Decorating the Tree...

And then we got to decorating; Christmas music, hot cocoa...I try hard to not get too OCD about it all :)

It's getting a little easier and quicker (and less re-arranging for Mom and Dad to do) each year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Such a fun full day. We started out with the Christmas Cafe and Fair here at the Seminary. The kids basically get to shop for ridiculously low prices, for everyone in their immediate family, while we eat snacks and socialize. It's amazing, they get to go and choose and 'buy' things with the help of another adult and it all gets to be a surprise for the rest of us, and it all happens in one morning. The staff and faculty wives buy items throughout the year for this event. Love it.

Then we headed North and got to have a quick bite of lunch with friends we don't see nearly enough, since our move.

After that, we headed up to our favorite Christmas tree farm, Celesta Farms in Sebastopol to pick out and chop down our Christmas tree, it's one of my favorite traditions. We love this place, complete with free cookies and hot drinks and reasonable prices. It really is a family affair, choosing our tree is a tricky process and we all have different ideas but we always find the perfect tree for us.

Exhausted but happy, we ended our day at Pings for Chinese Food, for dinner. There would be no cooking after that long day.

Jenness

Last weekend we went for a little family trip to Jenness Park. I love spending time with my little clan and we had such a great time. I enjoyed the fact that even though our cabin had a kitchenette we opted for their meals, it made it really feel like a break instead of still having to cook and clean. The weather was perfect and last week's kayaking with the cousins meant there was no learning curve for kayaking here. The kids loved fishing too, although James was the only one to catch anything. Looking forward to visiting again next year.

It was a bit of a drive, but we made it.

Our cabin and the kids loved being able to serve themselves in the dining room.

Inside our cabin. The kids slept up in the loft and had great fun jumping from the stairs.

We drove to a nearby beach with hopes of better luck catching fish. Didn't quite work  out like that.

Fun at the creek

They had impatiently eagerly been awaiting the announcement and then it came last Sunday. This Sunday would be the first creekside picnic for the year. Arran had grinned and looked at me as he had started to bounce in his chair

"Can we go? Can we go?" he had whispered.

They love it there, the combination of water and fun and friends cannot be beat. It must be the start of a fun summer ahead.

Daddy's are the best. They come home tired after a long day at work, but all it takes is a child to ask them to read a book and they drop everything. I love how much my children love their daddy and I love the father that he is to them. We are all so blessed. Arran and Bryttain had been mid-battle, but they put down their lightsabers for cuddles and reading.

Hoo Farm

Today Grandad joined us as we went on a fun outing to Hoo Farm. We had been before when Arran was two and Bryttain just a baby. There was so much to see and do, that to be quite honest, I left exhausted! So many animals, not just your common old farm animals.

 The children got to pet this huge rabbit, a skunk, a ferret, and a meerkat.

 They each got to feed a lamb.

 Bryttain milked a (not-real) cow, while Asia petted a calf with daddy.

 It is lambing season so there was a barn set up with all the pregnant ewes and those who had given birth. The kids also got to gather eggs.

The picnic areas had trampolines, swings, a zip line, all sorts of climbing apparatus and these giant enclosed sandpits. We literally had to order the kids out of the sandpit, they would have stayed there for at least an hour, but we had more animals to see.

 They loved getting to feed so many animals.

 Good times.

Another day, another park

We went on a little shopping expedition this morning as we had promised the kids they could each buy a little something to keep them entertained. This afternoon we wanted something a little more active.

We have been so incredibly fortunate with the weather for our time here in England. We seem to have escaped rain, and although at times it has been cool, it has been bright and cheerful, making it easy to spend time outdoors, which the children love.

This afternoon we took a drive out to Ironbridge to find another park for the kids to burn off some energy. It was a cute little town and although the park was on the smaller side it was perfect for our quick outing. I love that we have had all this time just to spend together as a family, it has been so great.