YoungMan & Robonanny

[robonanny]

YoungMan and his mate, double Rugby World Cup winner, Ben Franks...

[robonanny]

I took my car for a service on Saturday... YoungMan was most amused by the coffee machine and the race car "model". We are both now settled into our new routine - work is going well for me; the baby is contented and easily amused. We have yet to come to an understanding about eating, but we'll get there - she's so good about everything else, I'm not concerned. As for YoungMan, I'm delighted with him. High School is a big step up anyway, but to be managing getting himself to school, back home and to his activities by himself, is a new (and fairly unwelcome!) responsibility - and he's smashing it. When he has come up against an obstacle, he's solved the problem himself - that solution might lie in realising he must ask for help, but that's what he has done where appropriate. I am a very proud mother just now... sufficiently so that I have agreed to something I would never have contemplated a couple of months ago: on Wednesday, we are meeting the Headhunter for dinner. Foggy has a meeting, and I will not finish work soon enough, but we have agreed YoungMan is capable of getting the train into town himself and meeting his godfather at the terminus. He has always had a good sense of direction and I tested it on Saturday - we'd left the car at the dealership and set off for the pub to watch the All Blacks annihilate the Springboks (annihilation is exactly the right word, they were held scoreless). We were half an hour's drive from home in an unfamiliar town, and I used google maps to find the pub a twenty minute walk away. YoungMan confidently navigated us back to the car dealership after the match. He knew exactly where he was going, and didn't falter once. I don't know if this is a heritable trait but he has displayed it since he was far too young for me to have taught him the skill... it's something my mother has always been good at, and I'm fairly switched on with directions too. I have every confidence that YoungMan will meet his godfather as planned, and by the time I arrive for dinner after work, my son will be playing on the Headhunter's iPad, having attempted - but failed - to ruin his appetite on juice and crisps in the meantime.

[robonanny]

I forgot to post these last week - we went to Warwick Castle on Monday (the Bank Holiday). YoungMan and Mum both loved it. The top photo is in Warwick itself... we wandered around town, with the intention to get an ice cream but got diverted so had to buy some at Tesco when we got home to make up for the disappointment!

[robonanny]

It was sunny yesterday but not exactly hot - a high of about 20. We spent the day at a local attraction with my work kids and mates of theirs. YoungMan's patience for the little guys is reasonable but not endless so he tucked up in a corner after a while and took a break with his phone. When we decided later to have an ice cream, funnily enough YoungMan's self-imposed solitude came to an abrupt end!

[robonanny]

New mouth guard for rugby. £80 of plastic fantastic - which brings to mind ITGirl's mate's line about brains being irreplaceable (justifying a hugely expensive motorcycle helmet) so it's worth what you pay to protect them. YoungMan's delighted with how comfortably it fits in his mouth, and even more pleased to have the cast they used to create it. The underside of the guard even has his name in it so if (heaven forbid!) he loses it, we may get it back!

[robonanny]

I was teasing a little bit yesterday - it's not like you could see all the history of Cambridge with YoungMan sitting on a post outside the railway station. We really did go sightseeing... proper tourists with a punt on the Cam, past the Bridge of Sighs.

[robonanny]

Sightseeing in Cambridge. Turns out YoungMan was one of 'em!

[robonanny]

Today Mum and I headed to Teignmouth to rejoin Foggy's family at the beach. After a quick trip around the town centre, we went over to Shaldon for lunch where Mum posed in the boat seat. We'd planned a trip to Compton Castle prior to Mum joining us but she's always up for a visit to a castle so a good afternoon was had by all - even poor YoungMan, dressed up in Tudor clothes to amuse his mother.

[robonanny]

Dinosaur mini golf... I won! Shhhh, don't tell YoungMan - he wasn't very happy about me coming from behind on the final hole.

[robonanny]

Beach day.  Water rather refreshing!

[robonanny]

Foggy booked a tennis court this morning...  it’s the first time YoungMan has played in ages and initially it did rather show.  They both got back into the swing of things and when it started raining,  I left them to it and bolted for the nice dry holiday let and the laptop.  I suspect my knitting will come out this afternoon if the rain persists.

[robonanny]

So the whanau are now in Queenstown... Today they went for a steamboat ride across Lake Wakatipu on TSS Earnslaw.

[robonanny]

Skytower visit...

[robonanny]

But is it as good as Harrods...?

[robonanny]

"Hurry up and take the photo so I can eat already!!"

[robonanny]

We had Eek and Elsie over for curry last night... the kids (and dog!) found the tv show Soapbox Racers good for a giggle this morning.

[robonanny]

Day 1 (weekends don't count!) of the summer holidays and the weather is a bit rubbish. We went and saw "Boss Baby" this morning (better than expected; all of us enjoyed it) and now YoungMan is indulging Work Mr 4 by playing the flowerpot game. It's a complete blast from the past, as YoungMan and JFK used to play it when they were of an age. It has to be said that Work Mr 4 lacks the killer competitive spirit that JFK exhibited - but that means games get finished without one of the parties storming off in a huff, so that's no bad thing.