Wildcats Live!

Every year, Wildcats have a special live show at the Cresset Theatre called Wildcats Live. This year was my third live show, but I was still really nervous! The theme was the 80s this year, and it was called Don't Stop Believin'.

To the people sitting in the audience, the show looked very well organized and calm and collected. Backstage however, was definitely the opposite! All the kids were running around frantically, getting changed into their show costumes, putting on makeup, trying to find which stage door they were meant to be at, and the most difficult part of all, trying to help the very young Mini classes get everything ready. The Mini classes seemed to have an amazing talent for losing at least one piece of clothing that they needed for the show;  it was mayhem! Despite all the rushing, it was still a very fun and exciting day; I enjoyed it a lot. We were there from 10 am to 6 pm, but the time flew by. Despite the mayhem backstage, the audience said it was the most professional show we had ever put on!

I performed in four pieces: the opening, Dirty Dancing, the Bourne Seniors piece, Sweet Dreams and the finale, Don't stop Believin'.  Normally, I'm only in three pieces, so this was quite different. I definitely enjoy doing more pieces, it's a lot more exciting but more hard work too! The Bourne Seniors piece was quite special as it was the only piece in the Saturday show that was a mix of two songs! Sweet Dreams and Seven Nation Army were the two songs in our piece and they made an amazing contrast. I think our piece was brilliant!
We had fantastic costumes made by the Kelly Ann, the Bourne Seniors teacher! This was the first show we had been in where we wore make up. I quite liked it. Ruth, one of the Seniors was in charge of make-up, and I think she did a good job.

By the end of the show, I was exhausted! We had to run through the entire show as a rehersal before the audience arrived, so we really had to do the show twice! Thankfully, after we did the dress rehearsal we had a lot of time to eat lunch and have a bit of a rest. I definitely needed it!

At the end of the day, Mom and Dad said they really enjoyed the show, so it was worth all the running around! I wonder when we'll start practising for next year's show?

Rand Farm

Have you ever seen a baby calf suckle on a child's whole hand? Well I have! It wasn't my own hand, it was William's. He's Lilli's little brother. We all had a fun day at Rand Farm, just past Lincoln. We met for lunch first in the lovely cafe. Everyone else had a "kid's meal deal", but I opted for a delicious looking sausage roll. It tasted just like a pancake with meat in it. Delicious!

The first animals I fell in love with were the donkeys. They loved it when you petted their fluffy manes. Two of the donkeys were for sale, but I doubt I could get mother to get one for me. There were two pens containing donkeys. In one of the pens, the donkeys were particularly naughty and attention-seeking! They kept kicking their food trough until it fell on to the floor with a very loud crash. Of course, everyone would look, and the donkeys liked that. The staff kept putting the trough back on its rail, but it was pointless because within seconds, it was knocked to the ground again!

The baby goats were definitely one of the most adorable animals there. Their faces were so cute. It really tickled when they ate the animal food out of my hand. They were all a bit pushy, but that's what goats are like. Still, their cute faces made up for it!

Next to the goats, the calves were getting very excited. It was bottle-feeding time! The staff let me hold the bottle to feed one of the calves. It was much stronger than the lamb I bottle-fed once! By the time the little cow finished the bottle, my arms were killing. There was milk all over its lips.

Beautiful white cows!

There was a lot of commotion  in the pigs' pen. I counted a total of eleven, week-old piglets! Well I think there were eleven; they were scuttling about so much it was difficult to count them!

Apart from the animals, there were lots of play areas at Rand Farm. The most exciting was a race track with go-karts. I struggled at first to get a hang of the pedals but once I mastered it I was racing! Not as fast as Lilli though, she was mad! It didn't help my knee kept hitting the steering wheel. It wasn't painful, but the next day I had a massive, grey-blue bruise on my knee.

We ended the day with a bounce on the trampolines. It was weird. When I bounced at the edge of the trampoline, I could hear all the water inside it slushing about! I was a bit scared in case it burst and I got a soaking!

It was a bit expensive to get in to Rand Farm, but I definitely would recommend it. There's so much to do! The animals are mega cute and so well cared for and there are lots of things to do including the go-carts, trampolines, climbing frames, and ride-on tractors!

Independance Day!

It is a massive day in UK history ! The United Kingdom has left the European Union after the goverment held a referendum. 52% of the voters voted to leave.

Change is everywhere! The news is buzzing. Some people are ecstatic and some people are devestated. It has been called a "Political Earthquake". Some people say "Hold on and ride the waves" but the nation is divided. We have been told there will be no immediate change. We have to abide by the rules of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and it could take up to two years before we fully leave the EU.

The prime minister, David Cameron, has announced he is standing down. The Bank of England is worried as the pound fell by 10%; it's never been that low since 1985. They've managed to find a few billion to bail us out until things settle down again.
Scotland has said they want to split from the UK because they want to stay in the EU. They think they are being forced to leave against their will.

The politicians are desperately trying to reassure us, but really no one knows what happens next for the UK. It is a massive moment of change where we turn away from 40 years of stability in the European Union.

What has happend today will go down in history. It will change the future for young people like me. I really hope it's a better future, not just for me, but for everybody.



"This was not the country it was yesterday. That place is gone forever".

Eureka!

At the movies! That was the theme at Eureka this month. Like always, it wasn't much about the learning but more about the experience of crafts and making things.
As soon as we arrived we walked down the Red Carpet!

One of the first crafts I did was the Jurrasic Park Garden! Basically, I filled up a rectangular planting box with compost and planted some seeds. Then I decorated the box with small rocks, prickly pinecones and little model dinosaurs! I've always considered myself quite good when it comes to landscaping, so I think I did a good job!

I got myself a place on the Walk Of Fame with this next craft! Basically all I had to do was cut out a pink star, stick it on to a piece of black card and write my name on it. Still, it's all experience!

The next thing was definitely more complicated, it was a catapult from the Angry Birds movie and game. To construct this, I needed to use elastic bands to tie lollipop sticks together. Once I'd finished with the very difficult arangement of sticks, I had to use another two elastic bands to attatch a spoon to them. To go with the catapult, I made a little Angry Bird from a pompom and googly eyes.

My friends and I practised in the park and I was pleasantly surprised because it worked very well!

After all those crafts, I went outside to play in the sun with my friends. We played Grandmother's Footsteps ; I almost won! It stayed sunny for most of the time until it was time to go home.
 Driving home was really scary. There was a freak storm that started very quickly! The road was flooded and we could barely see. Suddenly, the storm stopped as quickly as it started and it was sunny again! That was really surprising!

Jousting Day at Rockingham Castle!

If you ever get a chance to see the Knights of Nottingham, do it! They performed at the beautiful Rockingham Castle last weekend. In my own opinion, the Knights were much better than the ones we saw at Audley End. They involved the audience a lot more, getting them to cheer for the "goodies" and making them boo at the "baddies".

I thought he was going to spear me!!

Jousting!

As well as the impressive jousting on horseback, they also performed mock battles with an array of deadly weapons including swords, axes, pikes. There was another weapon and I'm not sure what it was called, but it really was deadly! It was a short stick with a chain attatched to one end and a heavy metal ball attached to the end of the chain. The knights swung it around wildly and it made a terrific clank when it hit the enemy's shield!

The Knights split into two teams of three for the games. The "goodies" were the Knights Of Nottingham and the "baddies" were Knights of Normandy. It was very entertaining to watch their rivalry, especially between the drunk knight from Nottingham and the evil Dark Knight from Normandy!

The "drunk" Knight. He spilled beer on everybody!

The Evil Black Knight. He played "dirty"

The castle was also very impressive. All of the castles I've been to are quite cold and unwelcoming, but this one was quite the opposite! The castle itself doesn't actually belong to the English Heritage or National Trust, it belongs to a family that live there. All around the castle, you can see photos of the family. It definitely gives the castle a homely feel! You aren't allowed to go into the part of the castle where the family live, but you can explore the rest of it. There are lots of beautifully furnished rooms filled wih interesting and unique treasures, some from the Roman times; there were keys and coins in a glass case. From the Tudor times, there was a letter signed by Henry VIII. My favourite was a beautiful, wooden sleigh but I don't know how old it was or where it came from. Unfortunately uoi couldn't take photos inside the Castle.
The castle has been owned by the same family for 900 years now. It was built in the 11th century when William the Conqueror came across from Normandy. Lots of famous and grand people have lived there over the centuries and their portraits hang on the walls of the Castle.
The Castle even has it's own chapel, St Leonards. It was very impressive!

Surrounding the castle, there are expansive, rose filled gardens. Seriously, there are roses everywhere! The gardens are incredibly pretty, I can't imagine how long it takes to keep them all that tidy. The gardeners must work very hard! Since I had my new phone with me, I just had to take random pictures of all the amazing, colourful flowers!

We'll definitely be visiting Rockingham Castle again soon! I just hope it doesn't rain next time.

A late night theatre trip!

After the amazing (but tiring!) sleepover, I had another busy day! At 5pm, I arrived at the magnificent Tolethorpe Hall for a late night performance of The Wind in the Willows.

Tolethorpe Hall

The house was very impressive and dates back to the 11th century; it's listed in the Domesday Book! There were really lovely gardens with picnic tables and even a fountain! In the grounds there was a lovely open-air theatre.  Even though the seats were covered by a roof, the stage itself was completely open-air.  The whole place was very pretty, but the open-air stage was my favourite. With the lighting, it looked incredible! The stage was set in a woodland, and there was even a little river with a real boat and even  "human" water animals swimming in it!



The weather was warm and sunny so we had a picnic tea first in the lovely gardens. We had to wait before we could eat because we were waiting for our friends to arrive. Tilly arrived late with her mom and Lavinia, and Fran came with her kids. Lots of other older people arrived and set up their picnic tables around us. They had come prepared with table cloths, tasty nibbles, wine and champagne glasses. Some had even brought vases of flowers for their tables! Mom said it was all very "civilised". I think we were the only children there, probably because it was a late show, and it was a school night. We don't have to worry about that though!

The show itself was very funny. It was really good and I definitely recommend going to see it. My favourite character was probably Rat, I loved his tail! It got a bit cold once the sun had set but mom had brought us cushions and blankets to wrap around ourselves so it was very cosy. We'll be going back again to see two Shakespeare plays and I'll definitely be taking a warm blanket!

By the time we got home, it was very very late, almost 11 pm. I definitely needed a lie-in the next day.




In other news, I'm super excited! Dad decided it was time to get me a phone, so now I'm the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy s6! Wipee!

Sleepovers!

In celebration of her birthday, Lilli was having a sleepover! Me, Melody and Rosina all stayed the night at Lilli's. We did lots of stereotypical girl things like doing each others' hair and makeup, but it was still really good!

One of the first things we did was go into the massive, park sized garden to play with the new rabbits, Layla and Minty. Minty is a very well behaved rabbit who just likes to sit on your lap while you can stroke her. Her sister, on the other hand, loved escaping. We spent loads of time chasing after that rabbit when it kept jumping out of our hands!

After we'd finished with the rabbits, we went back inside to mess about with some hair curlers and make-up! For some reason, I agreed to let Rosina do my face. She went a bit insane with all the eye shadows, though. She put them all over my face!

When it was time to go to sleep, I was next to Rosina and Lilli was next to Melody. It took a long time to get to sleep as everytime someone made a little noise either Lilli or Rosina would pounce on them or kick them. It was really hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing!


The next day, however, I really regretted not going to bed earlier. I had completely forgotten that that day I had a late-night theatre trip to go to! You'll be able to read all about that in the next post, though!

P.S Hope you enjoyed your birthday Lilli!!

Audley End

Audley End

Live jousting is definitely something! A little while ago, I visited the beautiful Audley End, a stately house surrounded in amazing gardens and grounds.  It was a special day at Audley End, Jousting for the Queen. There was a very important (and old!) visitor, Queen Elizabeth  1st and lots of brave knights on horseback who's job it was to entertain her.

There were lots of things there to do with horses, but I think one of the best was the Falconry. There were a bunch of very skilled horse riders with magnificent birds of prey on their arms. They demonstrated how they could get the bird to go after a lure :a fake pheasant that was being dragged behind the horses. It was amazing! It looked rather difficult, though. Then the horsemen spread out and the falcon flew from one horseman's arm to the other. The horses were so well trained that they hardly flinched but I noticed their ears were flat back against their heads They do this when that are a bit spooked. Still, the horses were very well behaved.

The second horse-related thing there was the cart-driving. In an arena, we got to see how ponies pull things like carts and other random objects, like tyres. The smallest pony there, a Welsh pony, was very excitable! Despite having to pull a heavy cart, he was racing along!

There was horse-grooming too although we didn't get long as there was a very long queue!

Of course, the main horse event was the jousting. Jousting is a medevial sport where two men in heavy armour on horseback, gallop towards each other, armed with long poles with spikes on the end of them. The goal is to stab your opponent, or even better, knock them off their horse!

Since there were lots of children there, the jousters weren't allowed to actually hurt each other. It was still a very intense game, though!




The Queen seemed to enjoy it!

There was music too

and an old stable to explore

The jousting was going on beside a very, very beautiful river. There were noisy ducks and a lovely stone bridge across the river.

It was a very hot day, so I decided to sit by the riverbank and cool my feet in the icey water! When I took my feet out, they felt numb with the cold!

The water was cold!!

The funniest person there was by far the Jester. In medievial times, the Jester's job was to keep everyone entertained. He was wearing stilts and a silly costume and it was really hilarious when he pretended to fall over on to the crowd!






One thing we didn't do was go into the magnificent house. By the time we'd finished doing everything else, the house was closed. We'll definitely go see it next time, though!

Titanic Exhibition!

That's me in the back-ground!

I'm sure you've all heard of the Titanic, but what you might not know is that there's a world tour about the Titanic going on right now, and it started in Milton Keynes! Since we always love a day out in Milton Keynes, we went to see it.

Me and Dad on the Titanic!

It was mainly just big banners telling the story of how the Titanic was built and its history. There were quite a few glass cases with items from the Titanic in them. There were even some chairs from the Upper class dining room and a wooden bed from a cabin. The bed looked really small though! There were note-books and diaries from people who had been on the Titanic as it sailed to New York.
 It was really interesting to see pictures of how the Titanic looked and compare all the different rooms from 1st, 2nd and 3rd class. It was very easy to tell which ones were 1st class, they were very luxurious!
There were photographs of the Titanic being built in Belgium. It took a lot of men to build it!

A cross-section of the Titanic. The poorer you were the lower the deck.

After we'd had a look around the exhibition, we went for a little shop. We didn't end up getting much, but I still really enjoyed looking around. Afterwards, we went to The Coal for a delicious dinner!  I had the Coal's Combo Platter, which consists of chicken, beef and pork. It was amazing!

I always love days out at Milton Keynes, especially when there's something special at the shopping centre.