The first weekend in May was a bank holiday and we spent it mostly watching the children play sport. On the Saturday afternoon we went to Sarah's to celebrate Amelie's first birthday with a family barbecue. We got some great pictures of Amelie and Alexander together - the first time they have met. Sarah is very near to giving birth to her second baby and clearly wants the birth over so that she can start figuring out how she will manage with a newborn and a one-year old. At least the new baby wasn't born on Amelie's birthday!
Ben had two good tennis wins on May Day. Hope it continues this way.
On the 9th we went to Dan and Helen's to celebrate Helen's birthday. I fed Alexander for the first time (mashed apple and pear - not sure if he liked it or not). Dan and Helen had made bread, pizzas and cake. I'm sure their oven must never be off!
Thursday 14th - Ben's study leave started for his GCSEs. The boys weren't told when their study leave would start until they were leaving on their last day so no end of school celebrations, these will have to wait until later. At the start of his study leave, Ben had already completed 3 of his GCSE courses: Art, Music and PE. This was his final art piece on the theme of change. The circles are, in fact, hemispheres made of paper mache. With the creative and sport courses finished he now has to concentrate on the academic stuff. In the first week of study leave he has maths, Latin and biology exams.
16th - Beccy had her football presentation event. There were matches for the players, a presentation (Beccy got parents' player of the year) and a penalty shoot out for both girls and parents. Brian's penalty was saved and mine missed the goal! Beccy's was saved as well so none of us did very well at all.
17th - Race for Life - I ran it with Helen, Mum, Nat and Izzy. Beccy had a cup final match and so had to miss it, Jodie decided that she didn't want to run. I managed to run most of it and did it in 37 minutes. It rained heavily while we were running and we were soaked by the end of it. We went home to change and then met up at the pub for lunch. Ben, meanwhile, played his first match for the men's doubles team. He played with Alex and they won both their matches.
19th - Beccy had her first capsize incident at sailing and came home with a bag of wet clothes. The water was apparently very cold but it was 'fun'.
Brian made a bird feeding station which has attracted sparrows, blue tits, starlings, collared doves and wood pigeons so far. Unfortunately, the wood pigeons were dominating the fat ball feeder owing to the lovely standing area provided by the hangers. We needed to change the design to deter the pigeons. Our current method of clapping loudly or running down the garden to scare them wasn't particularly effective. A move of the fat feeder onto a hanging arm meant that it was quite difficult for the pigeons to get to it.
They were replaced by flocks of starlings that bullied other birds off. In between we saw sparrow with fledglings and at least one blue tit. The greenfinches took at least 10 days to find it but a group of 4 landed on the woodshed one morning, hopped in a neat line towards the front and then over to the feeder, only to be bullied off by a large group of starlings with at least 5 fat fledglings. Hopefully, the greenfinches will try again later.
Saturday 23rd May - Beccy, her friend, Abby, and Brian went to Wembley to see Gillingham play in the League division 2 playoff final. Gillingham won 1-0, scoring in the final minutes of the game. Beccy said the atmosphere in the stadium, in the streets around Wembley and on the train home, was brilliant.
Sunday 24th May - Brian, Ben and Dan went to see the new Star Trek movie, which they enjoyed. Helen and Alexander stayed at the house with me and Beccy and we prepared the food for a barbecue in the evening with Mum, Marion and Alan as well.
Our second barbecue of the year was a bit more 'home-made' than the last one which was a bit of a rush. Dan and Helen brough two loaves of home made bread and a cake. I made burgers, marinades, risotto and fresh fruit salad.
Brian was keen for Alexander to model the Gills hat he had bought for Beccy. Alexander's dad may not be the number one fan of the Medway Towns but his grandparents still think they are a great place to live.
25th - Beccy competed in a Kent League athletics meeting. She ran the 800m and came sixth with an impressive sprint finish and a time of 2.45.
Ben started his Parklangley tennis tournament run. He played his under 16 singles match but was, unfortunately, up against the 4th seed. In the under 18 singles he lost his first match 4-2, 4-1 despite looking like he could win a number of times. He just needed to be able to win those important points like when he was 40-15 up to go 3-3 in the first set but managed to let it slip.
Ben won his first match of the Under 16s consolation draw and in the quarter final he played the best I've seen him play, giving his opponent a very good game. Unfortunately, he lost in the end 6-7, 3-6 but he can be proud of the way he played.
Beccy was so supportive, watching Ben's matches and amusing herself while we were waiting around, that I treated her to a new outfit.
