Easter 2008

We headed down to Wallmead on Easter Sunday and stayed the night, coming back today.

There were lots to lunch and we set to helping Granny with the roast potatoes and setting the table straight away!

After lunch it was time to set up the Easter Egg Hunt. Luckily the snow from the morning had melted and it was sunny. Lin is looking for good hiding places for her Easter chocolates.

Jasper's found a good spot on the slide.

And out charged the boys keen to find the presents first.

Billy and Thomas climbed the silver birch at the same time.

Rosie gathered a good haul of chocolate.


Emma found a few with Mummy's help. Dawn's dogs were close at hand in case she dropped any!

Holly the puppy had grown up a bit since we last saw her. She's still full of bounce! She joined in a game of tennis - her main contribution was stealing the foam ball!

This game was "try to knock Billy out of the tree with a football". Billy won by holding on for grim life.


Emma would not settle in the evening so instead there was lots of horse play downstairs.




She was up half the night with poor Helen. We're not sure whether it's more teeth, her cough or sheer amount of snot at the moment. Or perhaps she likes bagpuss. It's gone 11pm now and she's just woken up.

This morning we drove out the Hays House and saw Oma (Granny Shallcross who's 96 next month!) She was well although we had a few of the South Africa stories repeated. On the way back we noticed some young lambs in the field. Mum and I went just before lunch to photograph them. Here's a group sheltering from the wind.

And a single one who had found a sheltered spot by the tree.

The traffic on the M5 northbound on the way back tonight was awful so we stopped off at a pub for a break from the traffic and to feed an increasingly squawky Emma.

Marching on to Easter

On Sunday 9th March I decided to give Helen a break from Emma and took Emma off to Brent Knoll at 8am. Here it is from the M5. It's like a stray Mendip, broken off from the chain of hills.

Emma started off very keen to climb the hill.

She conquered the stile by going through the dog gate!

And here we are at the top. The view down towards Devon includes the Severn Estuary and Hinckley Point power station. Emma can be seen clutching the jelly baby that was her reward.


Back down the hill through the dog hole.

And as we got in the car the heavens opened. The walk was also memorable for the completely inappropriate choice of footwear by David. I wore trainers which failed to offer any grip on the muddy path. I fell over twice holding Emma on the way back. We were muddied but undamaged. I took her jeans off before putting her back in the car at Brent Knoll and ended up accidentally leaving them on the verge!

Here she is playing with Mummy's phone later in the day (with a new set of clothes!)

We went to Rob and Leila's for lunch that day where we had lunch with Jill and Brendon (cousins) and Connie, Rob and Becky. Here's Emma sat on Becky's lap playing with a puzzle.


Later in the afternoon we played with Rob's Nintendo Wii. Emma particularly enjoyed watching us bowl.

These photos were taken on March 19th by Helen. Tigger had found a nice sunny spot on the slide. Emma was not going to let him sit there!




Last weekend we went to Windsor Castle. Rob and Leila baby sat Emma and we had a stay at a posh hotel with a swimming pool. Here's Helen posting some cards outside the State Rooms.

Afterwards we went shopping in Windsor and found these classy thongs.

On Good Friday we tidied the spare room and put lots of things on EBay. I found an old Tina Turner wig which Emma was not very keen to wear...


Later we went to Connie's house to pick up a coat Helen had left. We had a cup of tea and Emma was well entertained with a balloon.




After seeing Connie we headed down to Ladye Bay where some big waves were crashing in after all the wind we've had.



Here's Emma wearing her Easter Bonnet which Mummy helped her make.

And here we are at The Little Harp after a disastrous crabbing trip. The waves were too big, the string was too short. The wind was too cold. We caught no crabs. Emma nearly caught pneumonia however.... Bangers and mash revived her somewhat.




Trying on Dad's glasses is always good for a laugh too. Here's her yummy mummy.

We had a good view of the sun setting over Wales.