her Mum has a job somewhere else so she's moving on.  We made her a nice card as a goodbye.

We did football in PE, I scored 4 goals!  So not a bad game really, I was rather pleased with myself.

Thursday

Well it was book day, but as we had already dressed up for the explorer thing there was no dressing up.  I was a bit unhappy about this, i'd got a great idea togo dressed as a hamster from one of my recent bedtime stories.

I was quite happy not to have to bother, shame we still had to do the big write though.

I had rather rapidly developed a wobbly tooth, which I managed to get out in the evening after school.  I gave it a good old cleanbefore putting it under my pillow for the tooth fairy.

Friday

It was film night at school, we hadn't had one of these for a while.

I suggested a few outfits thta were deemed a bit over the top for film night by Mum and Dad.

I wore my shorts and shirt combo so looked effortlessly cool.

We watched Hop, although we had seen it before we did still enjoy it.

Saturday

It was the day of the netball tournament at long last.

It was an early start and up to Park House.

It was a lovely sunny day, even if it was a bit breezy and cold.  We had plenty of supporters which was nice.
I had my roller skates and an occasionally empty tennis court so I was all set too.
The tournament itself had it's ups and downs it has to be said.  But we played well and fought hard, especially in our semi-final against St Gabriels (who have won the competition for the last 300 years or something).  We eventually lost 5-4 but pushed them every step of the way and kept it going until the last dying seconds of the game.  They eventually went on to win the tournament, again.  We finished third, best placed of all the 'peasant' schools:

I hoped Auntie Christine and Auntie Trish enjoyed it, they were certainly vocal enough on the sidelines!
I had a double dose of roller skating as we went to Norhtcroft in the evening.
And then it was on to the Hatchet for somethign to eat.  I didn't like it, although it was quite early evening, it was still too busy and too noisy.  
The hot dog and chips was very nice though.
We stopped off at Sainsbury's on the way home for some pud and bumped into Auntie Christine again, she does shop at odd times!

Sunday
After saying last August that we ought to come back on a bright, cold winters day for a ride along the prom from Southbourne to Bournemouth, we finally got round to it.
Yeah, except it wasn't a bright day and it was pretty cold to be honest.  It didn't start well when I fell off and hurt my arm (there was a lot of sand blown up onto the path whcih made it slippery).
We tried to help her get over by sheltering between some beach huts for our picnic.
But it still hurt and I was quite whingey about it.....
Then when I 'apparently' cut up some bloke with a baby seat on the back of his bike, causing him to swerve several times (this was the last of several near misses i'd supposedly been involved in) Dad flipped his lid and ordered us back to the car to go home.  I tried pleading with him but that was that.
So we had a nice silent journey all the way home.
Oops.
So instead of being out and about we got to do more homework, deep joy!
Hugo did appear later on though and we played the hotel game which was cool.
 

Monday
Cross country club was pretty epic, especially the training where we doubled the sprint intervals each go.  It ended up with me and Jess determined not to be the first to give in.  I came home with a very red face.
We finally caught up with the second episode of the Bear Grylls survival programme after tea in a rare whole family sofa session.  We loved the bit when they had to drink their own wee.
The retchign noises were hilarious!

Tuesday

Swimming with the school was good today, we finished our lesson stuff early enough to have a go at diving for the rings.  I loved that.
When we got back to school we did our belated sponsored pancake flipping.  I managed 18 which I was sort of pleased with.
time for ring diving

Max visited school in some capacity from St. Barts, don't know why, I only saw him briefly.

It was watching week at gymnastics for the first time in the new gym.  My linked backwards rolls right across the floor were quite impressive according to Mum and Dad.
Mario Kart!!!!  It's still my favourde game after playing it at Butlins, i'm loving it.

Wednesday

Team Kennet night and it was almost light when we got dropped off which made dodging the puddles on the way in a lot easier.
One girl was sick in the sportshall though, that was a puddle we really wanted to dodge.

Friday

We did our class assembly on living together.  Which managed to blend bits on living in India and the Civil War.  Mum said I spoke my lines very well.
I also got my Bronze times tables certificate, a bit delayed but i was chuffed to bits with it.
After school I was off to Sasha's for tea.  We were both mad excited about it and there had been much squealing and excitement in the build up.
So, seeing as Ellis wasn't going to be about, I managed to get Robert round for Xbox and Pizza.  Forza Horizon 2 was the game of choice.  It's brilliant and i'm totally loving the barn finds.
Sasha's was so cool, we played we bounced on her trampoline, we had sausage and mash for tea and best of all we tended to her chickens in the garden!

Saturday

So we had to do some shopping today....urgggh.
Yeah, we ll we have explorer costumes to make so it was a trip to Reading for the hobbycraft shop.  I've decided on Neil Armstrong so we needed some space suit specific stuff.
I decided on Jaques Cousteau, being won over by the fact that wearing my swimming stuff to school, maybe my wetsuit, swimming hat, mask, snorkel, flippers, some old armbands and carrying a fishing net would be good for a laugh.  As an added bonus I wouldn't have to make anything either, giving me more Forza time.
We went to Toys R Us as well, I spent a little bit more of my Christmas money on a lovely big, soft, fluffy Panda.  He will in no way take over form my original panda, but he is a fabulous addition to the family.
And I bought a Lego Mclaren, rather cool it is too.
Mum put in an epic effort of cycling into town, getting me a white outfit to customise into a spacesuit and cycling back again in just over an hour. While I had to have endless fittings for a space helmet that dad was making.
It was finally roller skating time again after a two week lay off.
Yep, I couldn't wait.  The queue was massive this week but when we got in both Sasha and Evie were there.  They couldn't believe how fast I could go.
I spent a lot of time practicing my race starts.  It stood me in good stead and I managed a third place against some pretty stiff competition.  I was gutted to find out that only winners won a lolly this week though.

Sunday

We had a rather quiet morning, doing homework, watching telly....
....finding abandonned classic sports cars in barns in the south of France.
It was a lovely sunny morning and I did my home work outside in the garden for a while.
We decided we'd pay Alan, Hayley and the bump a visit in the afternoon, by bike.
I had a small tumble on the canal towpath, fortunatley I flopped the right way and didn't end up in the canal.
We had a quick play on the park at Northcroft and then climbed the hill to their house.
We heard all about Hayleys appointments and classes for the baby.
It sounds like Alan has taken them all very seriously......
And then just as we decided it was time to come home, it rained.....hard!
We had to wait on a bit until it eased up but it was still really wet on the ground.
So it was quite a soggy ride home.
Maybe I need some mudgaurds on my bike, I had a rather wet and muddy bum and back by the time I got home.
We watched Off Their Rockers before bed, Mum found it hilarious.
So did we!

Monday

We got an email today to confirm my place at Park House in September!
I've been a bit wobbly about it recently, I think it's hit home that pretty much all my friends will be going to St Barts.......