The Farewells

Sunday, July 11, 2010

The swing!

We promised the girls a swing in the new garden, and here it is.

Due to the inherant bendiness of the birch-tree branch from which it hangs, the swing has a rather unusual, swaying, off-centre, rotating action, but I'm hoping that just adds to the fun. The girls seem to love it anyway, and have now taken to moving the chairs so they can climb into it themselves.

I found Ana today, like a monkey, swinging holding on to it from underneath with both her hands and feet. So funny!

Cake!

Thanks to Mom, we had a delicious, celebratory cake! Yummy!

The pink gown of DESTINY

The main factor putting me off finishing my PhD was this gown.

I mean come on... hot pink??? Who came up with that? Deary, deary me...

At least I tone well with Lara's top.

Preparing the new house

Long after dark, the sound of sanding could be heard eminating from our new house.

Who was the night-sander?

Some say he can fix just about anything that has four wheels. Some say he can be dropped blindfolded anywhere in Britain, with no map or compass, and still be home in time for dinner. All we know is... he's called the Father-in-law!

(You Canadians may not get that... Look up "The Stig")

One of the last gatherings in our last house

Daniel, Esme and Leia came to visit us shortly before we moved.

Since the move, "feeding time at the zoo" is slightly less of a worry, as we now have our table in the kitchen, with a wooden floor - no more scrubbing spaghetti sauce off carpets!

Us, Uncle Dom?

Speaking of mischief, here is some of the related mischief they were up to... cousin-tackling!

They would let Nathan have a head start, then chase after him as quickly as possible, before lunging and smothering him in cuddles (or were they headlocks?)

This picture was taken just before Uncle Dom had to rescue his little one from their clutches.

During the speeches

During the speeches, our girls got a little bit restless, so we went outside to play. They had such a fantastic time, running around, throwing stones (then running away from me) and generally making mischief...

Family Portrait May 2010

Here we all are at Wes and Victoria's wedding. It was a lovely hot day!

Aunty Crystal's Hat

At Wes and Victoria's Wedding, Ana borrowed Aunty Crystal's Hat.

She was, of course, the model of decorum!

Oh yes, I do love orange juice...

... particularly when I get to drink it from a big-girl glass.

Notice how clean she is!

Hide and seek - Lara's tactics for winning

I think Lara had an unfair advantage in the game of hide and seek.

She sensibly dressed herself in classic muted tones, to blend in with the architecture and formal gardens of Castle Ashby, while dressing the girls in their hot-pink puddle suits!

Our new house

So we thought we would post a picture of our new house.

But this is a nicer picture. We don't live here ( I know you are shocked) but we LOVE our new house. More room, and a private garden. It is wonderful!

Protective wear for banana eating

Well, Hello there!

Many apologies to you faithful blog followers for the long gap between posts. We have been busy packing to move house, unpacking in our new house, and waiting, and waiting and waiting for our phone and internet to be connected! Now it is, and we have a number of photos to catch up with.

This is Rose, back in March. It's now July... doesn't time fly?

Anyway, Rose is a messy eater. Generally, she is an appreciative eater, gracing us with "um num um yum num"s throughout the meal if she approves, but she is messy none the less. Lara's latest attempt to reduce the food encrustation of the clothing is this all in one plastic shirt bib. How long will it take for Rose to work that one out? (Not long - she already knows how to take it off.)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The artist

Tim doesn't get much time to use his artistic skills nowadays, but clearly could not help himself when preparing a dippy egg one morning. I think we should have saved it for the Tate rather than eaten it, but, as stated previously, this blog is rather biased...

Playing with Grampa

Yes, that dark figure on the sofa is Vern. He was wearing a hooded jumper and the girls discovered that this had string going through the hood - they thought this was great! The more they pulled, the smaller the hole for Grampa's face became, great fun when you're 3 and 18 months old! Ana actually pulled so hard that the whole jumper came off!

The strawberry grab

We're now only a month behind!!! Here is Tim on his birthday, he and Ana have just blown out the candles on his cake, and Rose has just reached out and grabbed a strawberry off it!

Tim loves the floodplain

and took this gorgeous shot a few weeks ago as dusk was falling over it.

Boxes are best

All kids love boxes. I am sure that is a fact! Ours are no exception and take great delight in squeezing in and out of them. Here Ana contorted herself to fit into a very small box, I don't think she suffers from claustrophobia!

Tired legs

When legs are tired there is no better place than the lovely vantage point provided by Daddy's shoulders.

Being Engines...

We discovered this disused railway line, and filled the small cutting with the sound of "chuffa-chuffa choo choos!" once more.

This photo may look like Lara and Ana, but is acutally of Percy and Thomas.

RUNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After her strawberry ice-cream Rose was, to say the least, a bit messy. Ana took it upon herself to clean her baby sister and here she is trying to do that! Rose was not in favour of the process and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. Ana can run faster though and a good wiping ensued...