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15/5/08 - Watering the flowers and cress comp - We went to visit Granny Betty and stopped off at the nursery to see Uncle Pete and Mick, they were very busy with the hanging baskets. Jake got stuck in helping Uncle Pete water the flowers and cool the greenhouse as it was a warm day but boiling under the glass! @home we had a cress growing competition, Daddy over watered his, Jake was the clear winner See pix here 14/4/ 08 - Wriggly Workshop - Scamps put on a wriggly workshop, this chap comes with tarantulas, scorpions (look don't touch) then there's a touchy feely session with snakes, millipedes and giant snails. Most hilarious thing happened, the man went to put a giant cockroach on a little boys hand, the boy retracted his hand and the cockroach fell on the floor and started running around to screams from the kids (and adults!). Jake was fearless, touching the millipede and snake for the rest of the week he kept saying "Jake, touched a snake"!! See skin crawling pix here29/03/08 - Legoland with Soph - We introduced Soph, Ollie and the twins to the joys of Legoland, we love it! It poured with rain, we got absolutely soaked but the children loved it. See pix here. 22/01/08 - Easter 2008 - We headed to France to do the Normandy beaches, weather was terrible, camp site was terrible so we consoled ourselves with lots of red wine, cheese and pain au chocolat!! See pix here 10/3/08 - Shed Diaster - During the bad storms, our shed blew over! Fortunately we were able to put the top back and sort the bikes, looks terrible but there was no damage! See pix here and the Iain and Jake mowing the lawn 22/01/08 - Jake the New Romantic - Always the way, you're ina rush to get to Goring Tots, getting yourself and Jake dressed, I can out of the bathroom only to find him trying to apply mascara.....he actually got it on his lashes! Mascara is really hard to get off, so all day he had one eye made up, he looked like Alex DeLarge in Clockwork Orange! He'll be wearing billowing sleeves and singing old Duran Duran songs next....see here December/January '08 26 /12/07 - Boston!! - After seeing Skids and Kristina in September we planned to go visit them over New Years, fits in the Iain's college holidays and my work, also Iain has always wanted to go to Boston. Problem was the flights were extortionate - £2.5k for the 3 of us for a week.....So after our Christmas dinner about 4pm, we were relaxing and Iain was surfing, he noticed that if we flew Boxing Day the flights were a 1/3 of the price...we did a double check and were typing our credit card details in the system whilst I was on the phone to the Skidsmores!.... so off we went!!
12/12/07 - Xmas Play - Jake's 1st Christmas play!! We were SO excited, to the point we bought a new camcorder off ebay to capture the moment!! There were various casting sessions, we heard rumours of a cow/sheep, then an elf or a reindeer...so it was nail biting stuff!...in the end he was a reindeer!! He was great sitting and singing the carols, when he saw Iain he was heard shouting out DADDY!! DADDDDDYYYY! Fast forward a few years....Oscars night and Jake's thank you speech "I would like to thank the academy for this award and my Mum and Dad who supported me at all my shows. The acting bug started way back when I was a reindeer at the Scamps Christmas Play! Thank you all" (Applause, Jake holding Oscar aloft, camera pans to Iain and I (in tears)...I'm looking super glam in Valentino and Jimmy Choo's!) See pix here 7/12/07 - Visiting Clare and Izzy - We had a really lovely day at Clare and Izzy's - we met through Jolly Babies whilst we were at Leeming they were at Catterick at the time. We've not seen each other for a good 6 months since we moved to Benson and they to Folkstone. They're currently in a hiring which is a new build on an estate, perfect for little ones. Clare looked glowing 6 months preg with Jacque, she has gorgeous chic hair, co-ordinated outfit. and accessories.....she put me to shame! The children played beautifully which allowed for lots of gossiping and catching up. A couple of hilarious things happened:
4/12/07 Big Boys Bed - Jake has made it to the big boys bed, we've kept him caged in a cot for as long as possible, but the threat of climbing out meant we had to go to the bed....
6/10/07 - Odds Farm - We've found a new farm to visit, it's brilliant, really clean. Jake loves feeding the animals and you can get in with the rabbits! We've joined as annual members! See pix here
November 26/11 /07 - Madeline's 1st Birthday6/10/07 - Kegworth 6/10/07 - MMM Magazine October 6/10/07 - Legoland & Costwold Safari Park - see pix here 6/10/07 - Ollie's 3rd Birthday - With Soph heavily preg with the twins, Ollie's 3rd birthday was wisely booked at a local soft play centre. First off, we headed to Sophs for lunch (on the condition she sat and did nothing!) with her family which was really lovely, the boys watched the England Rugby match whilst we gossiped in the kitchen waiting for the lemon meringue pie to cook! Then we headed to the soft play centre to meet Ollie's buddies, the children loved it, great idea for a party as someone's is trashed and the children let off steam, Jake slept all the way home! See pix here September 15/9/07 - Granny Betty's 90th - We went to Granny's for some presents and cake then back to mum and dads for an extended family bbq, check out the pix here August 22/8/07 - Summer Holiday Check out our adventure in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Paris where we met up with my friends from Boston.
Tuesday 28th - We stayed in the hotel we'd originally booked and just mooched about Düsseldorf, I was very good and only window shopped!! Wednesday 29th - Düsseldorf Motorhome Show - As the show is so big we decided to head back and Camping show again see pix here Thursday 30th - Paris - spent the day travelling from Düsseldorf to Paris just over 300 miles. Took about 5 hours. We stayed at a campsite in Bois de Bologne, Neuilly...We got the bus and Metro into Paris to meet Skids and Kristina! We had a drink then they went off to dinner and we headed to the Eiffel Tower, we went for dinner on the way home ...see pix here Friday 31st - Sightseeing Paris - We met up with Skids and Kristina, we started out at Notre Dame, went to the St.Chapelle then we stopped off near the Louvre for a croque. Mid-afternoon we headed back, Jake had a dicky tummy so we went home to help him rest....see pix here Saturday 1st September - Sightseeing Paris - We met up with Skids and Kristina in Pigalle and went up to the Sacre Coeur, Jake loved climbing the steps! We went for lunch in Monmatre and walked down towards the I'arc du Triomphe...we had a couple of vin rouge and said au revoir to our dear friends (see you for New Year!). We headed back to Calais, we got on the earlier boat and were home by 2am sunday morning...great holiday.....see pix here 07/08/07 - The Boat and Beale Park Mum and Dad are down on the Thames and stopped off outside Beale Park....being annual members was a great excuse to show Grandma the goats. Check out the pix of Jake on a rope! We were trying to keep hold of him near to the river...(Don't call social services!) July 25/7/07 - Pressups and teaset - Daddy's new fitness regime, Jake sits on his back and Iain does press-ups, Jake cries "AGAIN".....whilst Mummy was away, Jakey saw the new pretty teaset I'd bought and decided to play with it...he was caught by iain pouring a pretend cuppa and drinking saying "ahhhhh" see pix here 25/7/07 - Mummy in Dubai..pix to follow 07/07/07 - McCulloch BBQ - another sucessful Summer BBQ at the McCullochs, see pix 01/07/07 - Chris' Surprise 30th - Janine organised a surprise 30th for Chris, it was a brillaint success as he never suspected a thing! See pix here June 22/06/07 - Scamps - Jake's been attending a fantastic nursery called Scamps in Benson, it's a home-from-home, basically a couple of child minders bought a house and set up a nursery with a difference, they are flexible, highly skilled and being house the children feel at home also Jake's not on fixed days but goes when I'm working! If you have booked him in and have the day off they credit your account....oh yeah it's fab, no other nursery I know is like that! Scamps now do a daily report on what Jake's been doing, just like his previous nursery, I'll be uploading these regularly so keep in touch with his progress here 16/06/07 - Jake's obsession with phones - Jake is always walking around with the phone chattering gobbledygook into it, it's very musing as he's picked up our mannerism and actions. Last night we received this message on the phone "Hello this is Thames Valley Police, we've received a 999 call from this number, please call us back if you require assistance"....JAKE!!!! 10/06/07 - Beale Park - As the weather was good we cycled to Beale Park to see the animals, Jake completely unprompted started pulling the lush grass from the other side of the fence and started feeding the miniature goats - just shows his kind personality...see pix here 09/06/07 - Jake's 2nd Birthday Party - Weather was scorching and everyone enjoyed the food and wine, the ratio was more adults than children! Perfect day for a perfect boy - he got slots of lovely presents, luck boy, thank you everyone for coming and your gifts see pix here..... 06/06/07 - Jake's 2nd Birthday - We spent the day with Marie and Alexander at Legoland, the boys had a great time. We went on the river boats then the boys played in the water shoots, we had to strip them down to their nappies....After lunch, we headed home and they were shattered so slept whilst Marie and I gossiped! See pix here 03/06/06 - Annabelle and Yasmin's Christening - Immediately after Skip and Claire's wedding I dropped Iain off and drove to Newcastle, 375 miles later I arrived! The girls were christened at...Being slightly bigger Annabelle had to pretend she was having her hair washed over the font....We went back to the Todd's for a lovely spread, there was a bouncy castle and magician who was very funny...see pix here 02/06/06 - Skip and Claire's Wedding- They got married at .....after a week of bad weather the sun shone and it was scorching! Lovely service followed by great food....Congratulations guys....see pix here May 28 /05/07 - The lesser spotted Jake- We were struck down by chickenpox, the 1st week in May I got it, it's not funny as oh boy are you poorly as an adult, I only had a week to get better as I was teaching the following week, so lots of drugs from the med centre makeup that would make Barbara Cartland proud and I did it. Once people knew we had chicken pox we became social lepers, I hung a bell outside ;-) Jake kindly held off developing chickenpox until the last week in May when I was working at home so could nurse him. Jake was fine was not as affected as I was, running around as usual, only one morning was he a bit subdued, some Calpol, TLC on the sofa, Cbeebies and he was fine. He also does know how to scratch so no scars - he's still the most handsome McCulloch, fine now, we've taken the bell down and notified the authorities we're clear of the Ebola....I mean chickenpox virus. See spotty Jake here05/05/07 - Jake the vandal- The other day all we could hear from Jake's room was giggling followed by a ripping sound, upon investigation Jake just could not resist putting his little fingers under the new border and tearing it off the wall!!! We've nipped this hooligan behaviour in the bud, otherwise before we know it he'll be logging into My Space to invite his nursery friends to come round and "trash this house"..hang on that happens anyway when those terrors come round!! See the destruction here Funny story...Jake is obsessed with the fridge (opening it and taking things out), dustbin (putting things in it), washing machine - turning the dials and putting clothes in/out, - the latter I encourage for when he leaves home! Well the training seems to have gone well, last night Jake opened the fridge, took out a can of Fosters and started shouting "Da, Da" took said can to Iain....now that's an intelligent 23month old!! April 27/04/07 - SpringBreak 2007- Iain planned a 7 day holiday in the van around the south coast, we'll be updating the site daily with our trip....
24/04/07 - HP Leaving Do - As Mark (My boss) pointed out, it's groundhog day, this is the second time I've left HP in Leeds with the same team (different project!) last time it was due to Jake, see here: this time to join HP education in Hampshire.. Still a sad occasion, we went for a meal at a Malaya restaurant, great turn-out, Simon La Rosa even sang to me (he's a semi-pro tenor) the entire restaurant erupted! Great bunch of guys, I'm sure I'll be seeing them on my course soon! see pix here 21/04/07 - Shed building and BBQ- With no garage we decided to buy a big metal shed to house our bikes and fitness suite. On Friday Ted came over and helped build it, he did a fantastic job, laying a solid foundation...it was a 2 man, 2 day job with lots of cement! It looks fab...we're so pleased with it. It's definitely staying should we ever move, it's been so well build I'm sure the RAF could use it as a reserve air raid shelter!! Saturday afternoon, Sophie, Guy and Ollie came over for a BBQ, it's lovely now we're so near to each other, the boys played together and we sat and relaxed in the sunny weather....perfect... ` I've also updated Jakr's room decor and made some new curtains, check them out....14 /04/07 - Weekend in Benson - With the temperature hitting 30 degrees in the suntrap, we relaxed at home. Being away there was piles of washing, Jake played in the garden but it was tiring for him so he decided to pull the washing down and have a little snooze on it! Sunday he helped Daddy wash the car....see pix here06/04/07 - Leaving Leeming - Despite removals to Benson on the 23rd March, Iain had to work in Leeming the week of the 9th to finish off, which worked quite well as I am working in Leeds until the end of April finishing the contract at HP before starting at HP Education. We spent Easter weekend preparing for march-out inspection...due to lack of furniture we escaped in the van to Thirsk. The weather was gorgeous. Iain and Jake went back to the house each morning to clean and tidy up whilst I studied, Easter monday we had a big cleaning push...Thursday 12th was Jake's last day ever with Marion, he had a leaving party then we said our goodbyes...oh boy it was sad, Jake received some lovely presents and cards see here....As we were houseless Lucy and Leo cooked us a lovely pasta dinner before our trek back to Benson, we will miss our Leeming friends......see pix here March 25/3/07 - Beale Park - Is just down the road from us, check it out here.http://www.bealepark.co.uk/..we've signed up for a yearly pass, there's a train, sheep goats and a fab children's playpark..Jake saw the sheep and went running over screaming "ba ba's, ba ba's" see here 24/3/07 - Jake the builder - Jake is Iain's shadow and when not in sight calls for his constantly, "Dada", Dada" is all we hear, even in the street if a man has dark hair off he goes ;-) So any opportunity to help "DADA" he will, see pix here 21/03/07 - Jake's last day at Stepping Stones - Today was Jake's last day at the nursery at Leeming, he received all his progress charts, see them here.... 17/03/07 - Laurens 2nd Birthday Party - Jake has a jam packed social diary and was invited to Fifi mad Lauren for her 2nd birthday party at he community centre on camp. Jake had a great time...see pix here 11/03/07 - Annabelle's 4th Birthday - We all went up to Newcastle for Annabelle's 4th Birthday party that fell on her birthday day! We went round to Rachel and David's house (which is really gorgeous) for a cuppa and present opening. Yasmin (the latest Todd) and Iain got on very well, she was smiling and cooing at him whenever he went over! Annabelle was so excited for her party so we then headed off to in convoy to a Brewster Pub at Moor Farm, it has a fun factory soft play centre out the back where the children have their parties. Annabelle and her nursery friends LOVED it, they played, had their faces painted, pass the parcel then lunch, ice-cream and met Brewster bear. We all had a great time and Jake slept all the way home! See pix here 09/03/07- Some bathtime and evening pix in the McCulloch madhouse!! 04/03/07 - ER Meets Holby City - Over the past few weeks Jake has got the hang of walking and despite longing for this day we would harp back to him being still in his bumbo anyday!! examples:
04/03/07 - Mia Head's Christening - Tracey and Marcus asked me to be godmother to the latest Head, honoured and delighted we headed to their new house in Oswestry. It was lovely to see the girls. Sunday was lovely and the church gorgeous. After the Christening we headed to Grandma and Grandpa McCulloch for the night...See pix hereFebruary 05 /02/07 - Trip to Richmond Fire Station - Marion and the childminders arranged a visit to the firestation for a talk and see the fire engines, not really sure whether the trip was more of a treat for the mums or children ;-) Jake loved it and helped the fireman with his hose!! Check out the pix here....January 19/01/07 - WE'RE OFF TO BENSON!!! The new year has got off to a great start, I've got a new job at HP at a trainer, starting in May, working out of their Highfield training centre...we were on tender hooks waiting for a posting to civilisation down south and Daddy came up trumps, we're off to Benson (Oxfordshire) 16th April. Initially we'll move into married quarters whilst we look for a house in one of the Thames villages, we'll be selling our Knutsford house and putting roots down south. We'll be sad to leave Marion and the nursery but that's about it. You're not at the end of the world in Leeming but you can see it from there...and it's always cold and windy....down to the sunny south!! 01/01/07 - New Year's day at Soph and Guy's - Off to a fantastic start with New Years Day lunch at Sophie and Guys, Jake and Ollie playing together, lovely lunch....see the boys here December A very, very busy December hence the delay in posting pictures from the festive period, here's a run down of what we got up to... - Weekend of the 9th of December was the wedding of the year...Shari looked beautiful and Ian very handsome, ceremony was at Bramhall Hall followed by the wedding breakfast at Mottram Hall Hotel. Iain was an usher and looked very dapper in his gear! Unfortunately we had to leave early evening as Iain was on gate guard back at Leeming... Sunday 10th - With Daddy back at work, Mummy and Jake went to the boat club Christmas Party. It was just as great as we remember when we were children. Bring a plate so there was heaps of food, Father Christmas sailed up the arm on the front of his boat with a big bag of toys for the little ones. Tracey Parker did a grand job or organising it and it went with a bang!
Iain's 37th - Weekend of the 16th December we went to Cheshire Oaks for some Christmas shopping and relaxing, the campsite was right next to the shops Christmas 2006 - Back to Cheshire for Christmas Day and Boxing day, lots of going out and cycling. went to Mums for Christmas 26/11/06 Emily McCann's 1st Birthday - We went back to Cheshire so Iain could get his ushers suit fitted, Sunday was Emily McCanns 1st Birthday, she looked gorgeous and it was great to see Simon and Tammy...let's not leave it so long next time...see pix here26/10/06 Rimini, ItalyWhen Iain was away he booked a romantic mini-break to Rimini, NE Italy, for the 2 of us. But we knew we'd miss Jake too much so he came along too, he was only and extra £7 ew on the flight and free in the room so why not? We were flying from Luton on scumjet so it seemed rude not to see Soph as she lives so close, she'll be charging us rent soon we stay so often ;-) but she's just such a good hostess....had a lovely time and lots of fizz...Tuesday we set off early and the aim of the day was to tire Jake out so much he'd sleep on the flight, Iain's plan worked like a treat, he had Jake crawling all over the departure lounge, on take off Jake fell asleep on cue for the rest of the journey. We stayed at The Grand Hotel which was lovely. Wednesday we explored Rimini, there was a huge market on which was great to walk around, then in the evening we went out for a lovely meal. Thursday we strolled along the beach before returning home!! See pix here 02/10/06 Jake's Nursery BlogJake has been attending Stepping Stones on camp 2 mornings a week since he was 10mths. Its an excellent nursery, he loves it and has a great time. They've recently starting completing a daily report so we know what he's been up to, I'll be updating it weekly with each weeks adventures....see the navigation bar for link. 29/09/06 Photoshoot...We decided to get some pictures done for Daddy...check them out 22/09/06 Photoshoot...More photoshoot pictures we had done Daddy...check them out 16/09/06 Chelsea and Kyle's Birthday Party...Marion's children invited Jake to their birthday party. It was Chelsea's (10th) and Kyle's (6th) in the coffee shop on camp. There was a children's disco with a great DJ who threw sweets and prizes to the children. Jake was mesmerized by the flashing lights and had to be retrieved from the centre of the dance floor that was throbbing with bouncing children! See pix here... 09/09/06 1st Shoes... I've always made sure Jake wears shoes but they are little canvas ones more to co-ordinate his outfit than for walking, now he is starting to stand up his feet seem to have grown and his baby shoes no longer fit so time for some grown up shoes! So we headed to Clarks, it was packed and to my amazement there is a ticket queuing system, you take a ticket from the machine (like the meat counter at the supermarket) for your place in line! So he had his feet measured - size 3.5F! He is between crawling and walking shoes so we picked a pair and tried them on, he had to practice standing and crawling where he promptly headed for the exit into the arcade - trying to do a runner with his new shoes on, without paying, how embarrassing ;-) The shop took a photo....fab...see pix here Other pix are from our previous weekends at Soph's and Grandma and Grandpa McCulloch's visit..... 20/08/06 Trip to CheshireAs we'd been in Leeming the past couple of weekends, Jake and I decided to go to Cheshire, the weather was terrible so we went out to John Lewis on Saturday and Rachels on Sunday. Jake played with Pippa which was great as Pippa learnt to be with little ones and Jake now loves little dogs, he was laughing hysterically and turbo crawling to try and catch up with her! Rachel is looking fab with her net bump see pix here... 09/08/06 Field Trip to Monk FarmMarion (Jake's fantastic childminder) organised a field trip to Monk Farm Jake had a ball he saw lots of animals for the first time including a goat (who tried to eat his shoe), sheep, cows and much more...see pix here 05/08/06 Flamingo Land With all their hubbies away the RAF Regiment wives had organised a trip to Flamingo Land. As Iain is away too we get welfare so were able to go along with them. It's on the way to Scarborough and was surprisingly good, a bit like a small Alton Towers meets Disney. We were a bit limited on the rides we could go on so we only went on a tractor ride, Jake loved the steering wheel! We went to the bird show and sea lion show which was great!! See pix here29/07/06 Weekend at MumsDad has had a heart attack so we rushed back to see him, fortunately it was very mild, so he's back home on the mend, here are some pix taken during the weekend.... 22/07/06 Weekend on the Boat Mum and Dad were down in Windsor so Jake and I went down to visit. Thursday night we stopped of at Soph's, as the weather was scorching we took Jake and Ollie to the park. When we came home, Jake played for ages in Ollie's paddling pool but really enjoyed submerging himself to the point of drowning! One episode I was filming and had to dive in camera in hand to retrieve him, hence only a few pix as the camera got soaked...has dried out since!! See pix here...Friday wewent to stay with Marie, Paul and Alexander, Saturday we went into Windsor, Sunday we met u with Silke, it was so lovely to see her and for her to meet Jake, it's been to long girl!! Another hectic weekend.... 08/07/06 BBQ at MumsJake and I decided to head back to Cheshire for some R&R, Mum and Dad had a bbq on Saturday and on queue it poured with rain and blew a gale! see pix here 01/07/06 Weekend at Tracey's..Before they move to Oswestry and with No. 3 is on the way we popped over to Carlisle to see Tracey, Victoria and Ella. It was the hottest day of the year so far and we had a lovely relaxing time... see pix here01/07/06 Daddy's in the Falklands ;-(. Daddy has gone to the Falklands for 4 months ;-( but Jake and I are very busy, Mummy working hard and Jake crawling and exploring all the things he shouldn't mainly electric sockets and cables! Check out the pix here 10/06/06 Jake's 1st Birthday Party!!Soph and Ollie came up on the Friday so we were able to hit the fizz early....Saturday was a scorcher, loads of friends came, Marie, Paul & Alexander, Mum, Dad & Chris, lots of Jake's nursery and class friends...grown-ups got a bbq and beer, little ones fish and car shaped sandwiches...it was very hectic but a great day...here are some of the pix...09/06/06 Crown CompetitionTo celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday, the nursery were running a crown competition...Mummy being an avid Blue Peter devotee did most of the work as Jake kept trying to eat the glitter glue, the Queen (a pilot from 100sqn dressed up by the theatre club made an appearance to judge....due to political correctness, we DIDN'T win...we were robbed...anyway, see the pix here 06/06/06 Jake's 1st Birthday!! Jake is 1 today...wow...so we opened presents and he went off to nursery to have cake with his friends see pix here...BIG party is Saturday, can't wait.... 11/05/06 The Fimbles LIVE in York! Iain and Jake headed off to the Fimbles Live in York, Jake is such a fan! See pix here...26/04/06 RAF Leeming Squash Open & Jake's 1st day @NurseryIain organised the event and made it to the final but was runner up ;-( There were record entries of 31 making it a hit on station! Being OC Domestic Ops, I did the catering (even Catering Flt were impressed!) With all those men running around all day the squash courts were very hot, see the steaming pix here! Jake started nursery on camp today....it's a fabulous nursery with a long waiting list, so I dropped him off and he thought all the new playmates and toys were great....as I fled in floods of tears!! The nursery took some pix and gave them to me...see them here 01/05/06 May Bank Hols - Coniston & KendalWe had an idyllic weekend cycling round Coniston Water in the sunshine. Sunday Iain and Jake drove to Kendal whilst mummy rode the hilly route! See pix here29/04/06 Swings Jake's discovered the swings outside our house and LOVES them, see pix here 14/04/06 Easter 2006 We had a great Easter touring Scotland in the van, we spent Wednesday in Windermere, Thursday at Kilder Water - we had to go on a mercy mission as we had no analogue telly! Good Friday we headed to Galiston in Dumfries and Galloway, really beautiful on the sea front. We cycled to Whithorn, Daddy had a tough time towing Jake on the hills! Easter Sunday we headed to Drumore. The campsite was right on the beach. We cycled to the Mull of Galloway ......the most southern point in Scotland....see pix here 01/04/06 Grandma and Granddad's Visit Iain's Mum and Dad came up to visit before their 3 month trip to visit Alison in the States, we spent the weekend relaxing and getting soaked at Cattrick Market......see pix here 25/3/06 Whitley Bay & Berwick Upon Tweed...As Whitley Bay is such an idyllic spot we decided to go back we stayed over Friday and Saturday. Sunday we headed upto Berwick Upon Tweed via Alnick where we stopped off for a cuppa with Dad's cousin Ann and Malcolm...Berwick Upon Tweed was gorgeous, we explored on our bikes as we've also bought a bike trailer for Jake so we can easily get to the pub! Check out the pix.... 18/3/06 Whitley Bay... Spent the weekend in Whitley Bay, gorgeous campsite right on the sea cliff edge. Weekend before we chilled at home whilst it snowed...see pix here 05/3/06 Alexander's Christening... Friday night we stayed over in a campsite in Consett, oh boy it was bad, no water, showers or loos as they were frozen! We hadn't filled up before we left so had to dash to Morrison's for loads of bottled water. Saturday morning I was working for the TA then we met Marie and Paul for lunch by the Angel of the North. Saturday night we found this great campsite in the grounds of a ruined Abbey. Sunday was the christening, Alexander looked gorgeous in his christening gown and was a little angel all day see pix here01/3/06 Highchair Jake.. Just some pix of Jake in his highchair and his ring..... 24/2/06 Jake and Daddy relaxing.. Iain's got a bad knee playing squash so is resting, Jake chilling has been very poorly this week with a temp of 105 and a resulting rash....so Mummy is playing nurse whilst they recover watching TV together....see pix 11/2/06 Video of Jake watching the Fimbles!!Finally Iain was home for a long weekend which meant Jake and I didn't have to travel...bliss...we just chilled and went nowhere, I took some video of Jake watching TV. Jake LOVES the Fimbles and spin off called the Roly Mo Show on every night. For those of you non-cBeebies, the Fimbles is a kinda similar to the Wombles. The Roly Mo show is a read along with Mummy bedtime story, trying to be a bit educational...Jake doesn't know this but simply loves the coloured puppets and music check out the video!! 4/2/06 Courses, courses, courses.... 28/01/06 Visiting Iain and Soph...Met up with Iain this weekend for some family time, relaxing and going to the pub! Decided to come back via Soph's, took some pix and video check out Jake and Ollie playing.... 23/01/06 Camping and Motorhome Show...Spent the weekend in Cheshire, Friday evening I was fixing Dad's new computer, DON'T get me started on AOL broadband...we've had to go with BT in the end but that's another story....Saturday, Iain and I went to the Camping and Motorhome Show at the Gmex, was slightly disappointed there weren't many vans and the accessories hall I was particually looking forward to had laods of useless things you find on QVC...Saturday night we went out with Shari and her new man to TGI Fridays, Sunday we went back to Knutsford for reminiscence, it's 3 years to the day Iain and I went for a chinese there....ahhhh.... check out the pix here 07/01/06 RTTC Dinner..Barbara had won an award for her cycling efforts so we went to the RTTC dinner (Road Time Trials Council now the CTT) on Saturday night. Food was lovely and it was really inspiring to see all those national award winners. Iain and Jake had a father-son bonding session Saturday-Sunday whilst Mummy had a leave pass for the night got her glad rags on (despite wrecking my back earlier in the day)! I'd hurt my back constantly lifting Jake, (he's over 22lbs now!) and by this weekend it simply packed up to the point I could only shuffle, labour was nothing compared to this! So I stayed over at Barbara's Sunday night so I could get it fixed at the chiro Monday morning. It was a good opportunity to take some lovely pix....Still on a high from the dinner we came crashing down to earth with the devastating news that 4 cyclists from Rhyl CC on their Sunday club run, had been wiped out by a car that had hit ice....many a Sunday we've been out on the club run in exactly the same circumstances....makes you think about this sport we love so much....28/12/05 New Camera..As PC World had their 6mpx in the 1/2 price sale, we decided to splash out and treat ourselves! It's Sooooo cool and does decent videos too so expect loads of cool stuff...here are some random pix we took whilst trying out the camera... 26/12/05 Boxing Day...Kate is over from Zambia from Christmas, so popped in with Eric and Ashley for some fizz and catch up. Despite being -5C outside, Eric was in shorts!! Lovely to see them before they fly back to the sunshine if not a little remote (nearest Tesco's is 200 miles away!) See pix of Ashley and Jake here.... 25/12/05 Christmas Day...Check out the pix of Jake opening presents here and more pix here.... 23/12/05 Rachel & Daikin's WeddingTheir wedding took place at the exclusive Sharrow Bay Hotel on Ullswater in the lakes. Rachel looked stunning, Daikin looked so proud....They married in the chapel at Bank House, after we all boarded a boat for a tour of the lake with the champagne flowing, canapés and string quartet! After we go back we warmed up with mulled wine and home made mince pies, then we moved onto the Michelin Star wedding breakfast with fabulous wine...oh wow it was FAB! After the moving speeches we had a bit of a bop thanks to Daikin's younger brother, we all flaked out about 11pm....brilliant wedding, one to remember...check out the pix here Mid-Nov to Xmas Pix...Camping and Visiting Friends...Iain's on a course in Cardiff until the end of Feb '06 so Jake and I have been meeting him in the middle of the UK. As my parents are nearer, I've been staying in Prestbury, hence the lack of uploads! Here are pix of what we got upto... Mid-Nov to Xmas Pix...Camping and Visiting Friends...Iain's on a course in Cardiff until the end of Feb '06 so Jake and I have been meeting him in the middle of the UK. As my parents are nearer, I've been staying in Prestbury, hence the lack of uploads! Here are pix of what we got upto with commentary.... 2/11/05 I HATE APPLES!!Jake is a bit of a fussy eater (takes after his father!) One day he loves carrots the next he projectile spits them out meaning you get showered with them, it's advisable to be kitted out in full sowester whilst feeding Jake!! He likes pears and bananas but in an attempt to broaden his palette, I bought the sweetest red spartan apples, steamed then pureed them....he still hates apples but I couldn't stop laughing at his faces, so took some pix! 28/10/05 Picking up the CampervanWe drove down to Hook to collect our campervan, it was all supershiney with no miles on the clock! We spent Friday night at Wellington Park, Reading as it was the closest site to the caravan shop with availability. Saturday we left the van at RAF Lynham (as it's free) and went to Skip and Clare's housewarming in Bristol, lovely house and we had a great time! It was our first time we've left Jake overnight, he stayed with Emma's parents...very strange not to have him around, bit like forgetting to put your underpants on in the morning, as you do it so instinctively every day that every now you go "huh" with that forgotten-to-do-something feeling...but then you realise it's no underpants so are faced with walking around commando.....feels strange....check out the pix of our new van.... 19/10/05 Jake sitting up...Well, more like wedged between the cushions...but it's progress...check out the latest pix 15/10/05 Carry on Camping!We've bought a campervan!! When the Green's were little we spent weekends and holidays on Dabchick, our canal boat, going off to places, although we moaned about the rain and Dad making us do the locks it was a fab way to spend our childhood. We spent many a happy weekends soaked, sleeping in bunks and generally trying to get into mischief with other children when making bonfires. Likewise, the McCullochs had a campervan and did similar things toured Europe and Scandinavia although Iain did use to moan that he had the smallest bed above the cab! So we've bought a campervan as we'd like Jake to see Europe and the UK and enjoy his weekends soaked on campsites...then he can look back in years to come with happy sepia memories, like we are now....See some vintage pix and our new campervan! 13/10/05 Holiday in Cyprus...Just got back after 2 weeks in Cyprus - we had a fabulous time.. As Jake is only 4 months old we wanted to go somewhere "safe", somewhere should he have fallen ill we had access to good medical facilities and being Cyprus we could have hot footed it to the med centre at Akritiri which was a comfort on his first holiday abroad! We stayed at the Mirimar hotel in Limmasol, a lovely 4* hotel. The weather was perfect for us and Jake, 28-30C in the day t-shirt and jeans at night. As we'd hired a car, we alternated between a day and about then the next day by the pool... "a day by the pool" translates as mummy reading her book sunbathing knowing that after 1/2 an hour, daddy would get bored so take Jake off to the internet cafe/pub/watch football for a couple of hours leaving mummy blissfully relaxing in the sun! The pool wasn't heated so we had to wait until late afternoon to dip Jake in, he never complained it was a bit chilly, took it all in his baby stride! Our days-out days, took us all over the island and we ended up going to almost all the popular resorts, Paphos, Larnaca, Pissouri, Nicosia and the north side in search of Louis Vuitton handbags! Jake was a brilliant traveller and an angel on the plane, the leg room gets smaller and smaller in cattle class but Jake never complained once to sitting on Daddy's knee for 4.5 hours! Jake was a total attraction wherever we went, in the evenings we'd feed him, stuck him in a super cute babygrow and head to a a restaurant or pub. Jake loved all the attention and desperate not to miss the goings on would be wide awake revelling in his new found fame as a gorgeous baby, that had the added bonus of knackering him out so he'd sleep all night!! We took loads of family shots, see them here..... 24/9/05 Christening Party Take 2...As we've got so many friends and family in Cheshire, Mum and Dad had a party for Jake - everyone had a great time. Jake got more lovely presents...thanks to everyone for those, see the pix here of the great do 8/9/05 Trip home...As Daddy is on a week of nights doing gate guard protecting Leeming, Mummy and I decided to go visit Grandma Green and some of Mummy's friends... we had a great time mainly shopping for new holiday clothes for me as I'm growing SO fast! Click see to see how cute I look...Today we went to visit Great Granny Betty then onto see Rachel and Ma "D", we ended up having lunch in a local pub, I was super behaved as usual 4/9/05 Oliver's Christening...and our wedding anniversary!Ollie was christening in a lovely service followed by a bbq back at Sophie and Guy's, weather was perfect...we went down on the Saturday to help out along with Guys friends, FAR too much booze and fizz was supped whilst preparing hors d'oeuvres...had a wonderful time. It was also our wedding anniversary so a great way to spend a special day ;-) Pix here.... 29/8/05 Trip to Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.Mum and Dad are on their annual boat trip with Mich and Barbara Robinson, currently at Mountsorrel, Leicestershire on their way back up north from Peterborough. We took Jake down for his first night afloat. Weather was scorching for a change, we headed out to this fancy indian accompanied by Simon Hughes and Margaret...Indian was interesting, all nouveau cuisine kangaroo steaks on the menu! As the portions were small we supped far too much vin blanc,...good job Jake's sleeping through the night!! Check out the pix here 24/8/05 Jake PixHere are a couple of pix to capture his gorgeous face! Also a couple of pix dedicated to my car....the MX5 had to go, baby car seats just don't fit ;-( - couple of pix for the end of an era.... 21/8/05 Jake's ChristeningA beautiful service was at St.Leonards Church, Upton St.Leonards, Gloucester. Churches have moved into the 21st Century as instead of having hymn books, there was a PowerPoint presentation projected onto a screen with all the words to the hymns! Karaoke Christening! Jake cried at the font right on queue! After we had a BBQ at Ted and Ann's, the weather was scorching, a great day to remember - pix here.... 11/8/05 Jake loves watching cricket!We've been watching The Ashes on TV and it turns out Jake LOVES watching cricket! He goes nuts, kicking his little legs and failing his arms when they score (when the brits not the Ozzies score of course!)...he also loves the Simpsons ;-) check out the pix of him and his viewing preferences..... 18/7/05 Jake on Tour!As Daddy had to go to Cyprus to follow some fancy Top Gun pilots for 2 weeks (hard life isn't it) Jake and I decided to go on tour. First we stopped off for the weekend at Grandama McCullochs in Gloucester. Grandma and Grandpa Green also stopped by for a BBQ on the Saturday. Monday we headed cross country to see Soph and Ollie. Tuesday, we packed up the car and all went to visit Lindsey expecting No.2 and Izzy in Tunbridge Wells. We had a lovely day lunching and going to the park. Now that we're ladies with babies who do lunch, Wednesday Soph and I went for lunch on Gentlemen's Row in Endfield. I then introduced Soph to the wonders of Matalan for some bargain retail therapy! Thursday back to Gloucester to see Grandpa Ted's poorly leg and Auntie Debs who was over from Brussels to collect Kirstie and Daniel. Friday we headed back to Cheshire for a few days relaxing at Ma D's and Barbara's, then back up to Leeming on Thursday- Phew!!! Check out the pix here..... 11/7/05 Jake ChillingJake has a tough life of eating, sleeping, pampering and cooing....here are some cute pix... 9/7/05 The Great Tornado PullBasically, tug of war with a tornado! Testosterone, brute force and having a neck as wide as your shoulders makes for a good tornado puller....Rachel David and Annabelle popped up for a sunny afternoon (one of the only sunny days this summer). Followed by a BBQ chez McCulloch...click here to see pix 5/7/05 Bathtime...We retained baby Jake's modesty, don't want the other baby girls to get too excited! See pix here 3/7/05 Relaxing at home...Spent the weekend relaxing...Saturday watching Wimbeldon and The Tour, Sunday met up with Mum and Dad for morning coffee in Thirsk, who were en route visiting an old relative in Whitby. Spent the afternoon relaxing - see pix Proof Baby Jake is a dream baby: On Saturday, he slept for 5 hours at night! And he's SO cute, even when he does wake up at 4am! We still can't quite believe he's ours, we keep looking at him thinking we'll have to give him back - sure it'll sink in soon! 25/6/05 Another Trip to CheshireWe've got a new tenant for our house in Knutsford, this time a corporate let for a year - which great news as we're hoping for a 3 year posting to Cyprus starting next summer. So we popped back to cheshire to spruce up the garden and ensure the house is in tip top condition. We stayed at Mum's - On Sunday Rachel, David and Annabelle came down for a BBQ in the lovely weather. We took some great shots of Baby Jake and Auntie Rachel, check out pix here 23/6/05 Jake meets HPWe popped into see the chaps at HP...Jake was the centre of attention, even the guys were cooing at him....see pix here 19/6/05 Signed for Swindon Town on Schoolboy terms...A couple of conkers, packet of chewing gum and some baby powdered milk was his first salary payment. What a talent at 12 days old!!! We were holding out for Man Utd but understand Mr Glazer couldn't afford Jake's wage demands!! Click here to see Jake's debut 16/6/05 News of Jake makes the Knutsford Guardian!Last September Iain and I made frontpage news of the Knutsford Guardian following our eventful wedding during Hurricane Frances (see article here) Thanks to the hurricane and subsequent arrival of Baby Jake, the Knutsford Guardian did a follow-on story! Read all about it here.... 14/6/05 1st Trip to Cheshire..We all went to visit Grandma Green so friends and family in Cheshire could meet baby Jake. He was a dream and cooed at by all. Jake also got loads of gorgeous presents - thanks to everyone for their generosity...check out the pix here 11/6/05 Auntie Marie's visitAuntie Marie came to visit baby Jake, she fell in love with him like all of us...she's looking well at 20 weeks preg - she bought him a gorgeous outfit and teddy - Thanks Marie... check out the pix here 1/6/05 40 Weeks...Baby is due today but no sign yet....obviously Baby SJ is too cosy in there...Here are the final bump pix... 12/5/05 HP Nite outTo celebrate the successful HP Openview implementation on the NHS/Accenture project, HP took us all out for a slap up meal at Plush in Leeds! Click here to see photos....11/5/05 RAF Leeming vs Army, RiponIain is now running the station squash. First fixture against the Army in Ripon which they won! See pix here 16/4/05 Boat MovingIain, Dad and Chris spent the weekend putting up the swing and moving the boat ready for repainting whilst Mum Annabelle and I went to John Lewis to buy last few baby things on the list! Check out pix... 21/3/05 Bump PixAfter lots of requests, we've taken some pix of my bump...30 weeks and counting! Check them out here.... 5/3/05 Dad and Annabelle's BirthdayDad's 62nd, Annabelle's 2nd and Mothers Day! Rachel put on a lovely birthday party spread! Check out the pix 5/3/05 Nursery pixMum has been doing a fantastic job of making the nursery fit for a our little prince (or princess!) Check out here amazing sewing skills here.... 18/02/05 Mum's 60th BirthdayWe went back to Cheshire to celebrate Mum's birthday along with Babara and Mich Robinson at the Leigh Arms, Prestbury, click here to see pix. 11/02/05 Birthday Weekend
Dad took us away to
Oulton Hall Hotel to celebrate Rachel's 30th and Mum's 60th.
Saturday morning we took Annabelle swimming, it was her first time in her new swimming cossie with floats built into it...she loved it and was getting more and more confident by the time we had to drag her from the water with blue lips! Saturday afternoon, Mum, Dad, Laura and I went into Leeds whilst the others went to the gym and rested up. We made a beeline for Harvey Nicks for a spot of lunch and shopping for Mum. Dad being in a generous mood, Mum stuck whilst the iron was hot and got a gorgeous black leather Longchamp overnight bag - I've already asked her to leave it to me! We all went for a spot of lunch in HN's bistro then headed back to the hotel. Saturday night was to celebrate Mum's birthday and again we had a lovely meal in the restaurant, we all made it an early night after a hectic day. Sunday morning, again Annabelle headed straight for the pool so we took her swimming, had lunch and headed home. It was a great weekend....thanks Dad! Click here to see pix |
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In the second week we decided to go on a few trips - We love them! We went on this Dolphin and Whale watching tour which was amazing....within minutes of leaving marina we could see loads of dolphins, as the boat has a glass bottom you can see the creatures below the water line...wow, Emma heard the dolphins eek to each other - it blows you away...the added bonus that throughout the boat trip the food and in particular the booze was free - OH YESSSS!!! Click on the picture to see more Tenerife photos... |
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Thursday we hired a car and headed up Mount Tiede - we went all the way to the "base camp" then got a cable car to the top, it's 3500meters...we were strolling around (read: Emma said "let's go over here!!") Iain was kinda quiet, as it was very cold, we saw the snow, collected our volcano souvenirs and went back to the cable car to go down...once I stopped, oh my, I now know why Iain was quiet as we were in the midst of altitude sickness, my vision was narrowing, heart racing, pressure on the chest and the feeling of wanting to pass out, Iain instructed me, oh baby, to keep breathing heavily, but at the time I was leaning on a steel girder and convinced it was swaying!! Once we got back to the car and back to sea level it was a relief! we spent the rest of the day touring the island so we know in the future where they mean when the travel agents tell us a resort...Friday we headed for Los Gigantes - I last went I was 16 with Mum and Dad, had lunch and home...Saturday we packed then back to blighty....great holiday, we'd recommend Tenerife any day.... |
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As it was Davids Birthday on 13th December and Iain's on 16th, I though it'd be a great idea to have a birthday party for the boys at home. we had a big turkey with all the trimmings - was great! Click here to see photos
For Iain's birthday day we went out for dinner to the Bells of Peover, was really great and the birthday boy had lots to eat and drink!
We finally got round to having a housewarming, loads of close friends came, Kathleen all the way from LA and a few of Iains friends from work. Everyone had fun, only problem was after some very drunken dancing, members of the party fell over crashing into the coffee table then a bottle of red wine went glugging onto the brand new cream carpet....oh well...that's house parties for you, good job I've got contents insurance! Photos are rubbish due to state of photographers...still enjoy! Housewarming photos here....
30/9/03 Emma's 32nd Birthday
What a great weekend!
The Green's and the McCulloch's all met at our housewarming and 32nd BBQ Saturday afternoon (which predictably went on until midnight!!)
Sunday was a leisurely trip up the canal followed by dinner at the Leigh Arms (thanks Dad ;-)
Birthday day was spent in Blackpool, Fish and Chips on the seafront, horse and cart up the golden mile and shopping for sticks of rock!! Click to here to see photos....
8/9/03 Trip to Germany
Four of us went on a working trip to the Fatherland, three very large hangers required a bit of TLC!! Met loads of 'Panzer Commanders'....wer ist my Panzer...Achtung Spitfires...mein name ist Von Chopper of the SS...were frequent expressions heard from locals..lol...seriously they really are so efficient...eggs in hotel were segregated into 4 minute eggs or 6 minutes eggs! Hotel was fab, came back via Calais Auchan Supermarket, stocked up on the French orange juice...as if!!
Iain has put his house up for sale - fancy a nosey http://www.4BarkhillRoad.co.uk. If you know anyone who's interested, put them in touch!!
Suggestions on how to improve the interior - answers on a postcard please!!
Back today from a three week stay in Basrah, tried really hard to find Saddam (alias Sad Lad) and secure the bounty, found loads of look-alikes but not the real thing.
Just been on the scales and am a stone lighter, those mosquito tablets do wonders for excess baggage in the stomach and subsequent weight loss, would recommend as a supplement to a calorie controlled diet!
Tried desperately to spend money over there, but with only one shop on the base which sells not much more than Pringles and Pop, had to make do with buying Iraqi Dinars from locals, the irony is you'll need a wheelbarrow full of them to purchase a can of pop...managed to get the local 'jingly' down to three 250 Dinar notes (1 Dinar used to be worth £2) for one US $, thought I had a bargain but apparently I was ripped off, mind u I said if we found Saddam I'd give him a share of the loot so he gave me a load of notes 'on the house'!
As we're both fed up with working for a living, Iain decided to go out o Iraq to try and find Saddam Hussain and claim the $30m bounty! Seriously, Iain's was posted to Basrah for 3 weeks (on 48hrs notice!). I was very anxious before he left, but now that he's there, he's fine and the place seems OK, just as hot as hell - 50 degrees C! Comms are good a as mobile phones work and they have internet connections....
He's also building his left shoulder muscle in preparation for carrying the weight of all the medals he'll receive upon his return - my war hero! No doubt we'll have lots of interesting war stories when he gets back.....
Bring some stockings back for me darling - oh hang on, that's the Yanks isn't it! xxx
We've just got back from 2 weeks in Cyprus, we had a ball! Check out the photos and see what we got up to, which included seeing the whole island courtesy of my private tour guide (Iain), Iain being interviewed on Pik 1 TV (kinda BBC1 Cypriot style), crossing the Green Line for fake Gucci gear, sailing a 64ft catamaran, a stab at water ski-ing at Akrotiri, eating, drinking, eating, drinking, sunbathing and making new friends! Click here to see photos...
All photos are now uploaded and up to date. Check out our London trip and Misc photos section contains HELLO! type shots of Iain and I....We are so the new Posh and Becks! Enjoy...
1/6/03 Cyprus Holiday booked
HOW fab...booked 2 weeks at the 5* Apollonia Hotel, Limassol, Cyprus. Both v. excited, we love Cyprus...don't worry, it's just a holiday - he's not taking another wife just yet ;-)
Other than me finally getting my IT fingers out, nothing much to report.
This week the kitchen has been fitted in my house and things are moving quickly now, should be in with weeks, Getting v.excited for our parties that we've invited everyone to! Will report back once something exciting has happened, must get back to my glass of Charders, DVD and blissful domesticity! Emma. xx
This site was last updated 01/13/09
