Tuesday, 13 November 2018

What We've Been Up To...#12

Over the second half of October, we enjoyed having Grandma Jeanette and Grandad Harry come to stay. Here are some of the highlights...

We'd never been to Killerton before; the kids had fun exploring the grounds

Tahlia dresses up as a suffragette fairy

Gorgeous views, but a very cold day

A tipping swing - they struggled to stay on it

A trip to Bull Meadow playground; the aerial runway is Jory's favourite

Firing the cannon outside Custom House Visitor Centre at the Quay

Flying high at Darts Farm

Too exhausted for words

Tahlia loved looking closely at rocks at the Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton; they also had a great letterbox trail

Making mosaics

At the Belmont 'Light and Bright' party, Tahlia was the best at finding hidden stars

Jory hoards the glow sticks

A special party treat: sparklers!

Craft time: decorating stars

St Thomas Baptist had its annual Narnia Exhibition: the entire church was redecorated as the enchanting land, with various characters to meet along the way who talked you through the story from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Entering the wardrobe
The first character we stumbled upon: Mr Tumnus

Stroking Aslan's mane

Mrs Fox tells us about Narnia


Outside Mr & Mrs Beaver's house

Mrs Beaver reads about Aslan

The station master concludes the journey

Relaxing at home afterwards

Having a ride at the Exeter Arena fireworks display

Waving our own sparklers at home

It was Mummy's birthday on the 7th November and she had lots of help to unwrap her presents...

Daddy made her this beautiful card

We visited Tiverton Museum - Zachary loved learning how to add up old money using the abacus

A much needed rest and a chat on the phone

Watching the mechanical parts of a mill in action

Bumble and Tahlia weigh their ingredients

They're looking at the big steam train nearby

Jory pulls the chain for the whistle

Another birthday treat: a chocolate orange cake

Yet another birthday treat: Mummy and Daddy went out for a tasty meal at one of their favourite restaurants: Oddfellows, in Exeter

Sunday, 11 November 2018

What We've Been Up to...#11

It was Daddy's birthday at the beginning of October and we all enjoyed celebrating...

Tahlia was very keen to help open the presents
Zachary is very interested in the solar system so he made Daddy a solar system card (the other planets are inside)

Tahlia made Daddy a birthday card and wrote her name inside


Daddy had some friends round for a special birthday meal; Zachary helped make the treacle tart



Here's Tahlia making Daddy a birthday cake

Food and quiz with church friends

We had a 6 hour power cut due to a smoking electrical box and the little ones loved watching the firemen outside

Daddy also had a party in Cardiff...

As always, it was a tasty cheese party!



The kids loved playing with some of their Cardiff friends

The swords came out...

Poor Uncle Steve!
Ptolemy: "Him, not me!"
Out came the hazelnut mocha cake
Elisha enjoys some more cheese

Here are a few other things we've been up to in the first half of October...

Zachary made a 'nocturnal animal' board game; you have to make it to the safety of your burrow

We took a trip to the local playground to collect acorns for our treasure boxes and we also found this...

Bouncing on the coloured seats

Boo!

All playing Connect 4 together

Zachary's current project: the solar system

Making tasty blackberry crumble

Spreading the blackberries

Playing along at our weekly session of Bash 'n' Bang

Here we are on a trip to Dartmoor whilst the weather was still good...


Tahlia is very interested in shadows

Sitting near the base of Hound Tor

Who can make the biggest jump from the rock?

Jory enjoys the fantastic views

A well-deserved rest at the base of Hound Tor; we also found several hidden letterboxes around here (a bit like geocaching)

Scrambling to the top

Ptolemy, once again, removes his shoes and socks

Playground fun at King George V playing fields...


Jory counts how long he can keep hold

Jumping for joy

Building sandcastles

Here we are on a day out with Bumble to the Devon Railway Centre in Bickleigh...

They couldn't resist a quick slide

The little train takes you on a tour of the gnome-infested grounds
They all loved seeing the mini gnome towns

All ready for a ride on the big train

Zachary was the train guard - he had to wave the flag to tell the driver when to set off

Cuddles with Bumble

Playing with the wooden train set

There's nothing more fun than pressing a button

Ball pool fun

Crazy golf: the highlight of Zachary's day

Taking a look at the model village

One more go on the shiny slide before home time