Day 214 learning to stand

Youngest daughter seems to be developing very fast these days, it was only the other week that she started to get mobile and started dragging herself through the house. Needless to say the last few weeks has seen us chasing her around the house and not able to leave her along for a minute as she drags herself here there and everywhere.

However she is now a lot stronger in her legs and is now able to stand with the help from myself or mummy....

Day 212 Back to the drawing board

A few weeks ago I posted about eldests artistic ability and how she had not only got her paintings in a show along side adults work, but had won a prize and even sold her art, we later found out that there were 2 people who were interested buying her work and it got quite competitive.

Well she was back to creating more masterpieces today and here's some pictures of her doing so....

She calls these bees and fly, quite something for a 4 year old

Day 211 Gymnastics

In the spirit of the Olympics, which we've been watching lots of on the TV we were watching the Gymnastics earlier this morning. I'm keen for my children to participate in any sport they are interested in, competitively if they wish if just for fun as long as they see the value of sport. I was talking to eldest daughter asking her if that was something she'd like to do. Her reply was, "I'm not sure", as the Italian gymnast somersaulted on the vault I asked her, "do you think you could do that", she replied, "no". I told her that impossible is nothing and that she could do anything she set her mind to, feeling very fatherly after saying that, she then decided to do her own gymnastic routine....

10.0 I say for the plucky 4 year old from Yorkshire. Olympic gold in 12 years time!

she starts by getting her balance for her routine.....

before gracefully balancing on one foot whilst extending the other leg out....

regaining her balance she pirouettes....

and performs a standing jump extending both her arms and pointing her toes to form a near perfect T shape...

upon landing she ones again finds her balance....

whilst returning back to he earlier pose of standing on one leg and extending the other backwards....

and finishes her routine perfectly with the New Zealand Hakka Pose.

 10.0 I say for the plucky 4 year old from Yorkshire. Olympic gold in 12 years time!

Day 210 Whitby

Today saw a nice sunny day so we decided in a trip to Whitby.

We walked along the pier and saw the view of the shoreline which was very nice in the warmth of the sun....

Of course no trip to the seaside would be complete without having some fish and chips, and you fest enjoyed her first taste of a chip...

Day 209 The ceremony

Today is of course the start of the Olympics. Greeted with much joy and I can't wait for the ensuing weeks of first class sport. Therefore the ceremony is about to begin, I'm sitting down with family, a takeaway and a beer along with Ted. We've even let eldest daughter stay up late to watch the ceremony, and the lightning of the torch that we saw a few weeks ago. Unfortunately she feel asleep 20 minutes before the torch was lit.

Anyway c'mon Team GB !!!!

Day 208 Superbird

Is it a plane? Is it a human, no wait its super bird with his amazing green cape !!!!

Day 207 security

This made me laugh this morning so I thought I'd share it as my pic of the day. All joking aside I'm really looking forward to the Olympics, I think it's great for this country and hopefully we can do well. All these troubles will hopefully be well forgotten come Friday and we will host a games to be proud of. I just wish I could've been in London for them....

Day 206 peek a boo

The postman tried to deliver this today but it couldn't fit through the letter box....

Day 205 scary

Wow how scary does she look with all her food around her mouth and intense smile!!!

Day 204 Sunshine Crops

What a lovely sunny day it has been, unfortunately most of it had passed by with me being indoors decorating the old house we are to vacate tomorrow, however the scenery on the drive home is nice....

Day 203 Cuddles

It's bed time and for some of us that means cuddling up to our favourite teddy...

Day 202 Super

Ooooo Super noodles for tea, I know it's not strictly healthy but I ain't had these since I was in Uni !

Day 201 Caught in the Act

She's so cute but in this picture she looks like she's been caught up to no good....

Day 200 Full of smiles

Wow day 200 of the year, where has the time gone. Soon someone will be 8 months old and now she's acting like a little person. She has likes and dislikes and often shows her emotions, she's a very smiley baby as todays picture perfectly shows....

Day 198 The Marshmallow Tower

Today was my first day at my new job. There were quite a few of us starting today with it being a brand new build, so we had a day of getting to know you's and ice breakers, something I've done quite a bit of in past roles running these events.

It was quite a good day, and was quite fun, i can see it being a good place to work. However, one activity that we did today I'd never done before and that was building a tower out of marshmallows and cocktail sticks, here's my teams effort....

Day 199 a bit of quiet

This is eldest daughter, she's in the garden shed. When I asked what she was doing she replied, "I'm having a bit of quiet" and then wiped her nose, classy lady.

Day 197 Cookie

Inspired by the latest great song, Cookie Monsters, share it baby, today's tea break was taken with Cookies !!!!

Day 196 painty

Ahhhh painting ! It's one on those things I hate to think needs doing but actually once u start going it I quite enjoy, music playing and a cuppa it's quite nice. Until the clean up operation begins....

Day 195 muscle gain

Wow Winnie the Pooh has been training hard....

Day 194 Packing

We've been busy packing all out belongings into boxes etc the last few days ready to put everything in to storage for our move. However, one of the boxes might not be allowed to be stored, I'm not sure they'll keep this for a month....

Day 193 awesomeness

A hard day packing and weeding in the garden, now it's time to sit down and relax and laugh at some great entertainment....

Day 192 Art

Eldest daughter entered an art show last week, along with her mother and her nanny. Not only did her pieces get past the judges and into the show but she also won a highly commended prize, and she has even sold both paintings! Wow I might have to start selling more of her other work....

Day 191 Howdy Partners

YeeeeeeeHawwwwww !

Day 190 taking on the world and eating it

Youngest daughter literally had the whole world in her hands....

And she likes to eat it....

Day 189 goodbye

Today was my last shift at my current employer. After 3 years I left VA UK, I've had a great time working there, met so many fantastic people and been given so much training to develop me to be the best I can be. I'm very thankful for this and I am sad to go, but I know it's best for me and the family.

Luckily I didn't end up in the pool, partly because I can't swim so as soon as I went in they'd have to go in after me. The end was marked with a staff night out where not only current staff I worked with but staff from other clubs came along, it was great and I'm gonna miss them, Thanks for the memories and endless banter....

Day 188 Angry Birds

Ahhhh oh no the angry birds are attacking our little piggy !!!!!

Day 187 School Taster

Eldest daughter has been going to school on a Thursday morning the past few weeks. In September she starts full time, so this has been gently easing her in, needless to say though she loves it and can't wait for September, so much so that each time we take her her first question is, "is it September today?" we allowed her today to go in her uniform, so quiet rightly this is today's pic....

Day 186 independence day

Today is of course the 4th July which is independence day in America. So to all my American friends today is dedicated to you....

Day 185 mini eggs

Lunch time, anyone for these mini eggs on bread?

Day 184 Quiet Place

We're currently in the process of moving house and so there are boxes and mess everywhere, couple this with 2 small children and this mess quadruples. However eldest child had managed to use this to her advantage and find a nice peaceful quiet spot to do her essential reading....

Day 183 Halfway Point

Today marks the halfway point of the year and so a halfway point to he challenge, so I've done a quick doodle, there's lots to get through the next 6 months and lots to look forward to...

A Musical Journey June - Live Music

So June has been and gone, The start to the British summer is upon us and it's the same old story, hopes of lazy summer days are washed away with terrential downpour, but nevertheless we still hope and still pray that one day, one summer we will bask in sunshine! Music is a great accompaniant to British summers, or at least they are to me, I often associate many of my summers with key songs, and as soon as these songs are heard my mind opens up the vault of memories it holds tied to them, I wrote about some of them here.

Anywho I am as ever getting distracted from my original post. This months Musical journey entry is a little different. If you read my blog you'll be aware that this past month I went to see 3 great gigs in the space of one week seeing more than 7 bands at these gigs. Each one was great and so instead of me talking about music I have listened to in my car, or on my radio this months post is about the 3 greats gigs I went and rocked to, so here goes....

#1 Blink 182-
Support Acts - Twin Atlantic / The All-American Rejects

I enjoyed both support bands, I'd never heard of Twin atlantic so hearing them heree has made me want to downlaod some of their songs to know them more, their songs were kind of in the vain of Blink 182 which I guess says why they are supproting them. All American Rejects,I'd never seen live before but quite like them. The lead singer is quite clearly crazy as he was all opver the place and kept fing and blinding which was quite funny and seeing him was entertainment in itself.

Blink 182 were on form and looked to be at their best. I've had the joy of seeing them two times previously, each time better than the last, but last nights show saw the band act more comedic as ever before, they looked like they were enjoying it, and so because of their apparent enjoyment, this fed off onto the crowd, who in turn enjoyed the night. As the band seemed even more enjoying themselves their music playing and singing grew more bold, guitar and drum solos louder and harder than ever before. To say the gig was good is an understatement.

For an encore the band decided that restricting themselves to the main stage wasn't good enough, Mark and Tom (the guitarists) took to a pre arranged centre stage, something that was just bigger than the garden patio I'm currently sat on. The played with their acoustic guitars telling stories of the 2 songs they were about sing about how they were wrote when they were teenagers in California. Of course this probably had happened at all the other shows they've recently played, in fact I know they had as my good friend Disco Dave had been to them and told me about them, but you get a sense that all the comedy moments in the show was pre routine, but it just happens on the spot.

Blink also announced in the evening that England was winning the football, and 5 minutes later announced that England had won to a cheer from the crowd, this would also be something Tom would refer back to to get a cheer if one of his jokes fell flat on it's face, but he does so brilliantly the crowd laugh at him anyway. Theres not many American bands I can think of who would have had the courtesy to do such a thing, but with Blink you sense that these shows meant a lot to them, they meant a lot to the crowd, after all many had probably done as I had and bought the tickets 2 years ago expecting the show last year only to have it rearranged to this year.

I ended the evening waiting for 40 minutes to see the band and the back gates, there was nothing pre arranged it was purely that's where Dave wanted to go, he had managed to go backstage last week in their London shows, so I thought might as well join him, we didn't see anyone and after 40 minutes I decided that I'd had enough of waiting, I'm still waiting to hear if he saw them today, but I wouldn't mind if I missed them, seeing them on top form like I did tonight was enough. They managed to get a healthy mix of old and new songs playing classics like carousel with new songs like after midnight. They also played their comic songs like Blew Job and Country song, much to the crowds delight.

My favourite Blink song has to be Dammit, a nice quick song that ends just under 3 minutes. Classic Blink and just a great song that gets you smilingg....

#2 The Red Hot Chilli Peppers-
Support Acts - Reverand and the Makers / The FutureHeads / The Wombats

All the bands were good and well recieved by the crowd. As I had predicted to my OH the futureheads would play hounds of love and divide the crowd to sing the chorus as they always do. The wombats were very lively and in all honesty looked like they could be a main stage headline act in their own right.The Chillis came on in their usual high tempo energy. The band did a lot of old songs mixed with the new and the set felt very well balanced enough for the crowd to appreciate and please all types of fans. There was also a lot of their famous jams inbetween songs, this not something I was too aware of not being a huge fan, I enjoy their singles but can't confess to knowing many album tracks, but nevertheless I was able to enjoy the show. OH had us dancing, she had me stood up grabbing hold of me to ensure if she tumbled I'd be taken down with her.

I'd have to say though that my favourite Chillis song, and so the song I decided to post on here is Dani California. I know a weird one to choose, but I have my reasons. This song I remember was released when I was at Uni sitting my third year and final exams, a time in my life I truely enjoyed, living in Liverpool, so due to that it makes it my favourite Chillis song.

#3 Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band-
Support Acts - None, cos thats how the Boss rolls!

We initially started quite close to the front enjoying the first few tracks, but had got separated from our group of friends. Usually at gigs I'm more far to just bopping around, listening to the music and moshing a little if need be, yet at Bruce I prefer a. It more space to dance (although I'm not a very good one, the fact I had a fair few beers probably helped aid this desire) with this in mind we soon went further back in the crowd. We had found our friends and enjoying the music.

The boss played a lot from his new album wrecking ball and then an encore of hits. His whole show lasting between 3 and a half and 4 hours. The weather may have not been the best, but it could have been a lot worse, it being overcast and for only 5 minutes actually raining. It didn't dampen any ones spirits as The band started belting out hits such as Born to Run, Dancing in the Dark and Glory days many people were singing and dancing, often with perfect strangers, but this doesn't matter as their is a certain cameradere present when seeing an act of this magnitude. Couple this with people hearing the Boss sing new songs live for us for the first time such as waitin' on a sunny day and Jack of all trades, the crowd took really well eager to hear each song thrown our way. There was no need for flashy light effects and the use of bad langauage or stage props, the Boss and E Street are old school and just need Guitars, drums and the crowd, they make the show, they tailor the show to the crowd, no 2 gigs are the same, the crowd knows that and th band know that they aim to give you a show you remembered and they certainly succeeded.

The highlight of the night was undoubtedly the tribute played to the late great Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist on Bruce's biggest hits. The Big man will never be replaced, and his presence on stage was duly noted. It's great that the E Street managed to keep it in the family and have his nephew take up sax duties, and I'm sure his uncle taught him how to be such a good saxophonist. The band played 10th Avenue Freeze out as one of the last songs, and the lyric hit, "When the big man joined the band" the music stopped and a montage of pictures of Clarence played on the screens, from years gone by, at this point the crown stood and clapped, this was the case for the next 2 minutes until the band restarted the song from that point. A touching and fitting tribute for the big man himself who is sorely missed, but a fitting tribute to his greatness as a truly fantastic sax player.

The gig was beyond words, its tough to describe how good it was, and that is why I have to finish my post now, I could keep going on about each song and how the crowd reacted or talk about the night in endless details, but it wouldn't do any of it justice. To simply say The Boss was electric, the E Street Band was on fire and the atmosphere was magnetic would be a few simple steps to describe it, but would still be nowhere near giving it justice.

My favourite Boss song for a final video to leave you with, WOW thats tough, theres too many great ones to choose. Therefore I will leave you just as the Boss did in Sunderland with Tenth Avenue Freeze out as a tribute to the Big man Clarence Clemons.....