Advantures out and about...

DDU has been a part of my life for many years now. We’ve been through many wonderful advantures together round Spain, France, the Netherlands and the UK. There’s been long periods of ill health, hefty private clinic bills but many, many, fun times have also been had. He's been there when I wake in a morning and there when I've fallen asleep at night. And he has many hidden treasures inside, so much so there is a saying in the Rooke household that "the van will provide".

This year is no exception and we’ve a big trip round France planned. But before that we’ve been putting dear DDU through his paces and enjoying some quality family time together around Scotland. First up there was a wild camping trip to our favourite spot on Loch Chon which involved a detour to Scotland’s only lake (Lake of Menteith) and a trip to the community beach and field at Kinlochard. The weather was grand – so much so that after opening the back doors whilst parked up to keep cool, we managed to drive a couple of miles down the round without realising they were open. That was until we discovered we’d lost some of DDU’s treasures out the back. Hasty retreat time to recover said treasures, and then a beautiful night was spent by the loch.

 The bluebells were out

 Jumping about at Inchmahone Priory

 More jumping about at the community beach

 All the family together

Which way's up

Then we had a long weekend in Dumfriesshire near Kirkcudbright – where the sun just seemed to keep on shining. We stayed at a wonderful campsite on the Solway Firth and lived for a few days in rural bliss with our own private beach just 5 minutes’ walk away. We ate fish and chips by the sea, went beach combing on the shore, ran around in wild meadows, and had a lovely bbq with Tanya’s friends, Fiona and Frank.

 Our own private beach

 From sandcastle destroyer aged 1 to sandcastle protector aged 3

 The scent of garlic was somewhat in the air

 My beautiful girls

The view from DDU's side wasn't bad

And then finally there was the annual Dad walking weekend with Big John. This year we headed up the west coast for more manly munro's, campfires and beer. We also substituted the angry fish and chip shop owner for an angry farmer; some angry midges for some more angry midges; and more not angry at all stunning scenery for much more not angry at all stunning scenery - the highlight being the walking on the CMD arete. Great fun :-)

The big man and a big view

The van doth provide magnificent views

Early morning bath

The stunning CMD arete to Ben Nevis

And then there were 5...

As I've previously written, first there was DDU (the beloved campervan); then came Tanya (the beloved Mummy); and then came Emily (the beloved supreme being)...which took our family tally to four.

And then came a letter in the post...

And then there were 5...

And so it seems there is hopefully going to be another one :-). It's going to be a busy year!!

Blossoming in spring...

Daddy is blossoming

We've had a pretty hectic and eclectic May so far this year. There's been snow, hail, wind and sunshine. We've been out and about as ever with day trips to farms and night trips in the van. There's been our annual spring barbecue, visits from friends and family and eating outdoors on the terrace. There's been planting and watering and spraying each other with hoses. There's been playing and paddling and sliding. It's safe to say there's been a lot of fun and we are all really blossoming in 2016. Long may it continue :-)

 Check out them hailstones!

 A room with a view

 Delighted by a tour of the farm

 Not a bad beach view

Videoclip: Garden fun

 Cheeky monkey face

 Bored face

 Thoughtful face

Videoclip: A day at the races

Lunch on the terrace with the Gurney's

Videoclip: Blossoming in spring

Well done Mummy...

Mummy did an amazing thing last Sunday, walking 26.2 miles in the Kiltwalk for the Scottish Association of Mental Health. She completed the walk in surprisingly good shape, with some sore legs and a slightly red nose, raising lots of money for a great cause in the process. Well done Mummy :-).

Daddy also did an amazing thing, managing to keep the supreme being entertained all by himself for over 12 hours. He didn't complete his task in such good shape though, as he was completely knackered by the end of it and raised no funds whatsoever. Well done Daddy :-).

Emily survived in probably the best shape - although too much sugar and pizza was consumed. To compensate she did manage to eat five pears back to back at one point! Daddy-daughter time was a day of indulgence with ice cream treats and a DVD all being part of the fun. More productive activity involved extending the veggie patch, planting sunflowers and making Mummy a lovely banner. It was clearly a success though as she collapsed into bed almost instantly asleep, having spent some of Daddy's money. Well done Emily :-).

 Before

After

 Banner making/Pear Eating

 Yoghurt eating

Ice cream eating

Play with me Daddy...

Entertaining a supreme being is a full-time occupation. From the minute I get in from work and all weekend (except telly time), there's a lot of "Play with me Daddy." I'm certainly not complaining as I love it, but I am aching from playing with someone half my height who just loves to roll about the floor half the time. People keep telling me it's because I'm getting old. But that simply can't be true, as having a 3 year-old bundle of fun is guaranteed to keep you young.

Talking of young. Grandma and Grandad were visiting recently. Both of them over 80 years young and still just about managing to keep pace with Emily (albeit with some tactical snoozing every now and then). We were also blessed with some not bad weather, and the golden orb made some rare appearances, so we made the most of it and got out and about around the Campsie Hills.

Young and old still enjoying the seesaw

Great views from the local playpark

 Back to the 70's - anyone remember Hex?

Mummy's been recently eagerly awaiting the arrival of lambs so that we can go to Wellsfield Farm Park and see some. She made me buy us a voucher a few weeks ago, and has been excitedly holding it waiting for the perfect moment. In the last few weeks we've been noticing lambs in the fields, and so, with the onset of good weather, she rapidly dragged us off to the Farm Park today.

Sometimes the clue clearly isn't in the title though. And sometimes Mummy's clearly not even looked at the clues at all. So, as I looked for directions to Wellsfield on the internet I also discovered that the Farm Park didn't have any lambs. In fact it didn't actually have any animals at all being somewhat more of a large kiddies playground. So I had to figure out how to break the news gently to Mummy in the car. She was a little disappointed, but Emily loved it and quickly forgot about any promises of lambs with an arriving cry of "Play with me Daddy"...

And so once again I'm now exhausted and aching. Still, it was another really lovely day :-).

Jump with me Daddy

 Highlight was the bouncy pillow

Scream if you wanna go faster!

Life in the fast lane with Mummy at the wheel

 Always work to be done in the garden - mini veggie patch commenced

 Sunsets over our garden are living up to the memories of last year

Watch the birdie...

Tanya really doesn't wear make up, and nor do I generally. We actively avoid TV with adverts, fashion magazines, princess stories and many other things that we don't consider strong female role models for the supreme being. So when Mummy was caught with lipstick on the other day and suggested that Emily might like to paint her toe nails like Mummy, why on earth did Emily start to quiver with excitement? It seems no matter how hard you try, boys like guns and fighting and girls like dolls and dressing up. I give up.

Anyway, before I knew it it had turned into a full blown make up session for ALL the family. Well, if you can't beat them then you have to join them...

 Looking good

 The terrible toes that started the matter

My beautiful princesses

Emily has been out enjoying her Easter break from nursery. She's been catching up with friends and having trips out everyday. Topping the bill (pun alert) has to be albatross mask making and being on a horse again!! She's a bundle of joy at the moment with such a zest for life that we struggle to keep up with her. That zest is particularly useful when it comes to chasing pigeons off the lawn I have attempted to re-seed. She's certainly determined I'll say that - a trait more from her mother than me.

 Spot which one is the real albatross

Delighted to be back in the saddle

And some of the most exciting news at the moment is that we have lodgers in our Dutch nesting box. Over the past few days a pair of blue tits have been busily building a nest inside and so we are hoping to become surrogate parents to some blue tit chicks in the coming weeks. Emily's been pretty excited about the whole bird thing this year. She has taken to bird spotting with Daddy at the bird table, eagerly searching our bird book to find out what the birds are that come munching, whilst remembering that the only ones to chase away are our seed eating wood pigeons. I'm learning a thing or two myself which is nice, but I have to say my memory is barely half as good as a three year-old.

 There's no place like home

A post about posting...

The supreme being has made a new discovery of sending and receiving. It all started with a bit of inquisitive questioning about the postal service, then before you know it she's strung it all together and has discovered that if you put things into the red box they turn up at other people's houses some days later.

And that was just the start. This innocent discovery is slowly turning into a full blown cottage industry. And at today's postage costs not a cheap one at that. Conversations now generally start with..."Daddy, let's do some drawing..." then before you know what's happened it's "And then I want to post all the pictures." It's costing a fortune.

From there Emily has also discovered texting, particularly huge chains of smilie faces. Obviously getting in early for an activity that she'll probably be doing with alarming regularity as she gets older...that's if texts still exist!

So watch out for a random text on your phone or a picture through your door soon...

 Get your cash Daddy...I'm off to the postbox

 Daddy, Mummy, Emily and the Hedgehog

 Emily riding a horse

Yes - it's true. Emily got to live the dream over the Easter weekend by getting to ride a pony. She barely spoke for the next 15 minutes and just nodded and grinned at everything we said. It was wonderful to behold.

The Easter weekend passed with us just enjoying our locale, the garden, eating chocolate, Easter activities, and some quality time with friends. Final stop was the Woodland Explorers - which is a kind of unofficial outdoor playgroup where tiny children get to play with fire and sharp sticks. All under the watchful eye of us adults. In particular Viv is in charge (for the record a qualified outdoor teacher). Emily seriously idolises her. Anything Viv says goes. And Emily's always first up with her hand at anything Viv suggests. Mummy and Daddy could probably learn a thing or two in how to tame a 3 year old.

So what ever you got up to - I hope the Easter bunny was good to you and there was spring sunshine shining down on you :-)

Living the dream

 Putting chocolate bananas on the fire

 Stoking the Kelly Kettle under the watchful eye of the magical Viv

 A pair of gorgeous Easter bunnies :-)