Easter

Ofsted inspection, Easter and a trip to Peppa Pig World

Wednesday 29th April 2015Friday 1st May 2015Baggie

Regular readers will no doubt have been on tenterhooks since the last write-up wondering about the results of Lucinda’s Ofsted inspection, and as I have attempted to sit down and commence this write-up on a number of occasions in the past month without success, there is a lot to catch up with so without further ado, I will get you up to speed with not only the inspection, but the Easter holidays as well.

With somewhat unfortunately timing the Ofsted inspection had been booked for the first day of the Easter holidays. To avoid Lucinda’s inspection as to whether she would be a fit childminder actually being sabotaged by children (and our own children!) I decided to take the children out of the house for the four hours (yes four hours!) of the inspection. A quick trip to annoy the people at work (although a lot of the people who would like to have met them were not in for one reason or another – therefore another trip is planned, over the summer) and then onto the perennial safe house that is Nanny and Granddad’s.

It was almost exactly four hours before we received the phonecall from Mommy to say that the inspection was over and we could head back to Staines Upon Thames. Lucinda said that it was tough. The inspector looked over the entire house and garden and wasn’t just concerned that the house was safe. Lucinda needed to have paperwork in place for all eventualities to be signed by the parents of the child that would be in her care. She needed to demonstrate that not only that the toys in the toy boxes were safe and child friendly but what aspects of learning that each toy could be used for, and demonstrate to the inspector. In fairness to the inspector, she knew that it was Lucinda’s first time, and could see that Lucinda knew what she was talking about even if she was a little flustered and didn’t elucidate clearly enough. The inspector wasn’t there to ‘catch her out’, and was somewhat forgiving if Lucinda didn’t get the full meaning of the question first time.

There were some recommendations but overall she passed and is now a registered childminder. She will not be rated until the next inspection which will be within six months of registration. Her registration came through not a day too early for he first paying job started that very week. For the privacy of the child that she is looking after and Lucinda’s professionalism this will not be discussed on this website.

Since the first day of the Easter holiday’s was taken up with Mommy’s inspection and to allow mommy to relieve some of the stress that had built up over the inspection we decided to take the baguettes to Peppa Pig World the next day as a treat. Both girls have been there before but this was Ezra’s first time. He is quite a fan of Peppa Pig (or Georgie Pig, as he prefers to call it). We arrived a little later than we wanted, heavy traffic on the M3 and a detour to pick up an Ebay purchase (a scooter for Amélie) added to the journey time.

Peppa Pig World is part of Paulton’s Park and although we have been a number of times we have not really explored the vast bulk of Paulton’s Park, just the Peppa Pig corner. However, the girls asked to go on the tea cup ride as we entered so the big reveal of Peppa Pig World was held back from Ezra. Ezra could not believe his eyes (and ears) as we entered Peppa Pig World. His eyes were wide open and he just kept exclaiming ‘Wow!‘ It is very impressive as an adult so it must be a magical sight to a two year old.

We arrived just before the meet and greet of Peppa and George. So we queued for a quick ride on Grandpa Pig miniature locomotive before joining the queue to meet Peppa and George. Without wishing to spoil anything for anyone but it isn’t the real Peppa and George but people dressed up in Peppa and George costumes. However, this means that Peppa and George are close to 2 metres tall, and when you are only 95cm that is quite scary. It would be like me meeting a 12 foot high bipedal pig! And so it was too much for our little son who nestled himself into Lucinda’s shoulder trying to avoid eye contact with the porcine giants. The girls loved it though and ran to hug them.

We had decided before we went that since Amélie was going to have a scooter, and we were awaiting a scooter for Éowyn (also from Ebay) that Ezra would have a present from the on-site shop. We had hoped that we work ask for a replica of George’s favourite toy: Mr Dinosaur, but we were going to let him choose. We were hoping to do this towards the end of the day but since he was so traumatised by Peppa and George we decided that we would distract him with the Peppa Pig Shop.

Still clinging on to mommy we entered the shop. As soon as he saw the toys he struggled to get down and ran straight for the Mr Dinosaur display. He picked one up and said ‘Mine!’ A decision had been made. He clung onto the toy for dear life even while he looked at all the other toys in the shop. He pointed to a lot that he liked but never put Mr Dinosaur down. Indeed it had to be scanned with him still holding onto it. In fact, he didn’t let go of it all day. every ride he went on (and we went on most of them) he held onto Mr Dinosaur. You don’t mind buying them a toy when they love it that much.

The girls were very happy around Peppa Pig world because both of them are now of a height which means they can go on the rides by themselves. They felt all grown up. Indeed Éowyn is not that far off being able to go on the more adult rides on her own, however she is more of a wimp than Amélie who has definitely got more of the adventurous spirit when it comes to roller coasters.

The remainder of that week saw me at work. Football does not stop for Bank Holidays! On the rare occasion that it does (there was no football on Good Friday) there is always another job that springs forward. This time it was the Eurovision Song Concert. Well not the Eurovision Song Concert (that is next month, and yes we are providing the facilities for the BBC for this prestigious event), moreover the 60th Anniversary Concert, that brought together past winners in a one-off special event. It is definitely a change from sport!

The weekend remained sport-filled but Easter Monday saw me at home for a change. Cousin Maddie had asked if we would like to go to Hounslow Urban farm for a day out. The girls love being with their cousins so we said that we would take them. We looked up reviews of Hounslow Urban farm and it said rough and ready but an excellent day out. Maddie’s older sister Lauren asked if she could come too and so with all seven seats of the S-Max filled we headed around the airport.

The reviews were spot on, but the rough and readiness is part of its charm. We arrived just in time for a meet and greet of the animals. We sat on straw bales as the staff brought round a variety of animals. The usual rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, lambs. Then more unusual animals such as ferrets, tortoises, stick insects. Followed by snakes, water dragons and lizards. I enjoyed it as much as the kids.

From there it was on to the pig racing, where you got to feed the pigs afterwards. A spot of lunch and a bounce on the bouncy castle before the highlight of the day: the owl display.

As with everything at Hounslow Urban farm it was somewhat rough and ready and extremely hands on. We were introduced a Barn Owl and a European Eagle Owl. They asked the children to stand in the middle of the farmyard and asked them to duck when the owl flew towards them. Obviously everyone ducked. Then with their backs to the owl they asked them to do it again and none of the children ducked. This was to demonstrate the fact that the owl is a silent killer and its feathers have evolved in such a way as to eliminate any sound. The children didn’t duck because they could not hear the owl swooping in behind them.

They then asked the kids to lie on the floor on their backs. They then got the owl to fly low over them so they got a mouse-eye view of an owl gliding across the ground. A fantastic experience for the girls but the best was yet to come. Despite the fact that the European Eagle Owl is one of the largest species of owl with a wingspan of around 6 feet (1.8m), they were so confident in the bird’s docility that they let the girls hold it. Amélie was first in line and quite confidently wore the glove, only the weight of the bird was causing her discomfit. Seeing her little sister hold the owl, Éowyn too donned the glove. After seeing her two little cousins bravely hold the devourer of rodents Maddie held the bird but Lauren (who had been caught by the wingtips of the owl during the display) decided that she wasn’t getting any closer to that particular strigine beast.

I really enjoyed the day at Hounslow Urban farm. I like the fact that it is rough and ready and I think the kids like that too. I like the fact that you can touch and handle the animals (under strict supervision of course). But what I liked most about it was the fact that behind the fun and the dirt and closeness was the theme of education. Education about the animals and the respect that we should have for the animals. I would thoroughly recommend a day out there, but don’t wear your best clothes and take some handy hand-sanitizer.

Enjoy the photos below and the hundred or so new ones on the Flickr pages.

Peace and Love

Baggie

Teacups

The balloon ride

I like drivin’ in my car

Grandpa Pig’s train

Look at the view!

Daddy, Amélie and Ezra

Can I have this?

Mr Dinosaur!

Unsure about being in a helicopter

In a helicopter

The view from Miss Rabbit’s Helicopter Ride

Mommy and Amélie

Mr Dinosaur ride

Daddy and Ezra on Mr Dinosaur

Hard to Port

Éowyn on Mr Dinosaur

Mommy and Ezra on Mr Dinosaur

Ahoy!

Just reading!

Rock Star!

Last day!

New Neighbours?

Ezra and his farm

You said to wear a hat!

Down the slide!

What’s that?

Dinner!

Amélie and an owl

Determined to win

Éowyn and an owl

Easter eggs and a trip to the Seaside

Thursday 15th May 2014Baggie

Once again I feel that I have to apologise for the lack of updates through 2014. At this point last year you would have had 17 updates, this is only this year’s 8^th! In fairness, last year was busier than usual mainly due to the birth of Ezra but you have to admit I am normally more prolific than I have been this year. I have always said that this is a window into our world and it is more important for life to get in the way of this website than vice versa. There have been plenty of jobs to do around the house and garden, it has been the traditional end of the season business and there has been something that has been overhanging the family (or not overhanging the family – a little joke that you may understand when you read about it) over the last six weeks but more about that in the next update. Ah well, there are the excuses on with the update!

So what has been going on the in the Bagnall household?

Easter has come and gone since the last update and with it school holidays. Yes, Easter marks the end of the second term and a fortnight break from school for both of the girls. This came at an opportune time for Éowyn as she was beginning to get a little tired and was in need of the break. It is hard enough as an adult doing a full week of work, week after week without a break (I know I have not used an of this year’s annual leave as yet!), it must be ten times as hard for a five year old. Unfortunately we could not take full advantage of this hiatus from school because Easter is also a traditionally busy time in the football calendar and thus it is difficult for me to take time off work. (It has to be said that the busy points in my work calendar: Christmas, Easter and August unfortunately coincide with the term breaks and thus school holidays, that’s what you get for being the Head of Operations of the World’s largest independent sports production companies!).

A week off work was therefore out of the question but a tip to the seaside was still in order. The weather hadn’t truly warmed up but nevertheless this has not stopped the Bagnalls in the past and it certainly isn’t going to stop the Bagnalls in the future. So the S-Max was packed, a DVD loaded to keep the girls entertained and we headed to one of Lucinda’s favourite places, in probably her favourite county: Hengistbury Head in Dorset.

We arrived in good time and parked the car at Mudeford Key before heading across Christchurch harbor on the ferry to Hengistbury Head. Our arrival coincided with a heavy downpour and unfortunately we were on the open top ferry when it hit. As you can see from the photo below there was nothing we could do except grin and bear it.

It was no surprise then that we didn’t head straight to the beach, but rather the cover of the beach café and lunch. The rain clouds blew away while we were indoors and we headed to the beach; if not in bright sunshine at least it was more ‘cloudy with occasional breaks for the sun to peak through’.

The girls love playing on the beach (as I am sure that most kids do) and they do not feel the cold as much as adults. While Lucinda and I barely took our coats off they wanted to strip off (thankfully managed to dissuade them from that!) and paddle in the sea. Despite Daddy trying to convince them that the sea would be cold (it has barely had chance to warm up since the winter) it wasn’t until they had run in that they believed their Daddy.

Despite the weather, fun was had by all and three very tired kids reluctantly were convinced to return to the car for the journey home. Éowyn and Amélie both protested the return but both (indeed Ezra too) were asleep before we made it to the M27 and the journey home.

The Easter holidays also saw a visit from Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz. Nanny Fran’s birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year (a day that both Lucinda and I were working!) and so she came down on Good Friday to stay for the weekend. Her visit wasn’t just to get her present and deliver Easter Eggs.; it was to finally take advantage of last year’s present a ride over London in a helicopter. This was, if memory serves me correctly, the third time that she had tried to take to the skies. The previous two times the weather had put pay to the experience. This time however it was successful and she had a great time viewing the sites of our Capital City from an unusual vantage point.

Before we let her take to the skies though both she and Auntie Liz had to be roped into an Easter egg hunt. You may recall that a couple of years ago Lucinda and I organized an Easter Egg Hunt around Lucinda’s parents’ garden for our friends children, unfortunately without having weekends off and not quite the time to prepare that remains the first and only time (so far) that we have managed to organize such a big event, however that doesn’t mean that Éowyn, Amélie and Ezra should miss out. Therefore, while we were talking to Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz, Lucinda nipped outside and hid Easter Eggs around the garden for the girls to find.

With Éowyn paired up with Nanny Fran and Amélie with Auntie Liz they headed into the garden armed with Easter baskets. All but one of the eggs were found (I am sure the local foxes will have found it by now) and divided evenly – you have to be fair! These were then added to their, not too unreasonable, hoard of eggs and other assorted chocolates. I would like to know whose idea it was to associate Easter with chocolate; I don’t recall Jesus telling us all to eat chocolate in memory of his resurrection.

As you may have guessed from the above, the Easter term break also saw Lucinda’s return to work. Not great timing on our part but she has had nearly 14 months off and you can’t put off the inevitable. As avid readers and friends will know this return was going to be more emotional than her previous returns as the end of April saw Air Canada cease ground control of their flights at Heathrow Airport, responsibilities now undertaken by ASIG a general handling company. Therefore Lucinda returned for her half a dozen or so last shifts for Air Canada.

Change is sometimes good and sometimes beneficial. Time will tell if this change is good, but it has certainly been beneficial with Air Canada offering V.S.P. (redundancy for want of a better phrase – which Lucinda took) and ASIG requiring a large influx of staff trained in Air Canada procedures (which Lucinda obviously is – if a little rusty). Thus redundancy was taken and a new job at ASIG applied for and got. A little Brucie Bonus that doesn’t happen very often in life and thus one that should certainly be taken advantage of when the opportunity arises. It neatly concludes where 2013 left off, with new house, car, child etc.

So with Lucinda returning to work and with me in full time employment we are in need of an alternative child care facility when grandparents are in need of a rest and when we can’t manage between ourselves through holidays and shift swaps. This makes it difficult to arrange child care. Most nurseries and child minders want a set number of hours a week and set days, then they can plan other children around the slots in availability that they have. This is understandable but very frustrating from our point of view. However, a friend of ours uses a child minder literally around the corner from us, someone who only wants a few extra days a month. An ideal scenario.

After meeting her we took Ezra around for a one hour taster session to see how he got on. He was fine, thoroughly enjoyed himself and so we were happy to book some dates with her.

Lucinda’s shifts tend to be earlies. This can be anything from a 0500 start! This means a few things. Lucinda needs to go to bed not long after the kids in order to get a decent amount of sleep. Lucinda has to get up about 0345 (at the latest) in order to get ready and out for work. This means that I have to rise a little earlier in order to get myself and three kids washes, dressed and fed. Bags packed and out the door ready for three different drop-off points before heading to do a full day’s shift at work. Indeed I feel like I have done a full day’s shift before I get there. It doesn’t help with the little inter-sibling squabbling that tends to happen and when your youngest starts to cry and try and hold on to you when you drop him off at the child minders for the first time. By all accounts he soon settled down and was fine for the rest of the day (and in that respect was no different to Éowyn or Amélie on their first days too!) but when your enduring image is of your little one in floods of tears reaching out to you it doesn’t set the day up very well.

Ezra is still tending on the lazy side (Lucinda would disagree). He crawls at lightning speed and is on his feet whenever there is something to support him but he still is not interested in walking. If you encourage him to take a few steps he immediately sits down. Legs are for standing so that your arms can stretch to reach whatever it is that you are not allowed to have. They are also useful for climbing. He has been able to climb the stairs for a while but now his little mind has worked out that if there is something shiny out of reach that climbing may just help. He started off by pushing his walker or Lego table towards the settee and using it as a ladder to climb higher. Now anything that gives him a little extra lift is fair game. Indeed Lucinda left him in his high chair momentarily to find upon her return Ezra sitting on the kitchen table. He had seen the biscuit barrel on the table and thought to himself while there is no one around I’ll have a couple of those. For that is exactly how Lucinda found him, sitting crossed legged on the table with two malted milk biscuits!

That is a bit of an epic but there a few more stories I would like to regale so pop by in the next few days for another snippet (or two) on our world. In the meantime enjoy some of the photos of the past month or so.

Love and Peace

Baggie

We would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Olivia Lynn Eccles to the world,the first child of my 2nd cousin Charlotte and her husband Paul. Congratulations to them both.

Sleeping’s for wimps!

Thursday 11th April 2013Baggie

Welcome to the first post-paternity leave update. Yes, I am back in the adult word with responsibilities to my employers as well as to the family. So as many of you are taking time off at Easter to be with your families I am somewhat contradictorily returning from time off work. Perhaps Ezra has sensed this change in circumstances for he, too has decided to change his circumstances. For the first two weeks of his life he was unbelievable as a baby. He would feed and then sleep. Wake when he was hungry, maybe cry a little and then feed and go back to sleep. Obviously there would be the regular effect of all that food and he certainly doesn’t like his nappy changed with his bits all on show. However apart from that he was an almost ideal baby. Then it changed.

For a week he didn’t sleep. He fed, he cried and he pooped and that was all he did for nearly a week. I think if it wasn’t for Nanny Fran Lucinda definitely, and me, probably, would have been in a complete state since I was trying to get back in the working mentality and Lucinda would have had both girls and Ezra to look after on mere snatches of sleep. Not conducive to keep yourself compos mentis or to be in charge of small children.

So what caused Ezra’s sleepless nights? It is hard to track down. He wasn’t ill. It went on a little too long to be something that Lucinda had eaten. We are putting it down to a development leap, he was possibly becoming more aware of his surroundings and so his brain was trying to process all this new information. According to the Wonder Weeks website this was a little too early but if we ignore this little oversight then it seems to tie in quite well. One thought that did pass through our heads was whether he was developing Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerance like his sister. Therefore we decided that we would take him to get him weighed at the next clinic to ensure he was putting on weight at the expecting rate.

While we were struggling with Ezra alone where were Éowyn and Amélie? There were 120 miles north-west in West Bromwich at Nanny Fran’s. Yes, Nanny Fran had offered to look after the girls for the first week of the Easter holidays and we jumped at the offer. This would tie in with my first week back at work and so, the theory went, Lucinda could get into a routine with Ezra alone before trying to get into a routine with all three children. As you can guess that idea didn’t quite go to plan but nevertheless was very convenient.

We drove up to West Bromwich in the S-Max, its first proper outing and the first time that we could use the in-car DVD in anger. Ezra was very good in the car (as were Éowyn and Amélie) and we soon arrived at Nanny Fran’s. As I have mentioned before Éowyn and Amélie love to go to Nanny Fran’s and this time was no different, they were very excited for nearly a week before the journey. I am sure that Ezra will be no different when he grows up. Indeed he realised that he was somewhere different and you could see him looking around and trying to make some sense of the new place. As a baby’s eyesight isn’t that great it is possible that it is new smells that he is reacting to but whatever it was he definitely knew he was somewhere different and he was quite happy to be there.

This was Ezra’s first trip to West Bromwich, in fairness it was his first proper journey of any note. News of his trip spread and even though we were only there for a few hours he had a number of visitors who came over to see him. He also made a visit to his Great-Grandma. It was the day after her 90th birthday and so there was a double reason to visit. Great-Grandma managed to have an extended cuddle with her first Great-Grandson and Ezra was very good just lying there in her arms relaxed in his oldest relative’s embrace.

After a meal and a couple more visitors Lucinda and I then headed back home leaving our oldest children with Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz. So while Lucinda was struggling with no sleep and I was struggling with very little sleep and getting back into work, what did Éowyn and Amélie get up to?

If you ask Éowyn then the answer would be nothing. It is always nothing as I have mentioned before, but the photos paint a different story. Nanny Fran and Auntie Liz spoilt them rotten (as a Nan and Auntie should). They went to a couple of soft play areas, the West Midlands Safari Park and Auntie Liz took Éowyn to the cinema to see her first 3D film (Finding Nemo).

They were both very well behaved (well they were at Nanny Fran’s so they had no choice!) and came back with some goodies and had but one question: When could they go back to Nanny Frans.

So before I leave you (with a good selection of photos) is Ezra Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerant? While I took Éowyn to the cinema to see her second film of the week (The Croods – in 2D, none of that 3D nonsense for me) Lucinda went to find out. Well if his current weight gain is anything to go by, no! Tuesday morning is the Baby Weigh-in clinic and so Lucinda (and Amélie) took Ezra for the first time. His last weigh-in was two weeks ago and so we were quite interested to find out how much he had put on. We were not prepared for the answer. The little bruiser now weighs 4.97kg (10lb 15oz). He has put on over two pounds (just short of a kilogram) in less than 4 weeks and now sits on the 91st centile. That’s my boy!

Please enjoy the photos below and don’t forget the photos on Flickr

Peace and love

Baggie