July started with a return visit with friends Liz and Stuart. There was a festival at nearby Danson Park so we all spent a lovely sunny afternoon there. Matthew was the daring one, walking on the Scouts' high rope bridge, whilst James took a safer pony ride. We had to make sure we were back in time for the England match which Stuart wanted to watch...... July is the end of the school year, and is also the time for the schools' sports days. This was Matthew's first sports day, and he thoroughly enjoyed the running and other more complex races. The teachers' race was won by Matthew's form teacher, not the youngest on the track by any means but clearly one of the fitter ones. Bridget persuaded the rest of the family, including her parents, to join her on a relatively short Thames Path walk from Cookham to Marlow. Both boys did well although the last stretch from the A404 bridge into Marlow was a bit wearing (are we there yet?). Malcolm volunteered to be Stage Manger for the Prestwood Theatre Club's production of "The Memory of Water". It's not something attempted before, but it went smoothly enough, especially as we had an experienced cast and director. The one thing lacking was a dedicated construction team, so Malcolm ended up doing that job too, building a dressing table, bedside cabinets, wallpapering and so on, with a small but keen team of helpers. Malcolm's company, O2, had a family event day at nearby the theme park, Thorpe Park. It was pretty busy with all the extra O2 people milling around, and the boys were too small for many of the rides. James was also, bizarrely, too big for some children's rides. But they both enjoyed the train ride to the farm (when the staff managed to mend the train). Daring Matthew went on the Enterprise Wheel with Malcolm (did we really go upside down?) and the rubber raft slide with Bridget (I'm wet).