Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love, and got married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent!

We are now back at home after a great time in Birmingham.  Dinner last night at the hotel was good, and considering the places that I have eaten at before, they could teach those pubs a lot about how food should taste.  If anything the only issue was with the service, but it was a new member of staff and that did reflect when sorting out the bill this morning, but we would go back to stay again in the future.  I was a shame that the pool was not as heated as we would have liked, but in some ways it did not matter that much to us as our kids were too tired to take advantage this time, and when we stayed here before (almost three years ago) they loved it.  The hotel could not do too much about the pool temperature as things happen and sometimes nothing can be done to cope with incidents.  Breakfast this morning was great, though, and I am sorry to say it, not as good as the NEC Crowne Plaza where we had eaten the morning before.  Saying that, it is not that breakfast was bad, it was not, and as I stated before, it was great.  And like with dinner spending time with our friends while eating was once again a pleasure.  If we come back to Birmingham, I would love to spend time in either of these two places and would recommend both to all.  

After checking out (and my wife kindly sorting out minor issues with the bill) we travelled into Birmingham.  I had wanted to go to the castle, but with the weather, and the fact that my son had not brought shoes which could cope with rain that was not an option.  We tried our luck at the Sea Life Centre, but unfortunately, it was fully booked for several hours, so instead we went to the Science Museum which the kids loved.  They did learn a few things, though I think that they will learn more there when they are older.  Which means that I will want to return, with them.  But mostly importantly, they seemed to enjoy it.  

And after a mostly incident free drive, we are at home, and right now, watching The Voice, which we had missed last night.  And it is a shame that Chloe Castro is not longer it it, though there are many who could have gone further and several others who are still in the completion who the family love.

Easter Sunday

The children love Easter, the eggs and the time with family and the eggs and did I mention the chocolate? While yesterday we spent time with Isabel and Alastair and their two lovely children today we met up with Sally, Tony and kids.  I had been hoping that we would get to go to Warwick Castle, but this was not a popular choice with the children and due to the threat of rain, my wife.  So after meeting up, then having coffee, a chat and then lunch, it came down to two choices, the Sealife Centre in Birmingham or ice skating in Tamworth.  So, with my wife having symptoms of a bad cold, we went ice skating.

My wife did not feel well enough to skate so watched from the sidelines.  One of Tony and Sally's kids had to be left behind to prepare for exams but the other two were great with our kids.  I spent the time glued to the sides and occasionally getting stuck in the gap between railings when the outer circuit met the inner rink but the kids with the a little help from our friends (okay, a lot of help) did much better than me and got to see what the middle of the rink looked like.  My daughter is hooked and my son may be so (but at present may be to cool to say so).  I had been skating once in the distant past, over twenty years ago, and my lack of skill and terror came flooding back.  While I only fell once, my amazing children fell more, but both were much braver than me and tried harder and achieved so much more than I ever have.  It was a new experience for them and they really appreciated the chance to find out what skating is like.

I have told them that they can post about their experiences on this blog, but both are a bit too tired to do so right now.  They may do so in the future and hopefully will contribute pictures, like that from my daughter which is above, in the future.  Anyway, now it's time for dinner.




  

Doctor: “I am not exactly sure of the cause. I think it could be due to alcohol.” Patient: “That’s OK. I will come back when you are sober.”

Today we have arrived in Birmingham.  We are to meet with friends tomorrow but have visited others who live here today.  After working in the morning we travelled up in the afternoon and ended having a great dinner.  It has been a while since I have been in Birmingham and I am not used to seeing so many Mosques even though I did live with in Whitechapel when younger.  The kids now are asleep having being allowed to watch a rare win for England against Germany.  

Man – So what do you do for a living? Woman – I’m a female impersonator.

Yesterday I got to see one of the plays my son was in.  I have still yet to be able to watch my daughter in a play, but my wife had booked a day off work for me which allowed me to to watch the Pied Piper of Hamelin.  Watching them grow is always a joy and my son was very proud of his part in the play.  As anyone who has seen the last post will know, this did result in an argument when my son was ill.  He is annoyed as apparently it was not a dress rehearsal that he missed, rather it was his year performing the play for the infants.  But he did get to be there as part of the performance for the junior class, and of course, for the parents.  I did get to see my daughter on the way to watch the play as she was going from one class into another.  I resisted the urge to hug and kiss her, which she told me was a good thing as she says that she would not have forgiven me.  While I am glad that they are growing, I do miss bits of them being younger, one of the things being how they were happy to hold my hands on the walk to school.  Something that they are too cool to do now as it is embarrassing.  I am lucky that I get to experience this (even though I want more) as too many, for one reason or another do not get to do so.

My kids noted I made a stupid mistake with maths today

I have to come clean.  My kids beat me at maths today.  I asked my son a sum, he got it right, but I thought he was wrong.  So I explained what I thought the answer was, while everyone looked at me like I was mad.  

My son has been ill for the last few days, flu and he is better now, but on Monday he was adamant that he had to go to school as otherwise he was to miss the dress rehearsal for the play that his class are preparing.  Fortunately, he is better now.  It did mean that on the weekend that he was not able to ride his bike.  My daughter on the other hand loved being able to do so.  She has got faster, which means that I am going to have to cycle harder to keep up with her, which means that I may be able to cycle to and from work later.  I used to be able to cycle for longer than now when I was a lot younger, but I am so unfit now.

It is my aim to become healthier but as events close to home have shown, it does not matter how fit you are sometimes.  When tragedy strikes, fitness may not be enough.  I do tell my patients that behaviour to help health is to improve odds, and that things can happen to anyone, but when it happens, it is a shock to all close by.  And that again reminds me, and has reminded our family, just how lucky we are.

On a different note, I have been trying to get the kids to play chess more.  It has not worked as well as I would like, but they are still playing it at times.  I have lost a few more tournaments, but I am still enjoying chess and am trying to learn more.  The tournaments that have passed since the last post are Death to Rebel Scum iv, Roses vi and Top of the Pops 16.  My rating had reached an all time personal high on March the 3rd when I hit 1533, but I think that this was a false rating as I had got this by beating a run of players who were not as good as me.  This of course brought back memories from when I joined the Junior School chess club when a lot younger.  I managed to get on the chess team by playing the same player over and over again and beating him.  Why he kept playing me was beyond me, but it did mean that I got to play in tournaments for the school and I remember playing once match still where both I and my opponent, being too afraid to lose played a very defensive game.  But that was the past, and I have to be grateful for having a future when so many do not have one.    

I forgot to post a picture

When I made my post yesterday, I realised that I had forgotten to post a picture taken on the ride.  

My daughter took me around the area as she had been here before and we saw the Roman Circus Centre, but as it was closed, and we were without my son, we did not enter it.

Anyway, an update on chess with me.  Here is a list of the tournaments I have not won but took part in.  For some, I had a chance, for others, I had no chance, but it offered me a learning experience.

Top of the Pops 15

Speed King #112 - Very fast players 4(2)->2 U1500

taechess and friends

House Arryn

Death to Rebel Scum iii

House Tully

<1400 For The Win!

Speed King #106 - Very fast players 4(2)->2 U1500

The Great Battle II

The evil knight tournament

Essex County Open

Roses iv

Amateur Bat'leth Tournament

But my best games in a while have happened today.  I have lost quite a few games today, but I have won two games against opponents much better than me.  One resigned which was great as otherwise I would probably have made an error in the end game but the other was even better as it involved both a bishop and a knight sacrifice to gain position and then win the game.  I do not think that the opening strategy that I have been using is a standard one which equals the playing field when I play against those who have memorised different openings.  

But while I am proud of those two victories, I still have made some very silly mistakes, one a defeat against another parent at our local school yesterday who took the opportunity to punish me.  

I'm not narcissistic. I'm much better than that.

 
Today involved a bike ride with my daughter.  My son had a sleep over last night and we picked him up this morning.  He was tired as he had been up till 2330 and was woken at 0530, and then had a birthday party to go to.  So while he was gone my wife got some much deserved rest and rather than listen to the Arsenal match, I took my daughter out on our bicycles.  She had a lot more input in which route we took, but the downside was that she had a lesson, the hard way, in what hills are like when riding a bike.  But we all need to get better and fitter so that was good in a way.

When it came to picking up my son, he was shattered and we rested for most of the rest of the day.  We did try watching Percy Jackson, my daughter has been reading the books, but it was not what my son needed to watch.  Hopefully both will be rested enough for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

As for me, I know the Arsenal score, and needless to say, after watching the highlights, I am annoyed now that we are out of the FA cup and out last chance of winning something this season. 

I've been trying to buy a train ticket online for over an hour now and I'm getting annoyed. It keeps asking me, 'Where do you want to go?' So I click on the icon that says 'Home' and then it makes me start again.

It has been a while since I have posted about the family.  Unfortunately, I have not taken them out for a bike ride in a while, not since the early part of last month.  They are hoping to go for a ride tomorrow, but we shall see.

We have had a birthday and that went well, in addition we have had a teachers evening at the school where I have seen that the kids are probably better with their ability to write interesting stories than I am!  They still like me telling them stories at night time, and I had better treasure that, for I doubt it will last.