The Buckingham Blog - Outings

Radio Visit

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:09:00 -0400

In Aberdeen, there are 2 local radio stations, the one we listen to is Original FM. No real reason other than I like the DJ's better, and think the music selection is more varied/less repetitive. In the daytime when we're in the house, I often have the radio on while playing with the kids, so they know all their names. For ages Kory has been asking questions about how radio works, if its real people talking and when a certain newsreader comes on he jumps around saying "It's Jenny!"

So a while ago I contacted Martin Ingram (who I speak to on Twitter) & arranged for us to go in for a visit when he was on air. Kory has been asking constantly since then and today was the day. He got to see the studio, had a tour, saw the equipment, meet Jenny and then even got to press some buttons to make an advert and a song go on, got a mention and to say hi on air. But most of all now he gets what radio is and how it gets to our living room!

You can listen to the bit of the show he was on here too.

To say he enjoyed himself is an understatement. He's been as high as a kite all day today. Big thanks to Original FM staff for being lovely while we were in, but most of all to Martin for having us in.

Julie.xx

Balmedie Beach

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 19:43:00 -0400

Today we went on a trip to Balmedie Beach with Maria, Davie, Daniel, Josh & Leanne, Jessica & Sophie. We spent a couple of hours at the park and had a picnic lunch there, then headed down to the beach and sand dunes. They all had fun playing in a huge hole, then progressed to paddling - getting soaked!! But we all had a brilliant day out and the rain even held off for us!

Of course it was the perfect chance to play with my camera on 6 moving targets! So some snapshots and some more arty and experimental!

Daniel auditioning for Baywatch!

Some total eejits in the sea - it was freezing!

And lastly is Jessica after throwing herself in the sear wasdripping from head to toe. Completely unfazed, she proceeded to jump into the big sand pit they were playing in making for a very wet soggy mess! To her credit though, she wasn't bothered. I know if Kory or Krystal did this they'd be whinging they are cold etc.

Brilliant day out. Exhausted kids!

Julie.xx

Cinema & Tour of Parks

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 19:17:00 -0400

We seem to be doing a round of parks and stuff this week. On Saturday James took the kids to Balmedie Beach while I got caught up with some ironing - lucky me, I live the high life! But in fairness I'm not mad on beaches so wasn't overly disappointed not to be going! But it looks like fun was had writing names in sand and playing in the spaceship park.

On Sunday we took the monkey's to the cinema to see Toy Story 3. £31 it cost, £31!!! Now I remember why we usually go on a Sunday morning for £1 each. That's a lot to all watch a film. And we took our own food so that didn't include that. It poured all day so it was a good plan despite it costing a fortune!

I had a hair appointment on Saturday afternoon, got about 3 inches cut off, but as usual after a holiday it's gone so blonde that the condition of it is really bad, so she wouldn't cut it into a bob that I wanted as it wouldn't sit right. So here is the result (kind of)

On Monday morning we had a guy round to fix Krystal's bedroom window and then we headed to Westburn Park with Leanne, Jessica & Sophie. They played, we watched. Going to the park is much easier nowadays without having to do the chasing!

Tuesday was an early morning too, I got my jab and then we heaed straight to Dizzy Rascals. It was heaving, busier than I've seen it in ages! But the kids had fun. By the time we left it had turned into a nice day, we were all sweating in the car, so we got changed before heading to Kory's boxing. Only we got halfway and the heavens opened, argh!

Today (Wednesday) again was an early morning. We spent the day with Andrea, Jamie & Charlie. As Andrea doesn't drive, I decided to join them on the bus which is always an adventure for Kory & Krystal.

We went to Duthie park and spent hours playing in the back park. We didn't even make it to the bottom one and by then it was 1.30pm. We walked round the winter gardens (which are lovely in summer - irony?) and then got back on a bus to Burger King. The kids ate food and then played in the play frame thingy.

By the time we got home at 4:30pm they were totally exhausted and just sat like zombies in front of the TV ha ha. Loving the holidays!

Julie.xx

Ice Cream, Fish & Singing Kettle

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:14:00 -0400

This is our first week of the holidays we've not spend travelling somewhere and it's been very nice. We've had some pyjama mornings, and seen some friends. Like on Monday we were allowed to be in pyjamas until lunchtime! Then we had to go shopping for some food. That was all we did, it was fun.

On Tuesday I had my friend Emily round to play. Normally it's Kory's friends who come round, so it was nice to have mine over. Mummy forgot to ask if it was ok to put a photo here, so I better not until we check. Afterwards Kory went to boxing, it's been ages since he was there.

Wednesday was chilled again in the morning and then Mummy took us into town in the afternoon to go to the new Baskin' Robbins ice cream shop. I chose a banana & strawberry one with sprinkles, Kory chose mango tango with mixed berry sauce and Mummy got raspberry sorbet with marshmallow sauce which made her tongue go blue. I want that one next time!

On Thursday morning we did some craft with paper plates, felt pens and some glitter. Kory showed me what to do, he found it in a book and copied it. Mummy just left us to it for the first time ever. I think she expected a big mess but we didn't make one.

When we got dressed we went to Burger King for lunch and a play, then to Jessica & Sophie's house as we'd not seen them for 4 weeks with all our travels!

And today was a treat day. First we met Daddy for lunch at Pizza Express and then he went back to work and we went to the theatre to see The Singing Kettle show. At first I was a bit scared to clap, but I saw Kory and all the other kids doing it and I started to join in and it was fun. We sang lots of songs and danced in our seats. We even got the DVD to watch it again.

We had to wait for Daddy to finish work again and went to the bookshop to look while we waited. Mummy kept telling us to get off the floor, but it was the best place to read.

I've really enjoyed my week and tomorrow is a Daddy Special morning so I'm looking forward to that too.

Love
Krystal
xxxxxxx

P.S. Here is Daddy and Mummy last week...

Another Trip!

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:56:00 -0400

We've been away again, this time to visit Auntie Laura, Gran, Grandpa, Owen, Tom and Jamie too. This time Daddy didn't come with us, he had to work after our other holiday. So on Tuesday, we packed the car and Mummy drove us to Auntie Laura's. We played there for a while, then Jamie went to work.

Baby Owen has changed a lot since we last saw him, he can sit up now and eats food and can even clap his hands. We had our dinner there too seeing as Gran was out, and it was a bit late by the time we went over there to sleep.

On Wednesday we saw Gran for a little while in the morning, then she went to work and we went to Ayr with Laura & Owen. We went for a nice lunch while we were there, and as it was heavy rain, managed to dry off a bit. We all went back to Grans for dinner afterwards then a play before bedtime.

On Thursday, Gran didn't have to go to work and she made me a fry-up for breakfast, my favourite. I got a sausage, a slice of bacon, blackpudding, a fried egg and a potato scone. Once I'd eaten all of that I had a yoghurt! They all called me a piggy!

We went over to Auntie Laura's once we were ready as Mummy, Laura and Gran were going to a shop full of dresses to choose one for the wedding. I'm glad I didn't have to go, shopping is bad enough, but only one shop?! No chance.

So instead Krystal and I played with Tom, Jamie and helped look after Owen. They were gone for HOURS - but when they did get back, we went out for dinner - to the hotel that the wedding will be at. It's very nice and the food was yummy. Thanks Gran & Tom. It was quite late by the time we got back so it was straight to bed.

On Friday morning we got up, dressed and drove to Glasgow to Grandpa's house. We were sad that Tricia was at work this time. Grandpa gave us some sweeties and then we went to the park near their house. It's caller Calderglen Park. Grandpa bought us some lunch which we ate outside as it was a lovely day. Then we went to the little zoo which had lots of small animals.

Grandpa gave us a penny each to throw into the wishing well. I made my wish quietly, but Krystal shouted "I wish I was a real princess" really loudly which made us all laugh. Not long after that, Krystal fell and bumped her head and got a big bruise. Here we are chatting to the Meerkats.....

Next we went to the adventure park to play for a while, but on the way, I fell. One minute I was running down a grass hill, and the next I slipped in wet mud and landed in a huge muddy puddle. I was soaking, it was a good thing it was a hot day.

Lastly we got ice cream and went for a nice walk in a forest area. We decided not to go to the waterfall as it was down a big steep hill. Getting back up with little legs would have been hard work (or even Grandpa's big legs!) We drove home in time for dinner, but had a lovely day out. Thanks Grandpa.

When we were back at Grans after dinner, we got a surprise just before bedtime. Daddy arrived at the door! He'd got on the bus down after his work to see us for the weekend. We'd missed him so that was good.

On Saturday morning Gran & Tom got all dressed up to go to Tom's daughters wedding. Don't they look posh?!

Once they had gone we got ready and went to Baby Owen's house again - it was a nice lazy chilled out day. We played football in the garden with my ball, had a BBQ and dodged the rain. We had a nap and ate lots of food and stayed up late again!

On Sunday morning we got up and packed to head home to Aberdeen. It was a long and boring drive but we got home just after lunchtime. Krystal and I enjoyed our time away, but we're also glad to be back to see our friends.

Love
Kory
xxxx

Graduation Day

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:17:00 -0400

Today was Kory's last day at nursery. They had a little ceremony for them all where they got certificates and a wee present. Kory had been a bit sad in the morning about it being his last day, saying he'd miss everyone. I thought he was going to cry, but he didn't. Neither did I for that matter....that is until he left and realised he'd not said bye to his teachers, ran back and launched himself into their arms for a cuddle. That was so sweet of him and it set them off!

As a treat I decided to take them out for lunch, and Leanne thought it was a good idea so they all came too. We went to Union Square and for mexican. 4 kids with 2 adults could have been a recipe for disaster but it was fine, they were all really well behaved.

Kory and Sophie are apparently getting married when they get bigger. And having a baby. Kory is wearing a kilt and Sophie a pretty dress. She'll do her best to make sure I get an invitation to the party. It's all planned! Not sure Kory has any say mind you!

We then went back to Leanne's house as it was a sunny day and ooops, a bottle of wine opened itself, ha ha! It was actually a really fun day, if a bit exhausting. Bring on the weekend!

Julie.xx

Dynamic Earth

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:26:00 -0400

On Friday before we went to Jenni's wedding we went to a place called Dynamic Earth. It was a huge science place that explains how plant earth got here, and how volcanoes work and glaciers and other good things like that. There were wee ride things that you go on to find out some stuff. I enjoyed it apart from the volcano bit, it was a bit scary!

When we were in the dinosaur bit, we got a nice surprise - Grandpa appeared! He came the rest of the way round with us and I think he enjoyed it too.

Krystal and I went outside at the end, and Mummy explained to us about the building behind us in this photo being where Scottish leaders all meet up to have big chats about how to run our country. It's a very funny looking place. Daddy said it cost a very lot of money too.

Kory
xxxx

P.S. Photo's Mummy took of the Forth Bridges on the way there and way home...

Photo Backlog

Tue, 18 May 2010 19:04:00 -0400

Here are a pile of photo's I've never got round to putting a post on about - but I like the photos and want them in the blog.

Dave Gorman - Comedian we went to see back in March (great night)

Kory & Jessica (who is younger than him!) having a kiss :)

Sports Relief Day before nursery and at the muffin shop!

Playing at "tents"

Christine and Katy at a meal out a while ago!

Julie.xx

Holiday Week

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:18:00 -0400

It's been school holidays for 2 weeks now, but they've kind of vanished without doing much. We had Coral and Chad to stay for a few days in the middle, over Easter (I'll do a separate blog about that) and they went home last Monday. James had the rest of the week off.

On Tuesday, I got my hair cut in the morning. I very nearly got a whole new style put in but chickened out before Jenni's wedding in May! Then we went into town do do some shopping and let Kory spend some of his birthday money and vouchers. I went for a sunbed at night which is the first since before my heart monitor was put in over a year ago. Now it's out I can go!

Kory & Krystal thought it was really funny to put on my pyjama trousers and t-shirt and run about like a 2 headed monster!

Things went downhill on Wednesday when we got up though. I had incredible pains in my tummy and was so weak I could barely move. As the day progressed James was wilting with pains too. Was a horrible day looking after the kids who were great at amusing themselves. They asked if they could have a sleepover together that night in the spare room, so they did!

James felt a bit better on Thursday so managed a walk with the kids to the woodland area near our house, Kory took his binoculars though not sure what he hoped to see!

On Friday we headed out to the ceramic experience, then B&Q then down by the river for a while. Saturday was a lovely day here in Aberdeen, so we decided to get on with some jobs that needed done in the garden. James oiled the table that looked a bit rough after the winter outside. I painted Krystal's clock (note to Coral, it worked, it looks fab!) James fitted a new retractable washing line, we tooks stabilisers off Kory's bike, we cleaned the patio and I started repotting my seedlings, but it was too windy, the poor things were all over the place so I gave up!

Today we got up and it was a lovely day. On a spur of the moment we decided to head to a castle to make use of our Trust memberships and have a wee picnic. loads of open space to let the kids loose too! They had great fun, eating outside, running, playing in the park, looking at plants and trees etc. Some photos.....

We came home about 4pm for a while, then again on the spur of the moment decided we'd had a bit of a washout week with being ill, and were going out for a last holiday meal. This time though instead of somewhere for kids (you know, crayons, soft play, kids menus etc) we'd attempt taking them to an adult restaurant. We went to our favourite indian that we've not gone to for a long time.

I can say honestly that the kids did us proud. They didn't carry on, jump about or anything. They ate poppadoms, their rice and chicken curry and nan bread. In fact they were so good, we went to Baskin' Robbins afterwards and got blue ice creams!

Back to nursery, work and the boring mundane routine tomorrow. How long till Summer holidays? Most people hate the holidays, I love them, and having the kids around and not being shouty Mummy getting out in the mornings.

Julie.xx

Park Fun

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:38:00 -0400

On Saturday it was sunny so we went to Dobbies and then on to Hazlehead Park. We took our scooters, but I didn't want to take mine out the car and decided to run instead. Kory scooted on his one.

First we went through all the trees and Kory used his camera to take some pictures.

Then we got to my favourite area in the park - the play bit. It was a bit muddy and dirty but we managed to have some fun too.

It was a bit cold so we went to explore the rest of the park for a while, before heading back to the car. It's nice to get to the park again, maybe spring will be here soon.

When we got home we had hot ribena to heat us up and Kory had a snuggle with Mummy on the couch reading one of Daddy's work books. I think he might turn into a geek too. Just as well me and Mummy are both girls.

Love
Krystal
xxxxxxx

P.S. When we grow up, we want to be.......trees!!

Ooopsie!

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:29:00 -0400

Yeah yeah it's been a while. I just didn't have much to say, so didn't bother. I can't remember what we've done other than what's in the photos. So here you go!

Trip to Duthie Park

We let Kory have our old camera one day last week, and Krystal got a camera for Christmas from Grandpa & Tricia, so in order to use them, we headed to the Winter Gardens as it was so cold yet we needed out the house. They had great fun taking pics.

A strange plant above a door that looked like a moose!

Me having a mess about with the sepia option on the camera

Krystal's First Bike Ride

Last Sunday was the first day there was nothing on the ground and nothing falling from the sky since Christmas. So James took the kids out on their bikes, Krystal for the first time. From what I gather it was an *interesting* outing ending in tears over cold hands!

Dressing Up

With all the being in the house recently, the kids have taken to dressing up loads. With talk of the upcoming swine flu jabs, the favourite is doctors and nurses where they inject one another!

Burns Supper

Today being Burns Day, I made the kids a burns Supper tonight. James and I are both on a diet so we had something else. Kory wanted to know if it could be Burns Day every week because he loved the haggis!

Other Stuff!

The face krystal pulls when she is angry! it does nothing but make me laugh!!

Photo's I took of the kids for part of a project, but I like them.

Julie.xx

Santa Express

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:35:00 -0400

After the temperature dropping to -8C last night, we got up to find the snow still there. No surprises there then! The surprise came when driving down to Brechin when the car thermometer was at -5.5C. Eeeek! While that's not unusual in Aberdeen, it's normally at night, not just after 10am!

Anyway, we were all frozen by the time we walked from the car to the train. But as usual I made everyone pose for some official blog photos (ha ha!) I even managed to be in one for a change to prove I do actually go on outings.

We found our seats and the journey began. Kory and Krystal were very excited when Santa entered the coach we were in. He seemed to take forever to get from the other end to where we were as well.

He was actually very authentic - naturally fat, and his beard/hair certainly couldn't be pulled off! Must have taken him ages to grow that lot. He might have washed his breakfast off his coat though!

He chatted to the kids for ages too.

His Mrs Clause was very funny. I think he was being specific about which gifts he wanted to give each child, and she was getting annoyed at him. I thought she was going to ram a croquet set up his bum at one point!!

The journey back seemed to take forever, once they had seen Santa, we all just wanted a heat, we couldn't feel our feet at all.

We came home and had some warm soup for lunch. Then Kory was desperate to go outside and have a snowball fight. Of course Krystal wanted to join in and then Coral was in on it too. I know i'll have plenty chances when snow falls on weekdays further into winter, so I stayed inside!

We had an early dinner, then James and Kory took Coral back to the airport. Aside from the sub-zero temperatures, it was a nice weekend, just a shame Chad couldn't join us. Which is the reason for quite this many photos today, so he can see what we did.

Julie.xx

P.S. This morning's sunrise over the snowy rooftops....

Gingerbread Snowmen & Cinema!

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:04:00 -0400

It's been a busy time and I can't remember everything we've done. One day last week we got to decorate some gingerbread snowmen with some icing. Krystal did hers all white and I used the blue icing for mine. We were allowed to eat them after dinner and they were very yummy.

I went to the usual boxing and nursery where we are learning lots of Christmas songs for our concert. I've been teaching Krystal the songs too and she really likes them.

We also started opening our advent calendars last week. Krystal had a Princess one and I had a Transformers one that Grandpa got us.

We also have a new wooden one this year that Mummy & Daddy got us. We take turns of opening it. Each door has a little wooden decoration in it which we hang on one of the hooks round the outside.

On Saturday we had tickets to go to the cinema to see Planet 51 - it was Krystal's first time going to the cinema, so we got some sweeties. While we waited to go in we found this board with Alvin and the Chipmunks on it. We love the first film, so can't wait to see the next one.

This is a photo of us in the cinema, it's a bit rubbish, because Mummy didn't want to put the flash on inside the cinema. I had really wanted to see the film, but I didn't like it much, it was a bit scary with the soldiers and the one eyed aliens. Krystal liked it though. She's a girl and that makes her tough!

Then on Sunday we went to Union Square to look in the new Marks & Spencers. It was huge and Mummy loved all the house stuff. We walked past the new cinema in there too and look what we found, big models of the Chipmunks! Lots better than the cardboard ones.

And here are a few of Mummy's photo's that we sometimes stop to get!

Love
Kory
xxxx

Christmas Weekend

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:03:00 -0400

On Friday when I went with Mummy to collect Kory from nursery, he had a friend with him. His name is Jim and he's nearly the same size as me! He has a friend called Rosie who was going home for the weekend with one of the girls from nursery. Jim was going to join us in the things we were doing at the weekend.

Our Saturday was spent playing games mostly. I went shopping with Mummy while Kory and Daddy went to Maria's house to fix their computer.

At night time Mummy went out to a ladies night. I can't wait to be big enough to go to one of them.

On Sunday we went into town to see the Santa parade and to see his reindeers. We wore our Christmas hairbands with Santa's and Snowmen on them. I really liked the man dressed up as a reindeer too, but Mummy and Daddy thought it was strange.

After the parade, we went to get Daddy some new shoes and then for some lunch. It was yummy! We then bumped into Matthew and his family, went to the car to get warmer jackets and then went back to Union Street to wait for the Christmas lights to go on. We had some glo sticks and sweeties and it was fun.

We watched the parade and dance to the music and saw Santa again. We had a really nice day. And I think Jim had fun too!

Today was an extra day off and we spent it doing fun things. Well me and Kory did, while Mummy did cleaning and stuff. Then we all went out after lunch and then the best bit was making cake. Banana cake. And it was really yummy!

Love
Krystal
xxxxxxx

Fireworks

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:39:00 -0400

Last Thursday was Guy Fawkes night - so we headed down to Aberdeen beach early in the day. I parked at Kory's boxing and he went to his class. Then James came to meet us and we headed to Pizza Hut to get something to eat. The kids loved it; colouring in their hats, stuffing themselves full of pizza and macaroni cheese and then of course they had space for the all you can eat ice cream!

We managed to kill enough time there that we only had time to walk back to the car, get the sparklers then find a spot to use them before the fireworks started. No standing around in the cold like 2 years ago and no almost missing them like last year! This was the first time we've let the kids have sparklers and they were a hit!

While we were doing them, a guy with a big huge camera came over and asked if he could take a photo of us for the local paper. It appeared on Friday and you can see it on their website (and here's the photo)

I'd also picked up cheap Glo-sticks for them, and they absolutely loved them. Saved buying £5 bits of nonsense they sell at these events. They were dancing with them the whole way through and had people round about laughing as they looked like a couple of ravers!

The fireworks themselves were much better this year than in previous years. They were put to music which made them more interesting than lots of "oooh" and "aaah" noises.

By the time we got home it was pretty late, Kory and Krystal were exhausted too but a fun time was had by us all.

We've not been up to an awful lot else. Christmas shopping at the weekend, and just the usual weekday stuff with the kids. Not very exciting!

Julie.xx

Krystal posing and having her hair spiked at bathtime!