Laura’s Life

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.

We used the October break to visit Jim and Heather at their new abode in Wiltshire for the first time.  We collected Aidan from school and then drove through the night to get there.  I got a tad bored in the wee small hours of the morning so decided to play with my camera, taking photos of the lights on the motorway:

The boys lost no time getting stuck into the toys at Jim and Heather’s house the following day.  Evan especially enjoyed dressing up as Simba:

They also had a whale of a time exploring the vast garden in search of conkers:

This is a view of the garden from the house ….

…. and the house from the garden:

The house is adjacent to a very large playing field that the boys enjoyed running around on:

Evan in the garden:

I loved the flame-coloured leaves of this acer:

Chris and Arlo:

Chris and Aidan playing football:

Heather and Jim have a conservatory they have turned into a playroom.  It was a great space for the boys and all their bits and bobs:

Heather and Jim gave Orin his birthday present:

Orin is a bit of a hellion right now and has a tantrum at the merest whisperof not being in absolute control of his own destiny.  However, rather sweetly, Orin’s request for his birthday had been for three Knight swords so that he could have one and Aidan and Evan could have the others.  He was, therefore, very much delighted to receive three wooden swords.  His displeased facial expression is to do with me taking photographs:

Evan and Arlo reading in bed:

Evan in his own bed:

Jim and Heather have a great view of Old Sarum from their house:

Orin is so chuffed to be able to carry Arlo and Arlo absolutely loves being carried around by Orin:

Orin in the garden:

Chris, Heather and I took the boys for a walk up to Old Sarum.  Of course, they had to take swords with them:

Heather and Chris walking across the field:

 

Chris and Evan walking through the field:

We met some horses along the way:

I liked the starburst shape of this plant:

Aidan walking up the hill to Old Sarum:

I managed to get some photos of a bee taking pollen from this plant:

I liked the way this plant looked like delicate crochet:

Despite my warnings, Aidan scuttled off to play in the undergrowth and consequently was stung on the neck by some nettles.  I think he was, however, rather proud of the resulting war wounds:

Gnarly old tree trunks:

A view from the top of the hill, including Jim and Heather’s house in the centre of shot just where the hedgerow lines the fields:

Chris and Evan:

Evan resting on a bench having finally reached Old Sarum:

Evan resting against a flint wall:

Aidan exploring the well:

Arlo and me at Old Sarum:

Orin between some walls:

Chris:

Arlo and me again:

Playing with swords at Old Sarum:

Orin was excited to receive a bunch of clone troopers and a new Anakin as a belated birthday present from his Uncle Antony:

Orin and Arlo:

The following day, Chris and I took Arlo on a shopping expedition into Salisbury and we saw swans and cygnets in the river:

The animal theme then continued into the afternoon as we took the kids to a pet store.  It specialised in a fantastic array of fish but also had some birds and bunnies and an exotic section filled with lizards, snakes and spiders.

Aidan liked the koi carp best:

Arlo:

Aidan and Arlo:

Chris and Antony allowed the boys to play with their beloved GI Joe figures:

Orin immediately arranged them into opposing factions of goodies and baddies:

Arlo in his Pack ‘n’ Play bassinet:

The following morning we had a very early start to go along to a car boot fair with Antony and Jon.  It was bitterly cold but the kids were motivated nevertheless because they wanted to find lots of toys to spend their pocket money on.  They managed to buy bags of lego, seven Lord of the Rings figures, Power Rangers, a Knights castle complete with two dragons, board games and - thanks to Orin’s incredible eagles eyes - a whole load of Star Wars bits and bobs.

Aidan warming up with a burger:

Orin savouring a hot chocolate:

Arlo and me with our glowing noses:

Evan was chuffed to find this Batman figure and a toy Sheriff Woody:

Modelling my new bunnet and mittens, an early birthday pressie from Chris:

A still life of Heather’s squash:

Evan and Orin playing the piano.  I suspect the song was ‘Yellow Submarine’ since they are currently obsessed with The Beatles:

Orin bought this set of knights, castle and dragons at the boot sale:

Evan and Aidan playing football:

Evan cuddled up with his Jar Jar Binks, another car boot sale find:

Aidan and Evan modelling their new shirts:

Chris and I took Aidan on a trip to Stonehenge.  Orin had a stinker of a cold and Evan and Arlo were too wee to appreciate it so it was a nice opportunity for us to have some time just with Aidan.  Aidan, however, was a tad unimpressed that he could not get up close to these particular standing stones as he is used to do with the neolithic remains closer to home.

We then treated Aidan to a burger which he insisted on eating on the grass so that it was like a picnic:

There were always bunny rabbits galore in Heather and Jim’s garden:

Evan gazing at the rabbits:

Aidan was feeling under the weather one day during our stay so Chris and I took Orin and Evan on a trip to the cinema to see ‘Up’.  We did not see it in 3D since we did not think the wee ones would manage the special glasses but it was still a fantastic movie.  I cried four times during it but also laughed and felt uplifted.

The boys getting ready to leave the house:

Outside the cinema complex in Southampton:

We had lunch in Frankie and Benny’s before going into see the movie:

Arlo:

This Knight Castle was also bought at the boot fair:

Me:

Spiders!

Aidan playing with marbles:

It was Heather and Jim’s 38th Wedding Anniversary which they chose to celebrate with a meal with the whole family:

On our penultimate day in Wiltshire, we had a big family outing to a science centre near Winchester.  The kids had fun playing with the various experiments - with Aidan in particular engaging in it all - and they also enjoyed a planetarium show:

Arlo kept sloughing off his socks so I just took them off to stop them getting lost:

Aidan absolutely loved this exhibit on Archimedes’ Screw:

Orin and Arlo being all cute together:

Jonathan learning about periscopes:

Evan listening to information about the solar system:

Heather and Aidan communicating in braille:

Jessica:

Evan crammed into Arlo’s bouncy chair:

Jim and Heather with Chris and Ant:

Jim reading a bedtime story to Aidan and Orin:

Our journey home to Scotland took a grand total of 14 hours.  Thank our stars for DVD players which kept the kids entertained and subdued for all those hundreds of miles.  We got stuck in a horrid traffic jam on the M6 for a chunk of time.  I got bored so, obviously, had to start mucking around with the camera:

A bit of in-car primal screaming - silently so as not to distrub the kids:

These are photos taken on a crisp and bright Autumn morning during the school run.

Evan and Orin at the school campus with the loch in the background:

Run, Evan, run!

On the lookout for slugs:

Orin waiting for us to catch up (who’da thought!)

That afternoon, we were invited to go to Aidan’s classroom to participate in a Teddy Bears’ Picnic.  Aidan was beaming with pride at having us see his classroom and enjoyed helping his brothers join in with activities and Orin and Evan were delighted to see all the boys and girls, go on a tour of the classroom and eat lots of cake!

These photos were taken in the car prior to going into the school.

Orin with his teddy bear:

Evan with his teddy:

Me with my teddy bear!

I seem to make a lot of posts that are nothing more than collections of photos of the boys that do not really fit into any specific blog entry.  That probably tells you how many photos I take of them each week.

Orin walking along the street in his own wee bubble of imagination as always:

Orin and Evan have been learning all about Autumn at nursery so have been collecting piles of leaves, conkers and pinecones.  This is Orin running (in a goofy style) after collecting yet more red leaves:

Meanwhile, Evan was collecting a fat black slug:

Arlo all cosy inside his snood:

Arlo being adorable:

Arlo surrounded by bubbles in his bath:

More merbabies:

Arlo aged 19 weeks:

It was all change in the boys’ bedrooms this weekend.  The two single beds were moved into Evan’s bedroom, which meant that Evan could finally move out of the cot and into a big boy bed, and Chris built the bunk beds for Aidan and Orin, which frees up so much space in their room.

Evan was super-excited to be getting a big boy bed at long last.  Here he is bouncing all over it:

And lying down:

Aidan in the top bunk:

Orin in the bottom bunk:

Evan’s first night in a big boy bed.  He had to use a sleeping bag because we did not have a spare duvet (oops!)

And this is him in his bed the following night once we had purchased a duvet:

Don’t all toddlers cuddle up in bed with cave trolls?

Orin turned four on Saturday 3 October.  He had been very excited in the days leading up to his birthday so there was every possibility of him exploding on the actual day.

This is Arlo waiting for Orin to come downstairs:

Getting ready to open his presents:

Opening cards:

He was grinning like a Cheshire Cat all the way through opening his presents:

Playing with his Playmobil Dinosaurs:

Orin’s new Cave Troll:

And his Sauron too.  It’s probably not normal for a preschooler to be into Lord of the Rings but he is so we just go with it:

Orin was chuffed to bits to be given this tiny wee stormtrooper by his (girl)friend, Ellen:

Orin munching one of his chocolate skull lollipops.  He was a wee sweetheart and, without even being asked, shared them with Aidan and Evan:

Orin having a cuddle with Arlo:

This is what happens when you give your four year old stickers:

Orin opted to have macaroni cheese for his special birthday lunch:

Chris made a fantastic chocolate cake.  Orin had requested a Star Wars theme (go figure!) so Chris decorated it with white icing to look like the ice planet of Hoth and I added some Galactic Heroes:

Orin’s wee face lit up when he saw the cake coming into the room:

Blowing out the candles:

About to explode with excitement:

Orin eating his scrumptious birthday cake:

The following day, Orin wore a t-shirt he was given for his birthday.  I think it might be a reference to my interest in sideshows:

We took a trip to eat at Pizza Hut and then play for a couple of hours at Sox n Slides soft play centre.  Munching at Pizza Hut:

This is a video made by my clever yet daft brother, Aaron. He definitely has too much time on his hands for a University student but I am still impressed by his video editing capabilities and his creativity.

The plot is a bit like the conclusion of King Kong if it was mashed with a soap opera and stars some bendy monkeys.

Enjoy the randomness!