Christmas Day

Christmas Day was fantastic! Callum was so excited I thought he might explode! Here he is with his stocking from Father Christmas...

We had a lot of fun and a fantastic lunch....


And some brilliant presents.







After a wonderful few days in Herefordshire, we are now in Scotland having Christmas all over again - Fantastic!

Christmas Eve

Tradition is a wonderful thing, especially at Christmas. And of course, traditions can be started at any time!!!

On Christmas eve Grandpa, Uncle Adam, Daddy and Callum walked over the hills and fields to pick up the turkey (and some cider).

The last time we all did this traditional walk was two years ago, when a certain someone was a wee bit smaller.

Earlier in the day Callum and Granny made the mince pies...


A new traditional was adopted in the evening when the men made paella and the women enjoyed nibbles and champagne.

The evening was rounded off with a very funny game of Pictionery (the new version)!

Conversation

"So Callum, you are going to have a haircut."


"No seriously, you are. The man on the bus thought you were a girl."

"Oh dear, never mind"

"Only joking, you look great!"

Wilderness Wood

Sunday and the action packed weekend continues!

We took the children to Wilderness Wood near Uckfield which is a working woodland with a big trail and adventure playground.

So off we marched through the woods.

We all had our sticks!

After all that walking we needed some lunch and a little rest in the glorious sunshine!

mmmmmmmm pasta! Brilliantly heated up by some soup we had in a thermos flask.

Just a little bit cute!

After lunch we made it to the adventure playground where Callum had a ball!

King of the jungle - imagine the Tarzan cry "consisting of five distinct phases, namely sustain, followed by ululation, followed by sustain, but at a higher frequency, followed by ululation, followed by sustain at the starting frequency" if you wonder what I'm on about check out here

Finally, some more video. He really had to hang on tight!

Spring Bank Farm Park

On Saturday we met our friends Ben and Dinah with their little girl Phoebe and baby boy Charlie. We went to Spring Bank Farm Park near Lewes.

It was great - a lovely day with hardly anyone else there. They had lots of animals of course and hay bales to play on/hide behind....

Here is Ben with Phoebe and Callum hiding from a monster. The monster in question was another little boy there who was a bit vicious (he bit someone else!!).


Callum and goat, but I guess you knew that already!






The best fun was had on the go-karts. They had ones for adults as well as children. Charlotte loved it!!

However, no one had as much fun as Vic. Here she is beating Dinah in a Mum's race. You can see that Vic won by a couple of lengths!

Here is a little video showing me and Dinah having a race joined by a few others.

Halloween

It started early this year. We hollowed out a pumpkin and made a lantern (my favourite bit - although the flesh that promises a great soup is still in the fridge and may have started to grow fur - I am too scared to look).
We made ginger bread bats,witches, ghosts and pumpkins....

... and went to two great parties. Callum won musical statues at one then musical bumps at the other. Here's hoping he doesn't get too used to winning!Callum chose Charlotte's outfit. Not sure she'll thank me when she's sixteen! We love her like this tho'.

What Did The Romans Ever Do For Us?

On Saturday we drove over to Bignor to have a look round the Roman Villa there. I have not been since I was at primary school. I am happy to report that it is exactly the same as it was then!!! The first Mosaic was discovered by a ploughman in 1811, and the villa dates back to 200AD.

Behind Vic and the children is the mosaic in the North Corridor that has been restored.

Them Romans were a clever bunch.

A couple of the mosaics (like this one) are exactly as they were when first discovered, hence the subsidence.

We left the villa and headed up Bignor Hill for a walk and play in the woods.

And on the way home stopped at The Bridge in Amberly for a late lunch.

I have many fond memories of this pub from my childhood!! It's funny to think that this was the first time I had actually been in it!

A Devon Wedding

This weekend we travelled down to Devon for our friends Paul & Tamysn's wedding. We did not have the camera (once again!), but I have managed to pinch these from someone else.

Here is the happy couple.


And here is a familiar face that just loves the camera!!!

It's been a long time...........how've you been?

Wow, I have been more than useless at keeping this thing going over the past few weeks. I'd be surprised if any of you come back to see if a new post is up!!

Tessa was over for a few days which was lovely. The children loved having her around (as we did too of course!).



Then of course it was my birthday - a huge thank you to everyone for all my presents! I will be writing individually I promise. I could blame the postal strike of course................

Andrew and Wendi had been on 'vacation' in Paris and flew into London on the day of my birthday. Vic and I left the children with Grandma and Poppa and met them in town for lunch.

We also had a curry later that night. Nobody knew a good curry house, so it was up to me to point the way.

We were joined by Adam and Hannah, as well as Nina and Jack.

Andrew and Hannah

vs Adam and Wendi!

We all appeared to be sporting hangovers for the rest of the weekend!!

On Saturday we tried a hair of the dog which nearly worked!

Here's Andrew and Charlotte on the Downs.

For some reason I don't have any other pictures, or pictures from Lally's 90th birthday party last weekend in Scotland. Perhaps Norma will still some on the Four Corners?