Fathers' Day

Hi

Fathers' Day started with breakfast in bed and presents for Allen. I've added a photo of him and the children and their favourite present - a chocolate super dad shirt! They are enjoying sharing it with Allen as I type this. We then went off to meet friends for a brunch. Unfortunately I drove to the wrong restaurant, after a few phone calls we worked out where we were meant to be and got to Gangelt, in Germany, an hour late! We were all in good spirits though and the brunch was great. A bargain too. It included bucks fizz so I was happy. All very continental but fun. The rest of the day was taken up with playing the Wii, a new dance work out game - funny to watch, going on the trampoline - between the rain, Allen going out for a run and me cooking a roast tea. So all in all a very relaxing Fathers' Day. Movie time now. School finishes at the end of the week for the summer. We're all looking forward to the break. I've been teaching year 6 for a week so that has been quite easy.

Rachael.

Hoensbroek Castle

Hi

The day after Amsterdam was Pentecost so NATO and school were off. A local castle was holding a Medieval weekend so we went there about 1pm. It was a good time to go as people were starting to leave, meaning the children could have a go on lots of the activities without queuing. Jacob's favourite thing was the sword fighting. They put on lots of displays so he was very happy watching those. Abi went on a pony ride dressed as a princess. They both did some medieval painting, with good results. I have included a variety of photos from the afternoon. Next year we'll make sure we go for the whole day and take a picnic, we can cycle to it so it'll make a great day out. It's also included in our musuem card so we'll be visiting it again!

Rachael.

Amsterdam

Hi

Last weekend we went on the train to Amsterdam. They do cheap rail tickets here a couple of times a year so Allen and I paid 15 Euros a ticket for a return trip. Children are 2.50 return anywhere in The Netherlands. The train system here is very efficient, it took just over 2 hours and both trains we got were on time and double decker ones. I wanted to put a photo on from the train but Allen said his nose looked too big in it!

We went straight to the Science Museum called Nemo. It's shaped as a large ship. We ended up buying a museum card that gets us into about 50 museums around The Netherlands for free. It's for a year and I'm hoping it will encourage us to go to a few more! Nemo is about a 10 min walk from the main train station. I've included a photo of the bubble area, one of their favourite parts, although they enjoyed all of it. We only managed to do 2 out of the 4 floors so will go back again. We then went in search for a boat ride. We kept missing the boats and walked miles! I've put in a photo of them on one of the bridges during our walk around. We had also wanted to explore one of the main parks but ran out of time.

Next time we go we are going to stay the night as the boat tour would take most of the day let alone the other musuems and parks we could visit. Once school starts again after the summer we will look for a day off during term to go again. We all enjoyed the day out and were all shattered on the ride home!

Rachael.

A family visit.

Hi

Just had Grandma Holwell, Auntie Katharine, Matthew and Amy over visiting for 3 nights 2 days. It worked out well as it was their half term and then Jacob and Abi just had Thursday and Friday off school.

They arrived Wednesday evening so we waited and ate with them. Amy slept in with Abi and Matthew was in with Jacob. Mum was on the sofa bed down stairs, she's been in the caravan now for 2 months so it was a treat sleeping indoors and on a sofa bed! She did say it was very quiet without the birds and Dad's snoring!

Thursday we went to Bokrijk park, in Belguim. I've included a photo of them on the cars, there's also horses to ride, which the girls did and lots of climbing and play equipment too. We took a picnic and spent the day there. When we got back we walked up to the ice cream shop, there's a photo of us there.

Friday morning we walked into the village as they all wanted chocolates from our excellent chocolate shop and, after lunch, we went to Gangelt Wildlife park in Germany. Everyone enjoyed it. I've added a photo of them feeding the deer and one of them at the play area. On the way home we had another stop at the ice cream shop and then it was home for a BBQ. We had excellent weather while they were here and everyone had fun. Shame they had to go early on Saturday!

Rachael.

Sports Afternoon

Hi

Jacob and Abi took part in their first sports afternoon at Afnorth. I was lucky as they were both at the same time. They were put in teams next to each other and close to where I was sitting so I could cheer them on and they could hear and see me easily. It had to be held in doors as it was raining - the first rain we've had in ages. It didn't matter as they had a great time. Their favourite race was bouncing a ball along like basketball. I've included a variety of photos from the afternoon. My favourite part was the tug of war at the end. Abi was on the winning side due to the fact that her class are quite heavy where as Jacob's team didn't win any pulls due to the fact that his class is full of small people!

Rachael.

Abi's Play - Hansel and Gretel Eat Right.

Hi

It has been a busy week at school. Abi did a musical version of Hansel and Gretel. They have been doing healthy eating this term so it had a twist about eating right. The three classes took a chunk each. Abi's class did the middle section. She was the narrator and a very good one at that. They had microphones so every word was heard although Abi didn't need it with her big voice! Allen and I got the giggles at one point as one of the girls was right in front of the microphone having a lovely sing completely out of tune. It was the first thing I've been to since they started school that I heard every word. I've included a photo of Abi before it started and then one of the whole group. So this happened in the morning and int he afternoon it was Sports Day - next post.

Rachael.