Rest of the weekend

After the epic disco dance party last night, there was a big birthday party for our friend Liz down at the Coach & Horses pub. A lot of the same people were there from the night before, and it was a really easy, loving, social afternoon.

By this evening I was pretty burnt out on socializing though!
In the meantime during breaks over the weekend, we have been sanding and oiling the deck. Here you can see the work in progress.

Disco dance party

Tonight was a fundraiser disco dance party. We didn't really want to go but felt obliged and we did have a good time anyway! 

Running away from home

In preparation for our upcoming inaugural Ladies Backpacking Trip, 3 of the 4 of us went on a practice walk from our own doorstep here in the Gate.

To those of our neighbours who saw us hiking up the road with big packs on, it really looked like we were running away!

We left at 6pm this afternoon after a full week of work, and we walked for 5 miles carrying our packs full of books and stuff before stopping at the Coach & Horses pub for dinner.

 The bluebells were gorgeous and looked especially wonderful in the evening light.

Heather requested a table for 4 even though Chris wasn't with us (since she is still living in Germany at the moment). Anyway, we are really excited for our real trip which is in a couple of weeks.

Friendly neighborhood bike ride

This weekend we worked on the deck, sanding and oiling.
We took a break today though so we could go on a family bike ride. The weather has been incredible and all the bluebells are out.

Chessington

Planning the afternoon route during a lunch break

Emma convinced me to take the kids with her to Chessington Amusement park today. Its about an hour away, and we have never been there (nor have I wanted to go there!), but the kids were soooo excited. We all piled into Emma's land rover and headed out. Tryfan had put a lot of effort into planning the route round the park, including researching what the best rides are, expected queuing times, places to eat, etc. Waaay too much effort. But anyway, we got there just after it opened and there was a huge queue of cars ahead of us going into the car park. We thought that because it was Easter Sunday, there wouldn't be very many people there (everyone should be at church and with their families), but how wrong we were!

 I tried to win this yellow monster thing because I thought the face on it was so funny. Didn't win though, and its probably just as well since I would have gotten in trouble for bringing something as pointless and trashy as it was into the house!

We saw a different demographic of British culture today... lots of trashy outfits (skimpy tops, short shorts, birds nest hairdos) and people smoking while pushing baby strollers. Emma and I had some fun people watching! But it was a Very Long Day, and we were glad when it was over.

The Easter Rug

In our household tradition, we colored Easter eggs and saved the dye to refresh our dining table rug.
Actually, first we had a good ol' egg hunt in the back garden with Sophie, Oscar, Max and Ollie. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day! We are so lucky!

Then we came inside and colored eggs..

 In the evening, after everyone had left, we brought the rug outside and took action. One fun thing this year is that we spray painted the perimeter to give a little more zest!

Here we are with the finished product

A Very Good Friday

Yay! A public holiday with no school or work! What a luxury!
We all slept in this morning and had a lazy, indulgent start to the day. The weather was awesome - sunny, warm, slight breeze. Everything is in bloom right now, and the transformation after the winter is just stunning. Rhodri and I worked on the deck today - sanding and getting ready reseal. After building the deck 2 summers ago, we then haven't done any maintenance on it at all. Now we are paying the price!
Anyway, after several hours of work, we walked down to the Coach & Horses pub to meet up with neighbors and friends.

 Rhiannon and Ava hung out together, which was nice to see. Even though they live just a few houses apart, they have always gone to different schools and don't seek each other out. Rhiannon had other friends who were here at the pub this afternoon, but she went out of her way to approach Ava and invite her to sit together. Our girl is so thoughtful 💖

 The setting at the Coach is just so picturesque. I love it here! And it was really pleasant to just chat with friends and neighbors in an easy afternoon sort of way.

Matching

Our anniversary tradition has been to buy something for ourselves rather than each other.
This year when we were in Tunbridge Wells, we ended up buying new running shoes, and by coincidence ended up buying the same make and model, but in different colors.
I took mine out for their first spin this morning before we hit the road to drive home.
As we stepped outside to get going, I realized that we were sooooo matching! Funny.
I actually don't like being matching at all with Rhodri and try to avoid this sort of thing happening. But I thought we looked so ridiculous on this occasion that I had to have Rhiannon take our picture!

Fine dining

As our final night in Wales, we all went out to dinner at a place in Conwy that had good reviews. It was all very exciting because we decided to take a taxi both ways! 

 We had a good laugh and a good meal - it was sad when the evening came to an end!

A short visit with Auntie Jane

This afternoon between coming back from the walk and leaving for dinner, we had a visit from Auntie Jane. She kindly brought some chocolate Easter Eggs for the kids and bara brith (Welsh loaf cake) for us to take home. Although she couldn't stay too long, we were all really glad to see her and hear some of her stories!

(Post-note: The bara brith was delicious and has been a treat Rhodri and I have enjoyed during tea breaks in the days since returning home.)

Windy walk

We went on a family walk today, just a shortish to medium sort of walk. It was a windy but stunning, clear, sunny day.

 We had a 'discussion' about where to have lunch, and this was the super great spot that I chose. Rhiannon wanted to stop closer to the trail, but this one had a nice rock.

Spring break travels

Last Sunday I set off early for Heathrow airport so I could fly to Abu Dhabi for a week of work. Meanwhile, Rhodri and the troops (+ Winnie) headed off slightly later in the morning to drive up to North Wales. We arrived in our respective locations around the same time, which was kind of funny in itself.

My week was very un-photogenic! I stayed at our company's learning center dorm accommodation, so nothing glamorous at all, and the entire week I just worked and met with colleagues. I did go for a couple of nice dinners - one at the Shangri La hotel and the other at Sontaya. On my final night there, I went out to a bar/ restaurant overlooking the Yas Marina Formula 1 racing circuit.

Then this morning bright and early (actually was still dark outside), I flew back to London and then traveled by train from Heathrow into central London and then on up to Llandudno, arriving at 7pm. Perfect! I arrived just in time for dinner with Nain and Taid and the kids and Rhodri. Now I will hear about their week that has just finished and will update here when I get the details.

Tryfan climbs Tryfan!

Today was a day that Rhodri was looking forward to for a lonnng time.


Finally our little Tryfan is big and strong enough to climb up the mountain he is named for. I say climb because it isn't a mountain that you can just hike up. It does take a bit of scrambling (using both your arms and legs) to get up. But apparently he did great!

Taid and Rhiannon came along too, but they took a gentler loop which didn't go all the way to the top.

After this great day on the mountain, they stopped at a pub on the way home. There was this really cool dragon made of slate

Wish I could have been there, but actually it seemed more appropriate that Rhodri take him alone up Tryfan. I'm sure it won't be the last time!

Grand National 2019

This afternoon after getting home from Tunbridge Wells we had Sophie and Oscar over and we all watched the Grand National. It was a fun event, as always. Tiger Roll was the favorite as the winner from last year, and actually he ended up winning again!
The horse I was backing (Rathvinder) was in the lead for most of the race and then at the end Tiger Roll and Magic of Light passed him. (Brought back commentary moments from the famous movie 'Lots of Luck', which made me laugh inside)

20 years and counting

This week was our 20 year wedding anniversary. As those of us who were there at the time will recall, April 3rd 1999 was the coldest April day on record at the time with strong winds and dramatic clouds. It feels a long time ago now, and it was!

We celebrated by farming the kids out to stay at friends' houses last night and the two of us went to stay at Hotel Du Vin in Tunbridge Wells. I wasn't feeling quite 100% unfortunately, but we had a good time nonetheless. It would have been great to stay a little longer there, but commitments of normal life meant we had to leave right after breakfast. Anyway, we were happy to be able to mark the occasion doing something out of the ordinary, so that was good.