A cool and random night out and good chance to have some time away from Gloucester and our two lovely boys!
If you ever get a chance to see the comedian Philberto, you have to go – one of the best stand ups I have ever seen. His impression of a Glaswegian was awesome.
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My lovely wife just had her birthday and it went really well. Her parents, grandparents, and aunt & uncle all came down for afternoon tea and it was good to see everyone.
Above image: real life
Bottom image: Pinterest version!
The cake turned out well and Claire’s Mum made the amazing top piece for the cake, which contrasted very well with the dark brown of the icing. I made the cake, with Claire helping by getting the tins ready and the boys helping to weigh out some ingredients.
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On Friday we went to the amazing Land of Lego, also known as Legoland!
This was an early birthday present for Jamie’s 5th birthday at the end of October, and we went with Claire’s parents. Claire’s Dad kindly drove us all over there and we got them their tickets – but not the lunch!!
So, i’ve been wanting to go to Legoland since I found out about it, so I was really looking forward to it (as were the little kids!). It took about 1.5 hours to get there and we got there a bit after 10, which is when it opens. We got actually into Legoland at about 11, but overall there weren’t huge numbers of people – but there was some kind of Inset Day for local schools which pushed up the numbers.
Everyone was really excited by it all and there were lots of cool introduction things before the main rides, like slides, playground equipment and large lego models to look at. Also a great view over the park from the entrance area, with a view of Windsor Castle and the big wheel.
We went to the model village first (Miniland), which was amazing. Lots of recreated countries, with landmarks from different places, like the Houses of Parliament, or the space shuttle launch area. They had the Angel of the North, complete with Newcastle fans at the base and Jamie liked the little camp site. The boys were just staring at this for ages. We could easily have spent a couple of hours there. It was all very neat and tidy, with miniature plants and hidden things.
We went on the JCB diggers, cars, self-drive boats, merry-go-round (carousel), remote control trucks, submarine ride, safari ride and the large playground area. Jamie also loved the water park area (Waterworks), where there were water cannons.
The lunch was also great – glad I wasn’t paying for this bit! At one point, the screen on the till read £41.00!! Then there was a discount taken off for a Merlin Pass which we didn’t even have. Claire’s Dad nearly had a heart attack!
We didn’t even have time for the Kingdom of the Pharaohs, Knights’ Kingdom or Land of the Vikings! You could easily get 2 full days out of the park and we’re certainly going back there, probably with a stay in a local hotel.
Overall a very good day out and I was impressed with the quality and variety in there. It only cost us £30 for 4 adults and 2 kids (with Claire’s amazing voucher collecting), which was a really good deal.
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Jamie’s Grandma gave him a great kite for his birthday in October, but we only just got it out today.
Can’t wait for an opportunity to try it out!
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The boys and I spent the whole day before Claire’s birthday making a big gingerbread biscuit and also a proper chocolate cake.
It all turned out well but I can’t believe how long it took! I used the new food mixture and it worked a treat. The only problem was the large baking tray, which was just a bit too big, which meant the mixture for each layer was thin and fell apart a bit! The 2nd one came out better though and when iced, it all looked good.
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Jac is now 2 years old!
He had a great birthday and we had various family come around for the day.
There were a few incidents between Jac and Jamie, relating to a Duplo Lego digger which his Grandma gave him, but hey who am I trying to kid, i’m 31 and I like the look of it! The following day things had settled down a lot but Jamie got very hot and bothered over it. Jac seemed far less bothered, but it’s the first Jac birthday where he’s been given presents which Jamie is also into. Unlike at Christmas where they both get presents, this was all about Jac. It’s also unfortunate timing as Jamie had been really getting into Duplo and Lego for the few weeks before the day!
Anyway, it was a good day and i’m glad things can now settle down a bit!
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Well, Claire did another brilliant job with the birthday cake!
Jac loved it and tractors are his thing at the moment. I’ve signed myself up to do the next cake, which will be Jamie’s 5th birthday, so i’m going to have to start thinking about it now!
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Jamie is now 4 and we’ve survived the bumper weekend of birthday/family fun!
So, we had Claire’s parents with us on his birthday (29th) and Claire made an amazing birthday cake for him! 6 layers of sponge, with a green butter icing in the middle and a thin jam layer between each layer. Everyone thought it was awesome and Jamie loved it.
We had already been to Thomas Land at Drayton Manner Park so there was no kids party, just family for the weekend. My Mum and sister + partner came down from London on the Saturday and we went to the cathedral to check out the Crucible exhibition. We then went to the park and had lots of fun there.
So, Jamie got some cool presents, including the Disney/Pixar Cars DVD, which he’s been watching on Utube in 10 minute sections + a Mac trailer (which is from the film). He’s been waiting for that for ages! My Mum got him a big box of Lego and he’s got into that a lot recently. My sister and Edward got him a board game and a cool metal boat, which runs on wax and heat and propels itself through the water! He had a watch from Claire’s parents as well which he loves wearing. It’s got a green light which he likes to use in the dark.
So, it was a long but fun weekend and Jamie loved having his family around him + all the new toys!
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On Sunday, we had Jamie’s 3rd B-day party. All went very well and I think he had a good time.
The cake turned out really well and i’ve never seen a cake like it! The multi-coloured zebra cake!
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Yay – it’s Jamie’s birthday today. He woke up at some god-awful hour (actually after Jac!) and Claire had already blown up some balloons and wrapped a present for him. He’s been after a book called ‘tip tip, dig dig’ and he seemed to really like it. I think we’re going to do most of the things on Sunday, but we did also open cards etc.
I also went into town to pickup the hired baking tins (13 x 9″) and various coloured icing. The tins are only £2 each for 2 days and seem very sturdy. He wants a stripy, rectangualr cake (not sure where he’s got that idea) so now just have to buy another 6 eggs and we’re away. Oh, also party hats! And wrapping paper! And sweets…eeek!
Right, I need a strong cup ‘O tea!
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