It was Fathers Day on Sunday. The boys made Chris a card, Aidan having made the stars ‘n’ stripes star out of hama beads:
Orin made Chris some chocolate truffles at preschool:
Orin presented Chris with a Mexican cookery book:
Evan presented him with some fancy chocolates:
Aidan presented him with The Civil War DVD:
Another day, another batch of chocolate to scoff!
We went on another Easter hunt, this one organised by the Forestry Commission. The boys had to solve the clues and find the animals and they also had to count the number of yellow ducks on the trail. They then got to visit the Easter bunny, who gave them an egg, and do some crafts.
Orin finding a duck:
Aidan writing the answer to a clue:
Evan had to pick up every single duck we found. I am sure he would have kidnapped them had we allowed him to:
Chris and Arlo:
Evan wanted a photo taken with each animal they discovered, hence the overload of photos of him:
Orin with his egg after visiting the Easter Bunny:
Aidan resting at the end of the trail:
Evan climbing on - and jumping from - rocks:
Orin with the things he made in the craft marquee:
Chris modelling with the things Evan made:
Heading home:
It may have been Arlo’s first ever Easter but he seemed to get the hang of the chocolate munching pretty quickly:
Orin got in a chocolatey mess:
Aidan entered a competition where he had to design a new Olympic sport. He drew a picture of air darts, a combination of parachuting and darts:
After lunch we went to Carnasserie Castle so the boys could roll their eggs.
Walking up to the castle:
Orin is looking a bit huffy here because I told him not to climb any further throught the bracken:
The boys had fun exploring the castle:
They had wanted to chuck their eggs from the castle’s tower but there were too many people around for that to be even a remotely sensible thing to do. So they threw them down a steep slope instead:
They didn’t smash the first time around because the mossy grass was so spongey:
So the boys threw the eggs at absolutely everything until they were pulverised:
Climbing trees:
Evan walking along a wall:
Orin gave me this buttercup because it has a heart-shaped leaf. Aw!
Playing in the bracken again:
Guddling in the water:
Once home, the boys were able to play in the garden because - incredibly - it was still not raining:
On Saturday morning, the boys had gluing fun making some Easter-themed bookmarks:
That afternoon, we went to some nearby woods to go on an Easter Egg Hunt organised by the boys’ nursery and after school club.
Arlo was not as excited as his big brothers:
Evan colouring in his first egg:
Daffodil:
Aidan finding another egg:
I wonder where this door leads to?
Aidan and Evan colouring in another egg:
Aidan at the seashore section of the woods:
Evan loved throwing pine cones at this cymbol to make it chime:
Evan having a cuddle with Arlo:
Arlo:
Finding another egg:
Evan wandering to the top section of the woods:
Aidan:
Orin colouring in the final egg:
Friday was the first day of the holidays and we were blessed with a spell of good weather that meant we could play out in the garden.
Evan bounced on the trampoline - dressed as a knight:
We then dyed our hard boiled eggs in bowls of food colouring. The whisk held the egg while it was being dipped:
The finished eggs:
Having been unable to fit all of the Christmas presents in the car, we had been forced to leave some of the bulkier items behind. This then meant that, on our return home, we had a second Christmas.
Orin wearing his new Batman shirt:
Eating breakfast out of their new bowls:
The huge heap of presents!
The boys opening the first presents of the day:
Arlo cuddling his new Thumper rabbit:
Chris opening his presents:
The boys received bedroom makeovers from their maternal grandparents. Aidan and Orin are going to have a dinosaur bedroom and Evan and Arlo’s bedroom is going to have a vehicle theme:
Should I be insulted by the names of these beauty products?
The boys playing their new Lord of the Rings interactive game:
Arlo and his Daddy:
Sunset:
On Christmas Eve, the boys left some special food out on the lawn for Santa’s reindeer:
Then they left a mince pie and a dram out for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph:
Then it was time to hang the stockings on the fireplace:
Presents piled under the tree:
Santa delivered his presents for the boys at some point during the night:
The boys opening their stockings:
Orin only asked Santa for a Ben Kenobi dressed as a clonetrooper at last minute so he was amazed and thrilled to find Santa had got the message and their was one waiting for him in his stocking:
Evan is obsessed with wildebeest so he was delighted to find one in his stocking:
Arlo and Heather:
Let the present opening commence!
Orin receiving the chainmail that features in so many photos:
Heather showing Evan his horse book and explaining that his present is a ride on a pony:
Orin’s present from Santa was a clonetrooper helmet:
Evan’s present from Santa was a collection of Littlest Pet Shop toys:
Aidan’s gift from Santa was a Lego Minotaurus game:
Santa’s first ever present for Arlo was a set of Waybuloo figures:
Arlo and me:
Aidan’s wobbly tooth was ready to come out and made for an “interesting” appearance for a while:
Jess and Jon:
Heather and Jim:
Antony:
Alison:
Me and my new compost caddy:
The boys playing with Aidan’s new Lego set:
Orin with his Spiderman set - which took me hours to build!
Arlo had a chocolate pudding for the first time because it was Christmas and he had been given a hamper of baby foods:
Christmas dinner:
“All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!” - Aidan finally lost his tooth which meant he got a visit from the Tooth Fairy as well was from Santa:
Evan in bed with his wildebeests:
Orin drawing in bed:
Aidan writing his journal:
Arlo on Christmas evening:
A week before Christmas - and just as the boys were going to bed, hence the bizarre attire - we heard some seasonal music and a “ho ho ho” on our driveway. Lo and behold, Santa had popped around to have a chat with the boys and find out what they wanted for Christmas. Here they are on Santa’s (motorised) sleigh:
And here are a couple of photos of local scenery on a frosty morning:
Last Saturday was our town’s annual Lantern Parade followed by the bonfire and fireworks display.
We had a bit of faffing about with gloves so I managed to miss seeing the first lanterns in the parade. Anyway, the theme was “Heroes” this year and these are snaps of some of my favourite lanterns:
Watching the bonfire:
Spiderman lantern:
The organisers had built the bonfire in the shape of a Wicker Man. Way to break down stereotypes about rural communities, people! The boys thought it was hysterical when the head fell off:
A zillion photos of fireworks because they were so spectacular:
Chris bought the boys flashing lightsabers, of course, so here is Aidan playing in the back garden with his new toy:
This is the effect of Aidan twirling the lightsaber in a circle. I thought it was cool:
On Thursday, Aidan had lots of fun with Halloween activities at After School Club followed by a Halloween disco at school. He went dressed as a skeleton but, most unlike me, I did not take a single photograph because the pressure of time meant it was impossible to fit it in. However, on Friday morning, the little ones went to nursery and playgroup in fancy dress and I did take photos of them:
Then on Friday night, despite the lashing rain, we went along to a Spooky Walk organised by the Forestry Commission and run by them for free, which is fantastic. The walk took as through the woods and around a small loch where we could stumble across grotesque things in the pitch dark and have other scary things jump out at us. It was great fun.
Orin liked all the giant spiderwebs that were dangling from trees:
Somewhat randomly, we discovered a giant wasp climbing out of a drainage pipe:
I walked in front with the lantern we had borrowed while Chris kept up the rear. He had just got through explaining that he was glad of this because it meant everything would jump out on me first when a werewolf jumped out and grabbed him. He screamed like a stuck pig while the rest of us dissolved into laughter.
Its an, em, scary ladybird. Run. Run away. Hmmm:
Definitely more macabre than a polka-dot insect:
Aidan got freaked out by this demon, poor wee chap, while Evan seemed to take delight in chatting to him. He even said, “Night, night, demon!” on the way out of its lair. The demon did win them over by giving them sweeties from a cauldron. Not sure about the “candy from strangers” message that sends but ho hum:
At the end of the walk, the kids were able to colour in and decorate bats, dook for apples and get even more sweeties from a lucky dip cauldron. We got as drenched as drowned rats but had a ton of fun.