Melting bunnies...

Wow. What an Easter. Anyone's bunnies and eggs not melt?

It was scorchio. A day in the garden planting this years offerings and some impromptu time with the neighbours kids in water play, and then we were off to even sunnier Ayrshire. The first outing proper for DDU this year. And, after the calamity of the trampoline and the asbestos roof (see post Joining the Dots), we had a brand new awning to try out. All was good.

So it was a Saturday at Culzean Castle (courtesy of Grandma and Grandads gift of National Trust membership) followed by a Sunday at Heads of Ayr Farm Park. And boy did the girls rock. Because by Monday they had little left to give except for a short stroll then back to Glasgow for an early barbecue and an early bed. They maxed out and by the end of it a pair of melted bunnies they most certainly were.

But with lots more trips planned in the coming weeks, let's hope they recover and we get some fine weather and trouble free adventures...Can't wait...

 She's got so brave

Welly whang

 Mr Crocodile

 Mrs Dragon

 

Hot Dog

Videoclip: Heads of Ayr

 Swinging out the sun

 The beautiful woods of Kilkerran I

The beautiful woods of Kilkerran II

Over to Mull to mull it over...

And so over to Mull. It felt like a very long time since my last holiday so I was really looking forward to our week on the Isle of Mull. And it didn't disappoint. We all had a fantastic time - possibly helped by sunshine every day - but nevertheless having mulled it over, Mull certainly hit the spot.

There was beautiful scenery - mountains, seascapes, forests, lochs and glens; tasty local food - scallops, oysters, mussels, cheese and plenty more; amazing wildlife - puffins, white-tailed eagles, otters and even a minke whale (we were so lucky with what we saw so early in the 'season'!); trips out to Isles of Lunga and Staffa, Aros Park, Calgary Bay, Glengorm Castle, Crater Lake to name a few; and Tobermory delighted with it's catch and release Aquarium, the Mishnish, Chocolate Shop, Tobar Arts Centre, Cheese Farm, nice shops, cafes and of course, brightly coloured houses.

And then there was the Rooke family holiday song (I'll save you from it), Double Double Dish Dish on loop (see below)...and Niomi's growing language (also see below).

All in all it was a wonderful week away. Let's hope it's the start of this year's adventures.

Colourful Tobermory

Did you see the size of that starfish?

Wherever I find a shell...

Mr 9 brains and 3 hearts

 Holiday joy 1

 Holiday joy 2

 Holiday joy 3

Holiday joy 4

Oystercatchers at Calgary Bay

 Beach joy

Calgary Bay

 Puffins

 Staffa

 Admiring the view

Videoclip: Staffa

 White-tailed eagles (and gull)

 Fish and chips on the harbour

 One of Mull's many lovely eateries

Famous Four go Extreme Whale Watching

 Rock pools Mull style

 Beach joy 2

 Barbeview

First to the top

 Famous Four go to Crater Lake

 Boats

Videoclip: The Giant Jumperee

Videoclip: Double Double Dish Dish

 Looking over Tobermory

 Farewell Mull

Wonders of the World

Spring was in the air and it was time to pay a trip to see the animals at Edinburgh Zoo. En route we played “what animals do you think we’ll see today?”, and all the charismatic animals you'd expect got mentioned. But zoo’s have changed from when I was young. The diversity is much broader now than ever before and, thankfully, much more emphasis on the welfare of animals and the plight of megafauna across the world. Gone are the miserable looking polar bears and elephants. Replaced by sun bears and pygmy hippos. The kids loved it. We raced from one enclosure to the next, and they experienced a diversity not achieved in any of their childrens’ “At the Zoo” literature. It was a great day out – highlights were the giant pandas, chimpanzees and the tiger. 

We then stayed over in Edinburgh with good friends Prof David and Dr Claudia. The kids love their house – an Aladdin’s cave of books and antiquities – so the diversity of animal life merged into the diversity of the arts. Plus they got spoiled and managed not to break anything of large value (phew), so it all went down a treat. Next day was a trip to the National Museum of Scotland with buttons to safely press to their hearts content and more diversity – mainly of the robotic and mechanical kind. It was worlds of wonder of all kinds all weekend long, topped off with a couple of hardcore hours art and crafting. I’d love to still have that childhood wonderment of the world.

 Monkeys in human suits

 Human in panda suit

One lion

 Three lions

 Never tickle a tiger

And then Grandad paid a visit with excitement of a different kind. Little treats appeared and little Niomi ran the poor, old chap ragged. Luckily the sun shone plenty so it was out into the garden for the first cut of the grass, some spring tidying and a van makeover to prep for our holiday to Mull. We also discovered the highs and lows of sugar with our one (and possibly only) trip to a dessert parlour. One minute everyone was dancing on the ceiling, the next they were sobbing in the corner or trying to kill each other. Wow. Powerful stuff. Happy Mother’s Day! Well…till the saccharides wore off. Messy. This was a wonder of the world I could happily live without. 

 Always ready to 'serve' Grandad

Videoclip: Van Washing

 Sugar Rush I

 Sugar Rush II

 Sugar Rush III

Sugar Crash: The start of the end

Happy Mother's Day

Joining the dots...

Both Emily and Niomi have really been doing great just recently. It seems that as we've emerged out of winter and into the season of new life, then they've both been finding new growth, depths and energy to draw upon. Emily has generally flourished with her reading, writing and drawing and has been growing steadily in her abilities, but its Niomi that has particularly impressed recently. She's never found learning any of these things easy. Language has been difficult for her, numbers equally so. But just recently it seems she has exploded in terms of her interest and grasp on these abstract concepts. Its been an absolute marvel to watch and she's just so happy with herself and everything that's going on. I'm really dead proud of her just now - she's literally and metaphorically starting to join all the dots.

Pleased as punch with her completed dot to dot

Videoclip: Joining the dots

Elsa John

 Jack and the Beanstalk in pictures by Emily

Emily's poster for #TeamLairdsland (her school parental engagement campaign)

As ever we've been trying to get out and about as much as possible - outside where the weather's allowed but inside where it hasn't. There's been lots of laughter and smiles, dancing and silliness plus sticker books have taken over our lives again. One particular highlight was our first Trossachs outing of the year on what was one of the few true spring days we've had so far. More often we've had storms recently and our beloved trampoline has born the brunt of one of those. Still spring is starting to exert itself, and all the flowers are definitely weeks earlier than last year. Crocuses are gone, daffodils are just emerging and our house is covered in over 120 baby plants that I am cultivating. So let's hope soon spring is truly upon us in time for our April trip to the Isle of Mull. I can't wait...

Spring joy

 Fish were jumping

One of the loveliest picnic benches

Trampoline carnage

Sister love

Going solo...

STOP PRESS: Niomi's off!

Following in her sister's footsteps at the ripe old age of just turned four, Niomi is off solo on her bike. She did us proud this weekend with a very brave peddle-tastic effort. Both of them learnt on balance bikes, and they both made the transition to full peddle bikes look like a skoosh (used in the Weegie sense of something that's incredibly easy).  No stabilisers, barely any help, just away she goes. Worry is there'll be no stopping her now...

Ready for the off...

Videoclip: First solo ride...