Laura’s Life

Tuesday was Evan’s first ever day at nursery.  He has been eager to start attending and we felt it made sense to get him used to going while Orin is still there and in advance of him getting his funded place and going give mornings each week.  All Summer holiday he has been saying, “I go to nursery after Summer.”  He will be going just one morning a week for a while and at some stage it will increase to two days.  Evan is just chuffed to bits to be a big boy - though Orin keeps reminding him that he is a Green Goblin while Evan is only a pixie.

Anyway, here is Evan all kitted out and ready to go to nursery for the first time:

This series of my two nursery bound boys together just gets sillier and sillier:

This photo makes me smile every time I see it.  Evan modelling his “blue steel” look.  (If you have seen ‘Zoolander’ then that reference makes sense and if you haven’t the it doesn’t!).  Evan is such a wee comedian.  He cracks me up.

Instead of writing a whole load of bitty entries, I decided to make a sort of anthology of our last week.

Chris took Aidan and his friend Euan on a forestry walk at the weekend, which kept the stress of the playdate outside of the home and ran some energy off them.  Here are a few photos he snapped:

Meanwhile, Orin, Evan and I played with magic maize.  The boys sculpted all sorts of things and I made a fish.

Orin thought he was so cool wearing these shades and an inflatable ball on his head:

Evan wanted to pose for a photo too:

A few months ago, Aidan sowed some nasturtium seeds with his Grandmummy and just this weekend the first one flowered.  He was so proud of his green fingers.

Evan chillaxin’ on Arlo’s bouncy chair:

Sleeping Arlo:

Orin and Evan playing in the garden. (I wonder how many thousands of photos I have taken of the kids in the garden?)

Evan and Orin got some new shoes this week so, of course, they had to be photographed modelling them:

Biggest brother holding littlest brother:

This photo is titled “Why I hate the school run”.  I was soaked to my bones for the second time that day:

Here are some other photos from this week’s walks to and from school.  (The things I do to keep myself entertained for the many hours it takes each day, eh?)

Orin has become a bit of a celebrity on the walk home from school.  Everyone knows his name (from me shouting, “Hurry up, Orin!” no doubt) and he keeps everyone amused with his antics.  He goes into a wee bubble of his own and is totally oblivious to everything and everyone around him.  Everyone loves his dinosaur raincoat too:

I often motivate Orin to keep walking by having him count slugs on each leg of the school run (our record is 126!).  Here are photos of him and Aidan taking a slug census in the playground.  There were 37 in the school playground alone that morning:

It is so much less stressful to walk all that way on a sunny, rain-free day:

This is a collection of photos of Arlo smiling taken this lunchtime.  Warm and fuzzy feelings!

Getting smothered in smooches from his big brothers:

Yesterday was Aidan’s first day back to school, his first day of being in Primary 2.  Here he is in his uniform:

And here he is ready to go off to school:

Chuffed with his new Batman backpack:

Unfortunately his jacket did not even make it to the end of the day: one of his friends pulled on the zip and broke it.  So, having thought I was saving money by using last year’s school jacket, I now have to shell out for a new one.  Sigh.

Yesterday was also Orin’s first day back at nursery so here he is all ready to go:

Evan is going to go to nursery for the first time on Tuesday so it was not yet his first day - but he still made me take photos of him:

And, to complete the set, here’s Arlo.  Not looking too impressed with the prospect of the school run, is he?

Of course, the start of term also means the return of the whole school run ordeal and rigmarole.  It was pouring with rain yesterday which just made matters worse and made Orin’s legs move even slower.

Here is Orin moping along on the way to collect Aidan:

“Where’s Wally?”  Orin so far behind me that he blends into the landscape:

The drowned rat look is what makes me such a “Yummy Mummy” obviously:

Having collected Aidan, we dripped our drenched and bedraggled selves all the way home again:

These are photos that I took on this morning’s school run.

Orin with his red feathery moustache:

Evan and a dinosaur:

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: