Bryce's preschool had an Easter Fayre for which a few other mums and I made about dozen jumbo paper flowers to decorate. I managed to fulfill my 5 coop hours (and then some) doing so and the school's garden looked festive if I do so say myself. The fayre had Pin the Tail on the Bunny, a Cake stall, Tombola, face painting, crafts, scavenger hunt, egg hunt, decorate your own cookie... enough to keep any 2-4 year old entertained for 2 hours. The weather was lovely and as I write this we are having our first rainy week. Around the time of the Easter Fayre we had about 2 weeks straight of warmth and sunshine and I want it back.
A real trooper of a dad in that chicken costume.
Bryce was one of the only kiddos NOT afraid of the grown-up-sized chicken. The confusion came later when it (he, Beatrice's daddy) took off his head to cool off.
A real chicken! And Ace Nursery's hip headteacher, Lisa came to check out the fun & games.
Sleepy Ellis & Daddy
Surprise! Bryce wants to be a pirate again.
This view has me realizing the flowers could have been balanced more nicely
Pub lunch following the Easter Fayre
Thrice fried chips, please!
Someone is loving the swings these days.
Bryce is getting more physically coordinated and has finally stopped asking for help to get up ladders and such.
Weee!
Peek-a-boo! I can play on this playground too!
Surprise! Ellis chooses to play on the dining car of the train
Still can't time it right when taking swing photos.
Picnic lunch in the back garden with my two cute dates. Don't worry, they got more than rice cakes.
Bryce and I have a lolly toast in the back garden while Jealous Ellis looks on...
Lolly or pirate sword?
Arrrrgh!
I feel like someone's watching me. Bryce adorned his brother with dinosaur eye stickers.
Amusing notes from Bryce's progress report
Yes, I am a proud mummy. And yes, Bryce calls all children "mans".
His orange shirt is requested almost daily, along with "big stripes" shirt
It finally started warming up enough to enjoy some extended periods of time outside. The birds are a-chirping and the bees are a-buzzing and the flowers are a-blooming. Everyone is chipper, including our boys, and we are looking forward to the rest of the green green Springtime here in England.
Ellis on our Monday Woodland playdate
Bryce made a face out of mulch chips. I was really impressed.
Fungus! Prior to and following this photo, Bryce and Xan spent at least 20 minutes watching 5 or 6 men remove (or at least try to) a large tree stump from the ground. They didn't want to leave until they saw it completed, but we managed to distract them away while the guys took a lunch break.
Bryce bumped into his buddy, Tarika on our walk across Midsummer Common and he pinched her ace scooter.
Daffodils everywhere
Blue skies, green grass...
The footbridge over the River Cam that we take to our house
Warm enough for sidewalk chalk on the back patio! So nice to not have the Super's wife yelling at Bryce to keep the sidewalk clean in Brooklyn!
Proud of his monster face. Complete with lots of jaggedy teeth and eyebrows!
We decided it had been too long since we saw Grandad so we planned a visit to catch up. It was the same weekend that Robert was visiting with Charlotte and Daniel, so we got to see them too! In addition, Stephen's cousin who tragically lost a child to meningitis hosted an all-day fundraising event to benefit the Meningitis Trust during the same weekend. We checked out the Bolton Museum in the morning on Saturday and then headed over to the fundraiser. It had non-stop entertainment: dancing, comedy, a clown, face-painting, tombola (kind of like a raffle), food, beer, live music (performed by friends and family but you'd have thought they were professionals. Who knows, they may have been!) On Sunday we took a walk to Moss Bank Park and checked out "Animal World" as well as the playground (surprise!) before setting off back home to Cambridge.
Bolton Museum (complete with a stegosaurus skeleton for the dino-obsessed)
They had updated the museum and had done a tour around the town with a "then and now" slideshow. This farmhouse here (sorry my photo caught it mid-transition) is where Grandad Fearnley grew up!
We passed the church where Grandma and Grandad Fearnley were married.
Charlotte and Daniel are officially pre-teens and teens respectively. Punching away at their smartphones.
Grandad and Bryce at the Meningitis fundraiser
Monkeys
Bryce, enjoying the clown before he had a wee wee accident on the dance floor.
Bryce was VERY keen to see...
The Bolton Wanderer's own Lofty the Lion!
Not too grown up for face painting, though. That's my girl.
Bryce caught the face painter on her way out. He got a kind of hastily-done pirate (she was out of brown) but he loved it. Things got weird when he started drooling and rubbing his eyes, so we had to wash it off.
Always happy in Grandad's arms
"Wook, Mummy, guinea pigs!"
I mean seriously. I've never wanted to cuddle a chicken before.
Side view, pretty chicken.
Front view: Help! Me brain's on me face!
Bryce & his cousins at Animal World
Beautiful peacock following us around at Animal World.
"I like Grandad! He lets me smash the buttons on the remote!"
Cuddles!
Bryce's turn for a cuddle with Grandad
Wiggle wiggle! (AKA Eskimo kiss)
English countryside dream home #72
Once in a while the English clouds blow away and the sky is brilliant!
