Chesham, one of our nearby towns, received its Fair and Market Charter in 1257, and to celebrate its 750th anniversay the town organised a number of activities around Lowndes Park. Although it was early September, the weather was warm so following church we took a picnic to the park and spent the afternoon visiting the attractions, which included medieval music and the Lions Rampant. The boys were surprised to find that some people wore spectacles in 1257, although they needed to be rich to afford them, and the glasses themselves hardly looked comfortable. And on the subject of Chesham, we now attend Chesham Methodist Church, a lively and young-at-heart community. The boys enjoy the junior church, and we have run occasional sessions and given some young peoples' addresses in the main church. Early September, when some of the children were still on holiday, we organised a session with the theme of celebration (borrowed from this year's Lighthouse!) At the end we got the children to decorate some small chocolate cakes and distribute them to members of the congregation. Back in our own village we have become puppeteers for Café Lite, an initiative by the Church communities to provide an exciting ‘party’ atmosphere for children, coupled with a relaxing café for their parents to unwind. Apparently someone remembered that some while ago we helped the children in our Junior Church to make some glove puppets and perform a nativity play, so there was a supposition that we had some puppeting skills. Suffice to say that we now do (a bit), and Lucy and Sam appear every month at Café Lite bringing their own story and message. You can also see them on YouTube. For some while, James has been nagging us to go to Gulliver's Eco Park, near Milton Keynes. The nearby Gulliver's World is a theme park with rides (which we've not been to) but recently the Eco Park has opened next door, with the aim of teaching children more about the world we live in. James was attracted by the large number of dinsosaur models (including a boat trip with guide) plus smilodon and other more recent creatures. Matthew also tried the climbing wall wihch he enjoyed (see next month for more climbing!)