Easter weekend fun, some makings and another birthday!

Last week the weather played ball for once and was perfect school holiday weather!

 

The boys were able to spend all day, every day outdoors - which I think is a boy's natural habitat!

 

They decorated the driveway with chalk drawings.

 

 

 

Alasdair (4) was delighted to have the stabilisers put on a 'big boy' bike.

 

 

 

 

See. Delighted.

 

 

 

 

And I even coaxed the teenager in the house outdoors too.

 

I told James (14) that I was about to do some woodwork and he was out like a flash!

 

I found scraps of wood lying around the shed from when we had the fence fixed last year and decided they would be perfect for the raised beds I had planned to add to the garden this year.

 

 

 

 

James said he wanted to build them for me, I just needed to draw him a plan. He was soon sawing and hammering away, while I got on with the task of digging away some turf to make space for the new beds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It took us a couple of days to get these three done, in between baby naps and other tasks but don't they look good?! I still need to fill them with earth/compost but the weather has turned today!

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, while I got on with some heavy weeding and building a wee rockery round the front of the house, my hubs gave the barbecue it's annual spring scrub and so that evening we had our first of the season. Hopefully the first of many!

 

 

Incidentally, my hubs rarely cooks (although he can if needed to), which doesn't bother me at all as I see cooking the meals as one of my responsibilities, but when the barbecue is out it's his domain!

 

 

Last week was my husband's sister's birthday and so we went to help her celebrate on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone who knows her knows how much she loves purple. She asked us to buy her a new kettle as a present and so when we saw a purple one, well, we just had to buy it!

 

 

 

 

And of course the cake I made her was purple too!

 

 

 

 

 

Even on the inside!

 

 

 

 

The final day of our Easter weekend was spent at a nearby Country Park. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the forrest.

 

 

 

 

Some pine cone grenade throwing and ambushes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some fun in the park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that fresh air makes for some happy but sleepy boys - some with coordinating onesies too!

 

 

How did everyone else spend the Easter weekend? Anyone do anything exciting?

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Things I'm loving...

While we were in Lewis last week the older three boys and one of their cousins spent a couple of days shinty training with Lewis Camanachd. The team had organised for some of their players to do some coaching for children, calling it their Shinty Camp.

 

 

 

David (8) came out on the second day with this huge Easter egg, his prize for being 'player of the camp'. He was very kind and shared his egg with all of us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We loved the chance for the boys to spend time with their 90 year old great granny. Fraser is starting to get a little bit shy with people and so cried the first couple of days we tried sitting him on my granny's knee. She was delighted though, when after a few days he would sit happily on her knee - although he couldn't sit on her for long as he's a heavy wee thing!

 

 

 

 

We loved the - mostly - great weather while we were away (and since we've been back), and getting back into the outdoors life after the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calum (11) still wants nothing more than to be a crofter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day we left the island was beautiful sailing weather. Somewhere across that horizon is mainland Scotland.

 

 

 

The boys entertained themselves nicely on the ferry. So much so that an older man came across to me at one point and said, 'I don't know what you paid for those boys but whatever it was it was a bargain! They are delightful!' Well, that was really lovely to hear as I always think people must see us coming along with five boys and think, 'please don't sit next to us!' Especially on a nearly three hour ferry crossing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the boat was closer to the mainland we went outside to get some photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those two bits of land are the mainland, Lewis is out of sight across the horizon.

 

 

 

Since returning back David has been playing more shinty. This time with a French rugby team. Yes Rugby team. A junior team were coming over to Scotland and wanted to know about shinty so they got in touch with our shinty team to ask if they could give them a day of coaching. My hubs is one of the coaches so he and David spent a sunny day trying to teach the French that shinty involves less bodily contact than rugby!

 

 

 

 

David handed them all a little momento from the shinty team at the end of the day.

 

 

The following day the same rugby team were involved in matches against Calum & David's rugby team. It was the first time either boy had played in a competitive match.

 

I have to admit that the French boys outclassed the Scots in every age group but it was great experience for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

And David continued to show that he is an all round sportsman by scoring three tries! That's him hitting the ground in the photo below.

 

 

 

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