Birthday at the Goose

We had the West Bridgford July babies 2nd Birthday Party at the Goose on Sunday. Cas had a great time running around with his mates, and then they sat down for their lunch and ice cream.

I made the cake - another 'triumph' . . just don't look too closely at the dodgy icing!

Bongo Bash

Last weekend we went to the annual Bongo Bash in Stourport on Severn. Firstly we were amazed that the van got us there in one piece, after all the problems we have had with it. However got us there it did - and it was great to see the hundreds of more reliable Bongo's there too! The campsite was great as it has a little petting zoo, with goats and chickens and was a short stroll down the river to a massive children's play area and arcade thing. Cas went on the trampolines and on some of the baby rides - like the safari train!

The weather was super hot so we enjoyed sitting out in the sun. We had a hog roast - Cas stuffed his fat face! We missed the most of the band though cos it wasn't our thing . .and the fresh air and pork feast had tired us out so we ended up have a little lie down with Cas in the bed, and before we knew it had slept through the firework display!

Joe and the kids joined us on a very hot Sunday and enjoyed a BBQ with us.

The Fence!

Our friend and garden/ landscape genius James, has fitted a lovely fence and 2 gates for the front of the house. It Cas proofs the front garden which means Cas can play out without me constantly having to fetch him back from half way up the drive! Mo can still escape though!

City Pulse

Over the bank holiday Nottingham City Council put on a load of free music shows at venues throughout the City. Mum came down for the weekend and we took Cas along to some of the shows. On Sunday night we went to see the Joe Loss Orchestra, who are the longest performing band in the UK - 80 years! Anyway they played a load of old classics from the 1940's to the present day. It was really good! And Cas loved it and was entertaining lots of the people sitting in the Market Square with his dancing.

On Monday we saw the Fab4 Beatles tribute act, who I also thought were dead good fun. It had cooled abit on the Monday though and so we were constantly taking our coats on or off depending on wether the sun was behind the clouds or not!

Spring Sprang!

When we got back from Chicago, the garden had gone mad with all the mild wet weather! I am especially pleased with my Wisteria. This is the first year it has flowered following my hardcore pruning last year after taking the advice of Alan Titchmarch. It looks lovely and hopefully if I prune it right again this year, it will be even better next year!

Local Festivals

We had a lovely weekend at 2 local festivals. On Saturday we went to the Lady Bay community arts festival. It was based at several venues in Lady Bay, West Bridgford. One of which was the primary school, however most were at peoples houses.

Lady Bay, like Sherwood, seems to have a higher than average concentration of artists. For the weekend festival, many open their houses and workshops and you are welcome to see the displays, talk to the artists and of course you can buy what you like. In addition, in past years, other residents open their houses and host artists from outside, some from outside Notts.

There were lots of activities for children and Cas and I did an African drumming work shop! Repeat after me 'Africa is hot and dry' . .it was good fun!

The main fun was gawking in peoples houses and gardens! We also had some hardcore locally brewed Elderflower wine which nearly killed us because the weather was insanely hot.

On the Sunday we went to the Green Festival in the Arbo. It was a bit rubbish in terms of it being the usual stalls selling renewable energy, second hand clothes and socio-political magazines! However we saw lots of people we knew and hadn't seen for quite a while, so it was really nice and Cas enjoyed playing in the sunshine with the children of our friends!

Chicago

We have just got back from a fantastic holiday in America, where we had a mini holiday in Chicago and travelled to Fort Wayne to see our friends PC and Michelle and their boys Tyler and Noah. These pictures from the trip are in no particular order!

PC plays Ice Hockey professionally for the Komet . . we went to see him and the team practice and Tyler and Cas showed them how to improve their technique! Well not so much Cas who was a bit scared at first of all the big guys in padding . . but after they left the ice . then he was much happier.

Picture here is PC and Tyler.

This is Michelle and Noah and Chucky Cheese! We had a great time at Chucky Cheese's. It is like an arcade for kids with a restaurant that serves pizza and salad. Some of the arcade games were a bit too grown up for Cas . .but he really enjoyed the carosel.

We went to the Children's Zoo in Fort Wayne on a lovely sunny day.

Cas really enjoyed brushing the goats!

We also fed Catfish . .which are the funniest looking fish ever! There was so many of them it looked like the pond was bubbling!

That should have been a warning to the animals more than to Cas!

At the Chicago museum there was a great interactive childrens area. This is me on video with a Curtis Mayfield soundtrack and Cas admiring me!

Indiana has a number of Amish communities. They ride in their buggies and wear the blue and black uniform. They shun modernisation and lead simple lifes focused on manual work and humility. Most speak Swiss German from the 1600's . . .It is a facinating lifestyle. Anyway we bought some Amish sweets, petted an Amish horse and left them to it!

Back at the Chicago museum in a large hotdog! The food we ate in America was largely fantastic. The quality of the meat is so much better than here. I had some amazing pork chops in Chicago and a great Steak at Eddie Merlots in Fort Wayne. But the portion sizes are huge! Not that I was complaining! Nor was Cas who ate huge meals and loved it - probably because of all the added sugar!

Talking of sugar . . we went to the original Hershey store in Chicago . . it was nice . .but the chocolate if you can call it that . . is horrible.

Outside the Chicago art museum, which was really good, there is a great big teardrop/ coffee bean sculpture by Anish Kapoor who also did the sky mirror outside the Playhouse in Nottingham. At the art museum there was lots of good American art . . we saw the Hopper 'Night Hawks' picture which was really compelling. You could look at it for hours. Also there was a good Photography exhibition by William Egglestone - apparently a key figure of the last half-century, Eggleston is often credited for singlehandedly ushering in the era of colour art photography.

Me in front of the Kapoor sculpture.

One of Eggleston's pictures.

We went to the Chicago children's museum which had lots of great interactive things for kids of all ages. Cas had a fantastic time. Here he was working for the fire serice sorting out the great Chicago fire.

Chicago is famous for the 'El' - the elevated train that loops downtown . .we took a trip of course . . it was much like any other train trip!

Anyway we had a fantastic trip. Michelle and PC were so generous with us and Cas had such a great time playing with Tyler and kissing Noah. Cas's speech improved a bit and Tyler probably got a bit naughtier . . following Cas's example! Anyway we are not at all glad to be home!