high old time February 26th posted by Hannah
I can't believe that half-term is almost over, it has flown by. We have had some good walks and tested out various swimming pools, finding them all to be excellent, especially the flume and wave machine at Keswick. We also discovered a new playground with buckets on pulleys for filling and hauling sand into various shoots - some members of the party could have spent hours there but others needed to be revived with cups of tea. We haven't seen much sunshine but it hasn't stopped us having a great time. When the cloud started to lift on Gummers How earlier in the week, Bethan turned to me and said 'What's that big round thing in the sky?' to which Dan replied, 'It's the moon!' (that's growing-up in the lake district for you)!
rocker February 25th posted by Hannah
Daniel has been sharing his love of rock with his cousins. He likes to crank-up the volume, so we have to make sure that our neighbours are out. Muse are the current favourites for a disco in the lounge (Stan would be proud)! The whisks and ice-cream scoops get commandeered as microphones and we are all treated to a bit of action on the dance floor.
Far over the Misty Mountains Cold February 24th posted by Hannah
Jenny bagged her first mountain today. She got off to a false start, having been loaded into the backpack as we left the carpark but Mab and Lou were determined that she should walk, and promises of hunting for Gruffalo (and chocolate bribes), got her on her feet. It was a murky old lakeland day with lots of low cloud, but at least it was dry. It was very exciting to be making our way up into the cloud and the summit felt extra specially remote and high up to the small people. James declared at the top that he had climbed so high 'we must be in the sky!'
kirkstone February 21st posted by Hannah
The Junior Southern Burgesses have come north for half-term and today we drove up Kirkstone Pass in search of the snow. We left drizzly Staveley behind with Louise and I being the voices of doom all the way; 'there won't be any snow, it'll be miserable up there etc.' But the higher we drove the more snowy it became and Jon and Mark were victorious. Dan, James, Boo and Jenny had a good time dodging snowballs and making a very small snowman. This is Boo making a snow angel in her day-glo nursery waterproofs - at least there was no danger of losing her!
girl on wheels February 20th posted by Hannah
Boo is officially a cyclist. She rode along the prom at Grange on Tuesday and yesterday pulled off a circuit of the Mill Yard. She's still a bit wobbly but she'll get there. Journeying around the village will now step up a gear for me, having spent the last few years dawdling along at Boo's walking pace (with plentiful stops to examine drain-covers, sparkly litter and pretty leaves), I will now have to jog to keep up with her!
heart-throb February 17th posted by Hannah
I found six valentine's cards to Daniel in his tray at school yesterday - SIX! The best part about it was the look of total surprise on his face when I showed them to him. In true Daniel style - he hadn't noticed them at all, but he did very sweetly ask me what a valentine's card was on the way home. Why did this never happen to me?
happy birthday to our superhero February 15th posted by Hannah
There has been much debate between Daniel and Bethan during the last few days about what type of birthday cake Jon should have. Boo made a very convincing case for Disney Princesses and I nearly went with that, but in the end Dan's Superhero cake won the day because we didn't have any pink icing. Today has been a normal work day for Jon but he's got some time off next week, so we'll spoil him then.
'there's a party going on right here, a celebration to last throughout the years' February 12th posted by Hannah
My Aunty Linda turned the big 60 this weekend and there was a great gathering of the clans in her honour. We travelled from far and wide to celebrate and it was a lovely occasion, made all the more special because these big gatherings are so few and far between. The birthday girl was absolutely radiant, and 60 is undisputedly the new 40. We feasted together, before the party took to the dance floor. My personal highlight was talking into the wee small hours with my cousin Bec, which was a rare treat indeed - and only slightly spoilt by the couple in the room next door having the most almighty row. They did finally stop at 2am, following the delivery of a dominoes pizza. More photos here.
Jon says that my title is obscure so, it's a lyric from 'Celebration' by Kool & The Gang, but you knew that.
