WylieNews

We've moved......

2008-06-09T16:39:00.000+01:00

and so has our blog!

http://warwickshirewylies.blogspot.com/

We're back!

2008-06-06T07:05:00.002+01:00

A lot can happen in a month......

Firstly, at the beginning of May we moved (as you'll all know by now - if not, you do now!) so champagne was obviously required.

Secondly, about two weeks in, we heard that Nick's supervisors had passed his PhD - HURRAH. Muchos champagne for that one!

Thirdly, Nick got offered a "proper" job on Monday - double HURRAH. The drinks for that one are tonight! I'll let you know the quantity later!!!!

Anyway, will fill you in more fully about general life later but I thought I'd give you the main headlines now!

x

Oh the shame of it all!

2008-04-28T19:39:00.004+01:00

I'm sorry, I'm a bad person..... but most of my readers will know why I'm a little pre-occupied (and a tad lazy, I grant you!) what with the house move and stuff (which co-incidentally is THIS FRIDAY, AARRGGHH!).

Anyway, we have been busy doing lots of things, far too numerous to mention. I say this primarily in case I forget someone/thing as it's been so b****y long! However, some of the things are....
- making pizza (and lots of floury mess) with Daddy,

- going to see Nana and Grampy and going for a walk to "Snakes Valley" as known in the Circuit household - not yet shared with my daughters in case they're terrified! A lovely Sunday afternoon amble in the countryside without wellies shortly after some heavy rainfall. Not necessarily a problem but the shoes being worn were 2 weeks old and Maddy also spent most of the "trek" moaning that her legs ache and she "can't walk any more" - she managed most of it. Thanks Grampy for not being too proud about your appearance (see that's what good thousands of years in the scouting association does for you!).

- visiting the Morrises (soon to be neighbours - ish!) for some digital versatile disc entertainment in the form of HSM2. Lovely...... Bet on it....... Mmmmmmmm. I digress.

- we also had Easter weekend in Bude with the Gaskells during the hols. Great fun despite the force 9 gales and the wind. Thanks to them for the company! Lots of digging, splashing, soaking, falling over, some crying but mainly general lust for life and merriment was had by all. Plenty of pasties anyway!

- visiting Pete, Court and the bump.... we're looking forward to the next visit VERY much. Muchos excitement! But this visit was fun too!!! (She adds hastily!)

Apart from all that it's been boring housey, housey stuff. We finally exchanged on houses last Friday, a grand total of 13 weeks after putting in accepting offers for this and the new house. We complete on Thursday and move on Friday. I will try very hard to blog soon after - but, blah, blah, blah, excuses, excuses, excuses. Yadda, yadda, yadda..........

Be back soon (Yeah right!)

The lasses and their latest thing (High School Musical)

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From fore to background: Jessica, Abby, Erin and Madeline! (Just in case you didn't already know!).... Oh, and a random baby!

Nana sliding?

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Nana, Grampy and (some of) their grandaughters

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Pizza by Wylies

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The writing on the .... beach

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Cheery

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Foreground = Gaskells, background = Wylies (minus me!)

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Wylies and Gaskells (cold and wet but ignoring it!)

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Jessica's 5th and Madeline's 3rd birthday party!

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Nick took the girls to ballet before hand and by the time they got back it was touch and go whether Jessica was going to be allowed to go - she was beside herself with excitement! But allowed she was - after an oath that she wouldn't show us up, then it was Maddy's turn to be hungry and therefore painfully grumpy! They were absolutely fine once they got into the swing of it though and all went without a hitch (although it wasn't heavily planned so would be quite hard to go wrong!). We danced, played games, danced some more, ate pizza etc, ate chocolate, ate more chocolate, and a few people had tears as they "didn't win". The joys of having children old enough to understand the point of the activity I guess... the littlies were just thrilled to be given ANOTHER chocolate and be allowed to eat it!

Nick was the games organiser and did a sterling job (I think), Janice and Peter were an excellent catering crew (with some assistance from John - although he was slightly deterred from helping by his youngest - Houdini!). A million thanks go to them and I hope the Chinese part made up for it! And what did I do I hear you cry? I was party planner and ensured the smooth running...... The honest answer is that I don't really know! Hovered, nagged, delegated and I suppose a bit of getting in everyone's way! Oh and some humiliation by making Nick join in the best dancer competition to U can't touch this although the only running man I saw was John's - perhaps he should have won instead of other Maddy! Chocolate in the post John!

So that was that for another year - hopefully it'll be bowling/cinema/or somesuchthing and a SMALL sleepover next year! Fingers crossed!

The cake (ALL made with my own fair hands!)

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Half of the catering crew - don't know where the other half was.... on a break maybe?!!!

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Empty, then full!

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Some awful photos of the cake (if anyone has any un-blurred, please email them!)

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Just 'coz it's cute!

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Musical Chairs (and other activities).... Definate cheating from Mrs Gaskell

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Best Dancer Competition

2008-02-24T20:46:00.000Z

Half term...

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was fairly non-eventful on account of the arrival of the Pox part II. We just bumbled around, venturing out and trying to keep Maddy quiet and inconspicuous so people didn't judge us too harshly! We had to do something with our time! Abby and Erin came round for a couple of hours, we had lunch with Daddy (to avoid a date with some Mormons who'd taken me under their wing), that's about it I think. And then on Thursday morning we retreated "oop North" for a bit of entertainment, both child and adult to blow away the blues. With the Pox on its way out we felt fine about going into the big wide world, mainly dog walking and bike riding. We went for a visit to see Julia Donaldson perform some of her stories (including "The Gruffalo"). It was great fun and I'd recommend it. Oh! We also had a bit of a disco (to make up for the fact that Hannah was missing her school one on Friday night!) - well I say disco... more, the lights were turned off some music was played and we had a little tuck shop! Excellent! Then on Sunday we had to return for school and work. That was it really. A lovely time was had by all. Ta muchly!

Join the dots!

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The Travellers

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Disco Inferno

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Parklife

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My POOR, POOR baby...

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Pancakes, birthdays and more spots

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So we've had a run of the mill week. Jessica went back to school on Tuesday (so that she didn't have to flash her spots changing for P.E. on Monday!), and we all had pancakes for pudding. The girls weren't really up for hot pans, so they just stuck to the bit they're good at, eating (or if you're Maddy, wiping all the toppings off with your finger and giving the actual pancake to anyone who'll have it... nice!). We then had another couple of days normality before the girls were off for half-term! A long week for Jess! A visit to Harry's house, nothing much else until phone calls to Grandma and Courtney with singing a-plenty and bed.

We went to ballet classes, bumbled around for a bit and then headed off to Nana's for the night. The girls stayed there while Nick and I went for dinner to celebrate Janet's 60th birthday, and by all accounts, while we were living it up, Maddy was having her own special kind of party resulting in Nana and Grampy sleeping separately on account of the lack of room. Then last night our reasoning for such an awful night became a reality. Madeline now has the pox too so we all breathe a sigh of relief and feel better for the decision to keep the girls and Courtney separate!

Anyway, off to find the Piriton and calomine lotion!....

"The" Pox - Part II

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"The" Babysitter (.... well half of it!)

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"The" Meal

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"The" Gift

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"The" Cake

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Pancakes

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Update

2008-02-03T21:05:00.000Z

The photos say it all really! Jessica turned five, had a lovely day. Went for a cycle ride which the Circuits managed to make (by the skin of their teeth!) which was lovely. Come Monday evening Jessica was getting spotty.... Chicken Pox. A quick trip to the doctors confirmed that I was going to have to entertain her for at least a week. Hurrah! But we're clear now - spotty but not infectious. An extra day tomorrow to make sure it's all gone and then back to school for 3 days! We've also abandonned her royal spottiness and sister to go to a dinner party (posh speak for an opportunity to get a little trolleyed) which was all good fun. Many thanks to the Saunders/Binns camp for fine dining and entertainment.

The biggest news is that amongst all of this we've had an offer accepted on a 4 bedroomed house in Weston under Wetherley (just up the road from Cubbington and Jessica's school!) and accepted an offer on this house from a friend of Nick's! Excellent. So hopefully surveys etc all go through without any problems and we'll be relocating in May sometime!

There you go! Will keep you posted! (D'ya see what I did there..... posted..... posting on a blog..... comic genius...... wasted!)

drunk and debauched

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What is Mel doing?!!

The Pox

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Casual

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Cycle helmets

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Cuddles

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Birthday Tea

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Birthday Booty

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Birthday Cake... hmmmm

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Will wonders never cease!

2008-01-13T20:04:00.000Z

So I've come to the conclusion that little and often is maybe better that all at once!

So, last weekend was the long awaited (basically since we went last year) MK panto which was Aladdin. MUCH awe and wonder from Madeline - clearly she didn't remember going last year, and Jessica struggled through it also, despite feeling quite grim when the Calpol highs left! Much participation from Liz until she ran out of energy and children in the second half.... then a weary trundle home to Leamington Spa to try and chill out.

Nothing much on Sunday or Monday (apart from a trip to the Doctors to check that Jess didn't need a prescription, and Daddy going back to work) but on Tuesday it was all go! Jessica went back to school, which was fine, and Madeline - our little baby - started playschool! She screamed! And kicked (apparently)! But loved it once she'd got over the shock of me leaving her, her mother however, felt a little bit unnerved by the midweek silence in her home. I'm sure I'll get used to it thought I as I turned the radio up!....

Wednesday? Jess at school, Madeline at playschool. She screamed! She didn't kick and apparently it was much shorter lived this time! I did some birthday shopping and then it was back to a rush to get me to work as usual!

Thursday, Daddy took Madeline to playschool, so naturally she didn't cry at all. (That could work in my favour I'm thinking!) Grandma confused her by picking her up but all was fine and dandy.

Friday was as it has been for a term (coffee and playing and shopping!) which led on to Saturday.

Madeline didn't even blink at being left again.... mainly due to the presence of the somewhat Godly Erin Morris (Maddy's bestest friend ever!). She duly informed me that she "loved dancing with Erin" and that was that.

Today we have been to see the fantastical (for little and bigger girls) Enchanted which was a dream despite the wriggly children!

Back to the grindstone tomorrow!
x

And a new term at Ballet heralded the arrival of Madeline

2008-01-13T20:01:00.000Z

We went to the Panto at MK. Alladin

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Jessica read to Polly again.... poor dog!

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Nanny Carol

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Sadly, Nanny Carol passed away during the night on 26th/27th December so our Christmas was tinged with a little sadness. However, in her honour you can see that we didn't let it stop us (the last thing that she would have wanted would be to spoil our plans). The funeral was on Friday 4th Jan and so we are now just working through the memories.

Forever in our hearts. x

Goodness!

2008-01-03T22:11:00.000Z

So it's been a while - and a hectic one at that but I'm not going to bore you with text.... Father Christmas has been and gone and so have the festivities. Back to normal-ish next week. Nick and I'm back at work, Jess goes back to school on Tuesday and Madeline starts playschool on Tuesday too! Whatever will I do with my time?..... Blog more regularly? I doubt it!

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The kids - minus Eva (6 weeks old and asleep at time of photo shoot!)

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Me and Tim!

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Hint: expression?

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"The Gang" minus Tim and me!

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Alice

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Joseph

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Father and Daughter

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Fork 'andles

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Snakes and Ladders

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Smugness?

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Grub's up!

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Hasn't the weather been awful....

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I am the music girl...

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Treats for the Old F.C.

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Reindeer dust

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Biscuit decorating with Nana

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Jess and Abby doing some kind of "face" in ballet's open day!

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Maddy was more interested in posing than decorating!

It's Christmas!!

2007-12-09T10:29:00.000Z

Ok, so apparently it's that time of year again. I've taken my head out of the sand and noticed the decorations, starting thinking lots about writing the Christmas cards that keep getting in my way around the house, and generally started to prepare for general merriment. The first sign was when school asked Jessica to "Dress up" in Christmassy clothes for the Christmas fayre ON NOVEMBER 30th!!!! Then we saw lights being switched on, saw Father Christmas at Milton Keynes (I forgot to take the camera!), made mince pies, etc, etc.

But all this pales into insignificance when it comes to Jessica's school production of Mary's Knitting. a) She's old enough to be taking part in a "school production" and b) it's about Mary the immaculate and her need to knit her baby a blanket to keep him warm. OMG I felt all of a jitter. But Jessica's performance was wonderful, she spent the whole time waving to get my attention, and once got, she kept mouthing "What?" and putting her hands out in a questionning manner as if to ask what the h*** I was looking at. Not that she's a prima Donna or anything!

And then to top it off we went to a very Wet and dismal Buckingham Christmas Parade yesterday with the whole gang. Which was great fun despite the rain and cold. In true Circuit style, we would not be beaten by a bit of water!!! We were the noisiest cheerers (Well Mother was!) and grabbed the most booty, reputedly (according to Megan) the best bit about the parade!

So there you have it!

Oh! And you should all be very grateful for this post as it's taken hours. The computer kept crashing...... maybe it was shock because I was actually doing my blog!!!!!

But whose is who's?....

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Mary's Knitting

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Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain....!

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Feeding time.... (you fill in the blank!)

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Late night check

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The camera doesn't come out much these days....

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so there's not many photos but we do do things! Honest! Although at the moment we're a bit caught up in the upcoming festivities. Afterall there's costumes to organise, people to see places to go etc etc.

Last weekend saw the arrival of the long awaited built-in bed. Jessica is delighted with it (as am I) and her newly floralled room is a big success. Madeline is also enjoying a bed which she doesn't fall out of all the time (as are we at 3am I can tell you!) and which her duvet finally fits! So the next big battle chez Wylie JnrJnr is what to do with the enormous sofa bed which doesn't really fit anymore. (Polite suggestions only please!)

We just did school stuff during the week... the girls had a long awaited haircut, you can now see their faces again. As did I...... can't really think of anything of note.

Very exciting this weekend though! Nick and I went out, alone, without the children!! We went to a school PTA Quiz Night, all very good fun. The clientele seemed very "safe", until "Nick's Gang" turned up, got drunk and high five-d each other on the rare occasions that we got a question right! Not an 80's pop music question in sight though..... I ask you! It was enormous fun (despite the lack of questions I could answer correctly!) and I feel the introduction of an annual event!

Today we went into Leamington in the pouring rain to watch them switch on the Christmas lights. We've been biggin' this up for a couple of weeks now, just wanting to add to the hysteria, you know!!! Anyway, we suited and booted, braved the wind and rain and.... you've guessed it.... they cancelled it! Now I realise why we have local radio. If I'd listened they'd probably have said! We had a nice cuppa in Starbucks with Ellie and her gang before beating a hasty retreat for crumpet and bed. Excellent.

Around the new look bedroom

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More of the new look!

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I shaved my legs this morning!

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So naturally moisturized.... which Maddy had a go at too!

Bonfire Night

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Monthly update!

2007-10-26T08:53:00.000+01:00

Yup... sorry guys. You have John to thank for this post as if it weren't for his nagging you probably wouldn't have got this. Such apathy! (I can concurr that the Ultra Block game on Facebook is correctly described as highly addictive!)

Anyway, since Jessica's first half day at school we've hit the ground running. She did a week of that and then went in full-time. She loves it but does get (as expected) a trifle exhausted... being good all day appears to be quite hard work! Not wishing to brag (blatant lie!!), Mrs Edmonds said she was wonderful, a joy to have, blah, blah, blah..... give her time! Anyway, THAT parent's evening was a good one.

Maddy has also blossomed from having some space, she's actually talking MORE! Is this possible? I hear some of you cry.... apparently so! She's a happy little soul until you ask her to get ready to go and pick Jessica up... oddly she doesn't want to. She has, however, decided that she's a proper big girl and stopped using the confounded dummy. Amazingly we now sleep through the night (apart from the nights that we don't!) and bedtime is a joy! I only have to carry four cups upstairs at once now! She just decided, the night we had parents evening, and that was that. Never again since. We're really proud of her.

So what else have we done?
School;
playing;
shopping; not very awe-inspiring I know but at the weekends we've:
visited grandparents;
babysat the Gillis children for the day while their parents deserted them to drink and dance;
had the Gaskells for the day;
been on bike rides;
dumped our kids on Grandma (She offereed!) and went to the cinema!

This half-term Jessica spent the day at soccer school yesterday (Maddy LOVED the return to the new norm! Earache a-plenty!) which was great fun apparently. The photos below are a testament! Apart from that lots of "time to play with my toys and do drawings Mummy" stuff!

So that's it really - it's been so long I can't remember anything else of note! Can't have been earth shattering stuff.

See you when I see you!

Babysitting the Gillis'

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Draycote Water

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A five mile bike ride. Very pleasant for all concerned - highly recommended, but it does tire your four year old out a bit if they have to cycle it all by themselves!! (You've been warned!)

Soccer School

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Schooldays

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So Jessica started. That's it really. She walked through the door, gave me the placatory kiss and said "See you later Mummy".

And there it was.

Earth shattering!

Oh My God! The day arrived!

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Cycle practise

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Good and Evil unite

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Chilly Princesses

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Sorry!

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I hang my head in shame as a new addiction engulfs me.

I apologise for the loss in transmission but I'll try really hard to pick it back up again, although Facebook is much more instant and lures me in to it's games and flashing pictures!!!!

Anyway, we've done lots, seen lots, been to lots of places/things in the past 6 weeks and I haven't blogged any of them. We had a good summer, albeit a little damp and dreary. Picnics, sleepovers, visitors, farms, parks, bike rides, play places, craft sessions, music sessions (got to keep my hand in!), oh and a bit of potty training. The list goes on really!

So now it's back to the not so normal. Jessica starts school on Thursday (hence the hasty recap so I can blog in the present tense!), just afternoons for a week or so but then that's it. She's lost to the big bad world! Prepare yourselves. Tissues at the ready. I'll be back, through the tears, on Thursday.

Early morning antics

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Blimey! It's another bike!

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Guess what!

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Picnic playing

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Parachute games

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I like to ride my bicycle

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Ella, Madeline & Jessica doing pavement art

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Daddy's assault course

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Auntie Courtney & Uncle Pete came to see us!

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Holiday video

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For your additional delights.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=wylie1975

Holiday

2007-08-12T22:15:00.000+01:00

Wylie N at the controls here, so you'll have to do without the standard 'haven't done very much since we last posted' opening.

This year for our summer holiday we decided to eschew our usual Cuba/music festival/ French camping/Disneyland/Vancouver style break for a small town in North Cornwall. Having just about missed spending the night on the M5 on the way down, we enjoyed the delights Bude has to offer: cream teas, ice cream, beach, surf, Northcot Mouth, crazy golf. The list is, well, quite limited actually but we wouldn't have it any other way. Spent the first week with Grandma and Grandad and the second with the Gillis', and the pictures tell the tale better than I could.

Enjoy.

In the sea

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New shorts

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