Aaron's Blog

Archive for the ‘Year 6 to 7’ Category

During June, Aaron had his yearly class assembly where he had to stand up and say some lines. He did very well and said his lines clearly although a little quietly. Miss Bowyer seemed very pleased with them all. Afterwards, we were able to go over to him and he showed us some of the work he had done that they showed off in the assembly. It was all very good!

Before the assembly itself, he was presented with his latest Swimming Award for completing Stage 2 and his next merit award, which was another Silver award, by the Headmaster Mr Hancock. Well done, Aaron, keep it up! X

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A few weeks ago, myself, Ben and Aaron went out for a bike ride from Plym Bridge to the tunnel past Bickleigh Viaduct and back. They both did really well and cycled all the way there and back to the car which turned out to be about 8 miles. 😉 Kelly and Coby were at a party so missed this little trip!

Bike Ride

Then a couple of weeks ago, we all went out for a bike ride from Yelverton to the Tunnel before you get to Tavistock. This was good fun as only I had been along that stretch of Drake’s Trail before, so the scenery was all new to everyone else. This ride turned out to be about 6 miles and was quite hard coming back as we had to go up the big hill to get back to Yelverton which saps the energy out of you. Again, Aaron and Ben both cycled all the way on there own (apart from pushing the bike up the hill!). Coby enjoyed himself in his trailer but it made Kelly struggle a lot as he is a lot heavier than he was so I think we will have to change things and get his trailer strapped up to my bike instead for the next trip!

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The weekend before last, we went camping at Monkey Tree which is at Goonhavern, just outside of Perranporth. We happened to choose the hottest weekend of the year as the temperature was around 30 degrees the entire time and our tent was not shaded at all, so we were in the sun continuously which was just way too hot.  Luckily, there was a swimming pool onsite that was included in our stay, so we lounged around in that 3 times over the weekend. Coby had been asking loads since we went Glamping to go camping again, as he just loves it! Ben and Aaron also love it as well so were very excited!

We went with Alex, Josh and Caleb again and also Nan Nan and Pops turned up in their caravan and Mike came as well and stayed on the Saturday night. It was Witney’s birthday on the Friday, so they all came over for a BBQ on the Saturday evening for tea. Ben, Aaron and Coby had a great time playing with their cousins on the scooters and playing hide and seek. We also went down to the onsite park and they all had fun on the swings, climbing frames and trampolines.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, although it could have been a bit cooler, and Monkey Tree was a lovely place.  There was an arcade on site (although with mostly outdated and well used machines) which we all had a play in, crazy golf, a couple of restaurants and a shop. They also had evening entertainment on which was for all the family.  We couldn’t really fault it really, and the price was very very good as we got a deal on Groupon. The food that we had was very nice. We had a takeaway from the onsite chippy on the Friday night and the cod and chips that I had (and curry sauce!) was delicious. As mentioned, the weather was terrific and it actually stayed fairly light in the evenings until almost midnight! Then the stars came out and it finally cooled off a bit!

We all had a wonderful time over the weekend although it was very very hot trying to put the tent down on the Sunday afternoon. It was scorching!  Coby was also tired out by now and actually fell asleep in the car with the AC on! The boys all enjoyed the park and the swimming pool, where Coby was jumping in practically on his own. It happened that one of Aaron’s friends from school was also staying there that weekend, so Aaron was very pleased to be able to play with him in the pool.

We would definitely go back again and would recommend the place to anyone, especially if you can get the discount!

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The weekend after Kelly’s birthday, we all went Glamping in a Glampod on a nice camp site just outside of Ilfracombe. It was called Mill Park and it was a lovely place to stay. 

We managed to get the Glampod for a good price as it was a last minute decision so we went straight from work on the Friday, which was a really hot and sunny day. The trip was straight forward and not really busy at all, which we were relieved about as it was a Bank Holiday weekend, so we got there in very good time. We picked up our keys and drove through the site until we got to the ‘Pod and parked up in our space just outside of it and unpacked.

The Glampod was basically just a wooden hut with enough room for us all and a small corner shelf with decking outside and a gas BBQ provided. It overlooked a lovely big fishing lake and you also had a good view back over the campsite. Behind the Glampod was a nice big field which the boys loved as there were lots of rabbits and a fox moving around the outskirts in the early evenings. So they had great fun exploring! It was only a 2 minute walk down the road to get to the toilet and shower block as well, so we were ideally situated.

Once we had unpacked and setup our airbeds for the night, we made some food on the BBQ and enjoyed some nice burgers and snacks in the hot evening sun. It was getting on in the evening at this point but we decided we had enough time to nip down to the onsite bar and get a drink. The seating area outside of the bar also had a really nice play park for the boys to play in, so they had great fun playing there until it started to get dark. We then walked back to the Glampod and the boys changed and went to sleep. They actually went to sleep fairly quickly as well as they (Ben and Aaron) had been to school as well so were tired from that. Kelly and I then got washed and ended up sitting outside in the dark on the decking until well past 11pm. I was still out in my shorts and t-shirt at that time as it just wasn’t cold at all.  It was really lovely and very relaxing! Little were we to know what was in store that night!

After we had gone to sleep, I woke at about 1:30 and wandered down to the toilet block to go to the loo and when I was walking back (still in shorts and t-shirt as it was still that warm!) I noticed flashes of light in the distance that looked like a storm. It was very strange as it was clear skies above us, so I quickened back and got back into bed. As I was still awake after this for a while, I started to notice flashes outside, which I assumed were from people going to the toilets, but it turned out that there was a massive electrical storm going on! It wasn’t long before Kelly was awake as well and we started hearing rumbles of thunder but the lightning was just crazy as it was literally flashing constantly. We had never seen anything like this before. This went on for several hours and peaked at about 3:30am, I think, when the rumbling was louder (but not too loud which was strange) and the lightning was really bright and right over us. We ended up looking through the door windows and watching it for ages as it was an amazing sight  really. We even saw a little fox stalking around just outside!  We eventually managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours but none of the boys even flinched! Amazing! 😉 It turned out that in Plymouth, it was the worst storm for years and was like a war zone in the skies all night and several buildings were hit by the lightning. Thank goodness it wasn’t like that in our little Glampod!

The following day was a mixed bag weather wise. We were originally going to spend the day at Watermouth Castle as Uncle Darren and Grandma were going to come as well, but they cancelled due to the storm, and as the weather turned very foggy and wet just after breakfast, we decided to postpone and go on the Sunday. So instead we went to Woolacombe and Ilfracombe and had a look around. We went in a few shops and arcades (which was fun!) and had a good walk around the places.  Woolacombe was nice and the main street in Ilfracombe was nice as well, but if you went through the main shopping street of Ilfracombe, it turned really quite rundown and dodgy. After this, we went back to the Glampod and relaxed as the weather had cleared up by now. We had a nice BBQ for tea again and I watched the FA Cup Final on my phone. The boys were having a great time just being able to play in the field and around the local area. We then went up to the bar again and had a drink whilst the boys played in the park. It turned really cold that evening so we were quite chilled sat down outside this time. We also had to sort out a lot of our stuff as we needed to be out of the Glampod by 10am in the morning, so we did that and put as much in the car as possible, before settling down for the night. Whilst we were up at the bar, we did ask if we were able to stay the Sunday night as well but, unfortunately, the Glampod had already been booked out. Shame!

The next morning, the weather was much better, so we were up early and had our breakfast BBQ and packed our stuff up and rammed it all into the car, and then drove to Watermouth Castle, which was only a few minutes down the road.  We parked up there and had a great day looking around the castle and other garden areas, and of course, going in the penny arcade and enjoying the many rides. We had a lovely lunch there as well (I had a massive burger that was delicious). The boys had a wonderful time on the rides and watching the water fountain show. The weather turned again mid afternoon and it started raining, so all we did was go on the water rides then, so we were damp anyway! The place was quite quiet by then so we had the pick of the rides and could stay on several times without having to get off. We eventually left right on closing time (6pm) after the boys spent some of their money in the gift shop. By this point, it was raining quite hard and everyone was quite tired out! Coby was asleep very quickly, followed by Aaron and even Ben nodded off! We got home late in the evening and unpacked and took the boys to bed.

We had had a brilliant weekend Glamping in the Glampod and the Mill Park Holiday Park where we stayed was excellent and we would very highly recommend it. It was very child friendly and extremely well laid out. We would definitely go again, and we will!

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For our 10th Wedding Anniversary weekend, Kelly and I went away to a small lodge near Perranporth which meant leaving all the boys on their own for the first time ever!  Grandma spent the weekend at our house to look after them and they were (apparently) very well behaved throughout. Coby was a little bit upset that we had left them but he was fine for most of the time and we did speak and see them via Skype on numerous occasions over the weekend.  On the Saturday, Uncle Darren came over for the day as well, so they all enjoyed playing with him, especially as they had takeaway pizza that night! 😉 They also went up to the park a few times and generally had lots of fun.

It was quite hard leaving them, especially for Kelly, but they did very well and were fine for the weekend. We were glad to get back and see them though! At least we know that if we want/are able to do something similar again in the future, they will be fine. A big thank you to Grandma for looking after them (and Uncle Darren of course!).