Cave Party

Saturday didn't dawn particularly nice, but it didn't matter.  Today was Finn's birthday party and his parents had come up with an inspired choice of a party activity.  They decided to hold his party in a cave.  It is one which is on a very minor road, that anyone can access. It had been raining all night, but it didn't matter, everyone donned their welly boots and in we went.  

Sparkler

Sparkler

The Intrepid Cavers

A couple of Dads had been to the cave earlier so there were lots of tea lights scattered about and even better than that lots of treasure and plastic bugs to find (Finn loves bugs).  So we took our torches in and went hunting.  The bottom of the cave was a river with the rain, but it was fine, we didn't get too wet and it was really exciting trying to find the bugs and coins in the dark.  Tom was a little unsure to start with but soon got in to the swing and had fun searching for them all.





There were great little touches such as glowing bracelets for everyone, sparklers when everyone had finished and then hot chocolate and rocky road back outside the cave.  What a fantastic idea, we will definitely go back and do that again with some of our 'city friends'.  We didn't even know the cave existed.

Sausage, chips & beans x 9

After we got back to the cars we all headed into Ingleton and went to Inglesport cafe where all the children had sausage, beans and chips.  It was complete mayhem in the cafe, but with a couple of teachers present (who have that 'voice' that children respond to) we managed to get them all sat down and eating (we managed to clear the cafe though!)

After a play in the park to run off excess energy we came home, made some pizzas and then spent the afternoon making lego models before bed.

Inter Course Hug

Sunday - we had a useful morning cleaning and tidying the house and then headed out to Hawes for the Matt Young Translations Ltd Christmas Do (don't think I've mentioned it before but Matt has incorporated his company - we are both Company Directors).  We had booked ourselves a table at the restaurant at the Wensleydale Creamery (always nice food) and enjoyed a posh 3 course dinner.  Tom ate off our plates - he did really well - eating sprouts (unlike his Dad!) and everything we gave him - including the biggest portion of Christmas pudding.  We then headed into Hawes for a little walk round before returning to the creamery for a once round the tasting room (at Tom's request - apparently 3 courses wasn't enough for him!).  We then headed back via the scenic route (ie via Sedburgh).  Tom fell asleep (which was the plan) for about 40 minutes in order to get him ready for Grannie and Grandpa's visit tomorrow.  We then came home and as the weather was miserable decided to watch 'The Pirates!' - a DVD which the Watsons sent us as a thank you for having them a couple of weeks ago.  It's an Aardman production so full of their usual wit.  This was also part of our plan to get Tom to concentrate (can he sit through a whole film - well not quite, but he didn't do too badly).  He burst into tears towards the end as he was worried for the main characters.  Bless him he is such a sensitive soul.  

Then a light tea and early to bed.  A big week starting tomorrow!

Listening vs Concentration?

So Matt went into the school on Wednesday as part of his Governor role to do a Health & Safety check of the Early Years and KS1 areas.  He was able to sneak a peek at Tom in his class without him noticing.  Apparently the whole class was sat listening and looking at the teacher, apart from one. Guess who?!  He had to be told to stop looking behind and to concentrate!

The next morning, Matt managed to speak to Mrs Pickard and asked her what she thought of Tom's ability to concentrate.  Seems she thinks it is a bit of a problem.  Apparently she always makes him sit at the front of the class when they are on the carpet - if he is at the back he takes nothing away from the lesson!  Mrs Tennant (the Teaching Assistant) is going to do some intensive sessions with a small group of the worse offenders when it comes to listening and concentrating next term - setting them tasks that take a lot of concentration to complete to see if that helps.  Mrs Pickard also asked us to arrange a hearing test for him as she says that quite often he doesn't seem to hear anything.  I personally think it is down to lack of concentration than lack of hearing. The problem is (I think) that he is fine 1:1 but as soon as there is a group he seems to have trouble concentrating / focusing and gets completely lost when trying to work out what's going on.  Not sure what we can do about that, because when he is with us it is always 1:1.

Oh hum.  Anyhow, Matt went on to have Christmas dinner after his inspection and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Tom was sent out to get him as he was sitting on Tom's table.  Apparently every one was very excited to have an adult on their table and he had a great time chatting with the children - came home buzzing, said it was the best £2.76 dinner he's ever had!

Tom's First Nativity

Our star

So we had a lovely day yesterday as we got to see two performances of 'A Little Bird Told Me' - Tom's nativity play (as nonreligious as you could get it which was good).

All of Tom's class were stars.  Thankfully the school provides the costume - we just had to provide the underclothes (white) which meant I wasn't stressed  - phew!  (I've been dreading the whole dressing up / costume thing)

The story centred around a robin who was cold and wanted to go somewhere warmer.  A flock of birds told him to go to Bethlehem where it is warmer and where a special baby had just been born.  (Not sure of the accuracy of this - Bethlehem is colder than here at this time of year!).

There was a part in the play where the birds were flying in the star light and it was at this point that Tom's class got on stage and did a little dance number.  Twinkling with hands, turn around, shuffle to the left, shuffle to the right etc etc.  It was really lovely to watch.  Unfortunately Tom was at the back and is one of the shortest so we couldn't see him do his dance.  Not to worry though, for the rest of the play he was sat right at the front and he stood up to 'sing' along to all the songs.  'Sing' is in inverted commas because I can't put my hand on my heart and say he sang his heart out.  More, he stood up, looked behind him, to his side, behind again, looked at the boy next to him, but not really forward and I couldn't hear his voice in any of the songs even though I was about a meter away from him!  In fact he clearly hadn't picked up the words to quite a few of the songs.  I guess singing isn't his thing (don't think any of his genes are particularly musical). Two of his class mates made up for him though and belted out the numbers.  None of the songs were ones that I recognised, and to be fair to him there were a lot of songs and most of his class mates were distracted and not word perfect either.

Mary, Joseph and Jesus made an appearance right at the end, but they didn't even have a speaking part.  It really was lovely.  I must admit I welled up when they first filed in in their costumes - Tom looked so so so small and super cute (not helped by the fact he was next to the biggest child in the class who is head and shoulders above him). The play was performed by what I would call the Infant School and is now called Key Stage 1.  All the children in the top class had a speaking role - I guess that wouldn't happen in a big school, one girl performed a solo and was brilliant - I'm not sure I would have been able to cope if I was her mother!

One funny thing though - there was no mistaking where in the country we were.  I guess little children sing with their speaking voices as every song was sung in a very strong northern accent.  There were also lots of jokes put in for the adults - but I don't think the children realised they were being funny as it was done in such a dead pan manner.

Normally the school allow videos to be taken, but I think there are some children in care in one of the classes so I'm afraid no videos, and we aren't officially allowed to put up any photos on a website - but this isn't read by anyone other than close family and friends and this photo doesn't show any other children so I can't see what harm it can do.  More pics are available to see when you next visit us.

I can't wait for next year!

Visiting Father Christmas

We have been pretty busy with visits recently.  Next in line was Auntie Jude who came on Wednesday to deliver Christmas presents and see Tom.  Unfortunately we didn't take any photos - sorry.

Tom the Caver

We had a quiet Saturday this weekend.  Matt went to Leeds to meet up with some translators, Tom and I had a useful morning and then Caroline called to see if we wanted to go round for the afternoon as Fred had asked if Tom was free for a play.  We did so.  The original plan was for me to drop Tom off, but Fred has a dog and Tom was initially scared of her (she's the loveliest doggy - completely soft).  By the time Tom was friends with the dog, it didn't really seem right to leave him there, so I stayed and played with them.  Fred and his younger brother Frank are very sweet children, so it really wasn't a chore to stay there with them.  All I would have done at home was tidy, wrap presents etc - nothing very interesting anyway.

Listening? to the elves

In the end Tom stayed there for tea and then we went to collect Daddy from the train station.  He had actually gone shopping after his meet up, and bought some great goodies for Tom (wonders will never cease!)



Sunday was a different matter - a very exciting day.  We had been invited to go and visit Santa at his grotto in Ingleborough Cave.  It was an early start, meeting up in Clapham at 9.15, but it was a good call.  The cave is a mile's walk through a nature trail and as we were a group of 20 plus, it wasn't going to be a short stroll.

The loony at the back

The early start worked and we got to the cave first.  It was only a short wait until the cave opened and we were let through.  They had done a good job on it, it was decorated with lots of Christmas decorations, candles etc.  Elves met us and told us stories of naughty goblins, and how Father Christmas has forgotten to turn the shower off (hence the waterfalls) etc etc.  All well done.

At the end we found Father Christmas in his throne.  He took his time to talk to each child.  Unfortunately Tom fluffed his important line.  When asked what he wanted for Christmas, he held up his hand and said '5'.  Not sure what that was about and Father Christmas wasn't either?!  Oh well, he then went to a toy stall and got to choose his present (he chose the biggest one - a bright red tractor).  There was enough time for a photo with Father Christmas - he got a chance to say again what he wanted and got it right this time 'An Eddie' (as in Eddie Stobart - he has been going on and on about having an Eddie Stobart Truck for quite a while)

Tom & Father Christmas

We walked back past the crowds of people behind us and outside and strolled down the nature trail back to the cars.  We then all headed to Caroline's for sausage sandwiches and a play.  Tom having been there the day before was immediately at home and played quite nicely with everyone - even the dog didn't seem to bother him which was fab.

We came home tired so once again we all had a nap and then an evening of Christmas card writing - slightly excruciating getting Tom to write 22 Christmas cards to his classmates but we got there in the end!

Then to bed - a big day tomorrow...

Grandpa and The Watsons Come to Stay

On Tuesday Grandpa came up to visit us.  The main reason is that we have bought Tom a model railway for Christmas and Matt wanted help putting it together.  Bob didn't have to be asked twice!  We kept his visit a secret from Tom and were expecting surprise when Bob turned up at the school gates to collect him.  Not so.  Tom barely acknowledged him!  I guess we should have told him after all!

A good team

On their way home from the station, Matt and Bob bought a Christmas tree, so I put Tom and Grandpa to work on it.  They worked quite well as a team and before long we had a nicely decorated tree in the lounge.

We then headed to the Wensleydale Creamery as they were having a special Christmas shopping evening:  free mulled wine and mince pies, 20% off everything in the shop and the restaurant open.  What's not to like?   The mulled wine had the desired effect - we went a bit mad in the shop and then enjoyed a cheesy meal in the restaurant.  Bob and Tom then had a mad 20 minutes in the car on the way home - not sure who was sillier!

Bob stayed with us until Friday - a little longer than expected thanks to a storm on Thursday stopping all train services.  Tom didn't mind one bit - Bob didn't either.  He got to pick up and drop Tom off at school enough that he was doing it solo by the time he left.  Oh and the model railway got done as well.

Last weekend the Watsons came to stay.  They didn't come for long - arriving 4pm on Saturday afternoon and leaving again at lunchtime on Sunday.

Digger Tom

We took advantage of them not coming up for a while by heading into Kirkby Lonsdale for a look around as it was their Christmas Markets weekend.  I went really to see if it was worth my while having a Lily Pad Bakery stall there next year.  It isn't!  The town was festive enough, but there weren't many people around.  The market area was half fun fair and half food.  So Tom had a go on a roundabout and we tucked into a hog roast bap and a chicken curry.  We then headed home.

The Watsons landed just as it was getting dark. They have three girls who remembered we have a train set.  I set them the challenge to use every bit in a layout - they took this up and worked industriously for quite a while.  They then tucked into lasagna and garlic bread and went to bed and we tucked into gyoza and shabu shabu (Lisa and Cameron used to live in Japan so appreciate and enjoy Japanese food)

Sunday we were going to take the Watsons for a walk in the country, but it was horrible weather - wet, foggy, cold, windy.  It wasn't going to happen, so we took them to the Wensleydale Creamery instead.  After eating a mountain of cheese, buying a further mountain (them, not us) we left.  Came home, had tea and a bun and then said goodbye to them all.

We were all shattered, so suggested to Tom that maybe he would want a nap.  He did, so did we, so we all had one.  Matt and I had a an hour each and Tom 2.5 hours - it was deliciously decadent and wonderful.

A night out!

Last weekend Matt and I had a night out!!!!  Whoo hooo!  Can't remember when that last happened.  Matt got a Lancashire Hot Pots CD for his birthday this year - they are a comedy Northern folk band - a bit naughty with their lyrics, but easy listening and good fun to sing along to in the car (although Tom has started picking up some of their lyrics which can be a bit disturbing - from time to time he comes out with 'did you did you spill my pint' or 'oy you car park now!' which is quite funny as long as he doesn't do it at school.

Anyway they were playing in Manchester and our friends there had told us to get in touch anytime we want a night out as they were happy to baby sit Tom.  A couple of phone calls and Tom was booked in with them and we had tickets to a night out.

We did our usual for our trip down - stopping at Wing Yip to buy Asian ingredients for the store cupboard, followed by lunch at The Glamorous restaurant - which is always fun - in that you are never that sure what you are going to get when you order something.  This was followed by a trip to Go Outdoors a MASSIVE outdoor shop with lots of tents pitched which you can explore.  Tom always goes hyper here and today wasn't any different.  Matt and I also weakened and bought some Mammut clothes - it's not that often that we buy clothes, let alone both of us at the same time.

We then landed at the Komorovski's house.  Unfortunately Karen wasn't there, now we had been led to believe that Adam isn't all that capable so were expecting the worse, but we were pleasantly surprised just how in control Adam was - the two girls were looking more than happy at being left with their Daddy, Rosa especially - although she was a little clingy with Adam, not letting him out of her sight.

We walked down to the park for a play and then had a pizza and garlic bread dinner before leaving Tom behind (he hardly said goodbye he was having such a good time) and getting the bus to the other side of town.  

We joined a rather rowdy queue to what we thought was the venue.  We were both quite shocked as we were a lot older than everyone else, and also the people joining the line were pretty much all tanked up and spoiling for a fight.  Both of us were a little concerned, and very happy to be told that the entrance to our gig was round the corner.  We entered and found people of all ages in flat caps and waistcoats - this was our place.  It was in a student union, so I reverted back to pints - thankfully the pizza tea did me good and I was able to drink without getting rosy cheeked!

At our Hairdressing Salon!

The first band came on - they were dressed as badgers and were very loud!  Then the Hot Pots came on, they were everything we expected them to be and we had a good night singing along and enjoying the atmosphere.

We didn't get back to Adam's until after 11pm - very late for us.

After a bad night's sleep we got up.  I was on entertainment duties with the kids while Adam and Matt went out to get a Christmas tree.  After Rosa got over the fact Daddy had gone, we had a good time - mainly playing hairdressers - a game that of course comes naturally to me! Karen got back around 12.00, we had about an hour's catch up and then we were on our way home.  A good weekend, but early to bed for all of us.

Another Busy Weekend

Lakeside from Fell Foot Park

This weekend was very very busy.

Saturday looked like a nice day so we headed off to Lakeside and got the boat to Bowness.  Tickets are half price to residents at the moment so only £5 return which for a 40 minute journey each way I think is very good.  We were all togged up in thick coats, gloves, hats etc so we sat outside and enjoyed the view.

On arriving in Bowness we had lunch in 'Aunty Val's Tearoom' - spicy tomato soup for me, chorizo and emmenthal panini for Matt and sausage bap for Tom - it is almost as if they knew we were coming.  We left with happy bellies.

On the boat

Twilight cruise

We then went for a walk around Bowness exploring shops, looking for Christmas pressies (not too successful!) before getting the boat back to Lakeside.  On the boat back there was a large Japanese party.  Matt couldn't resist and did his party trick of asking in Japanese if a couple wanted a photo taken of them.  He got the usual reaction of disbelief, but the couple were friendly and they were chatting for the rest of the trip.  It's not often that Matt gets a chance to speak Japanese so he was very happy.

On Sunday we got up early and were in the car before 8am.  We were on a flying visit to Telford. Luckily the motorway were empty and we flew down (until we hit a diversion at Eccleshall which meant we had to go through Stafford!)  Not to worry we got to the ice rink dead on 10.30 - we were the second to arrive.

Hannah, Becca and Tom

Helen and Thomas

Having cuddles and kisses with Sammie

The gang

Sophie and Tom

Jake and Tom

We met up with loads of friends at the soft play area next door to the ice rink.  Luckily it was empty, in fact the whole time we were there I think there were only 5 other families which was great - we basically had the place to ourselves and it was clean and bright - much better than any of the others.

People turned up in dribs and drabs.  We had primed Tom earlier on who he would see.  He said that he didn't remember any of them, but as soon as they arrived he was off shouting their names and playing as if it was only last week that he saw them all.  He spread his love around, spending time with everyone.  It was a joy to see.  In fact I didn't play with














him at all - I just left him to it and chatted with my friends.  It is always so difficult to get round to everyone in such a limited time - almost like a wedding, you leave feeling that you haven't spoken to anyone really.

Leo, Lucy and Mae

Jessica, Olly, Seren and Tom

Time went by too quickly, within a blink of an eye 2 hours had gone by and we had to say goodbye to everyone.  Oh well, not a huge problem as we had a date with more friends in a pub.  We headed to the Two Henrys on the outskirts of Shrewsbury where we met up with our NCT friends.  We hadn't seen many of them since December last year - so there was a new baby to cuddle (Max - Seren's brother who is now 6 or 7 months) and the babies had turned into toddlers.  Oh and there was a bump to admire (Jessica is going to be an older sister next year)

We had two tables - one for the children and one for the adults.  The children are old enough now, that they sat really nicely with each other eating their lunch with very little incident.  This was fantastic as it meant that the adults could chat without much interruption.

The pub had a soft play area, so once we had all finished we all headed over.  Once again we more or less had the place to ourselves and the children went off and played whilst we chatted.  I actually felt at a loss at one point - I'm really not used to Tom amusing himself.  I figure school has had quite an impact on his confidence playing with other people - he just got on with it.

Around 4pm we called it a day and headed back home.  We all had a fantastic day.  Tom was asleep almost immediately and woke up in a good mood.  We had dinner at The Bridge on the way home which is always a favourite.  He ate up half of my lasagna (not surprising considering how much playing he did!)  A good day, we all went to bed tired and happy.

Weekend with Mummy

I've got behind again!  Oops.

Weekend before last was a little quiet.  Matt was up in Edinburgh having a reunion (piss up) whilst Tom and I stayed in Ingleton.

Chocolate cake!

Saturday I asked him what he wanted to do and was told that he wanted a bike ride in Morecambe so that is what we did.  We parked in our usual place and then cycled all the way along the main prom, past the Stone Jetty (cafe there is closed now) down to the nice cafe down the bottom, where I had a lovely (but stinky) bowl of homemade mushroom and garlic soup (I counted 4 whole cloves of garlic!) and Tom had a very naughty chocolate cake (he had cycled so well I gave him carte blanche on what to order)  The weather wasn't great: dull and grey, but we did manage to sit outside.

We then cycled back to the car in no time at all (fuelled by chocolate cake and a back wind) and headed home.  It was dark by the time we got home - hate these short days.

Had mushrooms and pasta for dinner (whilst Matt is away we have mushroom fest: mushrooms for breakfast, lunch and dinner - I got told "Mummy next time Daddy is away can we have this again - mushrooms are yummy!"  That's my boy!)

Sunday we had a very lazy day.  With no alarms on - I slept through to 9.30am!!!!!!  That's the longest in a very very very very long time.  When I realised what the time was I got up immediately to see Tom.  He was quite happy lying in bed reading his books.  Didn't seem to realise it was 2 hours later than usual.  As a result of my lie in the rest of the day was out of sync.  We headed off to Lancaster and Williamson Park.  Tom took his bike and did some cycling and then we went to its rather good cafe for a sort of lunch (it was 2.30pm).   Tom had a sausage roll and I had a child's cheese on toast.  We then went for another play before heading to the station to pick Matt up.

It was a quiet weekend, but Tom couldn't have been better company.  He was so well behaved and fun that I was sad when it was over and he went back to school on Monday, I would happily have kept him out and carried on playing with him.

Very busy weekend

After a busy half term the pace didn't slow this weekend, in fact it was full steam ahead!

Friday evening found us in our new local foodie pub with some friends and their boys.  It was a good evening out - didn't get back home till quite late (8pm ish)

Saturday was a horrible day in Ingleton so we decided to escape and used our Dales Rail Pass for a cheap ticket to Carlisle (normally £24 return, now only £8 return).  It takes 1hr 45mins to get to Carlisle but it just flew.  Tom really enjoyed himself - he even happily did some school work on the way.  When we got there Tom and Matt hung around the station doing some train spotting (nerds!) whilst I went in search for the re-located cake shop.  I found it - it was huge.  I spent a happy half hour looking round and picking up all the bits and pieces I need in the near future.  Called the boys - they weren't quite ready, so I some more shopping before meeting them for lunch at a rather good cafe: The Old Engine House.  We found this cafe last time we were in Carlisle - it is a great place.  Really good and imaginative food, service with a smile and very reasonable prices.  The only problem is that the cafe is too small so we had to wait, but it was worth it.  We also brought down the average age by about 20 years - seems like all the oldies in Carlisle have found it and haven't told anyone else about it!

So being a proper trainspotter - Matt took plenty of videos.  Here's one:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciwkBn3jPug

We left with very happy bellies and then walked down to Bitts Park for Tom to have a run around and a play.  Oh I have to mention that the weather was great.  We were all wrapped up warm, expecting rain, gloom and misery, but when we exited from the Blea Moor tunnel we were welcomed by bright sunshine and it stayed like that for the rest of the day.

We then headed into the city centre for a spot of 'big town shopping' before heading back to the station for more train spotting and then our train back to Settle.  We decided to try out a new pub in Settle on the way back for dinner and found another gem (there are so many good pubs out here!).  And then on to home and bed.

Sunday dawned a beautiful day - clear blue skies and not a breath of wind.

The View from Fleetwood

Michelin Woman and Tom

It was the last day of the Blackpool Illuminations so we decided to go.  We packed the car up with Christmas goodies for Kitridding Farm which we dropped off on the way and then headed down the motorway to Blackpool, stopping at Booths in Garstang for lunch (guaranteed a good lunch there, pretty much guaranteed a bad lunch in Blackpool!)

Searching for the perfect stone

Throwing stones in the sun

Found a free parking space almost on the prom at Blackpool and then purchased some rover tickets for the tram and decided to go all the way North to Fleetwood - just because we could, not because we had heard anything about it.  We travelled through some pretty drab neighbourhoods and were sort of dreading arriving in a miserable yard, but we were greeted by a lovely beach (sandy with some stones that could be thrown into the sea = boy happy), with magnificent views - we could see the Lake District mountains, the dock yard in Barrow, the power station in Heysham and even Ingleborough (although at the time we had our bearings wrong and couldn't quite work out what anything was!)

Like Father, like son

We must have spent the best part of an hour there (and would have spent longer if it wasn't for the fact it was beginning to get dark).  We got the tram back to Blackpool and the Pleasure Beach.  Tom almost fell asleep, so we headed to get tea and a bun somewhere.  We found a tacky family bar on the South Pier and had a drink.  We then explored the fun fair - we had promised Tom a ride.    We then went to the very good 'Tom's Donut Hut' for a bag of doughnuts during which time the illuminations were switched on.  

The Big One

Suitably restored we walked north back up the prom taking in the lights - they weren't as exciting as further north, so we decided to get a tram back up to Gynn Square where the interesting lights start and then walked up taking them in.  We got to Bispham much quicker than last year and managed to get a seat straight away at the big fish and chip restaurant there.  So haddock, chips, mushy peas and a slice of bread and butter for Matt and me and scampi and chips for Tom.  All very Blackpool.

The Sun

Tom and a Spaceman

We then got the tram back to Gynn Square and headed back home.  It was almost 9pm before we got home - a very late night for a school night - ooops!  Oh well, it was our last chance so we had to take it.

Half Term - Part 3

The cake

Wednesday it was dreary but not raining - so can't complain too much.  The morning saw us in Giggleswick delivering the 2 tier anniversary cake.  One of the most detailed cakes I've done in a while: it was a Rocky Horror themed rollercoaster animal print cake.  Believe it or not I had the most trouble with the zebra print on the cake than anything else - you would think it would be easy to do zebra print - but not so - I was painting it on, and it just looked wrong all the time.  I decided in the end that the black zebra stripes are thick and the white thin.  I got there in the end, but it took much longer than it should have done.

Anyway, we delivered it and the recipients were happy with it which is always a relief.  We then went to the tip, I popped into the soft play area with some marketing material - they had contacted me as they often have requests for fancy cakes and there isn't anyone in the area who does them (well that's what they thought until they found me).  We then headed into the town for a quick look around the shops before stopping for lunch at a different tea room, Poppies which was very nice - same prices as The Naked Man, but better quality food.

In the afternoon Matt worked and I took Tom to the library for a special children's session: making witch hats, pumpkin plates, rockets etc etc.  Normally these things are particularly well attended.  Not the case here - it was heaving!  We bumped into Caroline, Fred & Frank, Lynne, Matthew & Tom and others there.   Tom had a good time and to my surprise showed more of his new found confidence and actually went up to a librarian and asked her a question about some red gunk they had made.  We all went outside to see a 'rocket' launch (bicarbonate of soda and vinegar in a bottle) - the librarians made a huge fuss about it saying it was going to explode and to stand back.  After 15 minutes we were sure it wasn't going to do anything!

Tom in his cinema seat

Wednesday evening I spent making wedding cupcakes which were being picked up on Thursday morning.  They were a disaster!  Same batter went into yellow and orange cupcake cases.  The orange ones were fine, the yellow ones decided to peel off?   I have no idea why.  I then had two batches of buttercream: cinnamon and custard flavour.  Both made from the same batch of buttercream.  The custard buttercream piped fine, the cinnamon buttercream didn't.  Why oh why?!  It wasn't a pleasant experience, the cakes were being collected first thing on Thursday so I couldn't make any more.  It was a horrible experience.  As part of the order I had to make some vegan cupcakes.  These turned out absolutely fine - typical.  So I added more of those into the order than were needed to make up for the duff other ones.  I hate making substandard cakes, and am frustrated because I really don't know why things went wrong.

Thursday the bride and groom turned up to pick up their cakes.  I was completely honest with them and explained what had gone wrong.  They seemed fine and pretty relaxed about it.  Let's hope they tasted ok.  In the afternoon Matt and Tom went with Big Tom and Sam and Co from next door to see Turbo at the cinema in Lancaster.  It was Tom's first time (he's always been nervous about cinema environments in the past) - he did really well.  He's not heavy enough to keep a seat down, but apart from that he had a good time.  Apparently he concentrated and didn't fidget too much which for him is pretty good.  I got back into baking and made up the batter for 5 more gingerbread houses and then did some computer work before they returned home.

Wizard Devil

Isabella and Tom

Thursday was Halloween.  We had been invited by a friend to join them in Austwick for a village wander organised by the local pub.  We bought Tom a better costume in Settle when we visited and dressed him up: Wizard's Hat, Devil's Mask, Witch's Cape and pumpkin holder.  We got to the pub - it was full to bursting with every kind of Halloween character you can think of.  This is a pub with a 'French Kitchen' and the bar was groaning with huge plates of proper French Charcuterie and cheese - all free.  Yummy! We ate as much as we could without looking greedy.  We then headed out for our wander.  At the first house Tom wasn't really sure what to do.  He accepted a sweet and then handed one back to the rather surprised house holder.  Very sweet!  At the next house he happily joined the crowd and collected a sweet and then he was off down the street racing to the next house to get his treats.  He certainly enjoyed himself.  That is, until the heavens opened and the rain poured down on us.  We all got drenched.  Tom wasn't impressed and cried.  Oh dear.  Luckily I had some dry clothes in the car for him, so once he was in those he was happier.  The kids then got free hot dogs and we had a pie, peas and chip supper.  We didn't leave the pub until 8.30ish, we were having a good time and Tom and Isabella were happily playing with each other and a couple of other children they knew in the pub.  It was past 9pm when Tom got to bed!

Tom and a Donkey

Friday we had made arrangements to meet with Adam and Eli at Docker Farm Park.  The boys got on fine again, although it was freezing they had a good time - mainly playing on the pedal tractors and go karts.  We did go for a walk and see the animals, but mainly it was the pedal tractors which were the main attraction.  Before we knew it, it was 3pm.  Eli and I were completely frozen (we should have played on the pedal tractors too) so we went to the cafe to warm up.  We found the cafe was actually quite good serving decent food - unusual in these sorts of places - normally it is greasy cheap food.  The cafe is open to those who don't want to visit the farm too - so will keep that in mind for a lunch one day - especially as it has a nice roaring fire and comfy sofas.  Tom was asleep within 30 seconds of me telling him to do so - phew - he was in dire need of a sleep.

Friday evening for me was spent out with some girls at the local foodie pub.  It would have been a good night, except everyone seemed to be coming down with a cold - so it finished quite early - oh hum, it was nice to get out though.

Octonauts and a Tom in bandage

Saturday was going to be a long busy day.  We had a birthday party and we had planned to meet up with Karen, Leia and Rosa in Blackpool for the illuminations.  However, the weather forecast for Blackpool was horrible, so we knocked that on the head and just went to the birthday party instead.  The morning was spent in Kirkby Lonsdale buying a present for the birthday boy.  We then had lunch in Avanti (bit posh for lunch, but it was a miserable day and we needed cheering up).  The birthday party was an Octonauts one - something Tom is not in to at all.  Oh hum - he decided to dress up as a spaceman instead, and didn't really stand out as not in theme (spaceman / deep sea diver = sort of the same?)  The party (Charlie's party - a boy from his class at school) was fabulous.  I have never been to such an organised, well planned party.  Turns out Alice (his Mum) and Pete (his Dad) are both teachers and it showed.  The children listened to everything they were told and followed instructions impeccably.  The games were very inventive and well planned.  (Pressure, pressure - there is no way I could even begin to do something as good as that!)  As a result the children were very well behaved and completely engaged.  Even the party tea was underwater themed with blue juice, blue jelly with fish in it, fish shaped sandwiches etc etc.  I couldn't believe it and was very very impressed.  Tom came away very very happy and we were all glad Blackpool had got cancelled as we would have had to miss half the party otherwise.

Steam Train

Sunday we thought we would have an easy day.  The weather wasn't supposed to be up to much so we headed off to the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway for a play on a steam train.  The line isn't that long (15 mins) and there was only one engine working, but we had a good time.  We did 3 return trips, sat in different seats each time and happily watched the countryside speed past.  Tom fell asleep on the way home which was good.  Then curry and rice for dinner and early to bed for Tom - school tomorrow.

Half Term - Part 2

Revolting lunch

Nik was busy caking on Tuesday, so Tom and I decided to head out and do something train related for the day. I wanted to visit the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, which we still haven't been to, but the steam trains do not link up at all with the trains from Ribblehead, and we would've spent much of the day hanging around Keighley station.

So, a trip to the National Railway Museum in York it was, especially as they are currently having the "Great Gathering" of all six surviving A4s. We drove up to Ribblehead and got the 10:15 train to Leeds. It was absolutely revolting out there - freezing cold and pouring with rain, I did wonder whether it would actually start snowing. Fortunately, the train ("William Wilberforce" - his favorite train on this line) was bang on time, but nearly full, so we had to share a set of four seats with a nice elderly couple who were on their way to London. Tom did a very good job of charming them and being generally entertaining, but most of the train emptied out at Skipton, as is usually the case, and we had most of the coach to ourselves for the rest of the journey. After about 15 minutes at Leeds, we caught a "blue train" up to York, which didn't exactly hurry along, but we got to York at around 12:30.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

We headed straight to the museum upon arrival, but my heart sank when we turned a corner and noticed an absolute sea of people outside the museum waiting to get in. One of the crowd marshals reckoned it would be a wait of about an hour, and suggested that we went somewhere for lunch and tried again later. So, we headed back to the station, where I discovered that despite being a large and busy station, the choices for food are limited and extremely disappointing. In the end, it was either Burger King or Pumpkin Café (which served very little other than Ginsters stuff). Anyway, I had a cheese and ham slice and Tom had sausage roll (both microwaved to about 10,000°C), which we at least managed to eat on the platform so that Tom could watch the trains going past. Luckily, the railway activity managed to distract him from the fact that the food was truly revolting. He managed about half his sausage roll, and I didn't have the heart to make him eat any more of it. Still, some Kettle Chips and a banana helped to cleanse our pallettes.

In any case, the marshal was dead right, and we only had to queue for about 15 minutes (under blue skies) to get in. As soon as we were in the Great Hall, Tom remembered exactly what was where, and made a beeline straight for the model railway that had so enchanted him last time we visited. In keeping with the event, all the trains on the model railway were also expresses pulled by A4s. In all, we made five trips into the model railway, but to be fair, he did wander around all the other exhibits too, and queued patiently for another 15 minutes or so to go into the cab of "Bittern", where he listened patiently and intently to an ex-A4 driver who regaled us with tales of driving those engines back in the day.

Model railway

All six of the locomotives looked absolutely immaculate, as if they'd been built yesterday, and there were predictably large crowds gathered around each one, especially men of a certain age (considerably older than me). We had tea and a bun mid afternoon so that we could rest our tired legs, and then had a wander round the rest of the exhibits, before spending a bit of money in the shop and heading back to York station.

Tom insisted that we take a Voyager, not a blue train, back to Leeds, so I obeyed orders and found us a Penzance-bound train that fitted the bill. After getting ourselves some sandwiches, snacks and drinks for dinner on the train back to Ribblehead, we hung around the station for a bit before getting on our train.

Mallard

We actually started dinner before the train left Leeds, mainly in the hope that he would be able to nod off and have at least a little nap before we arrived in Ribblehead. Fat chance. He was still really excited from all the day's activities, and wouldn't entertain the idea of sleep at all. Having said that, his behaviour was exceptionally good all day, and we both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I was very proud of him, he's definitely growing up and more able to deal with long days out without getting tired, grumpy and naughty. Roll on the next trip.

Half Term - Part 1

So I completely buggered up half term.  I took a couple of orders at the beginning of the year thinking that in October Tom would be at school and I would be able to do them easily.  I didn't think to look up when half term is?!!!  So, I had a 2 tier 20th anniversary cake to do and 60 wedding cupcakes - both for mid week delivery, meaning they had to be done during the week.  I also had my first Christmas delivery to make to the local bakery: 12 gingerbread houses, 12 walnut whip figures & 30 tiffins in various sizes.  Doesn't sound much - but it took me A LONG time to get them all ready - Huff!!!!!

Tom and Matthew at Greenlands

Monday - we had a family day.  It wasn't very nice, and we had arranged to meet with Lynne and Matthew (one of Tom's school mates) at Greenlands in the afternoon.  I iced and covered the two tiers for the anniversary cake first thing and then we headed out for lunch.  We ended up at Carnforth - had a look around the shops (great second hand bookshop there) and then went to the Brief Encounter tea room for lunch.  Tom as usual went straight to the Thomas room for a play.  However, there was another boy already playing in it.  Normally this would mean he would go silly and shy and refuse to play unless I was with him.  This didn't happen!  He went straight into the room and made friends with the little boy and then played with him.  Neither of us could believe our eyes!  We basically lost him and had to drag him out of the room so he could eat his lunch.

In the afternoon we went to Greenlands, I was half expecting Tom to be silly and shy again with Matthew as I haven't really seen him play with him outside of school, although he has had plenty of opportunity during the Summer swimming season and meeting at the park etc.  However, he happily went off with Matthew and his much older brother Tom (11) who did a sterling job playing with them both.  Matt, Lynne and I just sat and chatted - a whole new experience for me - there is normally some clinging and silly shyness for me to contend with when we go to these places.  We left almost at closing time with a happy and tired boy.

Homework

So, Tom has completed his first half-term at school and it has gone pretty well.  No tears, no refusals to go etc.  We have very little idea of what goes on at school as he seems to forget everything he has done as soon as he leaves the classroom!

He does, however, get lots of homework:

+ Sound book: a flip book with all the letters of the alphabet and some words they appear in to practise sounds.

Tom's homework!

+ Reading book with no words - Tom has to narrate his way through this book describing what he sees in the pictures

+ Reading book with simple keywords such as 'a' and 'the' etc

+ Keywords keyring - 50 or so simple words on a keyring that he needs to learn off by heart

+ KIRFs book - with maths targets to Tom to hit.  (Luckily his target this half-term is to count to 20 and recognise the numerals 1-10.  He's been able to do that for over a year so I have just ignored this one).

+ New on Friday - 'Wow Wednesdays' a book which we have to fill each week with something new he has done at home in the previous week, to be illustrated with drawings / photos etc.  

+ Library book

Although this is his homework, it is of course MY homework.  I have comment books to fill in for his reading and maths and of course I now have to write about something 'wow' each week.  Does a 4 year old really need to have this much homework?  It makes me wonder exactly how much teaching is taking place at school.  I have a feeling teachers are spending so much time on paperwork to prove this, that and the other for Ofstead, that they don't actually have time to sit down with the kids in their class to teach them / find out how they are doing and expect the parents to do this instead.

Anyhow, Tom seems to be taking it in his stride and is beginning to recognise some words.  His maths is much better, today he was playing a maths game on the ipad and learnt how to count in 2's to 20.  We were really impressed with him as he picked it up really quickly.  (I am now making a mental note of everything he does to save up for his Wow Wednesday book - first entry will be the 7 mile bike ride, second entry will be counting to 20 in 2's - I'm hoping there will be more I can use and store up from this half term).

Oh hum, I guess it will only get worse...

Oh and he came home with a certificate last week - for 100% attendance.  Fine, but why did they give it to him a week before the end of half term?  

Family bike ride

Although Tom is tired and got a cold, he doesn't let it get him down (although he does get naughty and bolshy when he is tired which can be annoying).  This morning he requested that he went on a bike ride : "all of us on a bike".  Expecting lots of rain, we got up and set to putting the bike rack on the car - a nasty job which involves lots of grunting and swearing.  It didn't take as long as usual to get it on and the bikes on it.  Luckily we can still get Tom's bike in the car - that will change when he grows into his next one.

On the bridge at Crook O' Lune

We all had a good breakfast and then headed out.  Initially we were going to hit the prom at Morecambe, but we were worried about the weather - supposed to get windy and rainy today and there is no shelter in Morecambe, so we decided to ride along an old railway track: Bull Beck to Crook O' Lune.  We have done this before when Tom was on his orange bike, it took quite a while and Matt and I were wobbling quite a bit as we were having to cycle so slowly.  This time it was quite different.  Matt and I had to cycle properly to keep up with Tom and we got to Crook O' Lune in about 15 minutes - last time it was more like an hour!  We were very surprised and decided to carry on which we did.  We got all the way to the M6 road bridge, past Halton which is a decent distance.  We wondered if we should continue on into Lancaster but Tom requested we headed home, and as he isn't 100% we figured he knew best.

Resting at Crook O' Lune

We stopped off at Crook O' Lune on the way back for tea and a bun and then returned to the car.  In all we cycled just under 6 3/4 miles in 1hr 10mins (Matt of course has a gadget that measures all this!).  Very impressive for a tired, cold ridden 4 year old, we were very impressed with him (I was impressed with me too!)  It was very enjoyable and we found some free car parks on the route nearer to Lancaster, so we made a note to return to these and see if we can cycle into Lancaster next time where they have cycle paths alongside the canal which are supposed to be nice)

We headed to a new farm shop / cafe in Ireby just along from Ingleton.  We were surprised to come across a huge wooden building with loads of seating.  We had a lovely lunch (a little pricey but it was very good quality so can't really complain) and then headed back home.

In the afternoon we did a quick walk around the village, (old Neptis is being done up to become a new cafe....) visited the butchers to buy 2 massive rump steaks for dinner (so big that we ate one between the 3 of us and froze the other - very nice it was too), and headed down to the park for a play.  All was going well until I sat on a wall.  I didn't notice the wasp already sat on the wall - he wasn't happy with me and stung me in anger.  I was angry too - and sore!

I hobbled home, then we had a lazy afternoon before dinner and a very early bath time for a very tired, very grumpy and quite naughty boy.

Tom had a good sleep last night and woke up much happier.  The weather today was forecasted to be atrocious so we decided to have an easy day.  We headed out to Colne via the Forest of Bowland (not sure why it is called 'Forest' as we saw very few trees.  It was a lovely drive through upland moorlands - we didn't see another car for the whole journey.  Very sparsely populated, but very beautiful landscape.  It wasn't a fast route by any means, but very interesting.  We arrived in Colne to visit Boundary Mills - a huge outlet store - which serves free coffee and croissants on a Sunday morning (half of Lancashire was there).  We did a bit of Christmas shopping, I got some cake things and then we headed to Asda for some more shopping and lunch.

We then headed home via the fast, boring route.  Tom fell asleep which was the whole purpose of the trip - he was in dire need of an afternoon nap.  We then had a useful afternoon - cleaning, tidying, sorting etc (always needed in our house!)

Nice weekend and Tom's first disco

We had a nice stay at home weekend last weekend.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos so I'll have to describe it.  Sorry folks!

Saturday Matt and Tom went out in the morning to get their hair cut (both came back with the same hair do) and do some shopping whilst I finished off a birthday cake (for Sam next door - Monsters Inc theme) and made a roast with all the trimmings for Kathy and Paul who eventually came to visit us.

We had a lovely afternoon with Kathy and Paul - they are good company, Tom was on good form - both entertainment wise and good eating wise - he ate a full plate of food.  Time whizzed by - before we knew it it was 5pm - they made their excuses and we gave Tom his dinner before bed.

Babyccino

Sunday we headed into Kendal first thing as Tom grew out of his school shoes last week.  He complained his feet were hurting and on inspection I found the beginnings of blisters - oops.  So he wore is 'out of school' boots for the rest of the week.  The selection process was quite easy - I lined up the available styles he tried them on - if he couldn't get them on by himself they were rejected.  We then looked at the tread and kept the ones with good tread, then he got to choose.  He is now an 11f which I believe is quite big.

We had a quick coffee and a bun after shopping.  The only cafe at the outlet centre is Costa - not a place we would normally go to (prefer to support local businesses).  They do a babyccino - a mini hot chocolate for children which Tom enjoyed.

We then headed back home as we had a date in a pub with one of Tom's friends - Fred and his family.  The pub was walkable so we went on foot, managing to dodge the rain.  We had a proper dinner each and then headed to their yard for a play on bikes and scooters (their yard has a good long slope on it, making it perfect for play)  We also got to have a look around the vehicles they currently have (they are the family with the big gun on the A65 - and deal in heavy vehicles)

We got home just in time for a skype with Grannie and Grandpa and then Tom had tea and went to bed.  A good weekend.

Tom had a very busy week this week:

Rubbish bag wizard Tom

Monday - swimming after school
Tuesday - tea with Finn (another classmate)
Wednesday - home after school
Thursday - Halloween disco in the evening.  I as usual was rubbish with the fancy dress thing - I have always hated fancy dress and try to ignore it if at all possible.  Living where we do, I can't just nip out for something.  After Tom decided he wanted to go to the disco I visited Co-op and managed to find a wizard's hat and orange glow in the dark wand.  I then cut up a black sack for a cloak. He was the only one in a homemade costume at the disco, but he didn't mind at all.  The disco was ridiculously loud: full of kids who just seemed to want to scream!  There was very little music, and even less dancing. Surprisingly it didn't seem to worry Tom, he didn't wander far from us, but he was happy doing his own thing.  He even got two big hugs and kisses from two girls in his class when he left - the little charmer.
Friday - curry in Settle.

He has come down with a cold and is very tired, so it is just as well it is now half-term.  Lots of sleep and snoozy mornings to be had - yippee!