Otley

We were meant to have a camping trip up at the farm, but the weather was horrendous and we were all shattered so Dan ended up camping in the back garden with Asher and the girls. It ended up being a fun evening, marshmallows tasting on the stove, guitar music and laughs.

John and I went for an early morning swim at the local pool with Ash and the girls. A load of John's mates appeared and it turned into a bit of a kids party.

The twins are doing brilliantly. Joseph is trying to catch up on the girls.

Bobbie took this photo of me, I'm very impressed with how straight it is.

Exploring the next phase of building on the farm.

A quick walk halfway up the Chevin before a picnic dinner by the Whalf and swimming and bridge jumping in the river. All in all a very fun visit. On the drive home we saw a meteorite falling to earth, Dan checked online when we got back because we thought it was a flare or something but there were a number of other sightings that confirmed it! 

The Stephenson's visit Nottingham

It was lovely to have Anna and the boys visit us while in Nottingham. It was great to have a few hours just relaxing and catching up. We had a lovely time!

Later the Nottingham cousins came over to have dinner at ours. Cousin fun! This is the best I could manage!

Thanks for lending us the lego movie. The kids can't stop singing 'everything is awesome'.

Amy learns to swim (well almost)

We spent the last full week of the summer holidays over in Nottingham. Amy had a week of swimming lessons at my old school. She got on absolutely brilliantly, managing to swim a few meters on her front and back unaided in the deep end. It's her first set of lessons and it's given her some good skills to practise and work on. 

Newark

We had a lovely relaxing afternoon over at Carrie-Anne's lovely new place in Newark.

Gorgeous little gardens out the front of the cottage.

Rainy bank holiday

This is a pretty typical sight on rainy days.

Froggatt Show

Another sunny weekend and another country show, this time at Froggatt.

Nice ideas for activities with the kids.

I think she was supposed to be a dinosaur?!

After the show we headed up to Eyam for a fish and chip supper.

While we were there we popped down to see one of the well dressings.

After we headed to church for a baptism.

Sister Wu adores Joseph.

Joe's in town

It was great to have Joe staying with us for a couple of weeks while he did a placement in Leeds to try and secure a job in England. This is the only picture we got. We are so pleased that the firm were really impressed with Joe and offered him the training and job he wanted! We can't wait for Joe and Stayci to move back to England in the summer next year.

Lincoln

I've been desperate to get back to Lincoln for a long while so I was determined to have a day out with the kids during the holiday. It felt like coming home driving back to Chuch Lane. We had a lovely time in the Cathedral Quarter. I bought plants from my favourite fruit and veg shop at the back of Curtis', the kids got minion biscuits from the bakery. We got icecream from Dennetts, but I was sad to see my favourite charity shop Strut by Newport Arch had closed down (I probably kept them in business while I lived there). I noticed quite a few changes on Bailgate and Steephill.

  Sisterly love!

 Dressing up fun at the collection.

 Bobbie loves sandpits!!

 Look at the gorgeous outfits Heather made for the girls! Needless to say they are utterly delighted with their costumes. Heather you are so talented!

We had a lovely time at Heather and Rich's place. Heather's family were there and it was lovely to hear about their day at RAF Waddington, seeing the two remaining airworthy Lancaster Bombers flying with the Vulcan and Hawks. I'm rather jealous, although I've seen a Vulcan and Lancaster Bomber before it would have been spectacular to see them all together. It seems strange but I've felt quite emotional every time I've seen a Lancaster fly over.

Longshore with mum and dad

It was lovely to spend an afternoon with mum and dad before they headed back up to the Preston Temple.

We love Longshore, it's great for a quick walk and the kids absolutely love the little fairy houses carved into some of the trees.

I wish I got some better shots of the heather. The purple was stunning in bright sunshine.