A blog mostly about my family.
Though I also rant about other things, work, music, films etc.
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Saturday, 12 June 2010
48 days to go! Not that I am counting of course!
Right, let me post the picture that I saw today. A bit sexist of course!
Mind you, my daughter is proving statements like that wrong. She loves playing Snakes and Ladders. And of course, by playing it, she learns. She keeps beating me though.
The kids have water pistols. The sun has been out, and of course, we have a garden. Put them together, and a father who is taking garden waste out to be picked up for recycling is a fair target for them. Of course, when I had finished doing that, I was able to shoot them back. One very soaked afternoon later...
William Gallas has said he refuses to talk to the press during the World Cup. So, who did he tell that to?
Right, now, what has happened? Well, I had to work on Saturday. And the kids were taken down to see my wife's parents. Which meant that I was able to take them to see my mother on Sunday, and as it was my father's birthday, I took them to see him. Only a short visit, literally a few minutes. I have not seen him in a few years. In fact this was the first time that he got to see his Grandson and only the second time that he saw his Granddaughter. Afterwards, my daughter was asking why my mother and father do not live together. Which I had to answer. I have made a promise to answer all her questions. I am not sure if that is a good idea or not though! But while at my mothers house, once again, they had fun with Dougal. He loves the kids. And is fascinated by them. It was interesting to see him try to sniff my son's nappy, toxic though it is!
Anyway, I have not been in a good mood all the time. The murder of the peace activists who were attacked in international waters has shocked me. I did not expect Israel to take such action, even though the siege on Gaza is barbaric, I never thought that they would resort to piracy and murder.
The big shame is that I am now seeing a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment on the Internet. I just wish people would realise that the actions of Israel do not represent the actions and views of all Jews. Anti-semitic attacks have taken place in the past when Israel has taken action that the international community has been against. I hope and pray that the same does not happen now either. Hatred begets hatred, and will not bring about a just peace to all in the Holy Land.
Evening all. I guess I forgot yesterday with all the posts I made to finish on yesterday.
Yesterday was the birthday of Amy. She, her brother and her sister live near to us, and it was her birthday party yesterday. Being knackered after only four hours sleep or so, we got lucky. Our daughter was taken to the party by Sally. So I got kip with my son and my wife got to rest. On the return of our daughter, Amy, her sister, brother and parents came over. And of course, the kids loved playing with them here.
The thing is, today, my wife went over to see them. I got back from work after they got back. So I changed my son's nappy. During this, he said "willy" (one of his favourite words) but the thing is, he kept saying "Amy" as well. I am not sure if the two things are linked....
I hope you are well. I have spent today in recovery. Today it is (assuming I have calculated things correctly) nine weeks and five days before I start my new job.
I was back at work last week. When I got there, I thought that all the others had been told that I was leaving. Unfortunately, one member of staff, who was on holiday for the same two weeks that I was away only found out when she got in by accident. People have called me a traitor for leaving but they mean it as a joke, I hope! But I was working yesterday as well. And then went out with my wife to a party in Suffolk. It was great. Great company, good food and drink (a shame I was driving) and a brilliant disco, which to be fair, I did not dance in as much as I would have liked. While there, I got talking to a person (who I have met before) who in addition to his job, has been creating a comic. Shooting Bad Guys. So I thought I would post a link here, as it seems to be hard to find on the internet. I did try to convince him to use a blog to post it, so that he could update the pictures as often as he wanted, but I think I need to ply him with more drink before I can convince him of that! I did mention one of my favourite webcomics, Order of the Stick, which I think is great. But I am aware that not everyone will agree with that.
Anyway, the kids. Took them out to the park on Wednesday. Which they loved. My son liked the big slide that is there. You have to climb up quite a way to the top (well, it is quite a way if you are a concerned parent) and loved to slide down. His sister was great, climbing up behind him, and with occasional encouragement to do so, looking after him. I can see how brave she is when you see other kids of roughly the same edge who get nervous doing similar things. One boy understandably got scared with two slides. He wanted to do what others did, and on getting to the top of two different slides changed his mind. I actually helped him down with one. Not so with my son. He does fear danger at times, but seeing other children go down the slides, that is what he wanted to do, and so he did it. And on that topic, thanks to Barbara, Chris and their two kids Henry and Lizzie, we have a new slide in our garden. Both kids love it.
I guess this will have to be the last post on the holiday. We got back last week, and had a great time.
We stayed in Cranmer, in a place called Cranmer Country Cottages. Our cottage was Swallow and was an amazing place to stay. The kids had loads of room, and there were a few board games for them to play with. In addition, in the garden, there was a playground (a climbing frame/swing/slide and a playhouse) in the enclosed field outside. There were ants in the cottage, but other than freaking out my daughter, they kept to themselves! Both kids loved the heated swimming pool as well as playing outside and I even taught my daughter the basics of playing chess! (Well, only how to move the pawns.) One important thing with kids is that the television has to have access to Cbeebies, which it did.
It was a great base from which to explore North Norfolk and from there we were able to do things like take the kids on the Wells to Walsingham light railway. We had a great time there, and if you want to go to North Norfolk with the kids, that is a place I would recommend!
First of all, the Hoste Arms. My wife and I had eaten here before, many many years ago. BC in fact (Before Children), and loved the food back then. Of course, staying in the area, we decided to eat there again. And loved it so much, we ate twice. It is a bit posh, but eating there mid week, and getting there at noon, there was plenty of tables for us to feed the kids. Being in a village, there was lots of places to get the kids to walk while we waited for the food, and one of the two times we ate there, a waitress even came out to get us!
But the food... I remember that when I ate there, the food was great. But after several years, we returned, to find that our memories were correct. The food was brilliant. Full of flavour and of course with children, they had the right sort of food that a four and a two year old would want to eat. Great for adults and for children, if you are willing to take the kids out for a walk outside the place. My only gripe was that I was the drive and therefore did not get to drink! The wine list went well with the food, though of course, I was more interested in the beer which sadly, I did not get to drink.
But during the week, between the two times that we ate there, we took the kids out to several places. To the beach of course, they loved that. The beaches at North Norfolk are amazing. When the tide goes out, it goes a long distance out. With beautiful sand, it was great for us, and of course, the two kids loved the sand. Loads of sand castles made, and of course, we were 'forced' to help them make some!
They got to see a crab on the beach, which considering they had been to a sea life sanctuary earlier on the week (and loved that) my daughter loved. Instead of seeing one in an aquarium, she got to see it trying to hide from us (in case we were going to eat it).
Afternoon all. Right, I have to post a lot now. Let me see if I can catch up with what had taken place since I last posted.
First of all, another place to eat. The Ostrich Inn in South Creake. Opposite a park, it does serve good food. We stopped there for lunch one day. The kids had loads of energy, and with a park for the village opposite it, I took the kids there after we had ordered our food. I did not expect what I thought would be pub food to taste so good! But it did. The kids loved it, and the staff there were understanding about our two children which is always nice.
And of course, the kids in the playground. They love playing on playgrounds. A pretty place, there is a stream running along the main road between the park and the road. The kids loved watching the ducks as well as playing on the swings and climbing frames. I did have to stop my daughter from tormenting the ducks though!
Anyway, time to post another update in a moment...
