This morning I went into work to catch up with some work. My daughter came along as well as she is now doing quite often as she finds it easier to do her homework there than at home. Our Saturday morning trips now involve a drive to get some coffee at a drive through before heading to my work. She also gets a toastie while I eat breakfast at home before we leave.
It means that I do not get to cycle to work which is something that I blame for my ever expanding waistline. My Wednesday job used to burn off a lot of calories, but due to lockdown, I work from home on a Wednesday instead. After I got back, I did go for a walk, not a bike ride as it was after dark. My wife has been hard at work preparing the house for our puppy with my son helping her.
After waking up late(ish) for me, we travelled to London. My wife had originally wanted to have breakfast at Brick Lane and then travel to Maltby Street, but after rising late, this was not possible, so instead we had something to eat in Colchester, and something to eat on the way down, and instead went to Maltby Street for lunch. While I parked, by wife found somewhere to eat, a great place, out of the cold and with great and for us, original food. I loved it, as did she. The kids were in a bit of a funny mood so did not enjoy it as much as they normally would do. The photo is of an array of wine that is available to buy to take away with. I was surprised to see how empty the place was, but glad as this meant that we almost had it to ourselves, and of the food came quickly, something that is very important with two kids, kids who quickly can and have turned on us!
Before we left, we went to the Bad Brownie company, well, my son and I did, while my wife and daughter went to a different stall. We are return customers to this stall, but we had something new, and loved it. My son was aware that it was not fully fair that his sister did not share her food,but got to eat some of the Brownies, but did not complain too much. But considering that it is now the half term holiday, I am sure that will happen later this week.
After this, it was a drive to collect my mother who has kindly agreed to come up to Colchester to look after the children. I made a bad choice when it came to the route we took, for we had decided to go to Costco first, but rather than take a quicker, but less direct route, I took my chances with a more direct route. And I should not have. To be fair, the kids were very well behaved over the two hour journey (that would have been much quicker if I had taken the roundabout route) and my son had so much fun catching Pokémon that he got bored and stopped. I am not sure if my daughter was interested until she found out that she had a Mewtwo caught for her. When on a trip to Brightlingsea last year she took part in a 'raid' and due to this, was offered a pass to an exclusive raid. In summary, Pokémon Go is about catching and collecting as many Pokémon as possible. This raid allowed her to catch a powerful and rare one, one which I have failed to get, despite having two attempts. We were not able to attend the raid in person, but one other player kindly used her account (with the permission of my daughter) to catch it.
Anyway, they are now all in bed and my mother is here to look after them. They have grown over time, and I do hope that they behave for her, especially as she has given up so much time to look after them for us.
Last of all, the music is from a group, now defunct, formed by three singers from The Voice. One has since left but we were listening to this in the car and no doubt till enjoy it again in the future.
Before I get onto freedom of speech, my son and I had an actual fight. We are very alike in many ways and this can lead to conflicts that do not occur between my wife and him, nor between my daughter and I. We have made up now though. Both kids have been a bit snappish, but after breakfast, my daughter got herself out of it. My son who was not as bad as she had been though continued to have a bit of attitude at times. To be fair to him, most of the time, he was okay, but after an eventful trip to Freeport which involved a knee injury to one member of the family (or rather two), things got worse. There was the odd occasion there, but nothing too much, but once at home things blew up. It did not help that both of us were a bit tired. But it is all settled now and my son was great once he calmed down and was the bigger man than me when it came to seeking peace between the two of us. Anyway, the kids are relaxing in front of the Voice now before they head off to bed, which should be soon. Due to my spectacular illness last week, we are catching up on that episode as well as the one from last night that we had not watched.
We had been out the night before with Isobel and Tony, starting in the evening which meant that Tony and I missed the Arsenal match. While he was walking down with his lovely wife, he was getting updates on the score as Arsenal thrashed Everton at home. My son was there with us while my daughter was at a birthday party. We had good food, and for the two ladies, good wine. That day had been a busy one for the kids and my wife with trips out shopping as well as a race to drop my daughter off in time.
And the Arsenal match was a good one. Our home form is much better than our away form, which is not good for our match against The Scum next weekend. And we were helped by the terrible defending of Everton which is not going to be present next week. It was great to see our two new signings play so well, but they face a much tougher test next weekend.
Okay, it was not all the family, but it was a nice walk anyway.
Yesterday, Lynne and Steve came round. We had not seen them in a while and they were surprised to see how much our daughter had grown. It was great to have them around, though I was quite sad and had to go to sleep before they left. My son did spend the time watching The Voice UK, but had to miss the last act as he had to go to bed.
Today, we spent the morning in bed watching Once Upon A time before my wife went out for a lunch time meet with Michelle for her birthday. After the kids were fed, and a discussion was had over issues with behaviour (followed by ice cream), we (without my wife) walked into town. It was a lovely walk, the kids were amazing during it. We went to Waterstones were my daughter bought some books, and then it was a trip to the Comic Book Shop. Each time I go there, I hope to see a copy of Groo the Wanderer, but I have not been so fortunate, yet. This time, my son bought some Pokémon cards, my daughter bought a poster, and I bought a fridge magnet. And they did not mind the walk back either.
All in all, a good day. And one I hope we improve on.
First of all, I have lost some weight compared to last year, and now am 92kg. My resolutions this year include 1 - Getting into work before 0700 more often than not 2 - Being more tidy at home 3 - Ending the year lighter than last year The kids have been back at school, my daughter for two days, my son for four. My mother had come up for New Years which was great, especially as we did not get a chance to see her before we left for Sri Lanka due to the snow that fell on the weekend before we travelled. I do feel faster at work and we have organised things to deal with the winter rush. Being back just for four days, I have not had to deal with much of the crisis that is affecting the NHS at the moment. While the Conservative government appears to be denying the crisis that has been created by them not funding the NHS properly, I have had to warn a few patients that they may not get the treatments that they are hoping for this month due to the crisis. Today, we have been to collect the laptop of my wife which was repaired after I broke it. During this time, the kids were exemplary in their behaviour. We ate in Chelmsford after taking a break on our journey back, and while the seating was a bit chilly, the food was fantastic. Anyway, now it is time for The Voice UK which we all love.
We are back at home now. And everyone else is asleep, and I am to join them soon.
The kids slept better than I did on the plane, by son initially stating that he would not be able to sleep (but he did so later), but I kept waking up due to the cough I have had in the last few days. And because I had some sleep, I was too rested to fall asleep again. So I watched some films instead.
The first film was In Time which had a great story, but while the film had lots of potential, it failed to meet up to it with lots of holes being present in the plot. This may had been to edits being made due to it being on a plane, but I doubt it. It is a shame, but if this film is ever remade, it could be so much better with some changes. Saying that, it was an enjoyable film, but I would have hated to have had to pay to watch it.
Lucy on the other hand was much better, a film full of twists and surprises, though some were predictable, this was what sci-fi should be. Excellent acting, a plot line to match and lots of action, this was a film I would have been glad to have paid to watch.
Red Riding Hood is a film I have wanted to watch in ages, and I loved this take on a tale that has been told so often. A who did it film set in a fantasy setting, my only annoyance was the clothing being worn in the snow.
Finally, in this film marathon, I watched Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and I loved it. A bit corny in that this film fell into stereotypes, it was still put together well. I would have loved to have paid to watch this on the big screen.
But today has been eventful with the loss (temporary we hope) of an item of value in the home, as well as fatigue. We have been to the shops where my daughter made the mistake of buying Coco Pops and Crunchy Nut Cornflakes when I was around which means that I know what I will be eating for the next two mornings. And with that, it is time for me to sleep as well. Enjoy the music video, sung by someone who I saw on The Voice UK and felt should have gone far.
Since the last post, my son has been bought a bicycle, one which he should grow into. So last week, we rode it. He was a bit nervous as he has had issues when riding his bike before and I understand his concerns, but he was great. And he noted that there was a difference compared to his old bike, a big difference. He loved the speed that he could now reach. His previous bike was perfect for his needs, but sadly, he has grown out of it, and was nervous when using it as he was concerned that he would knee himself. This was in part, my fault, as I did not raise his seat as much as I could have, but he was never going to get to go as fast as he now can. In fact, he is now looking forwards to his next bike ride.
My daughter today rode her bike. She had ridden with me to my work before, and did so today while my son went to work with my wife. And she had improved compared to before and on the way back, thanks to her determination, rode up part of a hill she had failed to do so before. Needless to say, I was very proud. And instead of heading straight home, we took a little diversion, which I think that she liked. That involved some cycling down a dirt path, and when we came to a dip, and the climb afterwards she gave it all. And I think she loved the speed. While I took a picture of her first challenge, I should have taken one of the hill of fun.
It has been a while since the last post when we went out for a meal. Since then we have had a few things happen. Last weekend we travelled to London to see our (that is my and my wife's) parents though due to an accident on the A406, it was a very tiring day. In addition to this we have had a learning conference (or as I used to call it when I was younger, a parents evening) were my daughter was told that she is amazing, and my son was told that he needs to show everyone how amazing he is more often. And it was his birthday. That was great as we had a gaming party where my wife had arranged for someone (a very nice lady) to come round with two projection screens and she connected them up to some PlayStation's and also brought two virtual reality headsets. Being boys, the kids absolutely loved it, and being a boy, I did as well. It all went well for him and I have to compliment my wife once again on her amazing abilities at organisation and with the cake, cooking.
Today, while my son was at two birthdays I was in London for a course. When walking back to my car (which was parked where I did not have to pay), I got to eat at Maltby Street, indulging in a very nice (and posh) hot dog as well as some amazing dumplings. The picture does not do the flavour of the dumplings any justice as they were amazing. And unlike many other places to eat in Maltby Street market, there was no queue. After eating the dumplings, and then eating more, I felt sorry for those who walked past them. I know that when I have my next course in that area, I am going to try to find an excuse to travel to Maltby Street so that I can eat before I return home. The downside of driving home from there though is that I do not get to have any of the beer I saw being drunk there.
And on getting home, I got to listen to the Arsenal game. The midweek demolition was demoralising to say the least and a friend of mine commented that Lincoln would be looking forwards to this game. And considering that they nearly made it to half time with no goals being scored, you could not fault that statement. But we won and appeared to do so with ease as Lincoln tired in the second half. And it has taken away a little bit of the hurt that I have suffered as a fan, but I suspect it will return soon.
Anyway, my wife is in bed, unwell with a poorly knee which means that she was not able to go out tonight has planned, but instead has had to stay in bed watching Gilmore Girls while I watched the Voice with the kids (who vanished before the end) and a mug of wine (it saves on washing a glass later in the day when I am tipsy, an issue as my daughter broke our last habitat goblet).
I spent a few hours in work today before coming home. During the week, someone was talking about Il Padrino a restaurant in Colchester, so today, I booked it for lunch. My wife was not too keen on leaving to walk into town for lunch as we needed to do a lot at home, but agreed. It was nice walking into town today, no arguments, and overall, a great time for all the family. And when in the restaurant, both kids fell in love with the menu. The service was great, and the food matched. I even had two glasses of wine! Walking back was nice as well. While my wife went into a shop, I took my son on a walk to run up some miles for his Pokémon account. Once back at home, it was some time to relax before getting back to the work at home and then watching The Voice. My son had to go to sleep before then end, but hopefully he will get to watch some of the acts tomorrow morning. Some of the acts were truly amazing. I like this much more than the X factor, though I do miss it being on the BBC as they had no adverts.
It is the end of the holidays! Thanks to my mother coming up, the kids have been okay as childcare would have been an issue otherwise. But this weekend was cursed with, once again, illness. Nothing too major, but aches and lethargy for my wife and me. Which meant that I did not go cycling to work like I normally do, or take the kids out for a bike ride or a long walk. I did get to go for a little walk with my daughter after lunch in Brightlingsea. We also practised throwing and catching later in the day, something my son did not appreciate, but he did improve. He had got better over the summer holidays, but not doing this meant that he had slipped back to his old habits. If we ever do decide to get him to play cricket, this is something that will need to improve. And later, we all watched The Voice. Today was mostly a quiet day, the kids doing things for school. My son was preparing homework, my daughter making a design for a t-shirt for book day later in the year.
Anyway, they are in bed now, so here are some sons and artists from yesterday.
My Mum has kindly come up for half term which has meant that my wife and I were able to go out to a birthday party last night. And we danced and danced and did I mention that we danced last night? On the way to get my mother, while I was at work, my son, when playing Pokémon, dropped the iPhone of my wife, into a puddle. Luckily he survived, as did the iPhone. My Mum had brought up the kids a magnetic dart board which they were eager to play on, but I did not have the time to look at it. I have to admit, when I heard that she had brought a dart board, I thought it was one with proper darts, and the images of darts in the head of my kids came to mind, but I should have had more faith in my mother. After all, she brought up me and my two brothers, essentially by herself and we are intact still!
So this morning, we got things ready for lunch, and before lunch my mother and the kids went for a walk to the shops. I keep trying to get them to exercise and while normally we would ride our bikes, I felt it was important to spend time with my mother. Later today, we got to play darts, and though there was a slight argument doing so, things improved. And we got to watch The Voice again.
A blonde stormed up to the front desk of the library and said, "I have a complaint!"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I borrowed a book last week and it was horrible!"
"What was wrong with it?" asked the librarian.
"It had way too many characters and there was no plot whatsoever!"
The librarian nodded and said, "Ahh. You must be the person who took our phone book."
Hello all. Cycling was not as good as it was earlier in the week when I went to work in the morning, nor was I up to targets that I had met last year but I am going to blame the wind for that. But after a few hours at work, it was back home where we went down to a trip to London. We ate in East Ham as we were starving, before doing some shopping there and then later popped into see my mother. My mother-in-law did try making contact with us in the day as well, but decided to FaceTime us when we were in the car with no WiFi connection to use. Anyway, my mother loved seeing the kids. It was great as not only did my wife and I have a much appreciated chance to recharge our batteries, we also looked through a collage of old photos of the children. And yes, it reminded us of how quickly they grow, and how lucky we are to have them. With chess, another tournament has been completed, and sadly, this was one there I had not done as well as I wanted. But every game is a learning experience. And I may get to watch the Arsenal game. I did not mean to find out the score before watching Match of the Day, but thanks to FaceBook, my joy at watching it without knowing has been spoiled.
And this might bring a smile to your faces if you don't like the videos from The Voice.
A bloke goes into a pub with a glum face and the barman says "Wassup?"
The bloke says "I'm in the doghouse"
"Why's that?" says the barman
"I didn't open the door for the wife"
"Hardly the crime of the century" says the barman
"I know, says the bloke, I just panicked and swam for the surface"
We have had a nice day today. It did involve a trip to the shops but all in all, it was nice for us all. My son was a bit upset when playing Pokémon Go when he ran out of Pokéballs as his sister had more, but he had fun in the car while my wife drove us to Lakeside and had lots of cuddles while going around the various places in Lakeside that we had visited.
But on getting home, we were tired from driving so got ready to watch Let It Shine and afterwards, The Voice. I have to say that I was not that big a fan of Let It Shine, but the kids liked it and it was about being together when watching it. But we all loved The Voice. It is a slightly different format to before, there is less feedback for those who are not chosen, or rather none as they leave the stage in tears. And the adverts can be annoying. But the last act was just awesome!
I may get in trouble for the title of this post, but if I do, sorry for any offence caused. I did not get the chance to post much after our return to Colchester last week. It was great to have some time away and spending it with friends and since then I have had fun with the kids. Due to childcare issues I had to take Wednesday off work, which was to be fair brilliant as that meant that I got to spend time with the two children. This meant as well that we got to enjoy the bicycle ride that the kids seem to enjoy. The only downside was that the two children had to be taken out together, and the issue with that is that they have two very different bicycles and that means my daughter is able to cycle a lot faster than her brother. Also as he has been unwell more than his sister, this has meant that he has not been able to cycle as often as her. But his stamina was amazing, considering what he had been able to do in the past and comparing that to what he did last week, he is inspirational. I was not able to test his sister as much as she is able to cycle at speed and enjoys it, to a point, though I think at present she gets a bit nervous pushing herself to her limits. I did not get the change to take them out earlier today but depending on how mowing the lawn goes tomorrow, I may be able to do this tomorrow. Hopefully. Anyway, I hope you enjoy some music from The Voice. And if you are wondering about the picture, it was by my daughter from a few years ago. She was not too happy about me posting it here. And if you are interested in some memories from before she painted that, this link will take you there.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Today we went to see my mother who has had her knee operated on. However, after a late breakfast, I went with my daughter for another ride on our bikes, and considering that I was wearing my Arsenal backpack, it turned out to be a possible nightmare. The reason for this was the football team that was coming to town for the FA cup match. Cycling towards the station, there was a huge line of traffic, but when we got near the station, the reason for this was made clear. I remembered that Colchester were hosting the scum (or Spurs, or Tottenham for those who are not aware of my bias) when I saw loads of fans leaving the station in football tops and scarves. And remembering that my backpack has the (old) Arsenal crest, I realised what a huge mistake I had made. Most fans would have been fine, but with my daughter, I did not feel that it would be a good idea to risk it. Which considering it was raining and was windy at the time was probably a very good idea.
Once warm at home and fed by my amazing wife, we went to London, first a trip to her parents house, and then to see my mother for the kids to see how she has been and more importantly, for her to see them. One of my brothers has been amazing and has taken time off work to help look after her, and my other brother has taken his turn starting today. It was good to see him as well, but I do feel guilty that I have not been able to help in the way that they have. The trip back was uneventful, though I did not get the chance to spend with a cousin who had come to visit my mother as we were leaving. The kids were tired though and had relaxed by the time we had got home to watch the voice. We all still think it is amazing, and it is great to hear the judges offer constructive comments to those that they do not pick, a big difference compared to the X-Factor. Another good thing was that Arsenal won, though the errors that Laurent Koscielny made concerned me especially with the way he almost gave a penalty away in our defeat against Chelski as well as leaving Per Mertesacker exposed that resulted in an early red card. A shame that Colchester lost, but few expected otherwise. But we could only hope for the magic of the cup to strike around lunchtime...
While the title of the post is a very old joke it was sitting in my draft section of posts to make for some time. Since my last post, my mother has had an operation, a knee operation. I was worried that the operation would not go ahead due to the issues that hospitals have had with discharging patients. One of my brothers has kindly taken time off work to spend with my mother and if the operation was cancelled, that would have caused him and her issues. So just for the record, I am very grateful to the NHS for operating on my mother as well as my brother for taking the time to look after her. She has a bit of a time there, as she was anaemic after her operation, like what happened the last time she was operated on, but they have fixed that and she is now better. I am hoping to see her today, something that has not been possible so far as I have been too busy working to see her. The kids are looking forwards to seeing her, my son may be wearing his Arsenal top (we are playing Chelski later today) which my brothers bought him and my daughter will probably be wearing the heelies my mother bought her. Before I was working yesterday, I got to take the children out for another bike ride. My daughter has a mountain bike with gears that she is starting to learn how to use. My son has a BMX bike though and while he is yet to get good enough to learn how to do various tricks and the like, I am sure he will want to. Needless to say, while both love the bikes they have, both are envious of the abilities that their siblings bike has. It is great for me as I have needed to exercise more for years and finally, I am getting to do this, and also I am getting to spend time with the kids. However, this week I did not split up the kids, party due to the time that I had before I had to work, but also because they both wanted to ride together. And they both did really well. My daughter used her gears when the two of them were riding on grass (they wanted to ride down a hill as fast as they could) when she was going up a hill. And the stamina of my son impressed me, he being able to ride up some hills that he was not able to do so before. I can not help by glow with pride when I see how amazing that they are. So this morning, I have found out that my mother may be coming out of the hospital today. Which means that I will miss out on watching the Arsenal match, but some things are more important than that! Last of all, the song is from The Northernettes who were singers on the voice who did not make it. Like so many on The Voice, they are great. We all love The Voice and prefer it to the X Factor as it is so positive even to those who are not picked. The entire family love this song and all we can do is wish these three girls the best, like so many others on The Voice who have entertained us and have such talent.
