Beach Day

Today looked like this:

I love where I live!

Family

Dear Jay,

Uncle James and Auntie Rosalyn have been down to Devon visiting with mum, they have all had so much fun catching up and staying out late! Mum of course has been talking with a much broader accent while they've been here, it's so funny that she still does that! We had them all over to watch Noah's school assembly (he played Zeus, god of all gods!) and to eat some chilli and rice. Uncle James insisted on washing the dishes (just like mum and Nana) while I had a good catch up with Rosalyn. On Sunday we took a walk with them, starting at Oddicombe beach. I will never stop enjoying the sight of a neat row of beach huts:

Do you remember those walks we used to take from Babbacombe beach (in the distance) to Oddicombe?:

It's so pretty, even on a dull day. Are you homesick yet?:

The children love Great Uncle James:

Digging and dipping toes:

Skipping stones in one of the coves:

Walking to Babbacombe:

I do wish we could walk along here together, soon.

Love your guts, Naomi xxx

Avoiding The Crazy

There is only so much time one can spend in the house between Christmas and New Year without going insane, so we took the children out for at least half an hour a day this week.  Today's destination was the beach.  Enjoy the explosion of photos from my phone:

Summer Holiday Week Five

It's hard to blog in the summer holidays when your days are filled with children and fun (mostly), so you get to see another epic set of photos to describe this past week!  Last Saturday was James' birthday which he celebrated by sleeping under the stars on Dartmoor with Ben and Ethan on Friday night, and a gathering of friends on Saturday night to enjoy some Indian food.  James asked me to make a raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake, and that is what he had:

On Sunday afternoon we went for a stroll on Dartmoor.  We walked over bridges...

...walked through ruins of an old hut...

...found the way to Heaven's Gate...

...found a wooden bridge...

...and got a little geographically challenged!

We walked a little farther than planned, about five miles in all, but it was fun!
James managed to get another week off work so we hit the beach on Monday.  The beach again?  Yes!  It never gets boring to go look for fish:

Or get on that boogie board again:

(By the way, that water isn't brown, it's the red sand being churned up!)
Hurricane Irene sent us some heavy rain showers across the Atlantic, so by mid-week we were found barbecuing in the rain.  We are nothing, if not dedicated to outdoor fun:

Friday we left for a long weekend break to visit with my sister Amy and her husband Ian.  We drove through some pretty bad rain to south Wales but by Saturday we had some sunshine again.  James' brother Steve and his wife Ellice joined us with their two children to hike up Cwmcarn Forest (pronounced Cum-carn) to climb Twmbarlwm (pronounced Tum-BAR-lum).  The walk up to Twmbarlwm was steep, but nothing like the final ascent to the peak!  This looks like a pretty short but steep hill:

 

It wasn't short, that horizon just kept on going and it was a lot farther to the peak than I first thought:

Once you reach the summit of Twmbarlwm (which is wonderfully flat) there is a mound at the far end which is known as the 'Tump'.  There are remains of an Iron Age hill fort:

The Miles' and the newlyweds on the Tump:

Can you tell how much Rosie loves her Uncle Ian?  LOTS!  Steve and Ellice were feeding their little ones so they weren't in the photo, but they made it up there too!  The views were beautiful:

Walking back down Twmbarlwm was a lot easier on the lungs!:

And my nephew Timothy entertained us all the way down:

We can't leave out niece Isabella posing for me:

The children did so well walking up and down!  Rosie slept like a baby that night:

Church on Sunday was rather interesting.  We arrived at my sisters ward to be greeted by an older guy who shook our hands and left us all with sweets (score!).  I sat through a lesson which included discussions on different, painful ways to die (umm...?).  James was directed to the under 30's class.  Yes, someone thought he was in his twenties!  It made his day.  Later, as I made my way to sacrament meeting, a man approached me and said 'You must be Amy's mother!'.  I died a little inside and replied 'No, her SISTER!'.  I know there is almost eight years between us in age, but still, her mother?  In his defense he was wearing glasses.  And was old.  Oh dear, it still doesn't help, he thought I was the parent of a 26 year old!

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Amy and Ian and returned to England, stopping to visit with our friends in Stroud, where James grew up.  We went to Rodborough Common to fly kites whilst dodging cow pats!  Rosie and her friend named the kite Rainbow:

James had a go on the bigger kite (and had to be held down by his friend a few times!):

Ethan:

Ben:

Noah:

How cute is this baby?:

It was such a fun weekend!  I can't believe summer holidays are almost over for us, it has gone so fast.

My Phone Has Photograpic Evidence Of The Last Two Weeks

We have been a little busy lately having fun!  The weather has been glorious and we've spent a lot of time with friends at our local beach:

We have participated in sack races at the ward BBQ:

Rosie was found sleeping in her den one night:

I read my book/skygazed on the trampoline:

With my Noah:

I've also received declarations of love (which won't turn the right way up!):

James and I were privileged to witness the sealing of Gemma, Nick and their boys at the London Temple.  It was beautiful.  Here they are with the grandparents:

Today the sun has been replaced with rain.  That means it's indoor games day:

We are almost through week four of the summer holiday, I can't believe how fast it is going!