Happy Halloween

The girls and B enjoying a party at R's house.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Chocolate cake and candles with Grandpa to celebrate his birthday.

Back at last

No - not the children back at school (though they are) - but A's Nikon D50 camera. We realised that it had a fault after B's birthday party way back at the start of July. And it's been off at the repairers ever since. It did come back initially in September, but 5 minutes play proved that the fault hadn't been fixed so off it went again.
Needless to say A is delighted to have it back - he really missed it during our caravan stays in August and last week, so this evening he has been out to Pex Hill to have a play.

Pumpkin Carving

We love carving pumpkins - and this year I couldn't wait to try out my new super dooper carving kit.It worked great - much better results than with a kitchen knife. My pumpkin is the big one with the hands, B wanted a bat and M designed the one with the teeth all by herself.

New Baby

M's best friend J is a big sister (again). The new baby - a little girl - has arrived safe and well - congratulations to her mum M. We made this card to take to school on Monday.

Blackpool

Day trip to Blackpool - the first time we had taken M and B there. We stormed around the Pleasure Beach, M and B trying out the old Roller Coaster, Avalanche and the little log flume. A ride on Alice in Wonderland brought back great memories of Blackpool trips as a child - exactly as it was in the 1970's. A was brave and and got soaked on Valhalla.

After dark we crawled through the illuminations - what strange pleasure there is to be had from a traffic jam along the prom - the children loved it.

Just back

Have been to Maes Dollau for a few days. The weather was fantastic - better than in August. We managed to do all our favourite stuff - the toboggan run on hte Orme; the beach and pier at Llandudno; many hours on the RSPB reserve in Conwy for A;an afternoon of talk and lovely food at Penllyn with Uncle P, Auntie J and cousin T; swimming and the playgound at Erias Park; mug painting at Glaze Away and of course lots of coffee and cake at Cafe Culture in Llandudno

Ratatouille

Should have gone to MIL's caravan last night, but A had a stack of paper work to get through and email off before we can go. So we are still at home, hoping to get away this evening. To pacify M and B I took them to the cinema this morning to see Ratatouille. The film is just wonderful - Paris looks fantastic, the story is excellent (as with many Pixar films the plot is really too good for children!), and there are some good laughs. Oh, and Remy, the rat hero, is the just the cutest little thing.
We absolutely love the work of Brad Bird who wrote and directed the movie. We all fell for him yeas ago over his first movie - The Iron Giant. If you never seen The Iron Giant it is a wonderful loose adaptaion of Ted Hughes 'The Iron Man'. Set in 1950's America it combines a journey of self discovery for both the boy Hogarth, and the Giant, with a satire of the cold war and the anti communist McCarthy era. The refrain 'You are what you choose to be' and the Giant's ultimate self sacrfice move me to tears every time.

Gappy

Look who lost a tooth at school today!

Last day of school today - here's looking forward to a great half term.

School Trip

Joined M today on a school trip to Liverpool. We spent the morning at the Walker sketching and looking at the Tudor portraits. I got the chance to waffle on about the paintings...

In the afternoon we went into the World Museum to look at artifacts in the African gallery and to see the show in the planetarium. What an ideal trip for us - all the things that we love doing best.

Hurray for Harvest

Long and busy day yesterday with 2 harvest services at FMC. In the morning there was an excellent parade service led by our new Minister Rev N. He is just brilliant - what we needed after all the difficulties of recent years. The parade was another great service - enjoyed by all. And I was delighted that B stood up and sang beautifully with the other Shell Group children.

The evening service was led by Rev N's wife K. She is a local preacher and delivered a wonderful heartfelt sermon- Let nothing get between you and worshipping God - something to be remembered.

Camelot

A day spent with about 3000 Beavers, Cubs and Scouts at CAmelot theme park. Not as bad as it sounds actually. We had 4 other Beavers to look after as well as B - and everyone had a great time. My highlight was the jousting show which was just excellent. There are no pics of M - she is all grown up and spent the day with the Cubs - and tonight she is sleeping over at FMC. Or rather - probably not sleeping but gossiping with BF C who is 9 today.



On the Big wheel



One of the knights from the fantastic joust



Trying out his new 'cyberhand!'

The King and I

Just back from seeing a fabulous production of The King and I at the Brindley. All the performances were excellent - but the lady who played Anna was amazing - better than many professionals. M's godmother Auntie J played Lady Thiang - and was as good as ever. M really enjoyed the production - and I cried buckets at the end.

Good news/Bad news

A couple of months ago my auntie told me that my twin cousins B and E were both expecting babies - due dates only a couple of days apart. Since then E has had a rough time - and this week had to have an ovarian cyst removed. Of course we were really worried about her - but on Tuesday we heard that all had gone well and that everything looked good. So it came as a great shock to hear that when B went for a scan her baby had died. We hadn't worried about her at all - it was E who had been the concern. The girls are such a long way away in NZ - but both of their families are close in thought and prayer.

Bad Back

I have a bad back. It can be fine for months on end - and then bam, back agony. It all started when M was 11 months old. I pulled her out of her high chair without removing the tray - and that was that. I have no idea what went wrong this time - I was sitting at the kitechen table yesterday and when I stood up - ow. I managed to get to work this morning for my ppa time - and then came home to collapse. My head saw me struggling down the corridor - and has got cover for the next 2 days. Hopefully that will be long enough for it to settle down again - there is a busy weekend ahead and I really haven't time to be laid up.

Walton Gardens

It was such a beautiful sunny day today - better than most of the summer. We went to Walton Gardens and had a lovely time on the playground and eating ice creams. M and B were delighted to see the new Red Squirrels - part of a captive breeding programme. Sadly A's camera is STILL at the repairers (3 months and counting) - so no pictures of the squirrels - but here are the children acting like squirrels instead! (And yes - M is wearing her new favourite tunic top AGAIN!)

Dr Who Day

No school for M today - the teachers were on an INSET - so we had a Mummy daughter trip out.....to the Dr Who exhibition at Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. M loved all the exhibits - especially going inside a DALEK and speaking through it's ring modulator. She started of with the usual EXTERMINATE...and progressed onto singing 'We are the supreme beings - dodah dodah...'

After the exhibition we walked down Deansgate - shopped at Whittards and Waterstones - and had lunch at Cafe Rouge - where M was spoiled rotten by the waitress. A lovely day.

Attack of the Slitheen!

Meeting the Face of Boe

A future career as a DALEK operator?