Summer holidays!

This summer we managed to get in a proper summer holiday, a big trip with activities and visits to friends and family, all in one! Despite being done on a bit of a shoestring budget we managed to squeeze an impressive amount into nearly two weeks worth of travel to London and back again, at the high of the summer heatwave...

The first of many new living rooms to play in... this is at Auntie Liz's house on the way down.

And the first of many parks, this one in Loughborough.

Next stop was at my sister Heather's in Chingford.
Lots of paddling pool fun. It was HOT in London!

A very excited Miriam and Lydia getting to try out Uncle Theo's car!

Naomi getting somewhat adventurous at the park in London.

A most welcome ice cream break.

It so happens there was a funfair at the park near Chingford so the girls got to try out some classic amusements. A shame the steam trains that run in the park weren't on that day...

More of the funfair

Cousin Kirsty came over for a visit with her sausage dog slinky (recently also featured on Supermarket Sweep; yes, really), and the girls overcame their fear of dogs

On the hottest day we went for a train ride to the cinema with our cousins

Miriam was most pleased to be seeing Toy Story 4!

Esther just liked having a ride on the train!

Another day and we went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.
A really fun day out.

The museum has lots of classic toys 

And a few other fun things!

...including a puppet stall for children to have a go at.

On to Jay's sister Fay, and inheriting a lot of Barbie stuff. Here they are giving it a workout on day one.

Biggest swing ever!

A grand day out to a certain block themed adventure park.
Brilliant.

Lego everywhere!

And a lot of rides very suitable for wee ones.

Lydia having a go at controlling our helicopter.

Miriam had a shot too...

A brilliant puppet show to entertain us during lunch.

Lydia, Miriam and Naomi had a go on the cars (Lydia was on a different track for smaller ones) but I only got a photo of Miriam. It looked really fun.

Best part of the day was seeing Miriam on rides like this. It turns out she *really* likes them - lots of squeals!

Miriam liked this pirate ship one too.

Naomi had a great time as well, but just trying to capture a natural-looking picture of her happy is too much.

Hey, a local landmark!

Back to Loughborough and a Pizza Hut with friends. This means some Ice Cream Factory action!

There seems to be a theme of foot-related statues in Loughborough.

Naturally, of course, we still needed Pancake Saturday!

All in all, a brilliant time had by all.

Catch up

As it's a new year, let's catch up on the other things we omitted to blog about in 2017...

Quite some time ago now I bought a shed, so we had somewhere to put all the stuff that was in the garage.
Miriam helped me choose one - but she was also quite taken by this play house! Maybe some time.

Bed is a dangerous business and needs protective gear! 

Choo choo!

 

Admiring the view from their (then new) bedroom

Naomi made a stained glass window for her bedroom

Three years ago I was taking Naomi to nursery on my way to work, and she picked up this twig for me. It's still on my desk!

Naomi photobombing a picture I was taking of Lydia

...that's better!

Now Pancake Saturday alternates with Waffle Saturday!

Yum!

Lydia is getting good at drawing - she drew her family in creche at church

Here we are

Lydia also isn't totally decided on which way up she prefers to sleep.

World's biggest strawberry! We didn't grow this one.

The girls also now like to make tents in their bunk bed.

Getting ready for the garage conversion, we temporarily rehomed some furniture in a friend's shed. Here comes the benefit of Kevin's enormous size. that's a full height warddrobe, drawers, blanket box and a parcel trolley in there, with no hassle at all. Well, I thought that was pretty good.

Our little paddling pool is no longer big enough for so many children, so we got an upgrade near the end of the summer. No doubt it'll see a bit more use in 2018.

I gather that is a campfire.

I just like the expression Esther has here 

Button jar full - treat town!

No comment :)

Starting to make use of the play room. Of course, screens already make an appearance.

Treat town! Well done Lydia.

Jay went away for the weekend shortly after Miriam's birthday. Here we are trying out one of Miriam's birthday presents. Lots of fun!

Of course the cups also double up for magic tricks. Miriam invented this one herself!

While Jay was away we had a traumatic hour where we went to the school playground with bikes and all managed to injure ourselves (except me) - snack time was instigated to bring an end to the CRYING from all parties involved.

Guess who's moved to the big table!

Hurray!

Some nice dolly play

:-)

Naomi made a microphone so she could interview Miriam. The interview was extensive and detailed. Forensic even.

More high quality drawing.

Some cool looking clouds from my office.

Treat town - McDonalds ice cream!

This picture was in my "not yet blogged" directory but I'm sure I've posted it before. Anyway, it's Miriam from just before her 4th birthday looking very beautiful.