Ballet
Originally uploaded by Fraser Millar
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Ballet
Ballet
Originally uploaded by Fraser Millar
Nativity
Nativity
Originally uploaded by Fraser Millar
Louis Chatting
Louis Chatting
Originally uploaded by Fraser Millar
Jack
Today, in a strange déjà vu from last year, we saw Jack and the Beanstalk at the King's Theatre. We were right up in the gods but it was still a good laugh - in a pantomimey kind of way. My favourite joke? Dame McTrot announces she's been likened to a rose - because she's "terrible in a bed but good up against the wall" - boom boom!
Christmas Day
The kids treated us to a lovely lovely lie-in until 8:30am on Christmas Day. We had Santa's pressies at home, then had a morning of toys and pottering before we headed over to Grandma & Papa's to rendezvous with the rest of the clan. Mounds of food and pressies and gallons of wine - the pictures, I reckon, speak for themselves.
Nativity
In the final days before Christmas, Louis and I made a special trip to nursery for his Nativity play. The oldest kids (who will leave next year) took the on-stage roles, with the younger ones (including Louis) making up the choir. Louis sat sullenly at the back and indignantly removed his hat after the performance began, making getting a photo difficult. Perhaps he's not destined for the stage, but afterward as we played in the snow outside he claimed that he'd enjoyed it. Later in the week, we visited the Val de Drylaw (a grassy slope at the end of our street) for a spot of sledging and skiing in the sun. Still no chairlift, alas.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Shows & Snows
A quick photo summary of the week; performances from Holly in both her nativity play and her end-of-term ballet performance. Video to follow for both Real Soon Now. Yesterday we pottered with all the IKEA kitchen stuff that has materialised in the garage, and then popped into town to visit the Winter Wonderland. We got spectacular views of Princes Street, the Gardens, and the Castle from the top of the big wheel. Overnight, the snow returned and we had an indoor day to celebrate, with the kids only getting out of their pyjamas at 4pm to pop out for a bit of shopping in the snow!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Parky
The fluffy white stuff has stopped falling from the sky, and the mercury recently rose above the 273 Kelvin mark for the first time in many days. The snow disappeared like - well, like snow off a dyke - to be replaced by pools of slushy meltwater and watery ice. As the temperature has dropped again this weekend, so the cycleways, footpaths and parks of Edinburgh have refrozen and turned into impromptu ice rinks. It was inevitable then, that when we decided to pop around to Ravelston Park for a bit of (very) fresh air today, Louis would insist on riding his bike. We had a nice time mucking about on the swings and seesaw, and Louis did indeed manage to ride along the icy pavement.
Train 'n' Wheels
Helen was out lastnight, so I passed the long, lonely hours by doing a - badly overdue - rear wheel build for the everyday commuting bike. So far so bike geek, but the newly-built wheel was still around when Louis and Holly got up this morning, and spinning it rapidly became a source of some fascination for them. I'm hoping I won't be such an incompetent n00b by the time they're old enough to learn to build their own...
Tree's Company
Tradition holds that we all do our little bit for deforestation in these festive times, and so it was that we took ourselves down to Stockbridge to part with our hard-earned in exchange for a modest conifer. The hapless sapling was duly introduced to its new home, and subjected to the further indignity of being draped with seasonal baubles and trinkets by an inordinately excited Holly and Louis, to a soundtrack of yuletide standards courtesy of Spotify. It was all rather jolly.
Dump
Just when we were all getting used to the snow and finding new and exhausting ways to deal with the impact it has on daily life, we got another dump on Monday morning. I was setting out for school with Holly and Louis when the first flakes fell, and by the time Louis and I got home there was a good inch or two of fresh stuff already. Needless to say, Louis wanted to ride his bike in it. We tried, but even he had to admit defeat.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Extreme Commuting
Yesterday, I towed the kiddies along the cycle path to grandma & papa's. It's hard enough towing the two of them at the best of times, but with the snow lying deep and crisp and even, it was tough going. Continuing on to work, I found that my bike was the only (private) vehicle in the car park. At least the sun was shining though. As darkness fell and the temperature dropped, I became concerned about the comfort of the kids on the way home, sitting stationary in a wheeled tent for 45 minutes. Luckily grandma & papa had thought of that, and furnished them with an old sleeping bag to snuggle inside. As it turned out, the snow had frozen hard and we had a speedy and cosy journey home.
Guess What? More Snow!
Another overnight dump of snow, another day of school closures. We're settling into something of a routine here, but today I took the day off work instead of slogging along the cycle path with the kids in the trailer. A fine day we had too, I cleared a path or two and we started to build a snow fort in the garden which may or may not - in time - become an igloo. Thoroughly chilled, we came inside for a bowl of hot chicken soup and a cosy movie in the shape of Toy Story. I hoped we might get back out to work on the fort, but the kiddies weren't keen to go back out into the falling snow and failing light. Softies. So we made flapjacks and played board games (Bus Stop was the game of choice today) until teatime. A nice day, but I for one am glad the school's open again tomorrow...
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