Ethan

Today is the day I have two teenage children. Lego, adventure books and Nerf guns were Ethan's favourite gifts; I love that he still like these things and isn't in such a rush to grow up. Though I might have to admit that he does look a little bit grown up in his cool glasses, eating birthday pizza:

Happy 13th Ethan!

Cam

My nephew Cameron is a cheeky monkey who will run rather than walk anywhere. He loves to wrestle and play fight, and is the best at being excited and smiley when he sees you and runs over to say 'Hello!'. He also could not wait for a Sunday to be baptised and had to do on the very day he turned eight.  Happy baptism day Cameron!

Wednesday's Smile Lines

Noah: 'Mummy, I love you all the way to heaven (that's higher than space isn't it?) and all the way back down to the lava in the middle of the earth!'

Feeding My Soul

I've often said gigs are like buses; nothing for ages and then they all come at once. On Tuesday I finally got to see Ben Howard with Dawn, after an error with the ticket company prevented us from going two weeks ago. Thanks to the kindness of Mr Howard, all 1200 of us that were over-issued tickets were given free entry to the extra show he added to the tour to make up for the error. What a nice bloke! It was also great to only travel down to Plymouth to see him, not many bands make it so far down into Devon, but he's a local so of course he had to play here.

Let me tell you, this band is one talented bunch. They all played multiple instruments throughout the night, and Ben was doing some seriously ridiculous guitar playing. There were times I couldn't believe he was plucking those strings so fast. As for the drummer, he likes to play the bass guitar and drums at the same time, check him out:

It was a beautiful thing. If we could have listened to him playing on a beach by a roaring fire it would have been perfection!

Yesterday James and I took a road tip to Oxford to see Imagine Dragons. I'd been looking forward to this one for a long time, and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.

It was a loud, drum-heavy, energetic set with lots of crazy dancing and jumping around from both the band and the audience:

There were a couple of moments when Dan was almost in tears, he couldn't believe that so many people in the UK turned up to see them and knew all the words to their songs, even though the album isn't released here yet. (Thank goodness for the Internet!)

But here's the thing I wasn't expecting, the band sound so much better live than on their album! Don't get me wrong, I really like the album, but without all the extra production that comes with some of the album tracks, they were stripped down to the bare rock of guitars, drums and keyboards...and it sounded so good! We left that evening feeling hot and sweaty, with sore hands and feet from clapping and stomping so much, but with smiles a mile wide. If you get a chance to see them live, you must go!

 

P.S. What could be cooler than appearing on the band's Instagram photo?:

Walking The Coast

I spent a couple of days last week walking along the coast and on Sunday afternoon we took the children out to finish it off at the Dawlish part. There's a stream that runs through the town and joins the sea:

The famous black swans live on the stream:

There's a train track that runs alongside the beach, and the children enjoyed walking under the platform, especially when the trains rumbled by:

There is a jetty or two to wander down while trying to avoid being splashed by the waves...

...and lots of pretty rowing boats...

...and rows of beach huts:

I love where I live:

Bonfire Night

Oh, I do love bonfire night! A good night has to start with jacket potatoes, baked beans and our traditional cake:

Swiftly followed by lots of fireworks and sparklers:

You know you've had a good night if your nose and toes are cold, and you can smell fires and burnt powder in the air.

Halloween With The Killers

I have a list of bands I want to see before I die, and I finally get to tick The Killers off that list. (Last summer's solo gig from Brandon didn't count!) I went to Birmingham with my gig buddy Dawn and after queueing like true Brits we were rewarded with a front row spot in the mosh pit (which should really be named sweat pit). The set started with a short Halloween themed band video shown on the big screen just before they came on stage. Their opening song was one of my very favourites, and aptly titled Bones:

Ronnie was dressed for the occasion in a skeleton costume (love him!):

His drumming was spectacular:

For the next two hours we were treated to an amazing, high energy performance. The new songs sat really well with the old and got just as enthusiastic a reaction from the crowd.

 

The song that got the loudest sing-along of the night? Mr Brightside:

 There were pyrotechnics going off...

...and a few showers of confetti (I found some lightning bolts and K's in unmentionable places on the way home!):

At the end of the set Brandon came down from the stage and made his way slowly (brave man) along the front row...where he looked me in the eye and high fived me...and I kind of held onto his hand...ahem...

Then the band threw lots of Halloween chocolate to the audience:

I am pretty sure I'll never have a Halloween to top this one.