Aaron's Blog

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!).

Aaron is 6 already! Unbelievable!

He was up bright and early on his birthday (which was a Thursday this year) and got us all up and downstairs to open his presents. He had lots of them as usual and liked them all. Some of the presents that he had this year was a Jungle Patroller (from Paw Patrol), clothes, books, money, a Topps football card collection folder, the full Everton team in the Topps football cards, some lego sets, a Playmobil boat and car to pull it, a nano skateboard and ramp, a remote controlled car and many other great stuff. He went off to school very happy that morning but couldn’t wait to get home to play!

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He had a few friends around for tea after School for a little party. Both Harry’s came, so did Archie and Aunty Alex came with Caleb. We put together some party food and they all scoffed that and had a good time. It was a very nice party and all the boys were very well behaved.

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We didn’t go out for the day this year, as camping at Woodlands was also for Aaron’s birthday, but he had a great day and enjoyed all his presents!

Thanks to everyone that gave him a card, present or money! 😉

During the 1st May bank holiday this year, we all went camping for the first time together and we went to Woodlands. Each year, families from Ben and Aaron’s year groups get together and go each year in a group to get a very good discount, and this year we were asked if we wanted to come along as well. So we said yes! 😉 The two nights of camping at Woodlands also included free entry into the theme park for both days, which was great! 

We were going to borrow Nan Nan and Pops’ tent but it turned out to be too small for us all, so we ended up having to buy a brand new one from Go Outdoors, which was recommended by Josh and Alex. It wasn’t cheap so we had to see it as an investment and so would make sure we would go camping as much as we could in the future!

So we went straight from work on the Friday and got there just after 5pm. Josh, Alex and Caleb came as well and Josh had taken the day off so he had swung by in the afternoon and picked up some of our stuff to take (we had a lot of stuff!) and Alex would drive there with Caleb after she finished work. So when we arrived, Josh had already put their tent up along with other families of Ben, Aaron and Coby’s friends that were going as well. In fact, it was all the boys best friends that went, so it was perfect for them! We got out tent up in a decent time (with the help of Josh and Alex!) and unloaded our gear into it and setup camp. We were on the end so next to us was a great big open space for all the children to play in, which they did, and they all loved it!

The weather on the Friday evening wasn’t too bad and once it had got dark, the stars were an amazing site! Before then, we had pizza for tea (from the onsite takeaway) and a few cheeky cans with Alex and Josh. Throughout the evening, the boys were out playing with their friends and having a great time. They were really in their element! We didn’t really sleep very well that night as it was our first ever night in a tent, although the boys had obviously worn themselves out with all the playing and the fact they had a very late night for them, so they slept fine! Kelly and I were awake most of the night and at dawn, the birds seemed to be singing very loudly! It was nice listening to them but it didn’t help us get any rest!

So we decided to get up pretty early and Kelly went for a very early wash in the shower block (I had had a shower the previous evening). The showers and toilets were nice and clean and in good condition although it was cold in there! It was a lovely morning, although a little cold, but we still sat out and had our breakfast. We then spent the day walking around Woodlands and got some food there for dinner from one of the cafes.  We found the park to be quite run down in places unfortunately, especially down the bottom end where the pixie houses were. The top end with the animals seemed to be the best looked after. We all had a fun day though, and the boys loved it. The best thing for all of us was the Toboggan Run where we all had several goes on it!  It was great fun, and Ben managed to get on it without an adult several times, which was handy for the rest of us as someone had to stay with the buggy! Towards closing time, we made our way back to our camp and got ready for tea. We had a nice BBQ with some of Aaron’s friends (as this weekend was part of his 6th birthday celebrations) and he had a birthday cake given to him with everyone singing, though he was very shy at this point! Unfortunately, the weather had now started to turn and it was freezing cold and windy. It certainly wasn’t the best weather for a BBQ but we made the most of it and all seemed to enjoy it.  We all went to bed tired out and slept a little better but still not great.

The next morning, we woke up to awful weather and we had to take out tent down in it! We got completely drenched doing this as the rain was torrential and I didn’t have a change of clothes either so had to stay in them all day until they dried out. Just as we had filled the car and were ready to drive out of the camping area to park in the main car park we found that the car battery had died. We had no idea how this happened as it had been find so Josh ended up having to drive it down the hill from camp (luckily we were at the top of the hill!) whilst we pushed it to get it going. Thankfully, the car started and Josh drove it back up to us. So we kept it running for a while after that whilst Kelly got dried and changed into her dry clothes and it was find thereafter.

So eventually, we went back into the park and went in the indoor play area for most of the day. The indoor soft play was suitable for adults, so we put our bags in a locker and all went in for a bit of fun! The rain did eventually stop so we did venture outside for a bit and went down for a few quick goes on the Toboggan Run, which was great fun again, before having to leave and drive home.

Generally, we had had a great weekend and the boys loved camping and going into Woodlands each day to play. It was a shame the weather was so bad on the Sunday though and the car battery went, but thankfully we got it working again. We will definitely be doing this again next year! 😉

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Aaron has now stopped going to the weekly football training. We have actually stopped going to Goals now and Ben is doing a properly run coaching session with the other Bickleigh Buddies at Marjons on a Thursday now. Aaron had the opportunity to play as well but didn’t want to really. Unfortunately, the boys that play are all in Ben’s year and he doesn’t really know any of them properly like he did with some others before. One of his friends did come along once, but didn’t like it either, so never came back again.  So Aaron, for now, has given up on the training, but we are going to try and get him to do something else instead with some of his friends, so watch this space! 😉

I completely forgot until today, that back in February, I took Ben and Aaron to the cinema for the first time! Dear me…my memory! haha

Coby was at a party with Mummy so I took the opportunity to take the other two into the Reel cinema in the centre of town to watch the Lego Batman Movie.  I hadn’t been in that cinema for nearly 20 years and found it to be very rundown now unfortunately. The material on the seats was all ripped and the paint was coming off the cinema walls but it did bring back good memories from when I was growing up that I wanted to try and share with Ben and Aaron.

Before the film started, they stocked up on sweets and went to the toilet a couple of times. We had already booked the tickets online so we didn’t have to buy them there and they were much cheaper than the Vue Cinema! We then sat down in an ideal place and watched the film, which we all enjoyed.

Of course, Aaron ate all of his sweets too quickly and started to feel sick about half way through the film, and was asking when the film was ending! Tut! I knew Aaron was going to do that! 😉 Anyway, he wasn’t sick (thank goodness) and Ben was fine throughout. 

When the film had finished, we met Mummy and Coby at McDonalds for some dinner, so it was a great morning and the boys enjoyed their first visit to the cinema. 😉

1st Cinema Trip