Helping Daddy weed the front garden:
Arlo on the trampoline:
Aidan and Arlo on the slide:
Orin:
Kapow!
Evan:
Arlo on the toddler slide:
Orin doing a superhero move on the slide:
Orin’s hands suddenly quadrupled in size:
Me:
Arlo:
On Sunday we went for a walk to Kilmory Loch to see what beasties we could find.
Chris and Arlo setting off:
Chris and all four of his boys on Fathers Day:
We found a pair of sasquatches in the woods:
Me:
Orin picked a flower for me to wear in my hair:
Paddling in a stream:
Amorous dragonflies:
Their bodies make an upside down love-heart shape:
Aidan and Evan guddling with sticks in the loch:
Aidan looking through a tree’s roots:
Chris gave Arlo a stick which he promptly used to beat his Daddy about the head with!
The loch was absolutely teeming with tiny baby frogs:
Aidan holding a frog:
Baby frog hunting down a fly:
Every lily pad was swarming with frogs:
Evan holding a frog:
Aidan looking at the frogs:
The loch:
Frogs on a rock:
Orin:
Evan:
Aidan:
Arlo:
Arlo fast asleep in the backpack:
Aidan:
Orin:
Evan doing bunny ears:
Orin and Evan climbing on a gate:
Evan and Aidan with their fern weapons:
We spent Saturday morning at Crinan Ferry beach. The blue sky might make it look sunny and hot but there was a very chilly wind whipping in from the sea so we were only able to stay for a couple of hours.
Arlo loved the sand:
Orin doing some kind of crazy semaphore:
Evan found a cup which he used to make sand pies:
Playing football:
Aidan making a sand angel:
The boys paddling in the sea:
Once we got back from the beach, we had a barbecue lunch:
Random added photo - a spider in our house:
Saturday was the annual Fyne Families Fun Day at our Community Centre. My Mum and Dad were visiting so they came along too.Arlo playing with a balloon:
The boys each got a tattoo:
The boys were excited to be able to climb inside a real fire engine and explore all the equipment:
The boys and their Grandpa in front of the fire engine:
Orin in the play area:
Dad helping Arlo rock on a rocking horse. Spot the over-protective Granny:
Evan trampolining:
Arlo had a go too:
Mum:
Dad:
Orin and Evan see-sawing in the play area:
Aidan inside the play house:
Arlo in a tunnel:
The boys had their faces painted. Evan was a vampire:
Orin opted to have a bat across his eyes, spiderwebs on his cheeks and a spider on his nose:
“Does Sir like his new look?”
Aidan was a lizard monster:
It was school sports day last Wednesday so Chris, Orin, Evan, Arlo and I went along to spectate and cheer Aidan along.
Orin and Evan finding a spot from which to spectate:
Arlo:
Orin and Evan decided to amuse themselves by scaling the fence like Spidermen:
The participants arriving:
Aidan’s class arriving on the playing field - Aidan being the one in the red t-shirt waving the water bottle:
And the Little Emperor said, “Let the games commence!”
Aidan lining up for the flat race:
Sack race … in plastic bags:
Egg and spoon race:
This is how Orin does sport:
… and again:
Arlo wanted to have a crack at doing the Spiderman shuffle along the fence:
Orin’s friend, Ellen:
Orin took his place in the starting line-up for the flat race for the incoming primary ones - Orin being the one in the red t-shirt:
Orin in the sack race:
Orin holding hands with Ellen:
The clan relay race with Aidan taking his turn to run:
Since Sunday was a lovely day, we took a trip to the Sea Life Centre at Barcaldine.
A sea urchin:
Wolf Fish:
I loved this octopus. I would love to have one as a pet:
Arlo was entranced by the baby rays:
I think they are brilliant too:
Anenome:
Lumpfish:
Shrimps:
A flat fish looking grumpy:
Watching the seals in the outdoor pool:
Aidan and Evan solving clues on their quiz sheets:
Seahorses:
Mermaids Purses in the nursery tank:
Sunbathing turtle:
Meeting a gigantic crab:
Snake-necked Turtle:
Aidan and Orin feeding the sharks:
Having a bit of a break:
Giant Pacific Octopus:
Anenome:
We were entertained by the frolicking otters:
The otters even did some synchronised swimming:
The boys then had fun playing in the woodland playground:
Even the biggest boy had a go:
Evan was starting to flag so he put on his best “fed up” face:
Aidan ready to go home too:
Chris:
Evan fell asleep in the car on the way home, lollypop still in mouth:
Because he was a good boy throughout the trip, Evan earned his last sticker on the chart and got to pick a reward from my prize drawer. He chose a Venom figure:
For some reason, we decided to pay homage to ‘America’s Next Top Model’. Here was are embarrassing ourselves then, modelling head to toe, smizing and maybe even a bit of “barbie toe” to make Tyra and Miss J proud. Shame Leanne had the camera around the wrong way but you can still see us acting like utter tubes clearly enough.
For some unknown reason, the boys decided to tip a bucket load of ice cubes on to the trampoline. They had loads of fun jumping amid the ice and I guess it is one way of cooling down on a hot day.
Leanne, Aimee, Aaron, Jordan and Rhys all came over to visit at the weekend. It was a lovely hot day on Saturday so we spent some time relaxing and being daft in the garden.
My siblings in the garden …
… and trampolining:
Rhys on the trampoline:
Orin found a leaf that was shaped like a heart:
For some reason, the boys took it upon themselves to dump a bucket load of ice cubes on to the trampoline. That’s one way of cooling down I suppose:
Jordan on the trampoline:
Aimee and Leanne with the leaft heart:
Aaron:
The four of us together:
Aidan found a millipede:
We decided to go for a walk to Kilmory Loch. Evan looked huffy as we set off:
My boys dangling from a gate:
Arlo:
Me:
Chris:
Jordan:
Rhys:
Orin with a dandelion puff:
For some reason, I love this photo of Orin blowing the dandelion:
“Do you feel lucky, trunk?”
Aimee modelling a daisy:
Leanne:
Jordan:
Orin having a rest:
Evan climbing a wall:
Aimee:
Aaron:
Velvet beetle:
Shoeless Evan:
Down at the loch:
Jordan holding a tadpole:
Aimee:
A cool bug on Rhys’ arm:
Aidan wearing his wooden trousers:
Rhys climbing:
A dragonfly landed on Aaron’s ear:
Paddling in the water:
This was taken a matter of seconds before Evan fell in the water:
Sunlight through the leaves:
Aidan dangling:
On Saturday night, a group of staff and mums spent the night at Inverary Jail in order to raise money for the local charity that provides services and support to children and families, including the boys’ preschool and after school club. It was a really fun thing to be sponsored to do.
The photos are not great because, for a start, they were taken in the pitch dark and they were also taken with my compact camera with its midgy flash.
Inverary Jail:
We were taken on an initial tour by warden Rob so as to get our bearings and hear his tales of spectral encounters:
We were then left to our own devices to explore the prison. We started in the courtroom which was filled with freaky mannequins which creep me out in the daylight let alone the pitch dark:
The jury in particular was full of peculiar looking specimens:
Me in the pitch dark ready to explore the prison buildings:
Yikes! It’s a ghost … or just a cardboard cutout that looks a bit like me:
The straitjacket. If we had actually experienced a ghostly encounter, I might have been in need of this:
A mannequin picking oakam and my first orbs of the night:
This guy freaked me out because I forgot he was there and when I arrived at the top of the stairs and the beam of my torch caught him it scared the stuffing out of me:
Do you see the orb above Julie’s head?
A second later and it had disappeared. Amy’s face is priceless in this one:
Imagine having to scrub floors for eternity. Being a ghost must be right boring:
Amy, Laura and Julie waiting for a ghost to give us a sign of its presence. We waited a long, long time:
Mina on a hammock:
“Is there anybody there? Can you make your presence known? We’re a bit impatient so any time now would be nice. Any sign at all…”
This mangey hound gave me the heebie-jeebies for some reason:
Orbs galore!
Back in the courtroom:
“Is there someone behind me?”
More orbs hovering above:
What a jaunty beard - just the thing to go with that nose:
“Is it not about time you lot left so the ghost can actually appear?”
Scary eyes on the scary mannequin with the scary facial hair:
Look at hoim - definitely guilty:
Officially the most glaikit mannquin in the universe:
Back in the cells trying to commune with spirits:
A dapper mannequin accompanied by a dapper orb:
Lorna, Heather and Alison trying to get ghosts to talk to us:
Tracey and Julie:
Laura and Lorna:
Sitting in the dark nursing a baby for what seems like forever. I know how you feel, mannequin wifey:
Leaving the jail at dawn. I survived!
