Laura’s Life

I finally got around to the last of our ocean themed activities so can now write a second (and final) entry on this topic.

One night, I made the boys octopus hotdogs in seaweed noodles with pea plankton for dinner:

We made some origami whales:

Obviously Arlo had to have quite a bit of help with his:

The finished pod of origami whales swimming across the fridge - appropriately held up by Spongebob magnets:

A couple of weeks ago, the boys made a squid out of a toilet paper tube and glued together a lobster:

And, finally, just this past weekend, Aidan and Orin painted some shark models:

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the Summer holidays so we had to have a family outing, whatever the weather.  Thankfully, though it was overcast, there was no rain until it was time to head home.

Our first stop was Carnassarie Castle.  Hiking up the hill towards the castle:

Orin ready to fight orcs:

Aidan:

Chris and Evan meandering up the hill:

Guddling in water:

Carnassarie Castle:

Me:

Chris and Evan climbing the stairs:

I actually did a good job of having Chris take some photos of me on this trip so apologies if you feel bombarded by them:

Me, Arlo and the castle:

My four cheeky boys and me:

Rampaging on the hill:

Chris inside the castle:

Aidan firing at goblins:

Aidan with the well:

An arrow slit window:

Looking upwards:

Orin and Evan on a balcony:

Aidan - looking glum - on the castle ramparts:

Poor wee Arlo doesn’t get to see much from inside the papoose:

Another view of the castle:

Aidan running around the castle grounds:

Evan:

Orin rolled down a hillock and landed with his head in a bog, which resulted in a massive tantrum:

Evan was giving me palpitations by running all over the steep hill:

Evan chuffed to have found a slug:

Evan guddling in the water on the return journey:

Aidan running down the hill:

Orin recovered from his tantrum:

Evan found another slug:

Evan leading the way:

Orin giggling:

Chris and Evan playing by the brook:

Aidan paddling:

Orin:

Studying a big stream:

Orin by the stream:

Aidan by the stream:

We then headed south and travelled out on the Kilberry peninsula where we stopped by Ormsary to have an in-car picnic.

Arlo and me:

We travelled a little further on so that the boys could play on a beach.  Orin refused to put on trousers that were a little damp, hence his state of undress.

Orin being nutty:

A view over to Islay and Jura:

A flower:

Orin studying a shell:

Aidan on the shore:

Aidan clambering on a rock:

Evan on the beach:

Chris:

Another flower:

Orin collecting mussel shells:

Evan offering Orin a shell:

Portraits of Evan:

Aidan on a rock:

A view of the shore:

Me - with my crazy windswept hair:

Evan and me:

#

Chris:

Arlo snoozing in the car (which was parked right next to us the whole time we were on the beach, I hasten to add):

The photos are lousy, but on the drive back to the main road we saw two wild deer:

A view of Gigha:

We had a lovely day together and it was a fun end to the summer holiday.

Last Thursday I badly needed to run some energy out of the boys before the rain started lashing down and we were housebound once more so we held a Mini Olympics tournament.

(I did not get the right shutter speed until towards the end so some of the photos are somewhat blurred - sorry)

The first event was the climbing frame dangle:

Evan refused to do it because he spotted a spider web and so was disqualified:

Long Jump:

 

Walking with a balloon between the knees:

Freestyle Jumping:

Hopping:

Non-stop jumpathon:

Sprinting:

The Awards Ceremony.  Gold Medals all around.

Champion Aidan:

Champion Orin:

Champion Evan:

Champion Arlo, who won for heptathlon sleeping:

And a random photo by way of a postscript.  Evan and Arlo on the baby gym:

The boys were bursting with way too much energy yesterday morning so I took them for a trek through a section of Kilmartin Glen.

Among the standing stones:

Running to the stone circle:

Aidan, Orin and Evan inside the burial cyst:

The stone circle:

Arlo and me:

Evan clambering on the stones:

Orin putting his welly back on:

Evan resting on a style:

Thistles:

Puddle play:

A view up the Glen:

Orin on top of a burial cairn:

Aidan climbing out of the cairn:

Evan on top of the smaller cyst:

Evan looking at the cows in the adjacent field:

Orin climbing back out of the cyst:

The boys got huffy when I told them it was time to walk back to the car:

Evan decided to go and live with the sheep:

Orin flapping his bodywarmer around:

Arlo and me:

Arlo in the car:

Having not run quite enough energy out of them, I decided to take the boys for a trek around Moine Mhor - the Great Moss.

Aidan climbing on a tree:

Arlo inside the papoose:

Evan pointing at the bog:

Aidan:

Me and the Moss:

Orin capering on the boardwalk:

Evan walking along the boardwalk:

Aidan:

Evan:

Scrabbling about in the dirt as per usual:

I like the twisty branches of this tree:

We stopped off at this bridge on the way home from Glasgow so that I could feed Arlo. Chris and the boys decided to stretch their legs and Chris took this footage of them having some kind of battle.

Our local agricultural show was held this past weekend so we thought we could take the boys along to it to check out the animals, tractors and mud.

Walking from the car park to the fields.  This photo made me think of ‘Reservoir Dogs’ and I had “Little Green Bag” playing in my head:

Highland Cattle.  Isn’t the calf adorable?

Some other kind of cattle (limousin maybe?)

Orin patting a calf:

Looking at the cattle:

A cow and her calf:

Bums!

Playing in muddy tyre tracks:

Chris and Evan:

Studying fleeces:

Orin wandering across a field:

Looking at the giant vegetables:

The boys enjoying meeting the animals in the petting area:

A cute wee Hebridean sheep:

An alpaca mummy and baby.  They have the cutest wee faces:

Chris and Evan looking at the alpacas:

A donkey:

A huddle of cuddly sheep:

Vintage tractors:

Speedy the tortoise:

Prize-winning blackface sheep:

Arlo and me:

Chasing after the sheep that are about to be shorn …. for some reason:

Orin in the mud:

Evan and Chris watching the sheep shearing competition:

Munching chips:

Eating candy floss:

Orin striding up a dirt track:

Some big horses - Clydesdales maybe?

Aidan with the Highland cattle:

Mud-splattered Aidan:

Silly faces:

Evan fell into a deep muddy puddle:

Poor wee soggy scone:

Heading back to the car:

The older boys playing at making a magic potion and casting spells:

Aidan taking photos of his brothers.  The camera bug really has bitten him:

Arlo on the baby gym:

Arlo aged 10 weeks:

This morning we went on a sponsored toddle with some of the other mums and children from the playgroup we attend.  The funds raised will go toward buying more toys and resources.

Setting out to meet everyone and already Evan looks unimpressed at the prospect - but not as unimpressed as Orin and Aidan who refused to even be in the photo:

Arlo all cosy in the back seat:

All the children having a rest at the midway point:

The boys with the new cars I bought them for completing the entire circuit without (too much) whinging:

Aidan and Evan were sick at the weekend so it was the perfect opportunity for Orin to grab some “Mummy and Me” time.  Rather undiplomatically, we chose to make chocolate fridge cake.

Greasing the tin:

Adding the chocolate to the butter:

Stirring the mixture on the hob:

Crumbling the cake - I am not good enough to make it myself and cheat by buying madeira cake:

Bashing the biscuits into crumb:

Somehow Evan was suddenly over his bout of illness and came to spectate as Orin mixed all the ingredients together:

Orin (and Evan) patting the mixture down into the tin:

Licking the spoon clean:

The finished fridge cake, following a spell in the fridge and some rubbish slicing by me:

Orin had fun making the cake and he, his brothers and his friends certainly enjoyed eating it!

Rather than make a separate entry, here is a photo of Arlo with the giraffe toys he received from Bill and Anne who have an incredible knack of finding giraffes:

Are you forming the impression that my boys really enjoy treasure hunts?

This morning was breezy but sunny but rain is anticipated (and did indeed arrive as an afternoon downpour) so I decided to sieze the opportunity to take the boys out for a walk around the loch and to motivate their wee legs I turned it into a treasure hunt.

Checking the treasure list as we set off around the loch:

Aidan immediately found the shiny leaf that was on the list of things to find:

Arlo and me:

I think Evan is looking a bit sorry for himself in this photo because I just read him the riot act about trying to wade into the water:

Orin carrying the “treasure bag”:

Evan having a turn at carrying it:

Guess who actually ended up carrying it all the way around?  That would be me then.

A view of the loch:

Aidan:

Orin found the brightly coloured flower from the list:

The boys running off in search of more treasure:

A bug on a flower:

I actually like the stark contrast of light and shadow in this photo for some reason.  I guess it looks like Evan is bathed in sunlight:

Orin:

Evan looking contemplative:

Orin yapping away about something:

Aidan ticking another treasure find off the list:

“I’m the King of the Castle …”

A pretty purple flower:

Evan chuffed to have found the long leaf from the list.  He crinkles his nose just like I did as a kid (and now maybe):

Evan paddling in the loch:

Arlo and me at the loch’s shore:

The boys inside the bird hide:

Someone had added clay features to the trees to make them look like faces:

The boys having some kind of battle.  It looks like the other two ganged up against Aidan but he seems to have found it funny:

Sitting on a perch:

Finding a slug, which was another item on the list.  Yes, slugs can be treasure!

Flowers:

Climbing on a drystone dyke:

Orin:

Drawing patterns and shapes in the grit - as one does!

Running off in search of the last items of treasure:

More perching:

Orin being a zombie:

Evan wearing Aidan’s jacket as well as his own:

Doing some kind of matador thing with their jackets:

Another shot of Arlo and me:

Evan looking huffy while waiting for his brothers to catch up:

Aidan and Orin catching up in the cheekiest way possible:

Evan with a beaver.  Ufortunately we did not manage to spot any real live beavers:

Arlo awake - but back in the car.  For him the walk just never happened:

Back in the car and ready to go home:

We never did find a feather - the last item on the treasure list - but a good time was had by one and all.