California solo

I went out to California yesterday so that I could visit my sister Heidi and meet her new baby Jordan, then go down to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving and then stop in Houston for a couple days of work on my way back.

Heidi, Jordan and John

I arrived on Tues afternoon (26th Nov), rented a car, and drove to Oakland to stay in Heidi. We didn't take many photos, but it was a really special time that we had hanging around admiring beautiful Jordan and hanging around Oakland. So we hung out Tues night, Wed day and Wed night, then I got up early on Thurs and was on the road by 5am to start my 320-mile drive to Santa Barbara.

Sunrise somewhere on Highway 101 between San Francisco and Santa Barbara

I had a great drive down to Goleta (good country music on the radio!) and went for a quick run around the canyon before my Mom came home from church and we started getting ready for Thanksgiving. Eric and Kristin came over and we worked in the kitchen together after they announced the big news that they are expecting a baby in June!  Great happiness!

Eric and Kristin making some stuffing

We headed over to Uncle Phil and Libby's house around 2pm and had some good catching up before eating sometime around 3:30pm. Needless to say, it was a delicious meal and truly special to be present at the table with all these great people.

Clockwise round the table from lower left: John, Wheeler, Ruby, Egan, Molly, Debi, Eric, Kristin, Jim, Grace, Lucas, Stacy, Grandma Bucky, Libby, Anna, and baby Oliver.

Same as above but with Phil in the picture between John and Wheeler

In the evening, a subset of us went to go see the 2nd Hunger Games film at our local cinema. It was a long day but a truly fantastic one as well.

P-A-R-T-Y

I am turning 40 this week and so I had a little bit of celebrating to do. Nia came over from Cardiff on Fri night and we went out to breakfast at the Anchor Inn on Saturday morning before Rhodri drove to Bristol for the rest of the weekend.

Candid breakfast photos by Rhiannon

Saturday evening I invited a few ladies around to have a little dance party. We cleared the furniture out of the living room and just had a bit of a boogie.

Clockwise from top: Cat & Sasha, Nia & Cat, me, Christ, Jane & Liz & Viki, Emma, Corinne and me & Nia in the center.

Barcelona

I traveled by myself to Barcelona for a conference a few days ago (Sun Nov 10). It was so nice to have a brief change of scene with sun and foreign languages! I didn't know anybody there, and so it was fun and challenging to be out in the wide world alone meeting people. It was hard leaving the family on one of the most beautiful Sunday mornings ever, but the view from the plane window was pretty special.

 I stayed here and it was the same location as the actual conference, so that was handy. I settled in and then went for a wander around the streets before sitting down to work for a few hours.

View from my room

A beautiful sunset from my window

It was an interesting conference and I was really glad that I went to it, but I was happy to come home last night.

Halloween 2013

This Halloween was not our best one ever.
I had to take the train back to London early this morning so that I could be at work to give a presentation in the afternoon, then go home to an empty house and hide from any trick-or-treaters because I had neither pumpkin nor candy to give out. Fortunately, the night was saved from total misery because I was able to go meet my dear friend Cat for a beverage at The Hatch pub, which was wonderful.

Meanwhile, up in north Wales, the troops had been planning their outfits for some weeks now and preparing to go to a party with Ceiro and Meilyr. This ended up being a disaster because they didn't know anybody and the music was too loud.

But one good thing that came out of the evening is that they heard a great song for the first time...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE

Another windy outing

This afternoon we went to the Bird Sanctuary on the Conwy estuary.
It was really blustery but quite good otherwise. Again, we had all the kit we needed so we were fine. The kids had little activity guides where they had to find certain types of birds, so that gave them something extra to do.

Inside one of the "hides" where you can spy on birds

Looking out of the hide, we saw a pack of wild ponies go past us. At first they were all milling about, but then someone scared them and they raced past us.

Wild ponies at the Bird Sanctuary

Ponies running

It was a pretty short outing in the end, but nice to get out and walk around, then extra nice to come inside for a cup of tea.

Inside the cafe at the bird place - we had it to ourselves!

Auntie Jane's house

Auntie Jane kindly invited us over for dinner at her house tonight after our big walk.
What a delicious treat!

The evening really was a lot more fun than Rhiannon's expression conveys!

The kids were pretty pooped so Taid Trefor and Rhodri took them home so we ladies could stay and have a bit of a chat.

The three amigos!

Thank you so much for hosting us, Jane!!

The Black Ladders

Rhodri and I got to go for a walk with just Bentley and without the kids. We went to a place in Snowdonia that translates to "the Black Ladders" and you can see why - big dark cliffs...

There was a wild pony along the trail - she didn't seem too worried about us

Approaching the Black Ladders

We scrambled straight up to the top of the cliff (though not on a true ladder part)

 And then there was really some scrambling that we had to lift Bentley up in some parts. It was a little bit sketchy because of the terrible visibility and wind.

Once at the top, we were completely in cloud and so decided to not continue on our original loop walk we had planned but to come down "the easy way". This was a good decision, as it was really cold and windy with no hope of a view in any direction. It felt great to be out though, and of course we had all the right clothing on so we weren't cold.

Its always extra nice to get back in the car and have a cup of tea after being out in the elements for a long time. What a great day though! Thanks to the grandparents (Debi, Beryl and Trefor) for looking after the troops.

Half term up in Llandudno

We all piled into the car on yesterday morning and drove up to North Wales.

It was a long 5.5 hour drive, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse considering we were 3 adults, 2 kids and a dog squished into the family car. At least we don't have babies crying anymore in our house! There was a very big storm forecast for yesterday and today, but we didn't really see any of that. We arrived at Lewis Central in Deganwy just in time for a delicious Sunday dinner which Nain and Taid had prepared.

Then today we did some shopping and other fun things, then met Bleddyn and his kids, Ceiro and Meilyr, to go for really beautiful walk in Bodysgallen woods.

View out past the Conwy estuary into the sea, with Anglesey beyond

We went back to Bleddyn and Geri's house for cups of tea and playing with toys. Their boys are really into Skylanders too, so Tryfan was especially happy to play with all their stuff. Rhiannon was a good sport, as always!

Skylander party

We had Tryfan's birthday party today at our house - 13 boys and 2 girls (Rhiannon & Sophie). It was full on. Fortunately Grandma Debi arrived yesterday afternoon to help put it on, and then Cat and Sasha stayed for the event, which was quite handy too.
It started out well, with everyone coloring in pictures of Skylander characters while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Tryfs, Harry A, Bruno, Jake, Ned, Aaron, Fin and Harrison doing excellent coloring!

We had a few games lined up which had Skylander themes -- Pin the Eyebrow on Eyebrawl, Stump Smash Balloon Smash, Trigger Happy Gold Hunt, Magic Pop Fizz, and of course play ol' Musical Statues and Musical Bumps.

Rhodri leading kids on the "Golden Trail" to find all the gold chocolate coins they had overlooked.

 It was only 2 hours long, but that was enough! They were really rowdy and hyper after the coloring finished. Here is a little footage of the action during the Stump Smash game...

We had a break for some pizza and vegetables (including a random bowl of iceberg lettuce strips that I served up in my most enthusiastic manner) and then played another game before having cake. Except that the cake was actually just a tower of donuts. I had seen this and been inspired after reading about another mother's version of hosting a Skylander birthday party - so easy! We made the mistake of having too many varieties in the mix though - it would have been better to just have 1 type of donut available.

Anyway, that was pretty much it. We were all very glad when it was over and all the guests had left! But it was a great team effort and we are pretty sure that Tryfan enjoyed it as well.

Grandma Debi arrives!

At long last my Mom (aka Grandma Debi) arrived today (Fri 25th Oct)! We had been looking forward to this date for the past several months and counting down the weeks, days, and finally hours until her arrival.
The first thing we did was go straight to the dojo to watch Tryfan complete his grading for the next level of taekwondo (he was going for his green stripe belt).

Excitedly running back to his seat ready for the start

They had to perform the set sequence of 21 moves and then answer some questions about the history and values of taekwondo. Tryfan did really well and would learn later that he did pass this assessment.

Tryfan mid-kick during his grading

 We came home and had pizza for dinner, ready to start the weekend with Tryfan's birthday party tomorrow.

Biiiig hug from Tryfan

Happy scene on the couch with Eli

 We are so very happy that Grandma is here for the next 10 days. Thank you for coming all this way, Mom!

Forest plays

Today was the last day of Forest School for Tryfan's class before the half term holiday. Since they were learning about Guy Fawkes and the history of Bonfire Night (5 November), we decided to have a bonfire ourselves and act out the story of Guy Fawkes in groups of 4-5 children. It was a massive success and a perfect way to end the term.

Tryfan turns 6

Tryfan is a big 6 year old now. His birthday was yesterday but Rhodri was away for the weekend so we had already planned to celebrate next weekend. First we went out to dinner on Thursday night at La Casa. Tryfan was absolutely horrified when the staff put on a Happy Birthday song and banged some pots and pans on his behalf.

We tried to make his actual day (Saturday) a bit special too. Rhiannon and I gave him some presents this morning and then we went for an expedition in the forest with Lou and Arnold, then stayed home and played all afternoon before having dinner at our neighbor's house.

Arnold wearing Tryfan's Spyro costume, with R&T

Tryfan was really excited to get a Spyro Skylander dressing up costume as well as the Skylander figure called Ninjini.

Skylanders and Lego ships preparing to attack Mr Monkey and the Baby Deer!

On Sunday we got together with Bruno and Cat and went to see the movie Turbo in 3D. We had been looking forward to this for a couple of weeks so it was extra fun. And we ended up seeing Sophie and Oscar at the cinema as well by coincidence, so after the movie we all went to play at the park for a bit. Afterwards, we all went grocery shopping and then back to our house for a late lunch and play. Good times!

Ready to see Turbo 3D

And so, at 6 years old, Tryfan :

• is very snuggly and cuddly
• is really good with numbers, often playing with them in his head and then sharing some pattern he has found or summation he has done
• is a really good reader, sometimes immersed for hours with his nose in a chapter book
• is very focused on things when he is doing them
• loves doing taekwondo (as seen in his pose!)
• wants to be a faster runner
• talks about Skylanders or Lego Chima characters all the time
• loves playing computer games (at other people's houses)
• gets very upset at injustice
• is still not a big fan of crowds
• loves Bentley and the kittens and also his family

Recent reunions and farewells

Over the past week or so, we've had a couple of reunions with old friends which have been great!

First we saw my old manager Craig and his family Libbie, Kyra and Oliver. They moved back to Australia last year but were passing through the UK last week so we met them at a pub for dinner and caught up on gossip and adventure stories.

Then last Thursday I went straight from work into London and had dinner with my long lost friend Dave! Ok, he isn't really lost but he is a longtime friend and it was really great to spend time with him. No photos to mark the occasion though. Next time! We've been missing each other - they moved to San Diego when we were in Reno, then they moved to the UK when we moved to San Diego, then they moved to Washington DC when we moved to the UK and finally they have moved back to the UK so we are living near each other at last! We vowed to reunite more often before one of us moves away again.

And speaking of moving away, my friend Deanne (her son Josh is in Rhiannon's class) is moving to India in a couple of weeks so we had a farewell evening for her at the Coach and Horses on Tuesday night this week. There were about 15 ladies from the school who came out to mark the occasion and it turned into a really late (but fun!) night. I guess we'll have to get over to visit them in Mumbai one of these days...

Tomorrow is Tryfan's birthday and we haven't planned too much for tomorrow itself since Rhodri is away and T's birthday party will be next weekend, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

Bathtime for Bents

Today dawned with the most crystal-clear, gorgeous autumn weather so we went for a lovely walk on the top of the forest. When we got home, Rhodri and the kids put Bents into the bath and gave him a good scrubbing. Bentley has been getting a little bit rank lately - not bad smelling, just very doggie smelling.

I love this photo!!

The forgotten bike commute

I've been so far behind lately, I had forgotten to post about the bike ride that the kids and I did one day in September: we rode TO school on the 2nd day of the school year (Thurs Sept 5th).

Getting ready to set out for school

We left plenty early and it was fortunately a gorgeous day that ended up being really hot actually!

In action riding down Tanyard Lane

Blackberry break along the way

 It turns out that it is about 1.25 miles, mostly downhill, from our house to where we left the bikes near school. The last part of it is totally off road down an overgrown bracken-and-brambles footpath!

Dodging spiky brambles and stinging nettles on the final stretch

We made it with plenty of time to spare. The kids were SO STOKED to have been able to ride their bikes to school today! In the end they went to a friends house to play after school and so I picked both them and their bikes up so we didn't have ride home uphill in the heat. But it was a really successful commute and I'd love to do it again with them.

Amazing autumn continues

Today we had a really good day.
Cat and B had stayed the night on Friday night which was super fun because we did a lot of crazy dancing and celebrated the start of the weekend. Then on Saturday we had some leisurely hours and I met my friend Lou for a slow walk through the woods looking for mushrooms. It has to be said that this autumn has been phenomenal for fungi! We had a quiet night and then on Sunday we all went for a bike ride on the Cuckoo Trail.

We did the same route we had done in June - from Hellingly up to Horam and then stop at the Wesson's Cafe for a bite to eat before heading back down hill to the car in Hellingly. It was a stunning and clear day with just a gentle nip in the air.

Admiring the motorcycles outside Wesson's

 After we got back to Hellingly, we stopped at the aptly named Cuckoo's Rest pub which has a bouncy castle, trampoline, bar, food, and lots of grass and picnic tables! We had another snack and bev here before heading home.

 Rhiannon and I went for a lovely walk together with her baby "Ashley" that she carried in her Ergobaby carrier. We just walked slowly and chatted and I told her stories from when I was younger. Just on the final home stretch, she had to stop to change Ashley's clothes in the middle of the dirt road we were on.

Changing Ashley's clothes mid-track

 When we got home, Rhods and I played some ping-pong on our fabulous table while the kittens looked on in the evening sun.

Eli and Sugar on top of the chimera in the afternoon sun

 So, all in all, a good weekend!

New baby cousin!

My sister Heidi had a baby girl today! I knew she was due on Sept 27th and so with each passing day of no news, I got more and more anxious but didn't want to call her to ask. So finally this afternoon I called my Mom and it turns out that baby Jordan had been born less than an hour before!

Her official stats are: Jordan Aria Griffith was born at 8:35 AM on Friday, October 4th at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley, California. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 4 oz, with a length of 20.5 inches. The delivery was fast and natural. Mom and baby are doing well!

This is a long-awaited arrival and we are all so happy for Heidi and John!

Wish list

Now that October is here, Tryfan is very excited about his upcoming birthday. This morning the kids were up very early sitting in Rhiannon's bed with their little book lights, making a birthday wish list. Tryfan was going through the Argos catalog and spelling out the items he wanted (including prices) so that Rhiannon could write it down for him. So sweet.