Croquet for toddlers

I don't know if you've noticed, but toddlers love to do the same as they see their parents doing, and croquet is no exception.

To assist Ana, Tim hunted out a mallet and softball that were just right for her to join in with!

Biking with Daddy

On our holiday in Cambridge a special little seat was found to attach to the bike, and that, together with Uncle Simon's old helmet, meant that Ana had a wonderful time riding up and down the street with Daddy.

Things only got better when Grampa took her all the way to church on it.

We could only stand by and watch

When Grandad was a wee little lad his father bought the family this very croquet set. When we met up the other day we had a quick game of croquet. Quick because Grandad proceeded to whoop us all!

Rose should have been in bed...

... but didn't want to miss out on the fun and games with Auntie Amanda!

Gran and Leia

Happy sleeping in the garden.

Introducing...

Leia Anwen Farewell

This is a late introduction to Ana and Rose's youngest cousin, and our new niece! Apologies for the tardiness of this post, we can only blame the fact that meeting her was somewhat delayed, as has been our blogging...

Anyway, she is gorgeous and lovely and everso cuddly : )

Happy Birthday Grampa!

Here is Grampa with all three of his granddaughters on his birthday, though the youngest was SO tired by all the excitement she just couldn't keep her eyes open!

Croquet anyone?

Rose was all dressed up for Grampa's birthday, and decided it was high time for a game of croquet. Though, having waist-high hoops does make it a little harder...

Faster Daddy, faster!

After the dolls had had their turn Ana and Rose went for a spin too, Rose being held nice and tightly by her big sister... what a lot of fun!

Little Red Wagon

Daniel and I (Tim) used to don ice hockey equipment, hop into this wagon, and propel each other up and down our street as quickly as possible.

Now, Ana does the same for her dolls, minus the protective clothing...

See-saw

You may have noticed that parks feature quite frequently in our blog. This is because Ana, and increasingly Rose, LOVES them.

But we do try to expand their horizons in childhood activities, so we took them to Wimpole Hall Home Farm to become acquainted with the various rare breeds of beasts they raise. Our children placated us with a few cursary glances at the animals, but, when the question "can I ride on the .... " was too often answered in the negative, the appeal of the animals deminished.

Thus, we ended up at the park on the farm, which, of course, they loved!

But we were not to be outdone, and ended off the day with a horse-drawn wagon ride, and thankfully Ana was delighted by this!

The assembled multitude

And here we all are nearing the end of our lovely day by the sea.

Ana and Grandad's sandcastle

Ana and her great-grandad did well to find sand on the otherwise pebbly beach. But Ana was determined to build a sandcastle on her trip to the seaside and so they DID!

Oh, and yes, the requisite plastic spade was broken during the construction on this mighty fortress.

Yes, even Tim went in!

A rare sight - Tim entering the sea (in a typically calm and collected manner).

At first, the water was very cold, but once your body temperature was significantly lowered, it was actually quite pleasant. And then it was time for lunch!

Rose on the beach

Rose (unsurprisingly) liked the beach too. She also enjoyed getting her feet wet, and the associated beach pleasure of a lick of ice cream...

Windswept on the beach

Felixstowe is not known for its sweeping sandy beach, but the warm wind swept our hair nonetheless.

Paddling

Ana was a bit surprised to discover that the sea is a bit colder than the bathtub, and even than the swimming pool!

Gran and Ana and the beach huts

We had a lovely day at the beach with a large group of extended family. It was Ana's long awaited trip to the seaside that she had been looking forward to for months. Here she is spending some time with Gran.

Two more under the table

Since Rose has claimed this under-table zone as her own, Mummy has to clean under the table more... And Ana decided to come play.

Fluffy white towels

The girls' bath time together is a splashy occasion with Rose dishing out the most vigourous splashes, causing Ana to cry out " I need my FLANNEL!!!".

Ana doesn't like getting her face wet.

Then Rose gets out and has a cuddle while Ana recovers from the onslaught with gentle bathtime play with her watering can.

Still Life

Ana amazed us the other day with this drawing of fruit; her first really life like piece.

There is a banana, a red apple, some blueberries, some grapes, some (admittedly miniature) lemons, and an orange (though we're not sure which is the apple and which is the orange). We think it's brilliant and she's clearly a genius.

If you fancy owning an original Farewell direct your inquiries towards our agents at Sotheby's.

Rose's hidey-house

If you ever walk into our house and just can't find Rose, take a peek under the dining room table. Rose discovered this wonderful area to explore a couple of weeks ago, and often you'll find her tugging on your trouser leg from under the table, and grinning impishly up at you.

Here she is knocking on the underneath of the table with her spoon (incidentally covered in some kind of orange vegetable from her dinner, hey ho).

Princess hat

We were looking through our wedding photos the other day and Ana exclaimed "Mummy's wearing my princess hat!"

Here is Ana enjoying hers while dancing around in her new dress.

Daddy time

Time spent just holding your baby is very precious, and too hard to come by! We wish babyhood was not quite so brief...

Speaking of briefs, Ana had her 1st 100% successful potty training day today - hooray!

The colander

After using this to wash some strawberries, Ana commandeered it to be a hat - much more sensible!