Saturday, February 23, 2008

Holiday

We have recently returned from a great week in the Lake District with our good friends Lucy, Mark and Tabitha. We were spoilt with some of the best weather in February for years - Tuesday was the second warmest February day ever! The views were stunning wherever we went but the above photo is probably our favourite - the result of an early evening dash by the two Marks to Coniston to catch the sunset, while the girls dealt with the childrens' teatime.

It was warm enough for us to stop for a picnic on Tabitha's first birthday, on our way around Grasmere and Rydal Water. Our progress was slowed by the need to take photographs every few steps in an attempt to do justice to the blue skies and crystal clear waters. We were amused by the gender divide in the photo below - Debbie is looking forward to a day when Ben does the map reading and she can just enjoy the views without getting told off. Tabitha will just be looking for the camera if this photo is anything to go by!
The following day we decided it would be nice to take the children to the seaside. It was just as sunny, but not quite as mild! Ben tried his best to keep a stiff upper lip but ultimately cracked and joined in with Tabitha's protests. No sandcastles that day!

Apart from the beautiful weather and the amazing scenery we also really appreciated our evenings after the children had gone to bed - eating good food, drinking good wine, and enjoying good company.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Ups and Downs


It's been a quiet few weeks in the Dawson household, so we thought we would give you a brief glimpse of our day to day lives. It's tiring looking after a 14-month old. Tiring saying 'no' all the time. Tiring dealing with the resulting tantrums. Tiring being woken up before 6:00 most days. But then you get a smile like this, and suddenly it doesn't matter that you're tired.
Climbing is the latest discovery. Any slightly elevated object is fair game...

... the box we meant to store away in the garage

... the magazine basket (dangerously close to new TV).

This week Ben has been climbing up on a chair, standing up on it, and then gleefully turning to us and saying "down" - pre-empting our constant refrain! It's hard to keep a straight face.