Arlo has really gotten the hang of using the baby walker now and zooms about with it at high speed. It looks quite funny seeing someone so tiny moving at such a pace. Incidentally, he was only wearing a nappy at the time because he was recovering from a fever.
Recently Aidan had to deliver a presentation at Beaver Scouts in order to earn a badge. The badge in question was to do with hobbies so he had, therefore, to choose a hobby or interest to speak to the rest of the group about. I thought he might pick pirates or mythical creatures or something but he surprised me by choosing “learning about history” as his topic. As history enthusiasts, Chris and I were both quite chuffed about that.
Aidan chose photographs to illustrate his talk and together we created a collage. This was the result:
And here he is back from Beavers having earned his badge. Well done, Aidan!
We did not stray too far from home on our final day of the holiday. We headed just a brief drive south to Chirk Castle.
Aidan borrowed an activity pack:
Evan learning about bird song:
The boys had fun in a playpark on the site:
Aidan’s first activity was to measure a tree and do some calculations to determine its age:
A view of the Castle:
We were met by Will the Yeoman who allowed the boys to try out his weapons. They, of course, were delighted:
Inside the castle’s walls:
The boys were very taken with the stocks:
Evan studying the weapons:
Aidan had to decide which food would be eaten by the aristocracy and which were eaten by peasants:
Evan dressed up as a Medieval peasant:
The village idiot:
Aidan and Orin were taught how to be Medieval Pikemen:
Evan and Arlo spectating:
Going on a march with their pikes - Orin right at the back:
Evan in the tower:
Will the Yeoman teaching Chris and Aidan how to cleave a man in two or chop down four men at once. Nice!
I need to get some stocks as they would be ideal for Time Outs:
We then went on a woodland walk in the castle grounds. This is Orin’s version of a woodland walk:
We met a trio of Berkshire pigs ….
… and found some wild horses:
It’s pretty annoying when the boys insist on collecting twigs; a bigger “twigs” is even more annoying:
Arlo showing off his sword skills:
Evan looking through binoculars:
Another view of Chirk Castle:
Chris in a field of cows:
Evan crossing a stile:
Evan found a bumble bee:
Evan with a chicken:
Spring lambs - Welsh lambs no less:
We had a quick drive to see the Chirk Aqueduct:
We spent the rest of the afternoon in Llangollen:
A shop sign in Llangollen:
A view of the river from the bridge:
Aidan with a Welsh dragon:
Evan with a Welsh flag:
Playing by the river:
Arlo and I fed the pigeons while the others played by the water:
A view of Llangollen with Castell Dinas Bran visible at the top of the hill. It is unfortunate that we never found the time to climb to the summit as the views would have been spectacular:
Orin going to bed with a carrot. Because milk and cookies are so passe:
The cottage got chilly at nights so Chris and I inevitably ended up with at least two of the kids in bed with us. This was what our bed looked like on the morning we left Wales. Note that Evan brought his bedtime carrot into the bed with him:
Orin saying goodbye to the rocking horse:
This is where we had to park in relation to the cottage. The owners insisted on having both of their cars in the spaces adjacent to the cottage so we had to park in this designated space along the track. It was too narrow for the car so we had to wait for Chris to drive it before we could climb in our out. You can see our cottage in the background right at the end of the track:
Since it was Aidan’s birthday, we decided not to stray too far from “home base”. We, therefore, tootled into Wrexham to visit the Techniquest Glyndwr science centre.
Orin loved the experiment about air flow:
Evan was able to make his own short stop-go animation. How cool is that?
We all had fun with this mirror which distorted the size of the image close up and flipped it upside down a little further back:
Orin playing with heat responsive chemicals:
Aidan learning about electricity consumption:
Putting the organs into a dummy:
I would like to claim that Orin was filled with glee learning about thermodynamics or whatever but actually he was pretending to be a magician:
I was not able to set up the camera quickly enough to get a good shot but I thought Evan’s face was superbly huffy in this picture:
Aidan made DNA:
Evan learning about the effects of gravity on orbits … or just whacking a ball down some holes:
Building a body up layer by layer:
Making a heart pump blood around a body:
On the way back to the cottage, Evan and I walked from Llantysilio to Llandynan:
Evan wanted to see the horses:
You can see our cottage right in the very background of this photo:
A neighbour sheep:
In the garden:
Newborn lambs playing chase in the field next door:
It really does not feel like seven years have passed since Aidan was born and I became a Mummy but Aidan did indeed celebrate his seventh birthday while we were on holiday in North Wales.
The birthday boy with his pressies:
Arlo was determined to help with the unwrapping:
Aidan opening his presents:
Aidan wearing his new Batman costume:
Aidan elected to have pizza for his birthday dinner so we had lunch in Pizza Hut:
We went to the cinema to see ‘How to Train your Dragon’ in 3D, which was Arlo’s first ever time at the cinema:
His birthday cake was a chocolate orange cake:
Once he was home, he opened his final present from us which was a box set of Roald Dahl books:
For breakfast, Chris and Evan ate Welsh cakes, which are like a fruit and suet scone:
On the fifth day of our holiday, we spent the entire day in Chester. Chris was, of course, keen to see as much of Roman Chester as possible while I was interested in the unique architecture of the city. The boys just wanted to know about fighting and battles.
Our first stop was the Grosvenor Museum:
The boys did loads of activities around the museum. This is Orin stencilling in the natural history room:
Evan with some skeletons:
Evan built up the layers of a dinosaur, from skeleton to muscle to skin:
Aidan filled out the answers on a quiz sheet:
The museum has a huge collection of Roman tombstones:
This one depicts a barbarian being trampled by the horse of a Roman soldier:
This one was my favourite. It shows a man lounging on a couch, quaffing wine, and his slave boy bringing him the gift of a severed head. Nice!
Orin (with a little help from his Daddy) built up the model of the amphitheatre:
Aidan did the mosaic by shuffling the tiles:
Evan with some small Roman artefacts:
Huffy!
With a Roman skeleton:
Evan built the arch:
Orin dressed up in Roman armour:
Next stop was the Rows, the streets of Chester that feature timber framed buildings - both Tudor and Victorian - that are galleried:
Eastgate with the Eastgate clock in the background:
Chris, Arlo, Aidan and Evan viewed from one of the galleries:
Orin was dancing to a busker while we were up in the gallery and an American couple came up to him afterwards to compliment him on his moves:
Arlo on Eastgate:
The filigree clock on Eastgate street is the world’s second most photographed clock after Big Ben:
We had a picnic lunch in the park:
We then went to see the ruins of the Roman Amphitheatre, the largest in Britain:
Of course, my boys just treated it as a giant sand pit:
We had a break for ice cream:
We then went to see Chester Cathedral:
The boys resting in the Cathedral grounds:
Aidan and I then went into the Cathedral. We saw this 13th Century tombstone:
Aidan did a quiz where he had to find animals in the stained glass windows. He was told that the most difficult to find was the reindeer but he found it with relative ease and, lo and behold, the reindeer was on the window depicting none other than Saint Aidan:
I loved this statue in the cloisters:
Aidan loved this rhino in the cloister. I would like one for my garden:
Aidan completed the quiz:
I loved this funny wee carving:
We lit a candle for Tottie:
The choir stalls:
I have a little obsession with misericords and Chester Cathedral has 48 of them!
I loved this quilt depicting the Chester Cycle of Mystery Plays. I studied Medieval Mystery Plays so I thought this was brilliant:
Aidan liked this Noah and animals from the Ark all made out of cardboard:
The organist was practising so we were able to hear the organ being played:
I loved the stained glass in the Cathedral:
My boys got really excited by a phone box and had a blast pretending to make a phone call:
Handily, the phone box also functions as a Time Out Capsule!
On the Monday of our holiday, we spent a full and busy day at Chester Zoo. Most zoos in Britain are sad and cramped Victorian relics of a time when the importance of ecology and animal welfare were barely understood so it was refreshing to visit Chester Zoo and see how well-designed it was so that its claims to be supporting the protection of species from extinction were creditable.Aidan at the beginning of our day at the zoo:
We travelled on the monorail so as to start at the back of the zoo and work our way back towards the entrance. In reality we ended up criss-crossing all over the place. The boys enjoyed seeing the animals from an unusual vantage point:
After seeing the tigers - and studying their poo! - the boys played in a play area to burn off some energy from the car journey:
The boys enjoyed learning about the various animals, with Aidan noting down interesting facts, Orin drawing their portraits and Evan scribbling whatever but in a very studied manner:
A serval:
A kangaroo:
A Naked Ape:
Aidan in front of the lion enclosure:
Lunch break:
Mongoose:
Evan, Orin and Aidan riding on a Komodo Dragon:
An actual Komodo Dragon, the first one I had ever seen in real life:
Flamingos:
Swimming penguin:
Lizard:
A snake with its mouth open:
I could empathise so much with this momma orangutan I could almost read her mind. All you want to do some days is get some peace and quiet under a hessian sack but your toddler’s antics are ceaseless:
Big Daddy Orangutan:
Babirusa:
Evan watching the chimpanzees:
Lizard:
Philippine crocodile:
Giraffe:
Aidan and Evan with a statue of a baby elephant:
Black rhino:
This is the face Arlo made when he saw the rhino:
Evan laughing at the funny monkeys:
Arlo with his new orangutan:
This is a view of our cottage. It is the small white building on the right. The larger building on the left, opposite the cottage, is the converted chapel where the cottage’s owners lived. As you can see, we were surrounded by hill farms full of sheep and lambs. It was very tranquil:
A bumble bee on a flower:
Our first stop of the day was at Beeston Castle. Aidan worked on an activity sheet which taught him information about the castle’s history:
The boys had fun exploring the towers on the castle’s outer walls:
A view of Beeston Castle:
Crossing the bridge over the moat:
Exploring inside the castle’s interior walls:
Aidan and I went to explore the castle’s cave system but we could not see much because it was all fenced off:
There was a dragon made of willow in the grounds of the castle:
We then popped over to Nantwich to grab a bite for lunch. We bought food from Subway which pleased my fondness for rhymes since I was then eating a sandwich in Nantwich.
This is Arlo waiting in the car for Daddy and his brothers to return from foraging in Subway:
Yes, that is a foot long sub but I did share with Arlo!
For dessert, we returned to the Ice Cream Farm:
We then crossed the border back into Wales and went for a walk along the canal to experience the knee-quaking awesomeness and engineering marvel that is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
Aidan on the tow path:
Walking along the path on the actual aqueduct itself was one of the most terrifying moments of my life. As a vertigo sufferer, I was very much flooding my fear. Even our usually daredevil children were grateful when we turned around half way along and returned to the path. The photo does not really capture it but I found it very difficult to look through the viewfinder when feeling giddy with fear and it was a challenge to stabilise the camera with one hand while the other was tightly gripped to the buggy:
A worm’s eye view of Evan on the tow path:
A view of the aqueduct. You can see a narrowboat in the middle:
Chris, Arlo and Evan walking along the tow path:
We then went into Llangollen so the children could play in the Riverside Park. I found some weird bark:
Little swinging monkeys:
Aidan and Evan bopping away:
Arlo going through a tunnel:
Orin took Arlo on the bopping thing:
Aidan and Evan playing shop:
Orin breakfasted on scrambled eggs for our first meal in the cottage:
The one thing the boys had all said - in unison - that they wanted to do during our trip was visit the Cheshire Ice Cream Farm so that is what we decided to do on our first proper day of the holiday.It was a brilliant place and the boys had a blast playing on all the equipment in the playpark:
They learned how to milk a cow using fake udders:
Aidan riding on
Babe:
Meeting a horse in the petting corner:
Pigs!
Evan and Arlo in the ice cream parlour:
Aidan on a cool cow sofa:
The ice cream was deeeeeeeeeeeeeelicuous!
Newborn calves:
The World’s Fattest Chicken:
Aidan and Evan worked their way to the centre of a brick labyrinth:
We then headed back into Wales to visit Valle Crucis Abbey, a 13th Century Cistercian Abbey near Llangollen:
Evan seemed intent on making it into even more of a ruin by clambering all over the walls like it was an assault course:
Heading up the spiral staircase:
Orin pretending to be a monk:
A view of the part of the Abbey:
Aidan learning more about the daily life of a monk:
Evan beside the pond the monks kept stocked with fish:
We spent the second week of the Easter holidays vacationing in North Wales which allowed us to explore that part of Wales and also Cheshire, just across the border. We rented a cottage in a village called Llandynan which was a “suburb” of a hamlet called Llantysilio which was, in turn, just outside Llangollen. Yes, it was fairly remote.
This is the cottage, Horeb Bach:
This is the view from the steps:
And this is Chris at the front door:
I found my first ever Welsh daffodil in the garden:
Orin and Evan were quick off the mark exploring the garden:
Aidan in the living room:
Me in the funny mirror (legs actual size):
Evan in his bedroom:
He loved that he had a rocking horse just outside his bedroom:
Aidan in his and Orin’s bedroom:
Chris and Arlo in the main bedroom:
Arlo and me in the kitchen:
We were hungry and tired after a long journey so we immediately headed out to Llangollen to get some chip suppers, which we are in the car. Shabby luxury!
We also needed to stretch our legs so we went for a walk down by a river and the Horseshoe Falls, a half-moon shaped wier designed by Thomas Telford.
Orin presenting me with a daffodil:
The boys had fun dabbling in the water:
We then explored the adjacent church yard:
A frilly daffodil:
