Aaron's Blog

For our main holiday this year, we went camping for a week (from a Monday to Friday) to Pitch Perfect which was near Longleat, as we were going to spend a couple of fun days there during our week.  

The campsite was really nice and our pitch was nice and big, in a corner of the camping field.  Due to Covid-19, the campsite wasn’t how it would normally have been as there was a limit on the number of people allowed in the toilet and shower block at the same time and there were also one way systems around reception.  Apart from that, it was mostly normal, which was nice!

As usual, the weather was wet when we turned up so had to set up our camp in the rain.  However, the rest of the week was fine and was very hot towards the end.  Taking everything down on the Friday morning was a nightmare as it was clear skies and really hot by 9am in the morning!  The good weather did mean that we were able to spend most of our time outside, which was obviously good for camping!  Most nights, we had a brilliant view of the stars and even the Milky Way as the campsite was a fair way away from any towns or villages so there was no light pollution.  On the final night there (the Thursday), we saw an amazing meteor shower.  All of the boys were up quite late and scanning the skies and we all saw loads of them.  It was great!

As mentioned, during two of the days, we went to Longleat for the very first time.  We had booked tickets a while ago as they had limited capacity due to Covid-19 but this actually made it better as there were obviously less people queuing for rides and to view the animals.  We visited Longleat on the Tuesday and the Wednesday and, luckily, the weather was dry although not particularly warm on occasions.  But we didn’t mind as it was quite nice to go around and not burn! 

On both of the days, we went through the drive through Safari first, which was absolutely brilliant! At the start of the Safari, there was a section that you could park up and get out to view some animals such as Zebra and Giraffe and to go in a shop, but we didn’t do this on the first day but did on the second.  Instead, we drove straight through to the animals and proceeded to drive through the Safari.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it but by the time we got to the monkey drive thru, we hadn’t decided whether to go through or not.  We had seen videos of people driving through there, as well as the issues they have shown on Animal Park, and the monkeys causing havoc and pulling parts of cars off! But we thought we would give it a go and hope that the monkeys wouldn’t destroy the car.  The boys loved it – they were wetting themselves all the way around the section!  The monkeys were all over the car and sat on our windscreen so we could see the monkey’s bum, which the boys found hilarious!  Luckily, nothing was pulled off of the car though a member of staff had to poke some monkeys with a stick to make sure they didn’t escape the enclosure as we exited it.  We carried on around but didn’t see Anne the Elephant until the second day but we had a great view of the Tiger cubs as we had stopped the car and they literally walked past the front of the car!  Amazing!  We also had great views of the Lions as two Lionesses ended up right next to the passenger door, drinking some water from a bowl.  It was a great Safari, on both days.  During the Lion enclosure on the second day, Coby decided that he needed a wee!  So in the end, he had to go in an empty drinks bottle as he couldn’t hang on and we were nowhere near the end!  Dear me!  Anyway, we would definitely recommend the Safari and we will definitely do it again.

On both days, after the Safari, we went around the rest of Longleat, which was fairly quiet as mentioned previously.  We had a great time walking around and looking at the animals and it was especially good to see the Koala bears, where there was a bit of a queue as only a few people were allowed in the building at a time, due to Covid-19.  We also went on the boat ride around the lake but did have to queue for an hour for that.  We just about saw the Hippos in the lake but I was a bit disappointed in it to be honest.  We also went on the train ride around the park, which was good fun.  The boys loved that as well!  We didn’t get chance to go into the maze, as you had a to book a time slot for that, and Longleat house was closed due to Covid-19, which was a shame, but we did have a good walk around the outside of it and took plenty of photos.  We had food on site both days, which was some of the nicest pizza that we had ever had!  Both days were great fun though and we will definitely come back again at some point soon!

On Thursday, we stayed at the campsite all day as the weather was glorious.  We played football, cards and a few other games and had a nice walk around the campsite.  Unfortunately, Aaron ended up getting ill due to the heat and sun, so he was sick in the afternoon and fell asleep with a cold flannel over his head!  After a snooze, he was fine again and made a miraculous recovery and scoffed his tea!  Strange!

On the Friday morning, we got up very early to pack everything up and had a proper breakfast bap from the breakfast van onsite.  It was a massive bap with everything in it and filled us up completely!  It was boiling already so we were roasting packing the reset of the tent up.

We had had a great week and would recommend the campsite for sure.  The owners were very welcoming and the site was nice and clean.  Longleat was great as well and we will be going back once Covid-19 has gone and the house is back open again!

Well, we didn’t see this coming at the start of the year!  

A global pandemic hit the UK towards the end of March which meant that the Government issued a mandatory lockdown throughout the country. This basically forced everything to close, including schools, clubs, shops, pubs, restaurants, leisure facilities and for people to work from home or not work at all and be put on a furlough scheme.  Since the start of the year, there had been rumblings that a virus was ripping through China and moving west throughout the World, and it eventually did unfortunately.  So on the 23rd March, the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, gave the lockdown order for the entire country which basically meant the country stopped.  Lots of people had started dying so there was really no choice in the matter.  Everyone had to stay in their homes and were only allowed out for a maximum of 1 hour of exercise per day or for essential food shopping.  This lockdown carried on until the 10th May when small changes were introduced such as allowing people out more but having to ensure social distancing of 2 metres between households and the phased reopening of schools, although it was left to the schools to decide when to open.  Everywhere also needed to be Covid secure, otherwise they weren’t allowed to open, so a lot of work had to be done at shops, workplaces and at schools.  On July 4th, most of the lockdown measures ended although people still had to practise social distancing and were told not to hug anybody, especially those people that were elderly.  At this point, over 30,000 people had died in the country and it was the most bizarre and scary thing that has ever happened to any of us!

The boys did really well throughout the lockdown, even though we all missed our usual Easter celebrations, our annual trip to Woodlands Camping, a proper birthday for Coby, Aaron and Kelly and we obviously couldn’t see any family for months.  The main issue was really the closure of schools though, as we were expected to home school the children, even though we were both able to work our usual hours from home.  So it was quite hard, especially as Bickleigh school were quite rubbish with it all really.  They eventually sent home work for them to do but it wasn’t really very planned out and it was quite stressful for us.  We tried to go for a walk after schooling and work every day and actually discovered loads of new places in Woolwell, including paths down to Drake’s Trail, a tramway line and a swamp.  We had lived here for years and didn’t even know all this was here!!

Bickleigh Down School decided that they could open again at the start of June, after the half term holiday, but only for certain years.  So it ended up that Ben and Coby were able to go back to school, as they were seen to be in the more crucial years for education, and Aaron had to stay home and be home schooled.  It was a relief that they could go back and they both wanted to but we had to have a good think first, as the virus was still bad and a lot of other parents kept their children home still.  But we decided to send them back and they both really enjoyed it.  Obviously, it was Ben’s last year at Bickleigh so him going back to school was a very big deal as it was the last few weeks that he would have at primary school.  It was all different though as they all had to take packed lunches, had their classrooms rearranged, on days they did PE they would have to go into school in their PE kit and not change all day as they weren’t allowed to change at school anymore.  There was also a one way system around the premises to drop off and pick up the children and only 1 adult was allowed to on the grounds, so both Kelly and I couldn’t go in and drop them off or pick them up, although we did once by accident and Mrs Conday ‘told us off’.  So it was all a bit surreal and Aaron ended up not going back to school for the rest of the school term, which meant that he had been home since the end of March – 4 months, and missed half of Year 5!

Here are a few of the normal events that took place during the lockdown period.

Easter

For Easter this year, the Easter bunny still came and hid lots of little chocolate eggs around the house but we were unable to go anywhere or visit anyone during the bank holiday weekend.  Instead, we held an Easter games day on Easter Sunday, which we all enjoyed, especially the boys.  The games were nice and simple but were all a bit of fun!

Coby’s 6th Birthday

It was a shame that Coby couldn’t have a birthday party this year but we still had a good day.  I had the day off and so did Kelly.  Coby was very excited in the morning and got up by 7am and we went down and he opened his pile of birthday presents.  His main present this year was a Mario Kart Hot Wheel Track, which he thought was amazing.  He also had some other bits and pieces as usual, which he was very happy with.  We got the track up and running and then went for a walk in the boiling hot, sunny weather.  We went for a long walk around the woods and back along the tramway which we had only recently discovered during mid morning.  We then got home and Kelly started cooking some party food for dinner, which was very nice, and we ate it outside.  We then had a quiet afternoon with Coby playing with his presents and had more party food for tea.  During the day, various people turned up to give cards and presents to Coby, socially distanced of course by them standing on the steps and us by the front door!  Coby had a nice day anyway, even though it was a very strange birthday!

Aaron’s 9th Birthday

Aaron was in the same boat as Coby as he couldn’t have a birthday party either.  We would normally have been at Woodlands camping for his birthday but that was obviously cancelled as well, so we had a similar day to Coby’s birthday.  Aaron was also up bright and early and Kelly and I had taken the day off again.  Aaron practically ran downstairs as he gets very excited when it is his birthday and Christmas!!  His main present this year was a digital motorised Hot Wheels track, which he was very happy with as well!!  He had some other bits as well, including the mandatory Lego set! haha We then went for a cycle up to the field as he wanted to ride his bike around for a bit before coming home and Kelly putting some party food on to cook for dinner.  We ate it outside again although the weather wasn’t as nice as it was for Coby’s, but it was still warm but quite windy!  He played with his presents for the day and we had more party food for tea.  Like with Coby, people popped over during the day to give him a card and present and we had to socially distance out the front.  He had a nice day but was a little sad that he couldn’t have had a proper party with his friends but he will have to have one next year, even though we said 9 years old is the last year to have a party.

Kelly’s Birthday

It was also Kelly’s 36th birthday after the easing of lockdown had started and typically it was on a Saturday!  We didn’t do too much during the day, just relaxed at home and watched a movie in the evening with some goodies as we were still very wary of going anywhere and not everything was open anyway, such as public toilets, etc.  Most places were still shut so it would have been a walk on the beach or up on Dartmoor that would have been our options, but we decided against it still, as there may have been lots of people doing the same.  We did get a takeaway for tea though – our first one for months!!

P.E. With Joe

The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, who has been doing fitness stuff for years, suddenly came into the spotlight when he started doing a live PE session each weekday morning at 9am, for the duration of lockdown.  It was an amazing idea and now the entire country (and World) love him!  It was basically a child friendly HIIT session for 20-30 mins each day where he also had a bit of fun and asked questions on various topics and mixed the sessions up with roulette wheels and dice to determine which exercises would be done when.  It was really good.  He also put together some PE With Joe T-Shirts whereby all donations would go straight to the NHS to help staff who were basically working 24 hours, trying to save people’s lives who had been infected with Covid.  Needless to say, we all got a T-Shirt although they were out of stock for several weeks and our only arrived towards the very end of lockdown.  He made absolutely loads of money, which was great!!  The boys did several of the exercises and it ended up being something to put on at 9am every week day, before they started their home schooling.  They had great enthusiasm to begin with but then it waned a little to the point where Aaron would rather get on with his actual schoolwork to get it done and finish early!  Ben and Coby still kept up with it on most days though.

BBQs

I think we ended up having a BBQ every week of lockdown as the weather was mostly glorious.  It was hot and sunny for weeks which gave us no option but to have a BBQ! haha

What a strange few months it was!!!

I was very, very luck in that I won 2 tickets to see Everton vs Man Utd in the Premier League at Goodison Park at the start of March by entering a competition with Barclays!!  I was very excited!! So, we decided to make a weekend of it in Liverpool.  It was decided that Ben was going to go to the game with me whilst Kelly took Aaron and Coby to the cinema, so they were all very excited then as well!! heehee

We booked a Premier Inn for the Saturday and Sunday night just off the main road into Liverpool and I took the Monday off and Kelly rang the boys in poorly, as the game kicked off at lunchtime on the Sunday.  

We drove up on the Saturday morning as Ben’s Plymouth Kolts match had been rained off (like most of them this year!) which was a blessing in disguise really!! We made good time and went to the Everton Superstore at Goodison before going to the hotel, to have a look around.  We weren’t meant to be buying much but we (myself, Ben, Aaron and Coby) ended up spending a bit too much money and came away with the current home shirt, joggers, other kits and other bits such as Everton Top Trumps!! Well, we aren’t there very often and a lot of it was selling off as it was coming to the end of the season!!  We then headed to the hotel, unpacked and went to the Beefeater next door for tea.  We had basically booked the Beefeater beforehand and we were glad we did as it was full!  The food was nice as well!

We went there again in the morning for breakfast, which was nice, and ate plenty to keep us going through the day.  We then relaxed in our hotel room until it was time for Kelly to drop me and Ben to Goodison to watch the game.  We got there a fair amount of time before kick off so we could take in the atmosphere and have a good look around the pre-match entertainment which included a band playing, people in costumes such as Darth Vader and The Predator, and we also had a look around the Everton memorabilia in the Church, which was very interesting.   We did buy a couple more things as well!! tut tut!  It was a nice day as well, sunny and dry, which was ideal, though it was quite cold!  

When it was time to find our seats, we walked around to the Main Stand (as the tickets were for there) and eventually found our way to our seats, which were situated towards the back of the middle section of the stand.  They weren’t brilliant seats but we weren’t complaining at all!!  We were so excited! We took plenty of photos whilst we were there and settled in for the game and tried to pick out as many people as possible, including Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Sigurdsson, Tom Davies, Bernard, etc, etc.  All the best players played, even Andre Gomes, who had just come back from a horrific ankle dislocation break, so that was a bonus!

As for the game itself, well, VAR robbed us of a perfect ending unfortunately.  We were very gutted at the end and the 1-1 draw felt like a defeat!  Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in the first few minutes when David De Gea kicked the ball out and it hit DCL and rebounded into the net.  Ben and I were jumping up and down ecstatically, and the stand was literally rocking!!  Unfortunately, half way through the half, Bruno Fernandes scored when Jordan Pickford should really have saved it.  It stayed like that right up until the end of the game when controversy struck.  There were a couple of attempts on goal, one by Sigurdsson and he ended up lying on the floor in front of the goal.  DCL then got the ball, went past a defender and struck a shot which deflected off another defender and wrong footed De Gea in goal and went in!!  Ben and I, and the rest of the home supporters went crazy excited, and the referee and linesman gave the goal only for VAR to interrupt things several minutes later.  The Everton players were all celebrating as it would have been a great win but then it was announced that VAR had ruled it out as they said Sigurdsson was in an offside position in front of De Gea which impeded his sight of the ball.  So the stadium went quiet for a moment before a load of boo’s rang out at full time, at which point Carlo Ancelotti went and confronted the referee and got sent off.  So it was a really bad end to the game even though it was a draw.  But, like I said above, it felt like a defeat to me and Ben, and the rest of the Evertonians.  Oh well – we had still had a great time at our first match at Goodison Park!!!

After the game, we made our way away from Goodison and waited for Kelly and the other two to pick us up.  We then got back and headed over to the Beefeater for tea again before heading back to the room and having a quiet evening.  Kelly, Aaron and Coby had gone to see the new Sonic The Hedgehog film and said that it was really good, so I was pleased that they had had a nice time as well.

The following morning, we had breakfast at the Beefeater again, before packing up and heading home.

We all had a nice weekend away, and were stuffed with all of the food that we had eaten, but it was just a shame that mine and Ben’s first trip to watch a Premier League game ended in VAR controversy, but it was great watching Everton live!! 🙂  We will definitely have to do it again, if we can get tickets!

On Saturday 7th March, myself, Ben, Aaron and Coby were all at Home Park to watch Plymouth Argyle vs Macclesfield Town.  It turned out to be the last match they played before the country was shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic, so we were lucky there!!

Ben actually went with Plymouth Kolts as it was the DJM League day at Argyle, so he was dropped off well before kick off as they organised a 5-a-side match at Goals and some party food beforehand.  Typically though, he went over on his ankle again during the kick around and had to sit out a fair portion of it.  They all then went inside and had some food before going over to Argyle to watch the game. 

In the meantime, I had been given 3 tickets from one of our Directors at work, so I took Aaron and Coby to watch.  We were sat in the Lyndhurst Stand and had a pretty good view and the boys seemed to love it, especially Aaron who doesn’t usually like football too much!  They were both cheering when Argyle scored all 3 of the goals to win 3-0.  Aaron seemed to take a shine to George Cooper who was playing on the left wing in the second half and scored 2 cracking goals where we were right down the eyeline so saw them both fly in.  He was even joining in his song ‘Oh Georgy Georgy etc etc’ haha.

After the game, we met up with Ben and Marcus (Kolts coach) to get Ben, only to find out that he had left his shin pads and boot bag in Lewis’ car at Goals, and to find out about his sore ankle which was causing him to limp.  He seemed OK though.

So, it was a good afternoon for all of us and Ben enjoyed his time with his team mates and I enjoyed my time with Aaron and Coby, and Argyle won easily which made it all the better!!

Bowling @ TenPin

Here is a picture of Aaron bowling last week during half term.  We went in the evening and did the Tenpin holiday deal where we get a game of bowling and a burger meal.  Aaron had great fun and enjoyed it a lot, especially the time spent in the arcade afterwards!!!