Wednesday

Ned cooked a two course meal today as his food tech homework....

Pizza and chocolate brownie, so not exactly pushing his culinary envelope but very agreeable all the same.

Thursday

A little Pumptrack trip in the afternoon, I had a bit of an off and cut my finger, having insisted to Dad that I did not want to wear my gloves...oh dear.  I did a bit of camera work while the boys rode around before heading off into the woods to explore:

This fallen tree was really cool so I summoned Dad down to take a look.  The route involved a few fallen branches over a very boggy patch which I negotiated with ease.  Must be my gymnastics training, Dad fell in it once on the way to the tree and twice on the way back:

The soggy fool.

Friday

We were busy packing and getting stuff ready for holiday tomorrow so Abi and Faye coming round to deliver Mum's birthday card was a very welcome distraction.  Abi and I had a very fun wrestling match in the front room.

Saturday

Two reasons to be happy today, Mums birthday and off on our holidays to Cornwall.

We kicked off proceedings with a trip to McDonald for breakfast then hit the road West.

There were no traffic issues to contend with so we arrived in St Merryn in time for a Barnecutts bakery lunch.  All to schedule very nicely so far.  Next up Annes Cottage for some wetsuit shopping, Ned got a nice one but I seemed to be inbetween sizes and had to settle for Neds Cast offs (not too bad though, its nice and fits well).

Back to campsite to collect the keys and get unpacked before Mum could have her birthday presents:

Ned also got one of his early:

A fleecy blanket shaped and printed like a pizza slice.  He loved it but we weren't allowed to take any pictures.  We thought if he had it early he could use it after going in the sea.

Next up a dip in the sea and waves at Harlyn which was vet enjoyable.  We could have done without the whole debacle with the car key that Dad had stashed safely.....so safely he couldnt actually retrieve it.  After a lot of effort, a bit of bad language and some assistance from another helpful chap in the car park we were good to go, stopping by the chip shop in St Merryn for supper to be eaten in front of Dec and Dec's saturday night takeaway finale.  Epic day. 

Sunday

Another lovely sunny day, we made the most of chilling out, the boys went in the sea again, I decided to stay dry and get comfy outside:

With it being such a nice day it would have been rude not to have a barbecue.  We had another novelty desert idea, popcornin its own little barbecue friendly pan:

It made a noise like a machine gun when it started popping.

We went to Bedruthan in the afternoon:

It was lovel as always once we had safely negotiated the stairs:

We climbed, we paddled and we made our way through a cave to another bit of beach cut off by the water:

It rushed in at quite a rate at one point!

Monday

A walk to Mother Ivey's bay, and here a photo of cake by the ocean:

We played ball for ages before Dad and I took an exploratory paddle:

Followed by getting our wetsuits on and going for a dip.  Although there were no waves as such the sea was ramping up and dumping with great force onto the shore.  It was enough to take you off your feet completely and it did, more than once.  It was great fun. 

Skateboarding in the late afternoon sunshine was very pleasant:

We rounded the day out with a little bit of Cricket on an otherwise deserted beach:

Tuesday

Polzeath today, shopping and ice cream:

Lowtide Constantine Rock pools in the evening, a rich hunting ground for seasoned crabbers like us:

The Eel eluded us though, but we loved watching him fleetingly pop out and slither about a bit.

Wednesday

Youth hostel for lunch while it was still sunny and nice:

Then a little Jigsaw action (one of mums birthday presents)

And then an early evening trip into Newquay, via Aldi for knock off nutella and cheapi chocolate (mum and Ned love it).

Then a quick gander at this cool house on an island complete with its own suspension bridge:

Thursday

We had a low tide explore of Treyarnon.  The gap looked sandy, the rock pools looked pooly and the quicksand was quick enough to catch Dad out....water over the welly top:

We stopped laughing eventually, then we kept starting again every time he squelched as he walked.

The clambered up to the swimming pool for a nosey about:

It was another lovely afternoon so we got the blanket and the windbreak out and set up camp.

Hand held sandcastle anyone? Not my best idea if i'm honest:

Bit of digging obviously:

Then a massive surf session with all of us until we turned blue and had to get out and warm up.

A nice liitle Evening walk down to the point finished off Neds last day of being thirteen:

Friday

Neds birthday! Happy 14th to you.  At his lrdships request it was sugar and lemon pancakes for breakfast, nice choice.

Hs activity of the day was the flow rider at Retallack, we got there in time to see it fired up, which quite honestly was a bit scary...it seemed to shift a lot of water at quite a high speed.

We got kitted up in (soggy) wetsuits before meeting up with our instructor and getting stuck in.  Heres the birthday boy dropping in:

And here' Mum and I playing nicely together:

Dad was a total menace, he pretty much drowned Mum with his spray and then took Ned and himself out on the final go of the session.  Apart from that we all got onvery well with it and I loved it.

Where else could we take him for lunch other than Pizza Hut?  Buffet too, we'd certainly worked up an appetite on the flow rider so certainly got our moneys worth.

The boys thrn headed off surfing at Harlyn leaving mum and I in peace and quiet for a while before they came back for tea and of course Ned's birthday cake.... Well I say cake, it was actually a salted chocolate tart on special request from the birthday boy himself:

And with a lovely sunset to round out the day, a happy birthday to you Ned:

Saturday

Time to come home......rubbsh.  Well, mostly rubbish but at least the wifi and indeed phone signal was something to look forward to. We had a great week and couldnt believe that only a few weeks ago we were wading through snow while we were bobbing about in sunny seas.  As mum rightly pointed out though, the sea felt as cold as melted snow.  We purchasd a few supplies and bid Gary and Wendy farewell:

We were back mid afternoon and had a quiet day, punctuated by the excitement of a new series of Britains Got Talent in the evening.

Sunday

Nothing much today, just a day long you tube binge punctuated with a roast dinner and the worst ever performance on the Crystal Maze (zero crystals).

We did have a visit from Slim as well to drop off Neds birthday card, that meant a Slim cuddle! He's the best cuddler in the world.

Monday

A day of mostly nothing much......and then blind panic to try to catch up with the homework weve been putting off for the ladt two weeks.......

Wednesday

Our only after school rugby match so far this year got cancelled, hardly surprising really as it has rained almost non stop for ages.  Still very disappointed though.

Thursday

Last day of term today at last.  We had our talent show, which didn't go as planned when my 'comedy troupe' fell apart due to creative differences.

I did a bit with Max which was okay but the real star was Sam, his singing and dancing was actually brilliant.

We watched How to train a dragon in the afternoon before we were released for two weeks of Easter Freedom.

Rios butgers for tea, a first for us.  We loved the burgers, like really loved the burgers, not so much the chips though, despite the cheesy topping I had being top notch.

Friday

Swimming today, Basingstoke Aquadrome in a last minute trip.  All three slids were open and we had a really god time.  We got up to all sorts of water based gymnastics, slide ridng and various underwater swimming challenges.

We played Mums new game (well she got for Christmas) called Codenames.  I loved it, its a word game so it was a bit of a tough sell to Ned.

Saturday

We played more codenames in the morning before I left for Betsy's birthday sleepover.  This featured a trip to the new trampoline park called Flipout in Basingstoke.  It was excellent too, there was a load of extra  sort of stuff like ninja tag and drop slides.  

We had Domino's deliverd for tea so that set us up nicely for a late night stint....

Sunday

Mcdonalds breakfast was very nice inded......

After a nice lie in of course.

I came home in time for the Easter Egg hunt:

Even Ned got involved, at his age!

So it was a nice little chocolate binge before I finished off the Sushi Dad had made yesterday with Alan on their sushi school:

I loved it, we'll be making some more for sure.

Anne and Mike came round for lunch and we got to see their New York pictures.....it looked snowy and cold but really good.

Ned and I were unusually helpful sorting out drinks and tidying the lunch things away.

Monday

Had an impromptu trip to see Peter rabbit with Betsy today.  It was pretty good actually.

In a rather shocking development Ned let me play Fortnite and Fifa on his Xbox against his friends!

I really rather enjoyed it too......

Tuesday

Well it was the area Cross country championships up,at the showground.  We had a big coach for all of our very extensive team across years 3/4 and 5/6.  It was great fun and hugely exciting to leave school at lunch time and make our way over.  We had an impressive team area set up, massive tarpaulin for us all to sit on, nicely pegged down so it didnt flutter about in the wind too much and a couple of the gazebo's ready to be deployed in case of rain, we didn't need them.  There were a few patches of snow left dotted about but the course itself was clear, even if it was a bit soft and muddy in places.

We got to cheer on the year 3/4 girks and boys before our race was on.  Mum and thrn Dad arrived in time for a pre race pep talk and sneaky cuddle before we made our way to the pens to line up for the race.  I helped make sure we bagged a good inside line one and we all lined up with me at the front.

We were off and we made good progress filing in j st behind the really keen leading group.  The course went way out across the fields away from the sizeable crowd and the field got a lot more strung out the further we went.  The John Rankin representatives stayed largely together near the front of the main pack as we went past the crowds towards the end of the 3km's.

We were a lot more strung out by now:

I was delighted to finish 90th out of over 300 competitors, third quarter ne home for our school:

We stayed on to cheer on the boys team before packing up and heading for home.  I declined a trip hone with Mum or Dad in favour of our team coach which was far more fun.  Although it sounded like the spectator car park was fun in itself with the recently melted snow making it incredibly slippery.

Wednesday 

Parents evening, it went extremely well by all accounts.  Apparently i'm a pleasure to have in class, even if I am very chatty.  It went suffering well to qualify for a treat apparently.....

Thursday

I was a parents evening helper tonight, but aking on door duties with Liam and Tate.  We put in a long shift but it was good fun.

Friday 

Dad went out in his bike straight from work so by the time he'd finally got round to getting himself home and making tea I was nearly late Friday r Friday club.  Good job Mum had stepped in and made a head start.

Saturday

I cashed on my parents evening treat today, with a McDonalds breakfast .  If there is anything to tastier than a sausage mcmuffin i'm yet to experience it.  Ned was off paintballing for the day so we had a shopping trip to Basingstoke as treat part two.  I got a hoodie from the Newlook sale rail and a summer dress and a trouser suit from Primark all leaving change from £20.  I also got a squishy cake from the market which I love.

It was Sasha's birthday sleepover in the afternoon, so I was soonround there for a ;late) night of fun and games.....

Sunday

Well after last night festivities, there wasn't much happening today when I got picked up:

Tuesday
Bit of a hectic sporting schedule today, not only did I do PE at school we also had afternoon school practice for next weeks cross country competition and then straight on to gymnastics.  Pretty full on even by my standards.

Wednesday
So it was Nate's actual birthday today, we got an invite to Pizza Hut to have a pizza with him in the evening.  It was great fun, feeding Joel pizza crusts and entertaining Nate.  Happy 3rd birthday again Nate.

Friday
I went straight to Sasha's after school for tea and preparations for our school disco that night.  Her Mum had also enlisted my Mum as a helper on the night....I was devastated to learn this.  I didn't want her there, how embarrassing.  It wasn't so bad in the end I suppose, she worked on the sweet counter so at least she was extremely busy and spent her entire evening crouched over sweets and doing mental arithmetic.  it was a good night but the music left a lot to be desired.....

Saturday
Very lazy morning for me today, well it had started to snow again and there wasn't much doing.  It snowed quite a lot in the afternoon, I spent the day listening to Spotify and watching telly.  In the evening we went round to Kimi and Marny's for the adults meal club.  I spent the evening having a Youtube binge with Kimi and then appearing at the right time to hoover up the lovely left over Profiteroles that Carol had made.  It had snowed quite a lot by the time we set off for home.....

Sunday
...so I didn't get up until 10 Sunday morning, it was a good job Ned had had a telling off for screaming at his Xbox friends early doors.  

We did go out and have a play in the snow though, a quick go on the trampoline:

And then set about making a snowman, which we didn't do the last time it snowed a coupke of weeks ago:

In all honesty the snow wasn't great for rolling and compacting into snowman form but we did our best:

We had a roast for lunch, I did a bit of homework, we had a family outing to Tesco wheredespite the weather we purchased suncream:

And tried on a couple of items of novelty headwear:

We went home and watched the re-run of Saturday Night Takeaway (might be the last one of those for a while?) and mocked the 'celebrities' on catchphrase.

Monday
So Ned struggled round delivering his papers only for his school to be shut....I'm not so lucky, we're a hardy bunch at JRJ!

I came home covered in black pastel after todays artistic endeavours and was ordered to scrub up which I wasn't happy about......not sure what the fuss was about?

Friday

Sponsored run right around the outside of the school grounds today, I managed a very commendable 12 laps which I was very pleased with.  I was pretty tired in the evening though.

Saturday

It was Nate's birthday party today, there was all sorts available for our entertainment, a bouncy castle, soft play stuff, mini trampoline and acrsh mat, sports equipment....oh and of course plenty lf food and drink (including my very favourite party rings).

Nate loved his present which was just as well as Mum had a nightmare getting it for him:

We got into all sorts of mischief:

Then it was home to find out I had loads of missed whatsapp messages, I guess all my friends were bored that afternoon?

Of course we watched Saturday Night Takeaway.

Sunday 

Mothers day, it could have gone better, what with Dad feeling a little bit 'delicate' and Ned being his usual teenager-y self.

Anyway, she loved her present and my card and we decided we'd go to Legoland as it had just opened.  Ned didn't come because he's boring.

This new model certainly caught my attention:

My main mission was to take mum and dad in the new Ninjago ride, they certainly enjoyed it even though Dad was rubbish.  Mum won of course.

I thoroughly enjoyed the playground it has to be said:

And I also loved the wave rider thingy, despite what my face might be implying in this picture:

I wasnt happy having to share a boat though:

I'm sure theres many pictures of me looking a lot smaller thanI do now sat on this little cat:

We stayed unitl the rides shut of course and then enjoyed the new additions to miniland until the rain came...heavy rain requiring a rather rapid retreat for the car.

Monday

Back to school, but a trip staright after the Basingstoke pool with Lilly.  It was great fun, we didn't get out for ages and then it was on to KFC.  I didnt get home until 9!

Thursday

The Snow finally arrived.  It had been built up for days on the news and weather and it pretty much delivered as billed.  School wasn't shut today, so once we were finished for the day it was down to the park for snowballs.
I got a call from home to see if I fancied sledging over at Northcroft, of course I did.  We dragged Luca along too and made our way very carefully in the car to our side of the canal before completing our journey on foot to the hill.
It was pretty busy (with loads of people we knew) but we managed to find (mostly) clear lines to make our descents:

The light was starting to fade so we had to make the most of it:

It was pretty blowy and cold....

But great fun

We survived intact despite Luca and I crashing on a doubles run and made our way home to drop Luca off, I think he enjoyed himself:

Friday

School was......CLOSED!  Brilliant, this hadn't ever happened before I don't think?  Dad was off too but Mum got collected to go in and do the payroll run....she's important!
This is the first significant snow we've had in years.
I got on my friends group chat and sorted out a mass snowball fight down the park later in the morning.  It was great fun.  I met up with Lilly and Betsy and ended up having a sleepover with them at Betsy's.  That was an unexpected surprise.
We had a good night and weren't even that late to bed really.....

Saturday

Cinema first thing to see Ferdinand.  There was still quite a bit of snow about as I got picked up from Betsy's.  Ned was along too, under protest so it was a family trip out.  I loved the film, loved it!  Even if we were the oldest kids in there by quite a margin.
We stopped off at the bakery on the way home for lunch, the cheese straws were good, nearly as good as mine!
Bit of a quiet afternoon, with great anticipation for that evenings instalment of Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.  My favourite show ever.

Sunday

With football cancelled due to the weather it was another family trip out to the Beach in West Wittering.  The snow had vanished almost entirely and the sun was doing it's best to break through the clouds so it was nice to get outside for the day.
We started off with lunch.  Great idea.  We had what Dad christened English Tapas, separates form the breakfast menu, hash browns, sausages, fried bread (for Ned) and garlic bread (for me)  while Mum and Dad had boring proper meals.
Pudding though was a whole next level:

We did share it.....ha ha

We had a browse around the surf shop then headed down too the beach for a game of Boules (with the tide right in which wasn't ideal), and had a game of dodge the incoming waves on a very steep and pebbly bank which was fun.

And we stood on some pillars:

And some more pillars:

And some pillars with an arty backdrop:

Monday

So despite not attending cross country club after school, I got a letter to say I'd been picked for the schools area cross country!  I've requested Dad take me out on some training runs, he's allowed to ride his bike though and I'm proper excited.  It's an afternoon out with my friends instead of school.