Still wrestling....

Natural History Museum

After watching Sam do some really funky dancing at the ward 70's party, Liam was so impressed with his moves, he said Sam could pick a treat day out! You have to encourage talent!

We've got the Merlin passes from our Tesco points this year - free entry to Alton Towers, Chessington, Legoland, Sealife Centres, London Dungeons, etc,etc,etc. so obviously Sam chose to go to the Natural History Museum which is free anyway! But it was his treat, so we jumped on the train!

I have to say, he made a great choice! Although we've been before, there's so much to explore its like visiting a new museum everytime.

Last time we went to the NHM, we missed the room with the blue whale (imagine missing a blue whale?!) so this time we headed straight for the animals.

The blue whale kept a beady eye on Megan...

The other unmissable bit was the dinosaurs...although thats always the part with the longest queue.

...we spent a few hours at the museum and then decided to take advantage of our Merlin card so we headed over to the London Aquarium, via Big Ben.

Not knowing London all that well, we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the Aquarium, only to find that it was right next to the London Eye - both are on our Merlin Card list so we had a wander round the aquarium (no photos - the fish are flash shy) then hopped on the Eye - our first time.

A lovely relaxing 40 minutes with lots to see.

It was a jam-packed day - we seemed to fit so much in.

On the train on the way back, Megan still had a bit of energy left ...

...don't know where she gets her gurning skills from...

Harriet's here

We made a flying visit to visit Nanny Pat, 'cause Auntie Harriet was visiting from Canada.Always time for a few quick photos!

No Particular Reason Party

She called it a "no particular reason party", but as I (well we) took Leanne crabbing and caught nearly a hundred crabs, Lorraine's feeling the pressure to maintain her title as "World's Best Auntie"!

I think she should have retitled it a "Trying to Outdo Ruth and Liam Party"! If only she would realise that she'll always win on the party front!

So Lorraine invited us over to have a party for no reason - can you believe she'd want to do a pass the parcel etc when there's no need? I just don't get that! I can make the simplest birthday party hard work so I don't understand why someone would have have one for no reason!?

But I think all our girls take after Lorraine, 'cause it doesn't take much to get them in the mood for a party!

They're also quite good at posing. You take a picture of 3...

...and another pops along......and another pops along!They're so good at posing 'cause they've got mums who can't take enugh photos for their blogs! We're a little obsessed!

So what do you do at a no particular reason party? A lot of this...

...a bit of this (only Vicky of course - the rest of us couldn't manage it!)...

...and you finish with a torchlit, pitch black play in the park.I think Lorraine is actually the best auntie in the world!

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

After Delores volunteered me to teach a RS/PH family history lesson in her ward, she smoothed things over after I'd done it by inviting us over for a delicious roast dinner! What a feast!

I wish I'd taken an "after" picture to go with this "before" picture 'cause there wasn't a scrap left on our platesat the end!

I love Sunday afternoons. They kids played with Grandmas Lego and keyrings, and coloured and lounged, while Liam slept on Richards bed watching his tv, and Delores and I lounged and chatted...all after eating a delicious feast!

A perfect Sunday...except for the teaching a lesson!

Return trip

Leanne came for a sleep over, so we took her to harass the West Mersea crabs again! We knew she'd enjoy it and she did. She even got bold enough to hold a crab!
And our harrassing didn't end with crabs this time...Leah caught a GIANT fish...I know! She takes after her dad!

Legoland

What a dilemma - we'd set aside a day to go on our first trip to Legoland, but when we woke up, it was pouring with rain.

Now if we'd had to pay, there would have been no way, but with our Tesco Merlin pass, its free so we decided to shun the weather forecasters, and pack up and go anyway!

And the closer we got to Windsor, then heavier the rain got! I'd looked on the website and found the indoor things, so when we arrived and it was pouring down as much as it possibly could be, we headed for the lego starwars building bit.

It was a bit like being in Sam's bedroom!

And there was a daily competition to build the best starwars ship. We took it very seriously.

Some more than others...

We submitted 3 entries:In fairness, Leah should win 'cause she built hers by herself, where as me and Liam took over Megan's and Sam's. Its very difficult not to build when there's a table full of Lego in front of you! Unfortunately, we're still waiting for the phonecall to tell us we've won...sob.

Ultimately, there's only so long grownups can play with Lego, so we decided to brave the rain and go explore...but not before Sam had a photo with a...bounty hunter...

...this is a specific bounty hunter Sam informed us, being obsessed with Lego starwars as he is, but I've forgotten its name...!

The rain had eased a bit so of course we headed for the rides, and the first one we came to was the rapids boat ride...and we got soaked?! I don't know why we did that - its like you can't help yourself - we were drawn to the wet rides like it was a boiling hot summers day. Except it wasn't - it was cold and wet!

We went a few dry rides, then just couldn't resist going on the scarey water slide, and getting soaked to the bottom in the boat! And there was no getting dry after that!

After this scarey ride, we went for something a bit more tame...funny how you lose all street cred when you're a dad!The best ride to watch was the kids driving school. 4 year old Leah was great at working the break and accelerator and steering wheel......and Megan did great too...

...whereas Sam didn't get the hang of it! He spent the whole time like this:

He cried in the curb for ten minutes! The helpers kept rescuing him, and then as soon as there was another corner to turn, he crashed! I'm now commiting to never teach Sam to drive! I think it'll be a nightmare - it'll have to be Liam's job...in Liam's car!

We loved Legoland - there was only one ride Leah couldn't go on (although being the scaredy cat that she is, there were a few that she chose not to go on) and despite the weather, we loved it.

On the way out, Liam found a new friend...How exciting for a family of Harry Potter fans!