Thursday, April 28, 2011
The Heartbreak of Returning to Normal
As luck would have it, the day we returned from visiting Grandma & Grandad in Essex, the following turned up on Indexed, probably my favourite source of Venn diagram based humour on the interwebs:
Easter in Essex Pt 6 - Eggs & Bouncing
Easter Sunday, one of the key feast days of the Christian calendar. It marks the end of Holy Week, and the end of Lent, whatever that is. We celebrated with a modest hunt for ovoid cocoa-based confectionery in the garden, and I went for my final "devotional" bike ride of the week. It should have been a simple loop but i managed to get lost somewhere between Thaxted and Debden. I still managed to get back in time for our brunch date at Shortgrove Hall, home of noted Scottish artist John Bellany, as well as Pat & John's friends Sylvie and Keith. The big attraction here was the trampoline, which kept Holly and Louis (and Helen!) busy all afternoon. The kids ended the day with a nice plate of cheesy beans on toast.
Easter in Essex Pt5 - Bikes & Boats
Or pedals & punts, if you prefer. On Saturday morning I set off on the bike in search of the highest point in Essex. There's not much to see there, it's just a wood on a rise near the Cambridgeshire border. It's about the same height as Corstorphine Hill, but less prominent. Essex, albeit the other end of it, is the location for the Olympic Mountain Biking event. We couldn't visit Saffron Walden without visiting One Minet Park with Louis and his bike. As skateparks go, it seems more board-oriented than Edinburgh's, but there are still plenty of bikes in evidence. Louis pottered happily on the kiddie practice area while the grownups (and Holly) sat in the shade and read on what was another scorching day. Grandad, meanwhile, was playing the last rugby game of the season in Cambridge, so we met him there and went punting on the Cam, a very pleasant way to end a hot day. Even Holly had a wee go.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Easter in Essex Pt 4 - Visitors
Friday morning, and we had a visit from Robert, Louisa and little Sam, who is - if I understand the nomenclature correctly - Holly and Louis' second cousin. We had a nice time catching up and reading, and later on Peter and Kirsty turned up with Bea and Imogen and we all sat down to one of Grandma Pat's trademark summer lunches. It was another scorching day, so in the afternoon, Bea and Isobel joined Holly and Louis in the paddling pool for a bit of splashy cold water hilarity. We all headed back to The Cricketer's at Rickling Green (again) until it was time for everyone to head home. With the grandparents putting Holly and Louis to bed, Helen and I took a wee stroll through Audley Park - the public bit of the Audley End estate - to the OEG for a wee beer or three. We returned to find Pat & John fast asleep in front of the TV news, and I somewhat uncharitably couldn't resist a wee snap through the window...
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Easter in Essex Pt 3 - The Greatest Show on Earth
Thursday in Essex saw us all up and out sharpish, heading into London for a walking tour of the still-under-construction Olympic Park. It was all very interesting, although we didn't get up close to any of the buildings (the Velodrome in particular would have been interesting) and it wasn't really up the kids' street. We ended up lunching and pottering about on the Greenway, a cycle path and walkway built along the top of what is essentially a huge sewage pipe. It was fitting then, that while we waited for Grandad John to collect the car, Holly and Louis felt the need for an al fresco micturation. You'll need to log in to flickr to see that one though. Back in Saffron Walden, I headed out on yet another offroad bike ride, this time around Hadstock, Bartlow, Ashdon and Radwinter. By the time I got back, the others had gone to Rickling Green, so I had another 7 miles to ride to meet them, which only enhanced the sheer pleasure of the resulting cold beer on a warm evening. Perfect.
Easter in Essex Pt 2 - Parks & Larks
Only a short ride for me on Wednesday (an offroad loop around Wendens Ambo, Newport and Debden) because we were off to Great Notley Country Park. It's a fabulous spot, with water play, earthworks, dynamic sculptures and - most importantly - a play trail featuring "the biggest playing frame in the UK". The whole place is big enough to lose a child in, so we duly did - Holly's turn this time. As if all that wasn't enough, there were more inflatable playthings than you could shake a stick at. It was a scorching hot day and we were all wilting a bit in the sun, so we headed back chez Lodge and the kids ran about under the sprinkler to cool off - log in to flickr to see nudie pics.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter In Essex Pt 1 - Blue & Green
We've just returned from a sunny week in Essex, visiting Pat & John over Easter. The long drive down was eased slightly by the loan of Sam's DVD player, but the kids were great as ever. Once again I borrowed Olly's bike (knobbly-tyred variety this time) and on Tuesday morning I disappeared into the bridleways and byways of rural Essex while Pat took the kids for haircuts. Holly, meanwhile, was trying on a bridesmaid's dress her mother wore many moons ago. Back with the family in the afternoon, we had a lovely stroll around the bluebell wood in Rickling Green, pausing only to lose Louis temporarily in the woods. A stiff drink was required after that, so we lounged in the warm sun on the green outside the Cricketers and reflected on how odd it was, watching the kids running (and riding) around with not a care in the world on exactly the same bit of grass where Helen did the same thing in the seventies...
Orchestra
Helen and I ended last Sunday with a rare trip to the theatre, to the Playhouse this time to catch Tim Minchin and his Orchestra. Cracking show, the man is a bona fide empiricist, rationalist, atheist genius. He can sing and tickle the ivories a bit too, and the orchestra were magnificent (even if they occasionally drowned out the lyrics).
Happy Skye-Day
Last Sunday saw the Millars and Nunns together for Skye's naming ceremony in anticipation of the final court date on Wednesday. It was in the same house as mum's 70th, and the humanist celebrant did a good job keeping things sincere but jolly. The weather and and the river joined in too, to make a grand day out.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Maillot Jeune
First outing for Louis' lycra. Also we finally completed the Lego Toy Story 3 truck, all fifty-eight pages of instructions.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Skool Holly-Daze
This has been the first week of the Easter break. On Monday, Dave came round and the four of us rode down to the old reliable Drylaw BMX track. Louis was *very* impressed with Dave's "gnarly" riding. Holly, on the other hand, made some new pals in the play park while us boys played with our toys. Tuesday was a normal day for Helen and Louis, but Holly and I took a bus into town to do a bit of shopping. In between showers, we had a picnic lunch in Princes St Gardens and climbed the Scott Monument, all 287 steps of it. It's nice to get a bit of one-on-one time, and it was a lovely day out. Today found Holly and I back in town for the Science Festival, or that part of it to be found in the City Art Centre. We stayed for ages, and had another great day, with Holly blowing huge bubbles, making a kazoo, exploring the jungle, generating energy from waves, developing her own photo prints, making scabs and congealed blood, creating an alien and building a heavier-than-water boat, among many many other things. For my part, I did a Wingate Test on a static bike. All in the interests of science, you understand. My peak power was second only to some bloke who's apparently in training for Scotland's Strongest Man. I await the published results with interest...
Sunday, April 10, 2011
A Week of Birthdays
A selection of snaps from the week of Helen and Louis' shared birthday. The celebrations were many and varied - from lunchtime drinks at Helen's work on Tuesday, through the big day itself with a nice lunch and birthday tea to a nice party in the garden, Saturday dinner in town and a Sunday lunch at Pizza Express. The unseasonably warm April weather also precipitated a bout of impromptu splashing in the most expensive paddling pools in Scotland. Again.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Dinosaur
Here's a dinosaur drawn by Louis this morning (and coloured in by me at his request). Note the ten legs, the spikes on the back, and the big teeth. Scary.
April Ketchup
Here's a few snaps of what we've been up to since Madchester, including a rare picture of Louis with no bike in it.
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