The Mart 2012

On Valentine's Day every year the UK's showmen open for the first funfair of the season.  It's called The Mart and it's been happening for the last 800 years.

Of course the original trading aspect is long since forgotten and it's "just" a great funfair these days.  Here we are posing on the Crazy Frog ride before it started - Dad seems to have grown a pair of finger-shaped horns!

Poor old Sam had to stand still for ages while Dad tried to get just the right amount of blurry lights in the background, thanks Little Dude!

Everyone loves the dodgems, natch, and last summer Sam graduated to driving himself, no Dad in the car at all!  At The Mart that's not allowed so Sam steered while Dad spotted targets.  "Mercy is not a word" was Sam's battlecry, and wow, is he deadly behind the wheel.  His pre-driving nerves are showing in the picture.

One of our favourite rides is the Snowbob, a traditional "sit in the car, go fast in a circle over bumps" affair.  Now, either Dad's getting older, or this year they've increased the speed.  Man alive, it was fast, furious and fantastic!  Afterwards we agreed that the best word to describe this ride this year was "violent".  Ace!

See you in 2013!

Super Car Drag Race Challenge

How hard can it be?  Challenge the makers of six super-fast cars to a drag race.  In our Ford Fiesta....we wrote to six car makers, with the following results:

1.  Ariel

First to reply were Ariel, from Somerset, with a lovely, light-hearted letter.  They also sent Sam a t-shirt and a poster!

2.  Subaru

Our second reply came from Subaru, who thought Sam would be too short to drive the Fiesta - sounds like an excuse to me.  With their letter they sent a huge Subaru flag and a smart Petter Sollberg kitbag.

We haven't heard from Ferrari, Pagani or Lamborghini (all Italy), or Bugatti (France) yet, but fingers crossed....

Weather Girl Autograph Race

We decided to race ten weather girls against each other....not on a running track, but in a race to see who would send us a signed photograph the fastest!  Ten letters were written and posted in the same place, at the same time, so that nobody had a head start, and the results are as follows:

The Winner - Lucy Verasamy

Runner-Up - Kerrie Gosney

Third Place - Carol Kirkwood

Fourth Place - Keeley Donovan

Fifth Place - Lisa Gallagher

We're still waiting to hear from Becky Mantin, Laura Tobin, Clare Nasir, Helen Willetts, and Sarah Cruddas....do check back to keep up with the latest results!

Thank you to all the fab young ladies who have replied so far!

Snowy Fun - February 2012

While the nation groans when the snow comes, Sam and Dad cheer!  It's so rare, it has to be made the most of.  Here's Sam getting airborne on his kid skid.

We kept an eye on the weather on Saturday and Sam was so excited at the thought that snow may be on the way.  And thank goodness, it was!  Sunday morning's second job (the first being eating a bacon butty) was to make a snowman.  Meet Kevin!

There were plenty of snowballs flying around.  What a satisfying "POK" they make when they hit a brick wall.

The strong wind had given us some lovely snowdrifts, certainly the deepest we've ever seen since we've lived in the flats.

You can't beat mucking around in the snow!  We want more!

We're lucky to live 100 metres from a big, beautiful park - which turns into a white adventure playground when it's been snowing.

There are some gruesome carved statues in the park, so Sam decided to try and cover them with snow - starting with the most "personal" parts.  Bullseye!

I wonder what the passengers on the passing trains thought?

From the statues we went on to the Red Mount chapel for some downhill fun....

The hill was packed with screaming children and laughing grown-ups, so how come none appear in the photos?  Odd.

We certainly have an incredibly scenic setting to do our sledging.

Now and then a slider has to put the brakes on or roll off their ride, to avoid a headlong plunge into the Gaywood river.  Looks cold!