Very Helpful

Olivia is keen to be 'helpful' in all areas of family life....from cleaning out the fridge after it's been defrosted....



to helping Daddy change his tyre when he gets a flat:






Being helpful is great fun and second only to getting a little bit messy!:

Fun with Collage Function

As you've probably noticed by now, I'm quite taken with the Collage function in Picasa 3.
Means you can upload loads more pics with considerably less effort...

More Play-Doh Bears

From left to right: Daddy, Olivia, Mummy, Pat.
Go figure. My daughter has a vivid imagination...

Visit from Cynthia

The end of June presented us with a surprise visit from Cynthia (ex of Harper) and her boyfriend Andrew. What a lovely surprise. It was fantastic to see them together and to meet Andrew for the first time.

Friday at the Bear Grill

Olivia and I went with Richard's sister Kate and her family (Alun and son Thomas) to the Bear to sample some of her Daddy's cooking. It was all very good!

Living History Weekend

My parents, Olivia and I went to Whittington Castle on the 27th June for their 'Living History Weekend'. Medieval re-enactors, The House of the Black Star put on a great display of archery
and other various fighting techniques, food and equipment. We had lunch in the tearooms (40 minute wait for egg mayo sarnies!) and a look around (it's well worth a visit). Olivia won a book on the tombola and I won a set of useless plant pots which I handed back to them!



After we'd exhausted all possibilities we returned to my parents' house for Saturday tea. Olivia had a bath and then proceeded to help her Grandad read the paper. Comments about people being poorly and needing to wash their hair were with reference to the Glastonbury revellers (!):

Dorset June 2009

This year we went on holiday to Dorset to join Pat, Sarah, Emma, baby Sophie and Sarah's parents who were camping at the fabulous Monkton Wyld caravan and campsite just up the road from Charmouth. We had a great time on the beach at Lyme Regis, visiting Abbotsbury and Axminster, Sea Life at Weymout and also enjoyed Sunday lunch at Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteen. It was Emma's 4th birthday on the Saturday so we had a large BBQ and were joined by a number of her relatives.

Bex, Molly and George (10 June)

By the time Bex and Co visited again Olivia was no longer contagious and we were able to go over to my parents to see them. I hot-footed it over there after work so that we could join them at tea-time and leave just before bedtime. Molly and Olivia played together again very well and both decided that as they were both ready for bed by this point, it would be fun to try and go to sleep on the kitchen floor! Bex had other ideas and did a convincing impression of a dying fly (for those of you old enough to remember Tiswaz!).



Olivia also tried to convince us at one point that she was 'sad' using sign language (picked up from the Sing-and-Sign classes we used to go to when she was very small) but I don't think anyone was convinced :-)

Bear Necessities

Richard is now Head Chef of what was the Bear Inn in Stafford. It's been renamed, refurbished and relaunched as The Bear Grill. Here is a photo of the kitchen refit in progress. The chef in the white jacket is Matt Davis, exec chef of the Lewis Partnership (which owns the Moat House, The Bear Grill, The Greengate Deli and The Swan Hotel).

Visit to Aylesbury

A couple of weeks ago Olivia and I went to visit Peter and Lisa who used to be part of NCF and who I used to house-sit for before Richard and I got married. It was good to see them again but unfortunately we couldn't do a great deal because Olivia had caught chicken pox off Richard. Still, we managed to go for a short walk to see some ducks and managed to keep well away from any other members of the public.

Spots!

Richard contracted chicken pox - oh dear! And only 3 days into his new job...Fortunately he managed to get antiviral drugs from his GP which helped to take the edge of it slightly.

Payback Project Vans

Dan is now fitting out and converting VW T4 vans. Here is a pic of the inside of one of his latest conversions. He does some pretty cool stuff with them! If you're interested, take look at his profile for more ideas....

MSG Madness (11 May 2009)!

The three of us went to Tin Tins for dinner on my birthday. Part way through the meal Olivia started to behave SO badly that we had to leave really quickly - Richard was forced to abandon his beer - and take her for a run in the park opposite. She was manic for about 1 + 1/2 hours and I've never seen her like that before. We put it down to the MSG in our Chinese food.

Trip to Hoo Farm

Well I'd never been although this wasn't O's first visit at all. We went with my Mum and Dad and amongst other things, Olivia had a go at milking a fibreglass cow (for fibreglass milk perhaps?), adopting a 'Happy Face' on the Barney tractor (?!); stroking lambs, driving tractors (while being pushed by Grandad) and watching the sheep racing. Back at my parents' afterwards she, Aaron and Emma from next door played together on their trampoline.

New Sandpit (26/04/09)

This has proven to be a very popular buy. Olivia even insists sometimes on lying down and being covered in sand so that she can go to bed in it.

Amerton Working Farm

On Easter Monday we went to Amerton Working Farm with Tanya (ex Harper) who was on her way back from visiting her Father in London. We had a lovely day out looking at the farm animals and going on the various rides, including a little narrow gauge railway. Olivia spent some time stroking the nose of a Dexter cow and saying 'Meat, meat!'. Oh I wish I'd taken a picture at that point!




Olivia persisted in referring to Tanya as 'That One, Red One!'

Thomas turns 6

Thomas' birthday party was at Jungleland this year. Olivia had a lovely time - even more than last year now that she can run around. Not sure about the elephant mask though - she's more of a cheeky monkey like her cousin (!)