Phoebe's 13 th Birthday April 2014 🎁

Today we headed over to Maidstone to celebrate Phoebe's birthday. James and Aimee were there with little Henry. Not seen him for ages and he is growing up fast

Happy cousins.

         💝   The birthday girl 💝

Nick did a lovely BBQ for lunch and thankfully it stayed dry long enough for us to eat and for little Henry to get outside in the sunshine

   

 

After lunch Phoebe opened her presents, mainly clothes, and then did a fashion parade. 

                

We bought her some hair wavers

I think she was pleased with them! Another favourite was this outfit from Aimee

                                    

I think she had a great time and I'm sure the clothes will get plenty of wear.

     Presents from Granny and Grandpa              

A lot of candles this year🎉

          

Happy Birthday Gorgeous. Hope you enjoy every second.

The Aldrich Gang April 2014

After we got back from Swanage it was a quick turnaround to get ready for Phoebe,Abigail and William. We love having them and we get to go to a lot of places that we normally wouldn't bother with. 

The weather was good so on the first day we set off for a picnic at Tilgate Park in Crawley.

We took some badminton rackets and a ball. Simples! 

             

     Badders anyone?

They played all afternoon, so did we!! Needless  to say, we were quite tired when we got home

Next day we went to the Science Park at Herstmonceux. We've been before but they still found enough to occupy themselves for the day.

Building a dam.

We went into the telescope dome this time. 

They opened the roof which was quite impressive. Unfortunately the presentation was just a bit too technical and I don't think the kids enjoyed it much. 

The last time we went we were told that there was an image of Albert Einstein, a bit of an optical illusion,that could be seen from a metal work globe of the Earth. We couldn't see it then but this year we did! 

Clever stuff ! 

Next day the kids did some craft.

 In the afternoon we went to Wet And Wild. We went last year on a rainy day during the summer holidays and it was rammed. However, this year we went on a sunny day and there were only about 20 kids in the whole place. Perfect.

         

                        

                 Water babies

              

The next day William got taken off to golf by grandad. The girls made up a dance

It was a beautiful day so we went outside onto the green and they had lots of space to practise.

So flexible, makes me feel as if I'm made of wood. !!!

                         

   

All too soon the week was over. We had a brilliant time.

Swanage with the Ellis Famliy. April 2014

The weather was not really very kind to us and we got a good soaking on more than one occasion. However , Madelyn had the time of her life.

Just digging has a timeless appeal and even in the rain she managed a smile.

 The sun did make an appearance and  Jo and Andy got to ride their bikes. 

                        

Kneesy does it!

Andy and his dad soaking up some rays.

We went to a place called Farmer Palmers. It was aimed at the under 8s so it was just right for Madelyn

 She had a whale of a time

 Feeding the lambs was a bit scary. They all rush out in a bunch and all go for the same bottle. They are really quite strong so she had to hang on tight.

Waiting for them!

Hang on tight!!

Jo and Andy had bought a little scooter with them for Madelyn to play on.

She can go really fast and has developed a fancy bit of leg work

Throwing stones at Lulworth Cove

                 

Where ever you go, my arm will be around you.

Yorkshire March 2014

We had a lovely week with Joyce and Colin.  The weather was a bit mixed but we did manage to get out for a couple of walks.

We went up to Ilkley Moor  and although it was bright, it was eyewateringly cold.  Our walk was supposed to take an hour from start to finish but after 1:30 we were nowhere near the end so we cut it short and went for lunch in the pub. 

For our next outing Colin had found a walk that followed the river. Funnily enough, there was a pub on the route, so we stopped for lunch there as well.

 It wasn't a particularly nice day, but the going was flat and considering the amount of rain we've had it wasn't too muddy. 

There has been lots of reports about rivers bursting their banks but until you see the effects of flooding its hard to imagine . This is a bit difficult to make out but it is a sheep. I think it must have fallen in the water and drowned and then it got caught in the tree.

The water must have been very high.

We also went to a coal mine. We went down in the lift that the miners used. Didn't like it much I have to say. The conditions years ago were awful. Some people spent their whole time on their sides chiseling away at the coal above them with just a candle for light. It improved a lot as the years went by and it had all been set out to show how and when things improved. It was a good day out but they wouldn't let us take photos of any of it.