Guy Fawkes' night

You've got to feel a bit sorry for old Guy Fawkes. 400 years after his execution we are still burning the poor chap in effigy on bonfires across the country every year. Makes for a good family night out though!  

It is getting harder every year to find a fireworks display that is actually held on bonfire night, so this year we settled on going to one the day after. On Saturday night, we all bundled up in warm clothes (four of us in arans knitted by my mother) and went to a nearby park for the annual fireworks display.

Lily has been afraid of fireworks for the past few years, but seemed to want to attempt going this year. She was nervous about the bangs to begin with, but quickly began to enjoy the display once it got going. I think it helped that Mark's mum and dad came along, so there were lots of people with her. Tom was actually a little nervous about the fireworks this year, though he never has been before and Emma absolutely loved them! I was a little unsure about taking her since she is so young and Lily really hated them when we took her at 17 months old. My mind was made up as we were getting the Podlings into the car and a neighbour let off some fireworks. Emma pointed to them in great delight and was completely unfazed by the noise. She then proceeded to cry when I put her in the car because I had the audacity to take her away from the pretty lights!
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Emma enjoying the fireworks.

She looks decidedly underawed in this picture, but I assure you she was having a lovely time!

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After the fireworks display we came back home for soup, hot dogs and ginger cake. A chocolate covered apple for Lily and a toffee one for Tom rounded up their tea and then we had some fun with sparklers in the garden. It is the first time we have got sparklers for the children and Lily enjoyed them straight away. Tom was a little nervous to start with, but was soon writing large letters in the air and enjoying himself immensely. It was a lovely evening and a very late night for the children. The Podlings all slept in until 10.30am (or later) the following morning...bliss!

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Portrait of a sleepyhead

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As I went to download the photos from my camera this evening, I found this picture of a pyjama-clad Tom wrapped in a red blanket walking sleepily across the room. I know this picture must have been taken on Sunday morning. I also know that I didn't take it, indicating that a certain Miss Lily got hold of her Mummy's camera. I have to admit I rather like it and it's not a bad photo given that it was an action shot by a four year old! Think we might have to have words about playing with Mummy's camera though...naughty girl!
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Return of the bear

Tom came home from school on the last Friday before half term with the class teddy bear under his arm. He had been chosen as Star of the Week for the effort he had put into his work. You may recognise the teddy from his previous two visits to our house (read about them here, here, here and here). This time round, Tom named the bear 'Legoman' and we were looking forward to doing lots of fun things with him during half term.

Legoman joined us in the car for the drive to Guildford for the wedding we went to, but we decided to leave him in the car for the actual wedding. The bear joined us in Starbucks for lunch on the Sunday though.

Tom and Legoman in Starbucks

 Legoman contemplating my mocha with whipped cream. Mmmm!

Legoman was probably expecting lots of fun, since we had such a good time with him on previous visits and I did, in fact, have lots of fun things planned for half term. Unfortunately, most of the family were ill for the entire holiday, so none of it came to pass. Ah well, such is life I suppose.

     

 Legoman looks after the Calpol!

 Lily loves the Star of the Week bear and yearns to be Star of the Week in her own class. It is a bit of a weekly disappointment for her, poor thing. I'm sure her turn will come and then she will be a very happy little girl!

Since we hadn't done much with Legoman during our 'sick week', we threw Tom a little 'Star of the Week' tea party this evening as the bear has to go back to school tomorrow morning. I'm still quite wiped out from whatever this virus is, so all the food was bought. I just don't have the energy for baking this week, so no fancy teddy-shaped biscuits this time unfortunately. Not that the Podlings seemed to mind as they had a lovely time. Hopefully 'Legoman' enjoyed his last day with us. I know Tom will be sorry to see him go.

Our little 'Star of the Week' tea party this evening.
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Shorts weather

I asked Lily to stand in the leaves so I could take her picture and she struck this pose. I have absolutely no idea where she learned to stand like that...she is such a poser! 

The gales we had the night before last left the trees in our garden bare of leaves and our lawn covered in them, so Mark decided to go out and rake them up this afternoon. Lily wanted to help, but was adamant that she wanted to wear shorts. It was a fairly mild autumn day, but it certainly wasn't shorts weather, so Mummy had to get creative. I persuaded Lily to put a pair of tights on underneath her shorts and she surprisingly thought it was a great idea and complied. She is getting quite particular about what she will and won't wear these days and I'm all for saving my battles for the things that matter!
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 Lily had a lot of fun playing in the leaves before she helped her daddy rake them up.

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When Emma woke from her nap she wanted to join in too. After watching Mark with the rake for a while, she wandered off and found the toy rake before sitting in the pile of leaves and 'helping'.

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Fun in the South

Playing football 

Our friend Fiona and her family were also at the wedding on Saturday and we spent the Sunday with them before we went our separate ways. We met for breakfast (which was quite easy since we were all staying in the same hotel) and then drove out to Lightwater Country Park near Guildford. The children had a lovely time playing together while Fiona's one year old daughter Sophie chilled out in her pushchair. The children ran around and played with the ball for a while and then we took them to the playground for a spell.

After our visit to Lightwater, we made the mistake of going to Starbucks for lunch. Don't get me wrong, the food and coffee were lovely, but that place is expensive! After lunch we set off home, us to Staffordshire and Fiona and family to Wales. Emma and Lily were so worn out from the weekend that they slept almost the whole way home, which meant we could do the whole journey without stopping. We had a really lovely weekend and it was nice to catch up with everyone again.

 Emma, who now insists on going everywhere under her own steam.

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 Simon adores Lily and seems to want to be with her all the time. Lily even had to walk Simon back to his hotel room on Saturday night because he didn't want to leave her (thankfully it was only a few rooms down from ours!). So sweet!

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 Tom in typical pose, biting the head off a Lego man. Yes, he was playing Lego in the park. Is he Lego-obsessed...possibly!

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Fiona, Lily, Simon and Tom

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The bride wore blue

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of attending the wedding of two friends of ours from our postgraduate days. Les and Susan finally tied the knot after thirteen years together and we were honoured to have been invited to share in their special day. Mark lodged in Les's house during the latter part of his PhD and both Les and Susan always made me feel at home when I visited him there. Susan became a good friend to me and our weekly lunch dates probably kept me sane during the final three months of my PhD.

They met at a science fiction convention are both sci-fi afficionados, so it came as no surprise that the wedding was themed with this in mind. Susan walked down the aisle to the theme music from Deep Space 9 and looked stunning in a blue wedding dress. The wedding was beautiful because it was so very personal to them. Stars were the ongoing theme of the decor, with the wedding party sporting blue stars for buttonholes and even the favours containing star-shaped chocolates. Tom was especially fond of the blue and silver star confetti that was scattered on the tables. He spent most of the evening on his hands and knees collecting stars that had fallen on the dance floor.

The Podlings behaved beautifully and Mark and I were really proud of them. Several people came up and told us how well behaved they thought they were and most of them were rather taken with Emma's groovy moves on the dance floor. I was especially proud of Lily who behaved impeccably during the ceremony. Emma was being very fussy and I had to take her out of the room. A kindly usher offered to watch Lily as Mark and Tom were seated on the opposite side of the room. After the ceremony was over, the usher told me that Lily was the best behaved child she had seen in a long time and that we should be very proud. At least Lily knows how to behave when in matters!

 Tom tucking into the sweets from the generous bag of treats and toys the bride and groom left for each of the children at the wedding.

The whole family had a lovely time at Les and Susan's wedding and it was lovely to see them again. We enjoyed spending time with some other friends we knew at the wedding and Mark and I were especially pleased to see Susan's parents again after many years. They are two of the nicest people you could ever meet and since I know they read my blog, I will take the opportunity to say 'Hello' to Ann and Dennis and to wish them both well.
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Cheers!

Les and Susan have a shared web album with some of their wedding pictures and if they say it is okay I will put a link to it in this post. I just want to make sure they don't mind first. Watch this space.
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Mind the gap

Tom showing off his new gap (and his new Spiderman pyjamas).

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Tom had his first visit from the tooth fairy last night. He lost his first tooth as he was heading up to bed after his birthday party. The tooth fairy was especially generous and left two pound coins in exchange for his tooth. I daresay she left him a little something extra because he lost his tooth on his birthday, which is extra special. Coincidentally, two pounds will buy him one of the little Lego mini figures that he loves to collect. Lucky boy!.
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