I took Beccy and Antoine to Legoland. Beccy, especially was very interested in Miniland (lego models of world landmarks). She decided that she wants to work there as a summer job when she is old enough so that she can be involved in making lego models like that. The two children went prepared for lots of water wearing their swimwear under their clothes and taking towels and a change of clothes.
They did just about every water ride there and went on the rapids a number of times in order to get the best photograph. Beccy also went on all the roller coasters. She has never been brave enough to do this before but she tried it and she loved it. She and Antoine rode the Dragon and the Jungle Coaster a number of times.
Explorers Summer Camp
Ben went to camp with the Explorers at Frylands Wood in Croydon from 31st July to 8th August. He had the best of times and really didn't want to come home. His group get on together so well that the whole experience was great for him. They built bivouacs and camped out in the woods, did the usual activities (swimming, orienteering, wide games, etc) and had a day out in London visiting Camden Town, Regents Park and seeing the show Wicked in the West End.
He came back determined to spend more time with friends and by Sunday had arranged a trip to London and, later in the week, to Thorpe Park with schoolfriends. In between he would be playing in the Gravesham Tennis Tournament.
Returning Antoine to France
I flew with Beccy and Antoine to Marseille on Ryanair. The flights with Ryanair were so much cheaper than British Airways, where they could have flown on their own, that it was cheaper for me to fly with them and then back the next day with Ryanair, on which they were not allowed to fly on their own. We called in to see Helen and Alexander on the way to the airport and Beccy and Antoine played with all his toys and then the Playstation. We arrived at the airport with just enough time to check the children's bags, go through security where they thought I had an aerosol can in my bag and made us wait while it was searched and re-scanned to prove that there wasn't, then go straight to the gate to board the plane.
Jean-Francois picked us up from the airport and drove us back to their house where I stayed over, in Marion's room. The following day, Jean-Francois and Marion took Beccy, Antoine and me to Les Baux de Provence, a village and chateaux built into a mountainside in the Alpilles. We had lunch, which we had to eat quite quickly as the Mistral was blowing fairly strongly and our salad flying off the plate.
We watched a demonstration of trebuchet firing, found the stocks, and explored the remains of the chateau while listening to the audio-guides we were given as part of the entrance fee. I bought a big bag of Herbes de Provence to bring home.
During conversations with Marion and Jean-Francois I found out quite a lot about the competitiveness of the university system in France and the taxation and social security payment system. I don't know why there are so many complaints in this country about these issues. Maybe English people can't understand the link between social security payments, taxation and public services (or maybe we all just want everything for nothing). As wage levels are always going to be dictated to a certain extent by the amount of NI and tax we pay, I can't see any reason at all to need to reduce taxation or indeed keep it at a low level. Perhaps we need the popular press to explain this to the general population!
After a dinner at the house with Anne, who had been at work during the day (she's an optician), Jean-Francois drove me back to the airport for my flight home. As I had booked in online and had no baggage to check it took 10 minutes from arriving at the airport to arriving at the gate for departure.
The garden
We have done a little work on the garden this year, widening the flower border and re-arranging the vegetable plots. At the moment we have a good crop of courgettes, potatoes, carrots and garlic. The raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackcurrants fruited less than last year as we had planted new raspberry canes, had moved the strawberries and blueberries, and had cut the blackcurrant bush right back. Nevertheless we had a reasonable crop from all.
We can now look forward to picking the apples (of which there are many), grapes and tomatoes (if they ripen). We have planted some broccoli and what we think is sweetcorn (it appeared in a pot) and wait to see what they do.
At the front, we have cut down the cordyline, which had grown to over 10 feet, and the camphor tree in order to allow us to get to the front of the house to do some much needed maintenance. When the maintenance is done we will widen the flower bed in front of the house and completely replant it.
Beccy's trip to France
We picked Beccy up from Gatwick on Monday 10th August. She was very keen to tell us all about her trip and all the things she had done. She had a great time. The Olivari family took her to Aqualand, a nearby zoo (she thinks it was Marseille Zoo), to a treetops adventure park and to the Alps for a couple of days.
On the day we picked Beccy up I had an operation (laparoscopy) to find out what was causing the pain in my abdomen. The doctors thought it was adhesions as a result of an operation I had around 19 years ago. It was a large adhesion which they couldn't treat then but at least I know that the cause is not anything sinister and it can be dealt with. As I was not very mobile (or with it after the anaesthetic) we went for a meal at a pub near Gatwick airport after meeting Beccy from the plane. The pub, The Olde Six Bells, served very good food and was reasonably priced - a good choice.
Ben's tennis - 14th August 2009 and 24th August 2009
Ben had some fairly difficult first matches in the Gravesham tournament and suffered from not having played for a little while. He was entered in the consolation draws for the Boys Under 16 singles, Under 18 singles and Mixed Doubles. He won the Under 16 singles and, with Megan, won the Mixed Doubles.
His final win also gave him enough wins and a sufficient win ratio to move from 9.2 to 9.1 so it was a great week for him.
Prior to the tournament we did some practice and took some video so that Ben could see what he might improve. Unfortunately he had to rely on my feeding the ball, which wasn't always useful but gave him practice in chasing wild balls!
At the Kent County Closed tournament, Ben lost his first round match against a boy who was a number of ratings higher than him. In the consolation draw he played really well and won all his matches up to the quarter finals where he lost to a boy of similar ability having had 4 set points in the first set. His playing continues to improve but his ability to fight for those final points needs some work.
UK Schools Biathlon - 16th August 2009
Beccy has been training at the swimming pool and at the running track in preparation for this event. She competed well. She ran the 1000m in 3 mins 45 seconds (better than in the qualifier) and swam in 42.7 seconds (also better).
We had a great day accompanied by Dan, Helen, Alexander, Mum, Sue, Joe, Marion and Alan. In between Beccy's run and swim we had a picnic and my birthday cake on the grass just outside the stadium. It was a very long day, we left at 8am and arrived home at 8pm having stopped for some fast food on the way home.
Beccy's points total in the biathlon was enough to gain 16th place and she was awarded a trophy for gaining the highest number of points of any Medway or Bromley athlete.
Camping with Claire
Ben, Beccy and I went away camping with Claire, Nathan, Alli, Nadia and her friend Steph (and the dog, Cosby). Having booked the campsite in Pevensey, near Eastbourne, we decided that we wanted a day on a sandy beach and so started by going to Camber. We set up our stuff in the dunes, out of the wind and all went in the sea, sunbathed or played games. Late afternoon we packed up and drove to Pevensey (about an hour). Having booked into the campsite and found our pitch, we discovered that we had a tent with no pegs (the second time we have done this so far this year)! It was late and most local shops, even the large ones, closed at 8pm so I drove quickly to the nearest Halfords, who up until very recently (apparently) were selling tents and pegs but had nothing now. I then tried B&Q, who also didn't sell tent pegs but had a selection of hardware. After a bit of deliberation I decided on 4 inch nails with large heads and some bent metal pins.
Back at the campsite we found that the heads of the nails were just slightly bigger than the holes in the tent and the nails were long enough to get a hold. Luckily it wasn't windy at all and our tent secured with 4 inch nails did us proud for the two nights we were there. We got the tent set up, inflated the airbeds and loaded everything into the tent. Claire discovered that she hadn't packed Nadia's bedding and the older two girls had to share one sleeping bag.
It was late and we needed to eat so we went to Pevensey Bay, just down the road, bought fish and chips and sat on the pebble beach while we ate them and it got dark. On returning to the campsite we found that our gas light had no gas and so by the light of as many candles as we could fit on the table, we all got ready for bed. Everyone was in bed by just after 10pm! Cosby was so tired after a whole day on the beach that he slept soundly all night. Claire got up very early to take him out for a wee but otherwise we didn't hear a thing from him. He slept just as well the second night.
On Tuesday (the second day) Claire made me a belated birthday cake out of an upturned bowl decorated with chocolate hoops. They all sang 'Happy Birthday' and I opened my card and presents. Nathan cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast and we all got ready for the day out. Ben had a tennis tournament and so I drove him to Tunbridge Wells for his morning match, then took him for lunch and drove back to Pevensey, leaving him there for his afternoon match. Everyone else had walked to the beach, bought lunch in a bakery and were sitting in the same spot when I got there. Beccy and Alli were swimming in the sea and everyone else was sunbathing. We walked from there along the beach and back towards the supermarket where we would get our dinner for the evening. After a while, Beccy and I walked back to the beach to get the car and then I ferried people and the dog and shopping from the supermarket back to the campsite. Poor Cosby seemed to be suffering a bit from walking on pebbles all day, his feet looked sore and he was quite exhausted.
Brian watched Ben's afternoon match and brought him back to the campsite. He stayed for dinner, which was quickly cooked, and then took the two boys back to the beach to do some fishing. They didn't catch anything and returned around 10.15pm so that Brian could get the car off the campsite before they closed the gates. It was lovely to see him and both the children really appreciated him being there. They obviously missed him, even for just one day!
Wednesday morning was our last and we needed to pack everything up. Nathan cooked another breakfast and we packed everything away so leisurely that we only just finished by the 12 noon deadline for vacating the campsite. The boys wanted to go fishing again and so Claire drove them back to the beach and picked them up around an hour and a half later. All packed, we left the campsite and spent the day on the beach nearer to Eastbourne where there were rides and places to eat. We left around 4pm and, after getting lost in Tunbridge Wells, arrived home around 6.30pm (Brian did the same journey in 1 hour the night before).
GCSE Results day - 27th August 2009
Ben went to a pre-results party the night before and walked to school with Rob (who stayed over) when school opened. He got a good set of results - A grades in Maths, Biology, Physics, PE, History and Latin, B grades in English, Art and Statistics and a C grade in Music. He was a little disappointed as he had been predicted higher but he got into sixth form easily and got As in all his chosen A level subjects. We are really proud of him.
Opening of new college
I went into work to open up a classroom and set up some small demonstrations of work. The new building was opened to the public and many, many young people turned up (mostly to see the bands that were playing rather than the educational facilities). I had a small number of people interested in looking around but not too many.
Joe's birthday at Camber
We had a barbecue on the beach at Camber for Joe's birthday. It was quite windy and we hid ourselves in the dunes to shelter from it. The children went in the sea but didn't swim as the red flags were flying. We had burgers, sausages and cakes and after we had eaten we had a game of rounders. Dan had Alexander in the rucksack carrier and wanted to let him join in.
When Dan hit the ball and started running he realised that he could get all the way round. He ran as fast as he could with Alexander bouncing around on his back. As he passed fourth base we all cheered and Alexander burst into tears - he had scored his first rounder!
Explorers' barbecue
Family of the explorers were invited to a barbecue at the scout hut. We all went and sat and talked with the other parents. The leaders cooked the food and the explorers (with a little encouragement) packed away. They used the time together to plan a day at the beach.
Stansted Windmill Fete and Dan's birthday
Bank holiday Monday 31st August, we visited Dan, Helen and Alexander, had a lovely lunch (Dan's homemade bread, salad, meats and cheeses) then walked along to the windmill to have a look around the fete held to raise funds for its restoration. We had a go at bowling balls through holes for points, dipped Alexander in the lucky dip to get a little notebook and some tattoos for Beccy, bought some plants for the garden and a book for me to read on the bus on the way to and from work.
Helen had made a gorgeous chocolate and guiness birthday cake and Dan opened his presents a day early while we were there. Dan seemed pleased with the splitting maul and slegehammer we got him for chopping firewood. Helen's mum, Joy, her brother, Simon, and two of her sisters, Fiona and Julia, were visiting as well. Beccy and the triplets played together with Alexander. Brian had Alexander on his lap at one point and dressed him up in plastic bangles, on his wrists, ankles and ears. While he was being bejewelled, Alexander took advantage of the fact that Brian was distracted and pinched some of his chocolate cake!
While we were at Dan's, Ben went to Westgate with his Explorer friends for a day at the beach. It was a long day, ending in a night swim, and he got home around 11pm having had a really good time.
