Just got this from Chris & Sam:
I also have about a million pictures of snow and Christmas to catch up on. Watch this space...
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Donkey Seller
Nativity time at Holly's school; I'm surprised they're "allowed" to do such an overtly Christian production but it's all good fun; the story of a simple donkey salesman on the road to Bethlehem, and the various characters who pass by, one day around 2000 years ago.
Holly was a star, and here she is on stage doing her wee star dance.
We weren't sure what the protocol would be with regard to photos, nor what the visibility would be like. Lo and behold, we had a front row seat and carte blanche, and like an idiot I'd left the camera at home. These are a couple of snaps from my phone, and Helen and Sam took a few more which I hope to get hold of soon...
Holly was a star, and here she is on stage doing her wee star dance.
We weren't sure what the protocol would be with regard to photos, nor what the visibility would be like. Lo and behold, we had a front row seat and carte blanche, and like an idiot I'd left the camera at home. These are a couple of snaps from my phone, and Helen and Sam took a few more which I hope to get hold of soon...
Monday, December 07, 2009
There Will Be No Miracles Here
Another weekend; a visit to the Dean Gallery and the hotbed of festive consumerism that is Craigleith retail park where Louis and I escaped the madness in the playpark. Then a rendezvous with Leo and his pal Becca in Morningside where much fun was had frolicking in the cool sunshine. Back home, Louis has a go with my specs.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
First School Photo
Holly had her picture taken at school a few weeks ago, and the proofs arrived in due course. We had a few to choose from, and they all seemed a little stilted and awkward, but this was the best one (even at a jaunty angle).
Monday, November 30, 2009
Stonehenge comes to Drylaw
On the way home from swimming, and with the light failing, we stopped at the new play park in Drylaw. The sky was clear and the moon was full, leading to an unlikely lunar alignment...
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The Park In The Dark
A bit of catching up as usual. Two weekends ago, we visited the new Visitor Centre at the Botanics. After a bit of a potter there (it's very nice and makes the Botanics a much more attractive option in poor weather) we headed out into the garden, just in time to be told it was closing. So we headed across to Inverleith Park for a play on the swings.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Let's Go Fly A Kite
Friday evening saw us round for dinner with Sam & Chris, so the combination of dreich weather and a light hangover on Saturday made for a fairly leisurely day. After a family bath (without me, there's no room) and ballet, Holly and Louis made scones. Sunday's weather was a bit better, so we headed down to Silverknowes to do a bit of kite flying and splashing in the tide pools. The day ended with a screening of Finding Nemo for the kids (and me, there was room this time), and a bit of photographic self-portraiture by Holly.
Visitors from Englandshire
Last weekend, we had Catherine, Matt & Isabel staying for the weekend. Saturday was pretty dreich, so we met the Evanses at the museum for lunch. Dave and Paula were also in town, and we popped along to their gig at the Auld Toll after dinner at Montpelier's. On Sunday, we all met up again for lunch at one of our regular haunts, the Queen's Gallery Café. The sun shone, the kids played in the garden, and a swell time was had before we took the Morrises back to the airport.
Return of the Mac
Well, I scrounged a "pre-owned" hard disk from someone at work, dug out my tiny screwdrivers, and sat down for a couple of hours to wrestle with the innards of the ol' not-so-reliable G4 iBook. Lo and behold, it sprang back to life and is chuntering merrily on my lap as we speak. Click through for more pictures but don't worry - it's a few that were missed from the last catchup rather than a blow-by-blow laptop dismantling...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
It's Been A While
The cobbler's children are the worst shod, it seems. The sudden (but not unexpected) demise of a long-in-the-tooth laptop in the home of an alleged IT "professional" renders the household sans email, sans blog, sans everything. So I find myself using Helen's work laptop to upload a batch of photographic highlights from the last month or so. The batch includes getting ready for school, crawling around under the floor, mucking around with a large cardboard box, a walk/ride in the rain, halloween fancy dress, washing off body paint, a new swimming hat, lunch at the EICA and finally, a day off school with an upset tummy. The old laptop is due for resurrection any day now...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Jumpers & Sleepers
Not much photo activity over the last fortnight; I've been busy doing a bit of DIY around the house (before and afters to follow when it's done) and our trusty wee Canon Ixus succumbed to the ravages of family living. In the meantime, here are a couple of snaps from the weekend of Holly being typically gung-ho and Louis being atypically asleep in the middle of the day. He's not too keen on his lunchtime nap these days, but on the way back from the supermarket in the bike trailer the sandman paid him a visit. He slept for an hour or so, outside on what was quite a chilly day, insulated by hessian bags of Cheerios and cheese twists.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The White House
Oh, and one more thing. Last week we had Niall & Laura and Grandma & Papa over, helping out with the house painting. We made good progress, but there's plenty left to do. Here's a wee selection of pictures from Niall.
Doors Open Day
Last weekend was Doors Open Day in Edinburgh. We met up with the Evanses and selected a couple of kiddie-friendly possibilities, the Granton Lighthouse and Alien Rock, a climbing centre located in an old church in Newhaven. The lighthouse is home to some kind of arty architects' office, but was once used for storing and testing the lamps. We had a long queue - during which the kiddies played in the art - and a climb up a couple of steep staircases to the lamphouse, which offered great views over Granton-in-regeneration. It was really quite vertiginous. After that though, we headed to Alien Rock, where they were doing taster sessions for 5 year olds and over. We signed up Holly and Leo, and had lunch in the viewing gallery. Holly had a wee practice - without shoes, ropes or helmet - in the bouldering room, and took to it straight away. Oddly enough when she was kitted up and roped up out in the main arena, she was much more hesitant and cautious - too much fuss, too much of an audience perhaps. Back in the bouldering room, off she went up the wall, way above my head height, secure in the knowledge of her own abilities and the big, soft mat to fall onto. She loves the climbing, so we'll definitely be back. Maybe she'll be a climber and cause us endless anxiety as she grows older and more confident...
September Ketchup
Much water has flowed under the proverbial bridge this September; not so much in the way of pictures though. Here's a catchup collection of snaps, most are pretty much self-explanatory but include cavorting in the garden, mucking about before school, drawing on Louis, drawing with Jasmin and taking to the air at the Queen's Gallery.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Pulling Power
A remarkable event when I picked Holly and Louis up from Grandma & Papa's the other day. Louis, keen as ever to be involved with the bicycling aspects of the journey, towed his big sister along in the trailer and didn't want to stop:
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Going Dutch - The Movie
A selection of video clips from our recent holiday in the Netherlands, bolted together for your viewing convenience.
Monday, September 07, 2009
I Love My Bike
On Sunday, Pete Evans invited us to stop by his cricket club's end-of-season match and barbecue. A slight slope outside the clubhouse gave Louis just the incentive he needed to work on his balancing skills...
BOOM!
Lastnight I took Holly to see the fireworks concert that traditionally marks the end of the Edinburgh Festival. Helen had been given a couple of tickets for Princes Street Gardens by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, one of her clients. It was a late night for Holly, and she started to get a bit nervous as "zero hour" drew closer, and the test flares went up. But the look on her wee face when the sky lit up in front of her and she realised there was nothing to be afraid of was something to behold. The music was all Handel, I think they always - for obvious reasons - play the Music for the Royal Fireworks, which didn't do that much for me. It was sandwiched, however, by two choral pieces, Zadok the Priest to open with and the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah to finish. These big, bold, bombastic pieces fitted the fireworks nicely I thought. Stirring stuff. The whole thing lasted 45 minutes, which was more than enough for Holly, and she finally hit the sack around 10:15. And on a school night! We'll get into trouble...
We've Got Woods pt II
A portrait of a fairly "typical" weekend, up to a point. Ballet on Saturday morning, and the Royal Command Performance that precedes it; a walk in Ravelston Woods, this time equipped with a rope for the purpose of - quite literally - lashing up a swing among the trees. Louis' bike riding develops apace, he even seeks out the little muddy tracks off the main path for extra amusement. The first quorate Sunday morning Evans rendezvous for a while took place at Dobbies garden centre, reportedly the largest in Europe or something. The kids had a great time exploring the myriad sheds, huts and summerhouses on display. And to round it all off, today we juiced some of the apples from our tree for a nice accompaniment to lunch.
Monday, August 31, 2009
We've Got Woods
A quick summary of the weekend; on Saturday we tootled over to Ravelston Woods, where we took a stroll along leafy paths while Louis scooted and/or walked his Tiger bike along behind. His first off-road experience! Holly found a tree with droopy, springy branches and had a great time launching herself into the air with it. Sunday saw Louis expanding his nap-time roll-call with Cat, Bear, Big Dog, Little Dog and Holly's pink ballet rucksack. This (Monday) evening before bedtime, he spent a few moments catching up with the celebrity chit-chat in Heat magazine.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The White House
A few pics I missed, from the gap between us returning from holiday and Niall and Laura's wedding. John started to paint the house, with a little help from Holly and Louis. Louis also got his first golf lesson, and the weather was (for a short while) nice enough for the kids to have dinner in the garden.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Niall & Laura Get Married
A grand day out. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll spare you too many more of mine at this stage. Suffice to say that although Louis wasn't on top form thanks to another coldy cough, Holly did a great job as flower girl, and this Millar family went home tired but happy.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Tour de Paisley
Bizarre event of the week was Lance Armstrong's sudden appearance in Paisley, announced at very short notice via Twitter. I took the day off work and went along. The rain was tipping down and I barely got a glimpse of the man - my group were unceremoniously dropped when the road rose - but I managed a brief handshake at the end. An enjoyable, slightly surreal day out with a fun vibe. More on my Twitter feed, and on Google News.
First Day
Today was Holly's first day at school. Lastnight she chose a uniform and laid it out ready for the morning. She took the whole thing in her stride, helped enormously by meeting her pal Eleisha in the playground. She participated enthusiastically in the introductory "treasure hunt" before the parents were sent away, and even popped her hand up to volunteer the fact that she could write her name. She ended the morning full of smiles and stories and new pals. What a wee star, we're so proud of her. More pictures to follow from John Lodge's camera in due course.
Going Dutch - Chapter III
We pick up the story on Tuesday, when we took the car (our only car trip of the entire holiday) to the Hoge Veluwe National Park near Arnhem. They have a fleet of 1700 white bicycles which visitors can use for free, and a network of cycle paths to ride them on. The centrepiece of the park is the Kröller-Müller museum, but we bypassed that in favour of visiting the surreal inland dune system, bizarrely set amid a forest of Scots Pine. Wednesday was rainy, so we went swimming and then had a wee outing to the centre of Voorschoten, followed by - you guessed it - beer and ice cream at the Vlietland Pavilion. Thursday we took the train into Amsterdam, and bypassed the city's more adult attractions to spend much of the day exploring the Vondelpark and its manifold kid-friendly spaces, including a paddling pool which was a great hit. We rounded off the day with a stroll along the Prinsengracht and a pause for ice cream and beer before the train back to Voorschoten. The sunshine continued on our final day, and we returned to Wassenaar beach for more sun, sea and sand. Not to mention, of course, the ice cream and beer at the end of the day. The homeward ferry journey was even better than the outward, with a better view, a quieter cabin, and two kiddies who relaxed and slept well after a spot of dancing in the bar to the ship's resident band. A fantastic trip to a fantastic kid-friendly location, and good weather to go with it. When's the next one?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Going Dutch - Chapter II
Friday, and after a morning of pottering and visiting our hosts' allotment to pick some vegetables for tea, we visited the local swimming pool where Holly and Louis' confidence in the water grew further. On Saturday we cycled into Leiden to visit the market and sample the local beer and ice cream. In the afternoon, we headed off to Wassenaar beach, part of the continuous coastal dune system that forms the Netherlands' North Sea shoreline. Our longest outing yet, it was a beautiful bike ride through the (protected) dunes, and testament to the Dutch passion for two-wheeled travel that we could ride the whole way on safe, quiet "fietspad" paths and lanes. Sunday was a day of pottering - we cleaned out the guinea pig's hutch and headed back to Vlietland to find that swimming was "not advised" due to the proliferation of blue-green algae in the water. Disappointed but determined, we hired a rowing boat instead, and then headed to the Pavilion for beer and ice cream, establishing a pattern that was to continue for the duration of the holiday. Monday found us exploring the coastal dune system again, this time finding ourselves at a rather splendid pancake house in the middle of a wood in Meijendel, just in time for lunch. Suitably stuffed and worn out, we stopped at a playpark in Wassenaar on the way home before collapsing on the settee. That's it for Chapter II, stay tuned for the next instalment...
Going Dutch - Chapter I
We've just returned from our summer holiday in The Netherlands, full to the brim with sunshine, insect bites and photos. We drove to Newcastle and took an overnight DFDS ferry to Ijmuiden, just outside Amsterdam. From there is was a short drive to Voorschoten, a sort of suburb of Leiden, university town and birthplace of both Rembrandt van Rijn and the Leyden Jar, if you like that sort of thing. The kids were great on the ferry, and took to sleeping in the bunk beds (eventually) with only two tumbles by Louis. First job on arrival was to hook up the bike trailer and explore the area, and we headed straight to Vlietland, a man-made lake for swimming, boating and picnicking. The kids took to it straight away, and much splashy fun was had in the shallow, safe waters. The next day, we went straight back to Vlietland, where the water had turned green. We thought nothing of it, and in the afternoon headed out to find the goat farm our hosts had recommended. We didn't find it, but returned in good spirits for a spot of evening trampolining. Next day, and having consulted Google, we found the goat farm but were dismayed to note they didn't like packed lunches. Undeterred, we hired a rowing boat and lunched on the canals before returning to feed the goats, pet the rabbits and - in Holly's case - ride the horse. She loved it, and really looked the part. It was a scorching hot day, so we returned to Vlietland to cool down. Louis fell asleep in the trailer, but was soon up and splashing with Holly, whose confidence in the water has come on in leaps and bounds. There's video of that too, to follow later. Back home, Louis clambered onto Holly's bike with a happy but determined look in his eye. That's it for Chapter I, and we're only three days in! Watch this space...
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Climbing The Walls
I think we may need to buy a gnawing toy for Princess. The idiot hamster waits until Holly has gone to bed to emerge and go mental, running in her wheel and gnawing at the cage in an entertaining but ultimately futile attempt to either escape or sharpen her teeth, we're not sure.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Garden Detectives
Holly's favourite outing at the moment is to the Garden Detectives exhibit at the National Museum. She visited with nursery the other week, and was keen to go back on Monday. It's a fun wee exhibit, with plenty of hands-on, crawling-under-things, peeping-through-holes and dressing up stuff for the wee ones. Here are a few phone pics.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
We're All Together Again
Sunday was the leavers' barbecue at Holly's nursery. The sun and rain played a wee game of hide and seek, but the main thing was that we all got together for a wee sing-song and all the kids got a leaver's certificate, a reward scarcely adequate for sitting though Magic Max's performance. Actually that's unfair, the kids enjoyed it enormously. The day before, Princess was out and about (an almost daily occurrence in fact) and we took a wee snap to record Holly's growing confidence in handling her. Louis, meanwhile, napped peacefully, looking good in his pale blue top.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Social Climber
On the way home from Glentress, we popped into Craigleith "retail park" for a spot of light shopping - from the sublime to the ridiculous, you might very well say. The shopping was fruitless, but we visited the wee park there, where Holly was able to demonstrate her monkeying skills...
Into The Woods
What with starting school and our holidays coming up, this will be one of the last Mondays I spend with both Holly and Louis, so when the sun shone in the morning I thought we'd make a day of it and head to Glentress with the trailer. We took the green trail, and the hoots and yelps of delight from behind me were a joy to hear. Not wanting to push my luck too far, after the green loop we headed for the Hub Café for panini and energy drinks and then home. A pretty successful outing, I reckon. Next time we'll get Helen along too...
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Trees; A Crowd
This was the weekend of TreeFest, and on Sunday we found a good window in the weather to meet the Evanses and hang out with the hippies, country folk, eco-warriors and opportunists. The 7Stanes mountain bike display team were there, along with working horses, a fire engine, yurts, tipis, drums and arts and crafts by the bucketload. We ran into Niall and Laura, who documented the event better than I have, as well as a few other chums. Here are a few pics anyway.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Jammy Dodgers
Wednesday at Grandma & Papa's, and we still hadn't done anything with the strawberries we picked on Monday. Holly and Papa knocked up a batch of jam, and the toast consumption chez nous has risen more than somewhat as a result. Louis, in the meantime, went to the doctor's - again - and celebrated with a tankard of (probably) milk.
Monday, July 13, 2009
PYO
Today we popped out to Craigie's to do a bit of fruit picking. The raspberries aren't quite at their best yet but the strawberries were superb. Holly loved it, and ended up doing most of the picking, because Louis really didn't enjoy it much at all. Perhaps he's tired or sickening for something, because after his nap I left him in the living room and went to make dinner. 20 minutes later, I returned to find him asleep on the floor...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Siesta
With all the sunny weather we've been having recently, we try to encourage Louis to wear his hat at all times. This is taking it a bit far though. He's generally a bit grumpy after his nap, and this one was no exception. I tried to ease his journey into wakefulness by carrying him like a baby while singing loudly (and badly) at him. He seemed to enjoy it.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Princess
It's been a week, so it's time for Princess the hamster's blog debut. She's a timid wee thing, but that's to be expected. She and Holly are gradually getting used to each other though. Odd that hamsters are popular pets for kids, and yet they sleep during the day and wake up at night, mainly (it seems) to run noisily in their wheels while we're trying to watch The Wire...
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
The Roar of the Greasepaint Pt II
Look at those eyes...
The face-painting theme continued at Grandma and Papa's on Wednesday, with Papa gamely picking up the brush. Holly seems to prefer the *process* of having her face painted to the end result, as she's always ready to start again as soon as the job's finished...
The face-painting theme continued at Grandma and Papa's on Wednesday, with Papa gamely picking up the brush. Holly seems to prefer the *process* of having her face painted to the end result, as she's always ready to start again as soon as the job's finished...
Monday, July 06, 2009
The Roar of the Greasepaint
Things calmed down a little after the party, with a bit of relaxing and playing with birthday presents on Sunday. We headed out to the Early Learning Centre on Monday, to spend the voucher Holly received from Dave & Paula. After much deliberation, Holly plumped for a face painting kit, and couldn't wait to get started when we got home. Louis, in the meantime, has been showing signs of being ready for potty training, so I bought him a few pairs of pants, which Holly hijacked and turned into a rather odd "pants party". Family logged into flickr will also see Louis' preferred occupation of naked jumping on the much-abused settee.
The video below was Holly's idea, to show Dave & Paula what she'd bought with their voucher.
The video below was Holly's idea, to show Dave & Paula what she'd bought with their voucher.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Buried Fish
After a hectic day on Saturday, and with Grandma Pat still in town, Helen and I headed out to Andrew and Amy's place in Dalkeith, there to meet with Pete and Anna & Al & Fi for a spot of dinner. Andrew and Pete were chefs for the evening, and had concocted a scheme which involved burying a 33" salmon with a bunch of glowing embers. "Turn up at 8," they intoned, "that's when we'll be eating." We arrived as directed, and dinner was served promptly at 10:30. I'm not complaining, it was a very pleasant evening of al fresco drinking and chat, and dinner was splendid when it arrived. Just watch out for the timing on those underground ovens...
Five Star
Long overdue, here are a few snaps from Holly's birthday on July 1st and her subsequent party on the 4th. She was up early on the big day, and tore straight into her presents, most of which were hamster-related and thus something of a giveaway. Grandma Pat & Grandad John turned up later on, and they all went to the zoo with Grandma Sheila and Papa Gordon. I don't have any pictures of that though. On the Saturday, her party was at Almond Valley, and went really rather well. The weather was favourable, a good number of her pals were able to make it, and a splendid time was had by all.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sport (and Ice Cream) For All
Friday afternoon was sports day at Holly and Louis' nursery. There seemed to be more kids than last year, and about a million* parents. Holly was in the blue team, and took part in the egg and spoon race, and the sack race. Helen and Louis ran in the "brothers and sisters" event. Medals and ice cream for all at the end - everyone's a winner at a nursery sports day!
* This may be an exaggeration.
* This may be an exaggeration.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Self Portrait With Bicycle
On the way home from Holly's sports day - pictures to follow - I took the promenade along by Silverknowes. Overcome with the multiple joys of new ownership, a smooth-running bicycle and a tail wind, I decided to record the event for posterity. It really is a lovely bike, and I hardly worry at all anymore about it collapsing underneath my not inconsiderable weight...
Barefoot on the Bike Path
On the way home from Grandma and Papa's on Wednesday, unbeknown to me Holly and Louis had removed their shoes and socks, and were riding along with their toes en plain air, so to speak. So I took a picture. That is all.
Blue Monday
Followers of my Twitter feed have already seen this picture, but on Monday Holly disappeared upstairs while I was doing jigsaws with Louis. "That's nice," I thought to myself, "she's off playing happily." And so she was. She emerged later, naked but for a coating of ink (from her printing set) and conditioner (from goodness knows where). She needed a lunchtime bath to get it all off...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Grandma's Birthday
The sun shone brightly on Sunday, which was (a) Father's Day, (b) the day Niall did a PB on the Glasgow 10k, and (c) the day we had a wee barbecue in honour of Grandma Sheila's birthday (which was actually the following day). The kids (with a little help from Helen) woke me with breakfast in bed, chocolates and splendid cards (which I'll try to scan). But there wasn't much time to hang around, we had a barbecue to prepare! It was a collaborative affair, everyone brought food and we all ate well I think. Calum did a special performance of "Happy Birthday" on the trombone. The weather was so nice, we all hung out in the garden afterwards drinking, chatting and playing boules. Scott and Michelle documented the afternoon much better than we did, check out their pictures here. The sun must have gone to the girls' heads because we suddenly found ourselves treated to a Mamma Mia sing-and-dance-along, led by Holly of course. There's video of that to follow. All in all a grand afternoon, and a reminder what a great asset the garden can be on a summer's day.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Ballet Moves
Saturday morning, and with end of term approaching it was parents' day at ballet class. Helen went along to watch Holly at work and snapped a few pics. There's also a video clip which I'll post later on. Afterwards, it was off to the café for the usual post-ballet ice cream, with Nutella on toast for Louis.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Déjà Vu All Over Again
On Tuesday morning, Louis was in the throes of one of his usual colds, only moreso than usual. Helen tried to make an appointment with our GP, but couldn't get one until 5pm, despite explaining the circumstances. Helen decided to take him straight to our old stamping ground, the Sick Kids. Is this starting to sound familiar yet?
He was admitted and given a course of oral steroids and ongoing multi-doses of Salbutamol inhaler, to which he responded well. Helen spent a few sleepless nights by his bedside, and eventually he was able to go four hours without the inhaler, and slept through the night without needing oxygen.
He was discharged on Friday morning, and returned home to catch up on lost time with his footwear fetish. He was pretty chipper throughout, though I dare say the whole thing would have been more stressful for all concerned had they not been through much worse last year...
It's too early to say what the long-term prognosis might be. He's got an appointment with the asthma clinic, but the doctors referred to his current condition as "virally induced wheezing". He may grow out of it, it may be a one-off. Whatever happens, we have an inhaler and we just need to keep an eye on him, especially when has a cold. Another FAIL for the GP.
It's just nice to have everyone back home.
He was admitted and given a course of oral steroids and ongoing multi-doses of Salbutamol inhaler, to which he responded well. Helen spent a few sleepless nights by his bedside, and eventually he was able to go four hours without the inhaler, and slept through the night without needing oxygen.
He was discharged on Friday morning, and returned home to catch up on lost time with his footwear fetish. He was pretty chipper throughout, though I dare say the whole thing would have been more stressful for all concerned had they not been through much worse last year...
It's too early to say what the long-term prognosis might be. He's got an appointment with the asthma clinic, but the doctors referred to his current condition as "virally induced wheezing". He may grow out of it, it may be a one-off. Whatever happens, we have an inhaler and we just need to keep an eye on him, especially when has a cold. Another FAIL for the GP.
It's just nice to have everyone back home.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Clothes Swap
Last Sunday, we had our regular (in fact increasingly irregular) rendezvous with the Evanses, and back at our old summertime haunt - the reflecting pools outside the Scottish Parliament. As usual the pools became paddling pools and all the kids got soaked with the notable exception of Louis, who was uncharacteristically cautious. We had no spares so Holly ended up wearing my fleece as a dress. Earlier on that morning, Louis was snapped dressing up in Holly's ballet clothes. This was all hot on the heels of a busy Saturday when I can barely remember what we did, but I think it involved lunch down at Skye's house. No pictures were taken - I'm getting lax.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Quick Plug
Holly seems to have inherited her father's appreciation of free branded clothing, although I think the pink suits her better than it would me. This one's for Ticket Soup, a new venture from the SECC that Helen's been working on at Blonde. It's been adopted as a nightdress...
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Pictures & Pizza
It seems like a long time ago - only a fortnight in fact - that we headed out to IKEA on a Sunday morning to pick up some household essentials. Among our purchases were some picture frames, which we used to hang some off Holly's artwork in her bedroom, along with the poster Chris Hoy signed for her at the Discovery JCC training day. In the afternoon, we went to see The Sunshine Delay at The Village as part of the Leith Festival, and the kids loved it, dancing in the isles and - in Louis' case at least - storming the stage to say "hiya" to Paula. We rounded off a splendid day at Pizza Express, our favourite family-friendly national pizza chain, and sat in the window seat under a scorching Edinburgh sun.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Cycle On Your Bicycle
As promised, here's a (lightly edited) video clip of Holly riding her bike on the way back from Tesco. That was a 2km round trip, and she did the whole thing herself apart from a couple of bumpy bits. Her confidence has come on in leaps and bounds, and my heart was in my mouth a couple of time as she shot off ahead at top speed. Can it be long until we remove the stabilisers?
Pre Prandial Pottering
A busy wee day, after ballet we headed straight to Jasmin's 2nd birthday party, where we had a lovely lunch and emotions ran a little high as the afternoon wore on. Back home, Holly and I went for a wee bike ride round to Tesco, a video of that to follow. Then we pottered around doing a bit of colouring while Helen made dinner. I was just mucking about taking a few snaps with the phone, here's a wee sample.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Video Postscript
A couple of wee phone clips from Monday morning, when Holly and Louis were mucking about on the trikes before we headed out to meet Sarah, Skye and Jasmin.
And one from the afternoon, when he was chasing a ball around with Jasmin:
And one from the afternoon, when he was chasing a ball around with Jasmin:
Monday, June 01, 2009
At The Beach
Summer continued for an unprecendented fourth consecutive day on Monday, so we headed down to Gullane, there to meet and have a picnic with Sarah, Skye and Jasmin. It was hot, and Holly, Skye and Jasmin headed straight for the water and loved splashing around in the Firth of Forth. Louis, on the other hand, didn't want to stand on the sand. Not the dry sand, not the wet sand, and certainly not in the water. Poor wee guy, he wasn't on top form but I eventually got him settled in one of Sarah's wee parasol chairs. Before we left, we stopped for an ice cream and Louis was much happier running around on the grass, chasing a ball with Jasmin.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Scott Is Old
Scott's birthday, and we gathered at Zanzero for a spot of lunch on Sunday after our usual Evans rendezvous at the Botanics. Food was good, drink was taken. And then we came across a wee drawing of a bird that Holly had done on her Disney Princess sketch pad thingy.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Racing In The City
Saturday night, and the Nocturne Series came to Edinburgh. Various categories of riders raced around a short, hilly loop centred on the Grassmarket. The evening culminated in the elite pro race, which was won by sort-of-local boy and Tour de France maillot jaune wearer David Millar, ably assisted by teammate and new boy Cameron Meyer. The speed those guys rolled up the cobbles was unbelievable. Meanwhile, I had a go on the Rollapaluza roller racing rig and managed a 500m sprint in 25.25s, which seemed not bad for an old geezer. Click the photo to see my race face, if you dare. And a blurry photo of Millar and Meyer about to lap the main field. Lots of people took better pictures than I did, you can see some here.
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