On the swing (or horse, depending on your point of view)

Here, the two girls were pretending to be riding a horse. I seem to remember a similar picture that my parents took of Daniel and myself at a similar age.

Another similarity, is that the kids have asked me for a (real) horse. I know both Lara and I have always wanted one... now we just need space for four!

Rose

Here's our Rose.

Easter Bunny Play

Rose and Ana's plays (and associated costumes) are getting more and more interesting. Here, dressed in one of Daddy's old t-shirts and some Bunny ears from Nana, accessorised with some make-up from Lara's drawer, we present... the Easter Bunny.

Sofa Jumping

Yes, we're still here... and to prove it, here are some pictures of the kids undertaking gentle, calm play...

 

Sea Spray

Pembrokeshire sea spray.

Beyond that island lies a lot of water, some fish, then Canada and America.

Really, Very High

So here we are up top of the Bishop's Palace in St. Davids. It was at the bottom of a hill, but nevertheless, extrodinarily high - up some very, very steep and tiny stairs. I just fit. The old Bishop must not have eaten very well if he had wanted to frequently come and survey his lands from up here. He also would have needed a good head for heights.

St Davids

On our holiday this winter we had a day out at St. Davids. This involved exploring the Bishop's Palace, and climbing from the dark basements, right to the top of the tower.

Here are Rose and Lara counting the steps up from the Cathedral. I can't remember how many there were, but there were plenty.

Strange happenings in Wales

Some might take a bucket.
Some might take a kite.
Not for this Welsh gentleman,
He thought he'd take a bike.

Yes, oddly enough we saw this man wheel his bike down from those cliffs, and take it for a walk in the sea. It was one of the strangest things I've seen in recent years.

Cooking with Rose!

Cooking with Rose is ALWAYS messy.

This time we were making the Christmas favourite: Tim's Chocolate Yummies of Destiny and Waistline Destruction... Fun!

Winter walk

Just before Ana's Christmas play, Lara and I had enough time for either 1) getting food for supper or 2) taking a beautiful walk down to the floodplain near the river.

Guess what we chose...

Rose and the frosty floodplain near Rainbow Bridge

Here is Rose near Rainbow Bridge.

A winter walk

 

On one of my day's off this week, after collecting Rose from a full-on morning at Nursery, we went for a beautiful walk across the floodplain. We ate the chocolate crispie cakes Rose had made that morning, found some frozen puddles and played many, many games of Pooh-sticks.

Frosty Rose

The early part of this week was graced with the most beautiful frosts - like this one. 

Resting on the sofa

 There is more than one way to sit on sofa cushions!

A big dig

 In July we decided to overhaul the bottom of the garden - the place where only weeds would grow.

We build a wall for a raised bed out of some lovely old reclaimed bricks which we were given via Freecycle. Then we began to plant up the bed, only to hit rock - or rather concrete at a shallow depth. So, we dug, and dug, and dug some more.

After a fair while of toil, here are Nigel and I, triumphant over a large block of concrete which we managed to remove. (We did have to break through the just-built wall though, to get it out!)

Dancing on the sunbeams

 The girls were taken by the beautiful patterns made by the sun and stained glass windows in the chapel on St Michael's Mount. They broke into a spotaneous jumping dance all around the shimmering lights.
Beautiful.

The Lady and Her Castle

 Something just seemed so right about this!

Shoulder Ride

 Here is Uncle Simon and Ana on St. Michael's Mount. Behind them, you can see the mounting steps / block for horse-riders of old. Now-a-days it is more commonly used for getting on to uncles' shoulders!

Sandcastles

Building sandcastles on the beach.

Rose on the beach

Rose LOVED the beach. She really enjoyed pottering, moving sand around in the beach streams, and then splashing in the pools and rivers that she made.

Bodyboarding!

We had such fun bodyboarding this year (except for when Simon stood on a Weaver fish and couldn't walk for an hour or two...) Anyway that didn't stop him from going bodyboarding again, and so here he is with Lara, being swept into shore.

Daniel and Esme at Kynance

Daniel and Esme went for a walk on the beach around the beautiful red and green serpentinite rocks.

Beach skidding

This was a great game.

Papa was swinging the girls round and round and round on the body board, hydro-planing on the thin film of water, warmed by the sun and sand of the late afternoon beach.

You can't catch me, waves

There is a timeless enjoyment in wave running. This was on our holiday with Jenny and Nigel in Pembrokeshire, when the girls were given their first wet suits. Prior to this, though, splash suits and wellies were the order of the day.

At the Castle

Here are Ana and Tim at the top of the big, big hill.

Walking to St Michael's Mount

We walked across the sands to St Michaels's Mount, and stayed there long enough to have a boat trip back, which we all enjoyed.

Paddling at Kynance

Ana and Lara took to paddling in the waters at Kynance Cove. And not content with just paddling, they were soon both swimming!

Kynance Cove, Cornwall

This July, we shared a wonderful week with all the Farewells in Cornwall. One of our favourite spots was most certainly Kynance Cove - a location not designed for easy access by families with toddlers, but certainly more than worth the effort. It is stunningly beautiful and geologically facinating.

Wisteria, Roses and Daisies

Crystal and Dom gave Lara a nice wisteria to help beautify the front of our 1970's house... a small but significant start! Here the girls are after planting it and training it up the new trellis.

Ballet girls

Under the tutilage of Miss Lynette, Ana and Rose have begun their ballet careers. Here they are after their first lesson. A term on and they are still loving it.

Baby Samuel and Auntie Lara

A few weeks old and already slightly suprised by his Auntie.

Four cousins

The girls were thrilled with their new cousin and could hardly keep away from him.