Jo's birthday August 2014

We don't usually get the opportunity to see Jo on her birthday so it was areal treat to be able to spend the day with her this year.

                                     

Lots of prezzies for the birthday girl and a big kiss from Madelyn. Mwah!

We went to Salcey forest  for the day. There was a treetop walkway which ended above the trees and gave a stupendous view for miles.

There was also a Gruffalo Trail which Madelyn enjoyed following

     

Hiding !!

        

Can you see her?

           

Happy Family 💕   

                        

Jo and her "baby"

                       

As you have probably noticed Madelyn is wearing a winter hat. She made a fuss about wearing her sun-hat and when Jo said she had to wear a hat, she picked the winter one. She must have been roasting but she wore it all afternoon🌝

We finished off the day by going out for dinner. We went to the Old Red Lion and had massive steaks.

A lovely, lovely day .

Day in London August 2014

          As Madelyn had never been on a train Jo and Andy suggested we have a day in London.

Very excited to be on the train.

The reason for the trip was to take Madelyn to Hamleys. It was absolutely heaving as you would expect but she loved it.  The sparkley tattoo was a big success

                                                 

Photo opportunity with Elmer

                          We had a good old mooch about but it was all too much for one little person who flaked out.

                                      

We wandered down to Trafalgar Square where there was a selection of "statue" artists.

                        

                       Cheeky chops woke up and had a piggy back from mummy

                    

   

                     It was a lovely, lovely day but we were all exhausted when we got home apart from Madelyn who did a bit of watering for me!

           

                       

   

Summer 2014

The weather has been gorgeous this summer and as usual we had the kids for a few days. Because I am a dingbat I didn't take any photos when we went out apart from these few when we took Abigail and William to Hastings . We had a great day playing on the beach with a frisbee and playing golf. Lunch in a greasy spoon followed by candy floss, rock and ice cream. Perfect.

Looking for sea glass.

It was lovely just having the two of them for a change. 

Phoebe joined us the next day so we all went for a McDs. After they had unpacked Abigail discovered that she had forgotten her pyjamas. Vicky had left these behind, they were just the job

Family weekend at Jo's

Weekend at Jo's July 2014.

We had a lovely weekend at Jo's despite the fact that William had a broken wrist and wasn't really able to join in messing around with the others, which was very sad to watch. Especially when they all went on the bouncy castle😟

Beautiful girlies. 

The Corby Silver Band were playing at Brigstock village fete so we all trouped along to watch.

                      

It was a really good afternoon. The highlight for William was winning a stupendous prize on the tom-bola. Lots of chuppa cup lollies and other bits and pieces made into the shape of a flower. Boy heaven.

                                  

                         

He was desperate to open it but Emma persuaded him to wait until we got home. Bless him, he did share it with the others.

            Bouncy fun.

            

My super duper grandchildren

Emma with her "baby" and William 😘

Jo and Madelyn feeling the love

Nick and Andy feeling the love ! Styling it out boys?

                     

             It was a good weekend for photo opportunities but I didn't manage to get everyone together.

                    

Jo and Malcolm.

Abigail and Madelyn.

And finally.....................

Getting ready for Glastonbury maybe.

In the sunshine

               

Or in the rain.

 

 

Baby sitting June 2014

Madelyn's childminder had a holiday with her daughter to celebrate the end of exams. Good news for me as I got to spend a week with little cheeky chops.

We just pottered about and apart from taking her out one day wearing pajama bottoms the week passed  without any calamities . 

        Oooops!

Washing up.

                     

 Washing up and playdoh were popular activities.

The Desborough carnival took place on Saturday afternoon. There were a few floats and a marching band so we went along to watch

Waiting! Here they come

                       

She had a go on some of the rides, then it was time for an ice cream, except she didn't like the blue sprinkles, so Jo and I had to scoff it.

New Forest June 2014

 The sun was shining as we made our way down to Charlotte's caravan in the New Forest.

We kicked off the weekend by going to a Mowtown tribute night at a lovely resturant over looking the sea to the Isle of Wight

Lovely views all round.

On Saturday we went for a walk in the Forest. We were letterboxing. It's a bit like geocaching but you dont get given any co ordinate and you don't use a GPS. It can be a bit confusing but we managed to find most of the "boxes"

It was also very muddy! 

              

Another bridge, another photo opportunity

      

The next day we took the ferry to the Isle of Wight.

So many little boats in the Solent , it's a wonder they don't all bump into each other! 

                   

 I've not been there for donkey's years. Rog had a walk planned for us, so we set off at a fair old pace and walked to the other side of the island. The beach was rubbish, lots of stones and no sand but the swimmers got to have a dip. Then we went for ice creams and admired the view

            Just lovely.

    

Roy's birthday June 2014

We went over to Spain to celebrate Roy's 85 th birthday. We were only there for a couple of days but managed to get out for lunch with Joyce and Colin.good good and good company.

Not a very good photo of me though!

 Roy had his birthday party at a restaurant called Valpariso in Mijas. It was lovely. Drinks by the pool and dinner on the terrace.

We were on a table with their Spanish neighbours, two of which  Trino  and Anna , spoke no English at all. They get on particularly well with Joyce and Colin so it didn't seem to matter one bit!

                  

                      Not really sure why Joyce is wearing this bib though!

There was entertainment throughout the evening. This woman sang fairly mellow stuff but there was a singer who performed some light classical pieces and of course good old disco music. 🎶

The birthday boy blows out his candles.