Day In The Life Of...

Helen and the kids are famous again!
"Helen Millar, a busy working mum to two children - Holly, 7 and Louis, 4 - is always on the go. Here she offers tips and tricks to staying naturally energised and creating a healthy work and home menu, making sure she takes time out to stop for meals when she can."

Paint The Whole World...

IMG_0662, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

A brief break in the rain coming over the Lammermuirs. It's not exactly the Alps, but the Tour was very much in my mind as I slogged up the hill out of Longformacus. More Andy Pandy than Andy Schleck I may be, but in my head the yellow jersey was waiting at the summit. Two days later, Keith dragged me round East Lothian on a quick "evening 50" and wrung me out like a wet dishrag.

It's Raining Again

DSC_0534, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

Staring out of the window at a particularly heavy rainstorm this morning (it's mid-July in Scotland, what do you expect?) Helen suggested to the kids that they might pop out and see what it felt like. And off they dutifully went. In their jammies.

Return to Beadnell

DSC_0498, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

Many moons ago, when Louis was barely one, we had a wee holiday with the Evanses in Beadnell. This week, Pat & John took a house there, and also took the kids for the week. We stayed for the first weekend, which was spent on the beach, in the playpark, and playing with the hose. Inspired by the Tour de France, I decided to ride the 85 miles home. It was murder, and took ages. Must get fitter.

Wheeler Dealers

DSC_0404, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

The school holidays have begun, and while Monday was taken up with the usual routine of jobs, food shopping and jumping into our very own pool, I was off work on Tuesday to provide care, education and entertainment to Holly in the absence of Mr Hilton. I thought a proper day out would be nice (we'd been at home on Sunday and Monday and I - never mind Holly and Louis - was going a bit stir-crazy) so we came up with a few options and ended up visiting the Falkirk Wheel. It seemed a shame for Louis to miss out, so he came along too. We took a boat ride up the lift, along the aqueduct and through the Roughcastle tunnel (a journey of about 400m) and back again. It was all very entertaining and educational. They also have a new water park where you can play with locks, pumps, screws and paddle wheels. We had a great time there, with Louis inevitably gravitating towards the bike-powered pump, even though it wasn't working. Revelation of the day (for me at least) was the notion that the two "gondolas" on the wheel are *always* in balance - any vessels in the water displace *exactly* their own weight in water so the total weight remains the same. Pure genius, thanks to Archimedes over 2000 years ago. I explained this to Holly and Louis, they wondered whether he invented ice cream too...

Seventh Heaven

DSC_0155, a photo by Fraser Millar on Flickr.

Where does the time go? Holly was seven this weekend! On Friday (her actual birthday) we had early-morning presents, of which the trampoline constituted the greater part. It was an immediate hit, and we were out bouncing about in our jammies before breakfast. Later that day, she had a wee party with a select group of friends at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. By the time I came home from work, she and Louis and Eloise (the last of the party pals) were *still* on the trampoline. On Sunday, the weather gods sat up and took notice, and we had an excellent family BBQ in Holly's honour. Such was the temperature that we even had the pool out, and it proved a great attraction in the sweltering - no, really! - Scottish summer afternoon. Much splashing and bouncing all round.

UPDATE: Scott and Michelle have also posted some nice pics here.