Merry Christmas!

Someone got a lot of presents this year, and is probably set to get some more at the next family visit in the New Year.  Rowan took in his first Christmas in Totnes with Lou's family and had a great time.  This was whilst recovering from his cleft palate operation, so was great to take his mind off things. As you can see below, he especially likes presents he can make a noise with.

 Happy New Year from us all and see you in 2013.

My Pet Bat

Rowan with pet bat from Arnos Vale cemetery shop.  Any name suggestions welcome.  Maybe the shop might stock some fudge (Pure Fudge) in gratitude.

Summer in Bristol

Seems like the summer has finally arrived, and just in time for Bristol's harbour festival.  Here is The Matthew (or at least a replica!) out on the harbour.

We took Rowan to have a look round, after applying plenty of suncream.  He seemed to be quite happy being bashed around the cobbles /railway track in the buggy.  He we are catching some rest - thankfully Bristol's pubs / bars are very child friendly.

 After a full day getting toasted we are back at home - doing the usual smiling and wriggling activities in R's case.  Bye for now!

En France

After getting Rowan a passport, we headed to Toulouse for a wedding in the Gers.  This being our first trip abroad we played quite safe, hired a car and had a lovely mobile home to ourselves, where Rowan could keep us awake day and night.

The campsite was next to the farm where Ben and Esmé's wedding banquet was to take place.  We walked through the forest to view it from the back, in its full bucolic splendour.

  After using the excuse of having a baby to escape most of the preparation work, we took a peep around the farm.

 
 The wedding itself was in the village of Thoux (Gers) and everyone was well turned out.  Including M. Le Maire who presided.

 Unfortunately the weather turned later and it rained for most of our week there.  We did get one excursion to Toulouse in, but everything was every muddy and we were glad to get back to Bristol which was basking in 25 degree clear skies all the while.

Devon in Spring

Hi, Here are some pictures of our first family outing to Totnes.

This is by the River Dart, where we also saw this heron.

Hopefully the first of many family holidays, although some more sleep would have been nice.

Rowan

Hi, Lots of people have asked for pictures of Rowan, and this seems like a good place to put them.

He was born on 17th March just after 9 pm. He we are having just left theatre.

Rowan feeding in St Michael's Hospital, Bristol. He feeds with special squeezy bottles due to his tiny cleft palate, so we can help pumping milk into him. The cleft team at Frenchay hospital (North Bristol) were really helpful.

Mum and Rowan at home, after being discharged on Tuesday 20th. Lou was very glad to taste the last of hospital food.

Rowan spends a good deal of time sleeping off large feeds,and does this best in the posh baby-bouncer that mum bought him and which arrived just in the nick of time.

We have been out on some trips this week, here we are at Chew Valley Lake in the Mendips.

...and today at SS Great Britain on the harbour in Bristol.

and now back to sleep at home after another day out. He has started taking to sleeping through most of the night, which is a luxury for us.

Bristol in Summer

Another month, another street art festival. This time in the centre of town with some massive pieces of art on the side of buildings called See No Evil http://www.seenoevilbristol.co.uk/.


Lou and I popped along and did some dancing and drinking with the party goers.


It's always worth trying to remember the balloon fiesta as well, which I don't. I simply open my windows to see something like this:-

Up to the Lakes

Surprisingly we got one whole week of sunshine in the Lake District at the end of July - which was good news as we were camping out near Ullswater. We started doing some walks immediately from the campsite - in fact we were probably too keen. Here is Lou looking over Grisedale Tarn on day 1.

We also got a good view of 'Striding Edge' but didn't walk over it this time. We'll be back.

The locals posed for photos with their summer haircuts.


The campsite was excellent and we had a good group. Here I am beating everyone at outdoor Yahtzee, despite enjoying a day of food poisoning - I can't go on holiday without getting ill at least once.

After some canoeing on Ullswater and some pub time, we spent the last day on a long walk and got the boat back to the campsite before heading off.

We definitely knew where we were for once in this photo.

Trainspotting

Lou and I have used the easter break to travel northwards to Scotland and hopefully avoid royal wedding fever. In fact flying back from Edinburgh during the Royal Wedding was much cheaper and avoids having to watch it on TV.


Thankfully our host doesn't live in an Irvine Welsh type heroin infested high rise flat like those above, but in quite a nice flat in West Edinbugh. From there we can walk into the centre and see the sights quite easily.


We've been taking in some obvious sights in Auld Reekie, and some less well known ones like Leith harbour (below).


Naturally some of the local catch needed to be eaten by the harbour. I tried an Arbroath Smokie, whilst Lou finished pretty much everything else caught that day - washed down with some Prosecco.


We were so stuffed after this meal that we had to take in the funfair next to Leith harbour and take in the views.


From the top of the big wheel you can see back into town and the crags behind it.

This morning we have been walking up Salisbury Crags which look over the city, unlike pretty much any other city it's like walking into a national park surrounded by the city below.

So back to Bristol tomorrow!

Big Apple

As one last attempt to stave off having to come home after our epic honeymoon, we stopped in New York for a day. We stayed in Greenwich Village - which is lovely - but went straight up the Empire State Building the evening we arrived. Here is the view of flat iron on Broadway from the top


Lou has been blending in with the locals. Riding the subway was better than walking around in the rain-sodden streets. We were getting tired of being rained on after tropical storms in Costa Rica, and then this... My shoes are still wet and my socks disintegrated during the day walking around town.


We escaped from the rain at the Museum of Modern Art, in which we skillfully avoided the queues and got to see some things we weren't expecting.


Well it's all over now and we're back in Bristol - it's raining here as well just for continuity. Ah well, it was great while it lasted - and it was nearly 3 weeks long. See you all soon.