Our local library celebrated its centenary today, there was a fete and a fancy dress competition, my wife loves making costumes and the girls all love dressing up so it’s no surprise that they all entered. Stephie as Catherine Linton, Jenny as Heidi, Tessa as Mary Poppins and Anna as...
I am not feeling too well at the moment so in search of an easy afternoon I took Jenny, Tessa and Anna to see A Cinderella Story. Its sad to say but I found it quite watchable which must mean I am becoming much less demanding, and much more accepting of the fact that kids really enjoy these simple romantic comedies, and I just need to sit back and accept the fact and enjoy it as best I can. In this case the story would have worked slightly better for me if poor “cinderella” had not had a mobile phone, car, personal computer, friends, and a whole host of loving adults around her to compensate for a nagging step mum and annoying sisters.
The girls on top of a moutain, (at maximum zoom):
Debbie and I took the girls to Scotland for the first time. We only went for a few days so we did not stray too far into the highlands but based ourselves near to Ayr. I love walking and the walk from the site to Ayr along the beach, we also did quite a bit of easy climbing and visiting of National Trust sites, but one of the highlights was a visit to New Lanark, and finding out about the amazing contributions of its owner Robert Owen to social reform. Robert Owen: Owen of New Lanark and New Harmony is definately on my reading list.
I came across this site in the OneNote forum, it has some nice concise tips for studying and note taking
http://www.westshore.edu/webs/ltc/study_skills_resources.htm
of particular note is the Cornell Note Taking Method, which although not fancy does provide some insight into the fact that learning does not stop when you finish taking notes!
I had promised Jenny a “1 to 1” trip to the cinema which is always really difficult to organise as the other kids always want to come along as well. So I chose a movie that I thought would only appeal to Jen, “13 going on 30”, I was not really looking forward to the film, but was really looking forward to the time with Jen. As it turned out we both really enjoyed the film, and not for different reasons. The film synopsis follows:
Jennifer Garner (Daredevil, TV’s “Alias”) and Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) star in this hilarious flash-forward romance about a pre-teen girl who goes from geek to glamorous. With the help of some magic wishing dust, 13 year-old Jenna Rink (Garner) becomes 30 and gorgeous overnight, with everything she ever wanted, except for her best friend Matt (Ruffalo). Now, this grown woman must create some magic of her own to help the little girl inside find the true love she left behind.
Whilist its true that there was a romantic theme to the film, I think what Jen and I liked most was that the girl re-invented the woman, sort of as follows:…
Spy Kids.
On our walk today we were playing Spy’s. The kids used my Pocket PC to get instructions from Spy Central, and the camera to spot losts kids, (who glowed green), and other enermy spys, (who glowed red). There were several model planes flying on the beach and they ‘radioed’ the owners to get them to take out the spies and rescure the kids. They spent the rest of the day playing spys up in the twins bedroom, we are just off to go scooting on the promenade on their ‘hover scooters’.
Tessa, Anna, Jenny and me went on a long walk today. The weather was glorious so we trekked to Fairhaven Lake, the kids had an Ice Cream, (I am on a dairy free diet), and then we walked back along the beach. I bought a very cheap low resolution camera...
Stephie was at drama school last week. They did Richard III. I thought it might be a bit dry, (not being big Shakespeare fan), especially after Blood Brothers the week before, but it was great. The adaptation was loosely based around James Bond and Gold Finger. They used the movie...
If you ever visit Blackpool ….
We live 5 miles down the road from Blackpool, which is not one of my favourite places. However on a quiet day its not a bad location for shopping, its got a great beach and the promendae walk is excellent. On a busy day, (never go on a Bank Holiday!), its full of drunken louts and is best avoided. That said it has some great entertainment my favoutrite of which are the yearly shows, and the best of these is eclipse, a combination of Music, Dance and Acrobatic circus. It really is worth a visit.
Here is the marketting buzz:
Eclipse is the first and only circus musical created in the UK. This unique show is pure theatre. From booking your seats your journey through the elements and a fantasy of our world class performers will leave you truly amazed as they perform elegant and death-defying feats before your very eyes.
With the ultimate in choreography we dare you to see the whole show in one visit. All the special effects in this show have been created especially for you – so you will have a dream come true and a memory forever.
ECLIPSE – …
Jenny, my second eldest, just completed her first week at Drama Summer School. She was part of a great performance of Blood Brothers one of my favourite musicals. Jenny had quite a few small parts and did very well although she did get rather over-heated as she was wearing two outfits for the whole performance. The cast overall were great and there is some real talent in the little group.
We get to see probably 4 performances a year by this youth group and we are really getting to know the actors quite well now, its a special plus looking forward to seeing the best of them develop and trying to spot some of the talent that we are going to enjoy in the years to come. I was also lucky enough to get to see the individual talent show last Thursday, some of the group shows were very funny, and one of the singers was amazing, she certainly had no problems with projection!
Stephie my eldest is at the school this week, doing the rather more academic Richard III, which she is enjoying, she has spent 3 weeks researching it on the web and creating a project folder …