Friday and time for school! Yes, Emily and Oliver went to school with Annabelle and Thomas; it was the last day of term so there was lots of fun including experiments with bubble-making and dropping eggs to see if they would break (they were in in bags filled with plaster of Paris).
On Saturday we did some odd jobs around Philippa’s house then, after lunch, we took the children for a swim at Sidmouth pool followed by a stroll along the sea front. The wind was blowing and the forecast was for a once-in-ten-year storm to hit the coast later in the evening. Unfortunately this resulted in the cancellation of the Ottery St Mary carnival, which we were planning to watch that evening.
With Pips, Annabelle and Thomas
Up early for breakfast on Sunday then drove to Wellington for tag Rugby.
Emily and Annabelle just before their match
Tom and Annabelle play for Sidmouth Rugby club who kindly allowed Emily and Oliver to join in.
Ollie and Tommy, the fearsome forwards, practicing
It was exciting stuff, all four played really well – Emily and Oliver were even mentioned in the Sidmouth Herald:
The Girls: “The girls, wearing their new Rosetta sponsored tops, were full of spirit following their success over Exmouth and the fact that they also had ‘Aussie Rules’ Emily in their ranks!
The first game started with early scores for Sidmouth and they held a one point lead at the interval.
Parity was restored in the second half, but all that changed when Daisy Grove scored a perfect scrum half sniping try from five-metres out, beating a brace of opponents at close range with superb footwork.
A couple of slick tries from Ellie Wood then saw the side to an 8-5 victory.
The team’ second game was a tougher proposition as Wellington boys team looked determined to improve on the defeat they had just suffered to the Sidmouth boys.
However it was a try from ‘Aussie Rules; Emily that gave Sidmouth the lead, a score cancelled out by half-time by the home side.
After the break the Sidmouth lead was restored with a try from Ellie Monro-Higgs and other scores followed. The home side also got on the score sheet and it was the hosts who won it late on with a well worked training ground move that secured them an 8-7 success.”
The Boys: “Our guest team member Oliver Mawle lost the toss, but that only made the boys want to play harder. Starting without the ball they quickly tagged the Wellington team and got the turnover.
Ollie and Tommy discussing tactics
A replica of the first game Luca Manning came through to score the first try and would add another shortly after to take his tally up to five for the day. Oliver Marsh scored another great try bursting through for a straight run, which brought his total for the day to three and Sidmouth went into the break with a 3-0 lead.
A quick refreshment break and the boys were ready to go again, this time Zac Arver with a darting run, then Charlie Brock went over for one and then would powerfully break the line to score a second and his third of the day.
Not to be outdone by his brother, Luca went over the try line. Some great tagging by Oliver Mawle kept Wellington at bay and the boys finished with a convincing 7-0 winners.”
Back at the house the children played – it was great to see them catching up after such a long time apart.