Lenfestey Blog

Herm camping

2010-06-10T11:15:00.003+01:00

We went to Herm for two days at the end of the half-term holidays and the weather was just amazing.

I'd do that again in a trice. I might even do it if conditions weren't perfect - but of course that's very easy to say.

Happy Birthday, Jonah

2010-06-10T11:11:00.003+01:00

And just as Cara's Birthday disappears behind us, Jonah's looms up.

He's 9 you know.

I'd almost given up counting.

This was the only recent picture of Jonah that didn't require me to take it from a great distance. He's too camera shy.

Chokloot

2010-05-26T19:37:00.001+01:00

Sometimes, small things make such a big impression

I want chokloot.

So does Cara.

It's probably the best thing ever

Happy Birthday, Cara

2010-05-26T19:27:00.003+01:00

It was Cara's 6th Birthday on the 19th.

Six, eh? Sheesh.

Needless to say she had an awesome day

She asked for a cake with fairies on it. In the past we'd always drawn on the cake with icing tubes, but given that it was a cream cake, we had to go another route:

I think I was the most chuffed about this. But I don't care.

To add to all that, they had a sleep-over at Grandma's that Saturday and she got a letter saying that she'd been accepted to receive tuition for violin, viola or cello (please, please, please don't let it be the cello, it's too biiiiiiig). Anyhoo, it's really excellent news as we were beginning to think that no news was bad news. The deal is that, if you are accepted to do this thing, you get free tuition (as long as you turn up to the orchestra practices at the weekend as well - which is cool).

Jo's up next.

Nine, eh? Sheesh.

Easter into Summer

2010-05-16T11:05:00.003+01:00

We've all been busy, Meriel with Ecomodo, which has recently launched and Cara with her plasticine (Jo with his Beastquest and DS).

Since the introduction of the iTouch, the blogging has suffered. It's quicker than a computer for most uses, but can't blog so well - end result, less blog posts.

Anyway, there have been birthdays (well, one really, Meriel's 40th) and birthday presents (a trip to Jersey on the bikes):

There have also been numerous other 40th birthdays, most recently John's down at Sausmarez Park (an 80's affair with some of us dressing up so much that we no longer looked like we did in the 80's - not me, mind):

And we've had visitors over Easter, namely Kirk, Helen, Finlay and Alice - which was awesome:

There have been other things going on, of course. Kids are doing well at school, we're well into the summer term. Jo is fast approaching the time when we'll have to look inot the workings of the 11+. Cara is well established in the infants dept and Lenny is PTAing (not a real word, I know) as usual.

I'm not about to make resolutions about more frequent entries, but the evidence of what is going on is loosely conveyed by our Flickr account, which usually serves as a reminder about what should be blogged anyway.

Skiing - Again!

2010-03-16T22:00:00.005Z

Twice in two years. We are clearly forming a habit.

Alpe D'Huez this year, along with the Hurdleys, the Marshal-Thomases, Simon, Mel, Tom and Claire.

Just for the full picture, here's a link to Dan (Hurdley's) Flickr set of the holiday

The kids got lessons from ESF and were doing really, really well by the end of the week. Lenny had his 40th up there (which was a most awesome day).

Here's the snaps:

Christmas

2010-03-01T20:57:00.003Z

We were in Hampshire at Imogen and George's for Christmas, which meant travelling through London. So we took a few days to see some friends and do the two things we have to do when we go to London - see a film and go to Yo!Sushi. We saw "Up" in 3D and ate popcorn. Check the groovy glasses:

We stayed a t Gran and Pampa's for a few nights and most mornings we got a visit from this really friendly fox:

I mean, it's not too often that you can sit next to a fox and take a picture, albeit through a glass fronted door.

We went for a walk through Richmond park when the weather allowed and the kids fed the ducks and went tree climbing:

Then it was off to Alton for the main event. It was very white down there, so naturally everyone got into snowball fights almost immediately:

There was also this quite frantic episode where we went for a walk and halfway round left the teenagers in charge of the smaller kids while we went on a longer route. Naturally they got lost in a big forest and we had to split up and run around the place looking for them while the sun dipped below the horizon. Found them just in the nick of time. All fine.

One quite strange, but awesome highlight was our present to Pampa. A sphere made up of 216 spherical neodymium magnets. A great toy and as it turns out a great game, too. Once disassembled, it's a non-trivial issue to get it back to being a cube. So we all got a chance to try to put it back together. The shortest time was under a minute:

Ans so it was that we returned to Guernsey for a short rest before going skiing - what a life!

Blog-lag catchup

2010-02-26T17:44:00.004Z

It's so easy to get behind with posting new entries. There's almost too much to post up, so let's just start with the kids:

There, see? The same, but bigger. These shot were taken in London just before Christmas, so naturally the next post will be some of the images and stuff from then.

Christmas concerts

2009-12-31T15:48:00.003Z

Both the kids had Christmas concerts, Cara with her year 1 friends and Jonah with the Schools orchestra:

Cara got pride of place, being the chef who mixes all the Chritmas ingredients into a big pot. She did soooooooo well.

Jonah's orchestra concert was really impressive and although we thought their conductor was ruling with a rod made with a little too much iron, it turns out that he's really quite nice - he just doesn't want to be left waiting around for everyone to turn up on a Saturday morning. Anyway, the results of their labours speak (or play) for themselves.

Wet, windy Winter

2009-12-08T23:31:00.003Z

There really isn't much to do when it's howling outside and the nights have closed in. So things here have taken a turn for the TV and the DS.

Ahhhh, the unifying force of Nintendo:

Both Kids have been doing super well at school. Only a couple of weeks ago, Cara's literacy teacher stopped me at school and said "I just had to tell you that your daughter is a delight to teach". Can't say fairer than that. They are soooooo good.

On vaguely the same subject, Cara got to look after her teacher's teddy for the weekend. He's called Sunny. All the kids eventually get a go (if they're good) and seeing as most people stuck pictures in the book that came with him (as well as writing about what the kids did with him), it seemed rude not to push the boat out:

Aaaaaaaaaah!

In other news, it's coming close to Christmas and we'll be off to London, then we'll head back for New years before heading over to the Alps for a ski holiday.

Wining

2009-10-03T14:49:00.001+01:00

Meriel's making lots of wine.

We'll never drink it - unless we're thirsty

It doesn't half bubble, mind:

Mini strobist

2009-10-03T13:21:00.002+01:00

Cara's got into photography lately. She knows how to use more of the functions on the P&S than I do (which is saying something).

I also set her up with a strobe, brolly and DSLR and she got some pretty inspiring results for a five year old:

Although her assistant was awesome (and underpaid).

End of the hols, start of the term

2009-10-03T13:14:00.003+01:00

The relentless march of the school calendar means alot less of this:

and much more of this:

Oh, no, hang on, that's not right. Oh well, at least she's wearing her uniform.

Cara's in year 1 and Jo's in year 4, which just goes to confirm the truth behind all the clichés dealing with the speed that children grow up.

I'll try to get a video of the kids cycling to school on their bikes before the weather turns and we're stuck in the car again. The only trouble will be getting past the health and safety problems associated with using a camera on a bicycle - I'm not talking about the law, it's just that if the kids see me do it, they'll bring me to book, which I guess is my fault in the end.

BOB

2009-10-03T13:04:00.003+01:00

That'll be the Battle of Britain day, then.

Took the kids out of school over lunch so they could watch, although apart from watching the red arrows we might as well have taken them to the park. Still, they always impress (the red arrows - and I suppose I have to say the kids do, too).

And this year there was an F-16 (which was too loud for the ears of those who are of a certain age):

Lest we forget, the blades also repeated their practice session over the house just like last year. They even did the same "dive bomb our garden" routine - of which I will never tire. It's a good thing, mind, seeing as their display has such a small radius and we watch them from such a distance on the actual day, that the show over the house is much, much better than the event itself:

To the beach!

2009-09-06T18:46:00.003+01:00

We've been to the beach mostly this summer (I know we posted already about this). WHenever Jonah has had a mate round we've headed for Petit Port or Marble Bay - Cara's mates are a little too small to take on a hike like that, but so saying Cara usually accompanies the boys.

And at Petit Port there were more waves - and bigger!

We also went down to Ladies bay to look for razor clams. No luck yet, but we'll try again some other time.

Cara's tooth

2009-09-06T18:43:00.002+01:00

Cara lost her first tooth the other day.

She wanted to keep it, so she had to write a letter to the tooth fairy asking for the money, but also asking to get the tooth back.

In the morning, there was the tooth, and there was the money. That fairy's a soft touch!

Bake on!

2009-08-21T16:22:00.001+01:00

Still baking

Still eating.

Sea side

2009-08-21T16:04:00.009+01:00

One of the commonest threads linking most of the days of the summer holidays (for the children at least) is going to the beach. They're in the water every time we go down and most of the beaches have been right on the doorstep. Now that the water's really warm (by comparison) we're all swimming in the sea regularly.

Even if it's not too sunny, they've been playing in the waves and generally having an awesome time. These ones are taken from when we were at Petit Port with Jack & Harry:

And of course there's alot of jumping off the rocks (as you'd expect):

You can never miss with the beach. Always a winner.

I wocup

2009-08-21T16:01:00.002+01:00

Cara and Jonah have been writing diaries over the summer hols, partly to keep a record that they can look back on in years gone by and partly to keep some vague link with the school work that they don't have over the break.
Jonah's writing some genuinely good stuff, really funny and engaging. Cara's drawings are completely awesome. Perhaps we'll get round to scanning in some of the entries before long.

Regatta '09

2009-08-21T15:57:00.002+01:00

So we all went down to the Regatta and the weather was awful. Still. there was a decent crowd throughout the day and the kids joined in and even came 1st (equal) in the sandcastle competition (out of 2):

The kids went off with Grandma so that the parents could carry on helping out and doing the bay swim etc. All in all a good day, if a little cold and long.

(That last one is Lenny shortly before the swim)

Jethou

2009-08-21T14:26:00.002+01:00

In an attempt to catch up with family blogging, here's a few images of our "recent" trip to Jethou. Grandma bought us a trip to the island when the National Trust were granted permission to go there with a group of visitors.

Much as you'd expect, it's a small island which takes an hour or so to walk around (even with small children). But it is relatively untouched and it's quite something to sit on top of an island that no one usually gets access to. Needless to say, it's beautiful there.

Accesorize and pamper

2009-06-19T11:30:00.002+01:00

Ankle bracelets and hair straightening. What have we let ourselves in for?

Beads from Gran and Pampa.

Nice beads.

Happy 8th Jonah

2009-06-09T12:29:00.001+01:00

Jonah was 8 last weekend. He had two mates around to play and got a skateboard and a chocolate fudge cake amongst other things - lucky boy:

On the road

2009-06-02T19:41:00.002+01:00

And not too soon after learning we all go for an ice cream down the road:

If you look closely, you can still see the chocolate covering most of her face.

Cara's 5th Birthday

2009-05-24T11:31:00.002+01:00

Cara is 5. Were it not a period of time that is rigorously defined as 365 days, we would say that it has taken an age for her to get here.

She got a scooter and a DS, for which she has been angling for a long time.

Happy? She's very happy.

And what kind of cake did she ask for? A chocolate cake with pink icing. Why not?

Bread and cakes

2009-05-24T11:23:00.004+01:00

It's open season on wheat.

We've been struck by an addiction to flour-based cooking and the results, which have been consistently awesome, are now all gone. In fact, they tend to disappear within five to ten minutes.

Oh well, at least we're brimming with Omega-6.

Cyanotypes

2009-05-24T11:18:00.002+01:00

Meriel' been making gorgeous cyanotype prints as a result of an inspirational visit from Helen

Many more to see here.

The evolution of a bike rider

2009-05-24T11:08:00.003+01:00

So now it's Cara's turn to learn how to ride a bike. It's been a while since we posted anything here, so here's the sequence of her learning.

First we start with the "Parents run alongside the bike bending over to hold the rider upright" routine. Thankfully this doesn't last long, but my my, isn't it killer on the back:

Then we move on to the individual starting, which looks a bit wobbly and works without the benefit of good breaking, but at least the back doesn't ache any more:

Once that phase is over, it's pretty much plain sailing and she's off and running:

Bye Cara, don't forget to write when you get where you're going:

Lazy Saturday

2009-03-30T11:56:00.001+01:00

No orchestra for Jonah on Saturday, so we all had a nice lazy day:

Although Cara does look a little worried about it. Don't worry , Cara.

Foraging again

2009-03-30T11:48:00.002+01:00

We went on the hunt for sea spinach and rock samphire and found loads of each at Petit Port.

Meriel pickled the samphire and made the spinach into filo parcels with feta cheese - yum.

Here's the parcels:

And here's the samphire prior to pickling:

Now we've just got to wait 4 months before eating it. How long!?

Finally Meriel and Jonah went on the hunt for Alexanders, which were peeled and steamed. Nice:

Meriel's Birthday

2009-03-30T11:38:00.002+01:00

Meriel's 39.

So we made her some cakes:

Perhaps we got a little carried away, but hey.

She got some PMC (precious metal clay) stuff for making jewelry along with some really nice books.

Oh, and we went to Petit Port for lunch - beautiful weather. We just had a packed lunch and watched the tide coming in. Here's the spot:

Happy Birthday, Meriel

Ben's Christening

2009-03-11T20:01:00.003Z

We went to Ben's Christening last Sunday and, without being able to find anything in a shop which would convey a deep enough feeling of love and money, we all went home and made the nearest thing to it ...

... fairy cakes!

We each made one and put them in this really snazzy box we found in town.

Now, surely that was better than shop-bought tat, wasn't it?

And it was fun.

London after the holiday

2009-03-07T23:39:00.002Z

We stayed with Meriel folks for a few days after we returned from the ski trip. No guessing which restaurant we went to when we hit Soho:

Skiing! Eeeeek!

2009-03-07T23:21:00.002Z

So we went on this skiing holiday and knock me down if it wasn't completely perfect.

We went to La Plagne in the Alps and got good snow every day. Neither Meriel or myself are wildly experienced, but it was far and away the best conditions we'd ever seen.

The kids had a lovely time, going to ski school in the morning and bum-boarding and eating cake in the afternoon - what's not to like?

I was waiting to stitch together some images from the holiday which is why this post is so late, but I just haven't got round to it, so here's some of the other images from the trip:

Here's Chalet Ingrid, where George, our fantastic chalet host, lookaed after us with sublime food and daily cakes (yum):

I'll post some videos and some other images when I get round to uploading them.

Snow!

2009-02-04T18:01:00.003Z

Lots of snow!

Like we've never seen here before.

My arms ached the next day from throwing around 200 snowballs (at Meriel).

Jonah & Cara had the day off school and the next day too - but by then most of the good stuff had gone. Good practice for the upcomming ski holiday (two days to go - eek!)

Walking in the woods ...

2009-02-04T17:56:00.003Z

... we found this cool playground. With trees.

And a swing (which you can see if you look really, really hard):

It's clearly somewhere we'll be going back to.

Christmas catchup

2009-01-05T21:05:00.002Z

A broken computer over the Christmas period meant no blog postings, so here's a quick round up of the events in image form (not that there were many):

The children made cards with Meriel, although they'd already done some through the school (facilitated by Lenny amongst other PTA people). Meriel got them to do a picture of a basic Christmas tree each, then she scanned them both in and printed out a pile of them to be given decorations by the kids. Lenny was in London attending James' birthday party. Here's a shot of a snowman's backside from Carnaby Street:

And the street where he worked for years when he was living there (just a visit for old time's sake):

After a very relaxed Christmas at home entertaining Grandma (Catherine), we all spent the rest of the holidays just messing about and having fun. CAra made patterns on the windows (not all of the time):

And Jonah used his new explosive chemistry set to make a volcano and its environs:

and here's the result:

Almost hit the ceiling.

There was the usual "lots of walking" on cold beaches:

And there was tree planting at Ed and Vanessa's place where there was a film crew from the mainland who were doing some sort of "Grand Designs" for gardening. Lovely day and lots of nice grub sitting on their veranda looking over Saint's Bay (they have a phenomenal view).

Finally (because my memory is only as good as our images on Flickr) there were the crocodiles:

But we all escaped unharmed.

The end.

PMC

2008-12-03T17:00:00.002Z

Meriel went to a class to be taught about PMC or precious metal clay. You form this putty into any shape you want and then fire it in a kiln or even use a blow torch. You can mold it, cut it, do allsorts and at the end of the firing you get pretty much pure silver (or gold if you want to pay loads for it). It looks like awesome stuff.

Then of course, we had to photograph it.

Hugh & Gill Lenfestey

2008-11-17T17:01:00.005Z

Hugh and Gill are standing as Douzaineers for St Pierre du Bois and asked me to take some portraits of them. So I went down to their house with all the gear (not that there's that much). We took quite a few so that they'd have a selection and these were the ones they chose:

I like them. Although I like this one of Hugh more, mainly because he's not standing as a Douzaineer in this one:

There's three seats available and four candidates, so it'll be interesting to see the results, especially seeing as both Mr and Mrs Lenfestey are effectively competitors.

Another party ...

2008-11-17T13:53:00.000Z

... another butterfly

Fireworks 2008

2008-11-17T13:47:00.002Z

We went to La Hougette with the Lenfesteys (no, the other Lenfesteys). Preceeded by hot dogs and succeeded by chocolate fountain. Lovely evening.
Of course, the trick about taking pictures of a firework display is not to miss the whole thing by looking through the camera, which is why I only have this one:

And of course these were a little easier, as the subjects remained static for a period equivalent to the stuffing of a face.

Recycling

2008-11-17T13:38:00.002Z

We all went on a tour of some of Guernsey's recycling facilities week before last. Really interesting stuff. Cara went to Grandma's house, but Jonah came along. I think the best part for him might have been the car crushing. Come to think of it, I think we all liked that bit.

And here's some of the materials that we saw being processed:

The metal recycling facility was certainly the most photogenic.

Flying

2008-10-28T22:45:00.002Z

Jake came round yesterday after school and we set about making paper planes

There is no better flyer than the Rapier, I guarantee it.

Rosehip syrup

2008-10-20T11:18:00.002+01:00

Along with the sloes on the cliff, we've found loads of rosehips, so Meriel's been making rosehip syrup, which is gorgeous, not to mention good looking:

Waffles ahoy!

Cider pressing 2008

2008-10-20T11:06:00.007+01:00

Another year, another cider pressing at the Foley's house. Really good weather and loads of people turned out. It almost seems like it's such an enjoyable event that the attendance is going to increase exponentially. Lovely food, good company, tonnes of apples and hard (ish) labour - perfect.

Sloe gin

2008-10-20T10:53:00.003+01:00

It's Blackberry, apple and sloe season, so we've been hitting the cliffs on a regular basis to go foraging for stuff. Worryingly we seem to have collected alot more sloes than blackberries and seeing as sloes aren't much good for anything other than making gin. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that we have children making it. How immoral!

Nook and Cranny

2008-10-20T10:52:00.001+01:00

The cats have taken to sleeping next to each other all the time (when they're not sleeping alone somewhere else). It's very sweet, perhaps it's because they're getting old.

White board

2008-10-20T10:49:00.002+01:00

Meriel bought Cara a white board - it'll probably help save on paper. Cara draws alot, so it only seems fair that she has the resources available.

This one's a person "in" a butterfly.

Watch

2008-10-04T17:21:00.002+01:00

There's no reason to deny it, the cbeebies website is awesome.

Gran and Pampa

2008-10-02T13:40:00.002+01:00

An end of summer visit for the Yates' wa gifted with good weather. Lovely day on Petit Bot and perfect conditions for dribble castles to be built and demolished by the tide. Captured, of course, by time lapse:

2008-09-27T19:50:00.002+01:00

The third and final wedding of the year was Sarah and Russell's. Really great wedding, we couldn't have had a better time. The kids loved it, we loved it, the weather was perfect, the sea was warm (ish) and the people were superb. The wedding was in Southwold in Suffolk - an almost too perfect town on the shores of the North sea. Beautiful.

Nice one, Sarah and Russell and congratulations.

Cara's class

2008-09-16T14:05:00.001+01:00

carafirstdayschool
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

Cara started school last week and this is one half of her class. These guys and the other half of the class are taking it in turns to do morning s and afternoons at school - they're breaking them in gently until they start full time after half term.

Aerobatics

2008-09-12T10:36:00.002+01:00

With the Battle of Britain air display coming over we got a preview of the Blades (a four man aerobatic display team) doing their thing right over and around the house. They came so close at times that we all admitted feeling a little scared. At one point we had one of the planes heading vertically downwards directly towards the garden where we were standing, shortly before pulling out of the dive at very low level.

Gulp.

A couple of days after that we took the kids out of school to spend their lunch hour watching the red arrows, always value for money (but of course it is free):

Back to school

2008-09-06T13:11:00.003+01:00

Jonah is already back at school and Cara is about to begin in reception next Monday.

I can't remember Jonah being this excited about his uniform. Cara just had to try on all of the different combinations. "Vive la difference", I guess:

Jersey

2008-08-30T00:29:00.002+01:00

So we all went to Jersey for two days. The weather was overcast (it's been all like that lately) and Lenny was ill at the beginning, but there was plenty to do and everyone had a great time. We got back really late on Wednesday - it's nice to be home.

West Show

2008-08-18T21:29:00.002+01:00

Great West Show this year. We went down with the kids (who wanted nothing more than to eat chocolate and candy floss). Cara went on loads of the rides including the really fast adult ride (she went with Meriel) and loved them all. We were there for hours, although it felt like about an hour and a half. And of course there were cakes:

Dan & Lizzie

2008-08-18T21:12:00.002+01:00

The second of the three weddings went off really well, too. This time it was Dan and Lizzie, getting married in North Yorkshire. We set this up more like a holiday and it panned out really really well. Weather was fantastic and everyone was very happy indeed.

Hoorah!

Catherine & Shaun

2008-08-18T21:10:00.003+01:00

A late update to a summer of weddings (we've been to two of the three now).Catherine and Shaun had a lovely wedding put together with an awful lot of love from their parents and Friends.
We all had a very good time and it even felt like a holiday, which we don't tend to get much of (although living in Guernsey isn't too bad really).

Camping out

2008-07-21T21:37:00.001+01:00

Jonah in the tent
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

Meriel put a tent up in the garden and it was decided that Jonah would sleep the night in it. He's very excited and has set himself up in there very nicely indeed.

Cara painting her pony

2008-06-17T20:36:00.002+01:00

A really successful present from Cameron and Freya was this paint-your-own pony. she painted it all, adorned it with stickers and was still combing its hair several days later - which is an indicator that it was very popular indeed:

BBQ at the Cummins'

2008-06-17T19:52:00.002+01:00

Sunday was bright and sunny and perfect for a BBQ at Steve and Caroline's house. Such nice weather that we decided to put the camera on their roof for some time-lapse:

Great afternoon, very relaxing, highly entertaining. Kids had a hoot.

Herm trip

2008-06-13T19:26:00.003+01:00

Once again we find ourselves indebted to the Hurdleys for taking us to Herm. Beautiful day, lovely beach, good company, a barbecue and wake boarding. What more could you ask for:

Jonah's Seven

2008-06-13T19:19:00.003+01:00

Bring out all the old cliches about time flying, because Jonah is seven. we're having a party for him and Cara, so we'll have photos of that soon.

He got a DS, so we won't be seeing much of him from time to time.

He got an ice cream too:

He also got a rocket from Cara. Here's some images of the kids launching it (and themselves):

Russell, Sarah & Georgie

2008-06-13T19:13:00.002+01:00

They came to visit again and this time we had pretty good weather. Lovely to see them all as usual, and we'll be seeing them again as they're getting married later this year (not Georgie).

Here's Jo and Georgie making a cake:

Cara's 4th Birthday

2008-05-22T13:18:00.001+01:00

Cake!
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

Cara was four on Monday. We had a very small family party, as she and Jonah will be having a shared party on the 8th June with all their friends.

Not long now 'till she starts school.

Recent images of the kids

2008-05-14T10:38:00.002+01:00

Just a visual update. Their Birthdays are coming up soon. Must organise party.

Kayaking with the boys

2008-04-26T08:13:00.001+01:00

Kayak fishing weekend
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

We went out with Ant & Ash from Outdoor Guernsey and a load of other people and Jack and Steve came along. So we stuck the boys in this three man sit-on-top and I paddled. We stopped halpf way through so that the boys could go rock climbing and Meriel led them to a spot where they found some pirate treasure. Who would have guessed that all those gold coins would have chocolate in them. Pirates, eh? Chuh!

Lenny's been making stuff

2008-04-19T12:10:00.002+01:00

As per usual. This time, however, at least one of the projects is useful:

Cara's Story's

2008-04-19T12:06:00.002+01:00

Cara has been drawing pictures and then dictating the story's in the picture to Meriel. here's the set on Flickr. There are more to come, she seems to have an inexhaustable supply.

For my money this is the best one at the moment:

It reads like this: "Mr Shelley walked and walked and he found the cage and she didnt know how to get in it again. And then he found a key he locked the door but it was still closing he couldn't get out. It was still closing so he couldn't get out. He was sad and sad and sad cos he couldn't lock the door. His fingers were too little. He was turning into a baby. He couldn't get out of the cottage cos he was turning into a baby. And he was called Mr Shelley baby. That's a very long story though.
Mr Shelley trips over at the beginning. She does. She does at the beginning. No, she does it at the end. She does. She just does, cos she does. He had blood on her toe. The doctor was sad. The doctor was cross. The doctor was cross and sad again."

Nice one Cara.

Meriel's Birthday

2008-04-19T12:05:00.003+01:00

So we're obviously catching up on the blog, because Meriel's Birthday was a few weeks ago. Here's the card that we all made for her. the kids did themselves and we all did some of the other people at the party:

Jonah's Handwriting

2008-04-19T12:05:00.001+01:00

Jonah's handwriting has been improving alot recently:

This was a picture of a board where they display handwriting achievements in St Martin's Primary School. Well done Jonah.

Jonah's Tooth

2008-04-19T12:04:00.001+01:00

Although we're only posting this now, Jonah lost his first big tooth (he's lost the two front lower teeth already):

Well, he looks pretty happy about it.

Coasteering

2008-01-08T12:06:00.001Z

Lenny Coasteering
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

We went out Coasteering for Lenny's Christmas presentand it was fantastic. It's basically scrambling over rocks, jumping off them into the sea and getting swept up and down gullies by the swell. Did I mention the rock climbing? Excellent persuit - we'll be doing this again very soon.

More images, here

Christmas, but faster

2007-12-29T09:08:00.000Z

At Alan's house this Christmas we all decided that the delays usually suffered because of the drawn our present-giving should be overcome by doing thewhole thing alot quicker.

In reverse, we found that the whole thing looks alot more sustainable, what with all the presents being broken down into their constituent parts and eventually returned to the earth, adding to the natural resources and capturing carbon.

The strangest thing ...

2007-12-28T19:35:00.000Z

And so it was that Jonah & Bebe were sitting in the exact same places as they were three years previously. As soon as I realised I ran for the camera and these are the results ...

The thing with Cara not being in the earlier one is quite odd. Even weirder is the fact that they seem to be eating the same thing.

Cider with Foley

2007-11-18T21:17:00.000Z

We went down to the Foley's annual cider pressing again this year.

First we all had a go pulping the apples in the crusher:

Then we helped fill up the press:

Lovely day punctuated by pumpkin soup and sausages.

The other pictures are all here

Halloweeny

2007-11-01T16:18:00.000Z

Jo and Cara went out trick or treating last night and the most we could persuade them to dress up in was a mask and face paint.

and here are the pumpkins from the party before we went out:

Making tracks

2007-10-15T22:27:00.000+01:00

So we were making a train track in Cara's room and filmed it in a time-lapsey kind of way. Sadly the batteries dies before the train could get going.

Cara

2007-10-15T11:00:00.000+01:00

Just to illustrate the growing up thing, here's a couple of recent images of Cara:

The butterfly face painted image was from when we went to a party. Cara overcame her shyness to have her face painted and I'm sure she'll want to do it again, being as she was, very pleased with the result.-

Jonah's sticker book

2007-10-15T10:55:00.001+01:00

Jonah's sticker book
Originally uploaded by Lenny&Meriel

Jonah finished his first year two sticker book, clever boy.

His teacher is leaving at the end of term to have a baby - it's a carbon copy of what happened last year.

Meanwhile Cara is going to pre-school three times a week and sometimes staying for lunch. She's growing up.

Viola

2007-09-25T22:40:00.000+01:00

Jonah is now at the age where he is becoming eligible to do all sorts of activities - poor old Cara has just got to wait a little longer and she'll be able to do the same.

The two main stories are that Jonah has joined Beavers (like small scouts/cubs) and loves it very much. The other thing is that he's been accepted to learn the Viola and is very happy about the instrument he's been given to look after:

Catching up with the Summer

2007-09-25T22:27:00.000+01:00

I've left the blog for a while so here's a quick catchup in very basic chronological order:

First there were the Gate family. Here's George from the kite:

Then, the Bayfords were over which was great for the kids. Much jumping off rocks, sandcastles and beach stuff in the lovely summer sun:

And the other big event of the summer hols was the trip to England for Gran & Pampa's fiftieth wedding anniversary, which was endowed with lovely weather again:

Rib ride in the fog

2007-09-25T22:25:00.000+01:00

I think this may be a really old video, from about three montha ago, but it was a Youtube experiment, so I'm posting it up as a kind of experiment - and a memory of a foggy rib ride. Jonah is loving it in the passenger seat.

Jo & Cara's Birthday Party

2007-06-09T09:36:00.001+01:00

Jo & Cara's Party
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel

We had a joint party for the kids and had about 16 guests (plus their parents). The rain held off and it was nice & warm, so everyone had a fabulous time.

At the end of the day we had to put the castle away. But we did sneak a quick go on just before we turned it off:

Herm with the Hurdleys

2007-06-09T09:31:00.001+01:00

Jo & Cara on Shell Beach, Herm
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel

Dan & Lucy took us over to Herm with all the kids for Lucy's Birthday. Lovely day, BBQ on the beach and lots of messing around in the water. The kids had a great time, needless to say.
Posted a bit late - it was about two weeks ago.

Petit Port

2007-06-08T00:07:00.001+01:00

?
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel

We were down at the nearest beach with Meriel's Mum, Dad, Brother & family last week - amongst other places.

Cara's new doll's house

2007-05-24T22:16:00.001+01:00

Cara's new doll's house
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

It was Cara's Birthday last Saturday and seeing as we were in Bristol for Tok's and Andy's Wedding, she had to wait 'till we got back to open her present. And my, wasn't she chuffed. Not half.

Bike riding

2007-03-18T16:08:00.000Z

Now that the weather is improving, the bikes are coming out a little more. Won't be soon before Jonah & Cara will be going to school on theirs (well, actually Cara will be on the back of Mum or Dad's).

Walking with Cara

2007-03-08T14:12:00.001Z

For anyone who wants to know how sweet Cara looks with the hat we got from cousin Cooks.

Testing testing, do we have video?

2007-03-08T13:52:00.001Z

Well, do we?

Guess what Jonah wants for Xmas now!

2006-11-13T20:59:00.000Z

Guess what Jonah wants for Xmas now!
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

We spent a day at the Foley's house helping them make cider. Jonah and Cara were far more interested in this car. Who can blame them! What a car :-)

Cara's Princess

2006-10-09T10:39:00.000+01:00

Cara's Princess
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Cara loves to draw. She has a very different style from Jonah's at the same age - much more considered and detailed. This is a picture of a princess which did all by herself. The eyes and the mouth are self explanatory. The long line looping around the face is the dress.

A & B

2006-10-09T10:35:00.000+01:00

Jo's recorder
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

We bought a recorder for £1 at a charity shop. When Meriel was a simliar age to Jonah she started learning the recorder. She remembers giving a recital to family using only the notes A & B - that's all she had learnt. Jonah now knows A & B - although as shown in this picture he insists that he put his hands the wrong way round. Grrrrrr......

Meriel has now unpacked her flute and her old music - it's in fine condition but she is VERY rusty indeed. Some practice is required!

Kayaking at Vazon

2006-09-23T11:52:00.000+01:00

Steve, Jack & Harry in a sit-on-top
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Although the summer is almost over, there was a kayaking social event down at Vazon. We went down to see Meriel surfing, but there were no waves, so instead the kids got rides on the kayaks.

Back to school

2006-09-13T13:08:00.000+01:00

Chocolate cake
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Jo went back to school last week, so it's business as usual again. We've been riding into school every day and he's so into it that he'll quite happily throw a fit if we come and pick him up in a car. The only concern is that he might get really tired, although he doesn't seem to be affected by it yet. He's certainly enjoying the freedom and it's nice not to have to use a car for the school run. On the days when one of us has both kids, we can quite easily take Cara on either of our bikes, so there's no excuses not to cycle - unless it rains, of course.

Jo's new bike

2006-07-25T12:02:00.000+01:00

Jo's new bike
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Jo is now using his new bike and we're using it to go to the beach - school is out for summer and so we're spending quite alot of time there. Apart from the odd small crash, he's getting on very well. Meantime Cara is using his old bike with stabilisers and managing very successfully.

Herm trip

2006-07-25T11:59:00.000+01:00

Jo on the rib
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

The Hurdleys asked us on a trip to Herm or their rib last Saturday. Weather ended up wonderful and we had lunch and dinner at shell beach. Jo had a great time on the rib, having never been on a really fast boat. When we got to Herm he came on the boat again to watch his Mum and Dad wakeboarding, which he thought was very exciting.
Cara, needless to say had a lovely day playing on the beach, but fell asleep on the boat.

No stabilisers!

2006-07-07T21:55:00.000+01:00

Jo rides his bike
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

Although we are consumed by the buiding work on our house, life does carry on. Jo is away on his bike without the aid of stabilisers. He's out at every opportunity and he's loving it. Now we just need to persuade him to use the new bike he got for his birthday. One step at a time ...

Oh, and of course no new bike rider would be complete without his matching set of skinned knees and other crash scars. Hooray for helmets.

Jonah's party

2006-06-14T11:00:00.000+01:00

It was Jonah's Birthday on the 6th and we had a party at the Mallard on the 11th June. Most of his classmates came along, plus Margaux and Kristyna, so we had 18 all told. They had a meal in the restaurant and then went off to watch "the Wild" in the cinema. It wasn't too hectic, but we didn't get time to take any pictures. In fact it was all over quite quickly. Of course the main thing was that Jo had a great time.

The birthday party

2006-05-25T14:07:00.000+01:00

DSC_2150
Originally uploaded by Lenny & Meriel.

We had a party for Cara on Sunday (and another cake). Lots of fun was had by all :-)