Young Masterchef 2009?

Pancake Day was quite a while ago now but we've been quite busy so forgive the lapse. We did make pancakes with Ben a few days later, and in fact the last couple of weeks have seen him take quite an interest in cooking. This was reinforced when Mark's Mum came to look after him whilst he had chicken pox. He now knows all the ingredients needed for a cake and repeats them to us very readily. Naturally we have captured his growing range of culinary skills with some photos...

Making the batter mix for pancakes

One I made earlier!

Enjoying the fruits of my labours...

Having mastered pancake - making, we've now moved on to chocolate cake, which was very successful thanks to Gran!

Déjà Vu

We're expecting another baby! Early September this little bundle of life is due to be let loose on the world. Exciting times! It's been a challenging first trimester, with some early concerns and Debbie feeling generally much worse than last time, but we are thrilled that our 12 week scan on Friday showed that all was well with this little one.

Armed with the scan photo, we decided that now was the time to share the news with Ben. He showed a little interest in Mummy's tummy, had a cursory look at the photo, and told us he would very much like it to be a brother. But he was strangely preoccupied with something far more important that seemed to be taking place out of the window...

The source of fascination - clearly infinitely more momentus than the impending arrival of a sibling? It was apparently bird poo on the window. Ben, we're sure your little brother or sister will make you pay for this one day!

The pox

It feels like poor Ben has had one illness after another this year. This week took the biscuit with us all falling prey to a sickness bug, and topped off on Wednesday when Ben was diagnosed with chicken pox. Here he is showing off his spots. At the moment he seems to be coping remarkably well, and it is almost more distressing for us watching the spots sprout by the minute all over his body. Hopefully they'll disappear just as quickly.

Catching Up

It's been a while. January seemed to pass by in a bit of a blur - and the couple of lovely occasions we had catching up with friends we forgot to take the camera. February brought snow. Lots of it, by our standards. Ben generally enjoyed it, and was particularly fascinated by snowmen. Nan and Grandad came to help build one in our garden and placed it perfectly so it got no sun - and lasted for about a week!

Unfortunately the best of the snow was not captured on camera either, as Daddy had taken it with him on a work trip to Edinburgh. So here is our small offering for the past 6 weeks or so:

Ben trying to mow the lawn in the first fall of snow:

And the best of Mark's Edinburgh shots...

Kenilworth Castle with the remains of the snow...

Ben causing havoc as usual...

We'll try to be back updating the blog regularly from now on.

Christmas at the Dawsons (Part Two)

Last Sunday we headed over to Suffolk for 'round two' of Christmas with Mark's family. Greeted with a welcoming roast beef dinner (which Ben suddenly developed a huge appetite for), we enjoyed another few days of festivities, good food, more presents and trips out.

On Monday we took went to the seaside at Southwold. Ben was planning to take off his socks and shoes to play on the sand, but when we got there wellies and woolly hat seemed more in order! We enjoyed morning coffee and cakes on the pier and then all helped Ben try out his new cricket bat and ball from Aunty Lucy and Uncle Stephen on the beach.


Then on Tuesday we took advantage of the continuing good weather and headed into the forest. Ben had a go on the climbing frame and slide and then we went for a short walk in the woods, enjoying the rays of sunshine through the trees.
Below is Mark with Henry, one of Stephen and Lucy's dogs. Ben was still a little bit wary of them all - he enjoyed watching them from a distance and thought they were funny, but didn't like to get too close. Stephen and Lucy have offered to have him stay with them sometime to get him used to the dogs, so we will have to take advantage of that offer soon!

Boxing Day at the Castle

Boxing Day at the Castle and the Duck Race are Kenilworth traditions that we had yet to sample, but on Boxing Day morning we headed off to the castle where we caught part of a Punch and Judy show...

...and had a look at the new Elizabethan gardens which are due to open in the Spring...

...before taking ourselves down to the ford to watch the 1500 or so ducks released...

Numbers 462 and 463 didn't appear to feature on the leaderboard and we couldn't pick them out when they went past us, but we had a good time.

Christmas at the Dawsons (Part One)

What a lovely Christmas holiday we have had! We've been lucky enough to have almost a fortnight off, and have really enjoyed this special time together. We hosted Christmas for the first time this year, with Debbie's parents joining us for a few days.

On Christmas Eve we got ready by going to the crib service at St Nicholas Church, a lovely servive for young children, in a packed church. Ben enjoyed the nativity scene and processing around the church to see the crib, but was disappointed that there was no donkey to accompany the children dressed up as a camel.

We had a traditional sort of Christmas Day, opening the stocking left by Father Christmas first thing, then church, before heading home for more presents and a turkey dinner. Ben was a little bit overwhelmed by everything and the present opening lasted well into Boxing Day, but we all had a lovely time.

A few memories captured in the photos below:
Ben opening his presents - this one a garage from Nan and Grandad - which he enjoyed "helping" Grandad to build!

Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.
And finally, a rare family photo at the end of a lovely day.

A visitor from Down Under

The weekend finished with a visit from Stephen and Lucy, and Mark's "Australian" cousin Sara, who is staying with them on her extended trip to Britain. Once he got over his initial suspicion, possibly caused by her slightly dodgy accent (a mix of Yorkshire and Sydney), Ben enjoyed playing with his first cousin once removed, and posing for photos. It was great to catch up with Sara after 4 years since we last met up on a family holiday in Cyprus. She's here for a while so we're hoping there'll be more opportunities for her to cement her friendship with Ben.

Christmas time is here again

We haven't felt very Christmassy so far. We got the tree up more than a week ago, and sorted most of the presents, got the cards written, but still haven't felt much in the Christmas spirit, what with first Ben being ill, then both of us.

After last weekend we finally feel a bit more in the Christmas mood though. We spent the weekend with Debbie's family, staying with her parents and meeting up with Val, Pete, Rob and Louise. We had a lovely tea with them all, with Ben keeping us all amused. Here he is enjoying some of Nan's special trifle, minus the sherry!

The next day we went for a walk around Wellington. Ben mostly wanted to sit in the pushchair, but we did manage to get him out for a few minutes for a 'swing' with Nan and Grandad and to feed the solitary duck at the local pond.

Christmas Carousel

On Saturday we decided to head into Birmingham. Debbie was meeting Kay and some other friends later on and we thought that the train journey and the Christmas market would be an adventure for Ben. It was very busy - not too much sign of recession on this Saturday two weeks before Christmas - but we had a good time. Ben thought the train was fun, especially when we went past the airport. In town we managed to largely avoid the shops and pottered very slowly around the German Christmas market, where we found a carousel. Having refused to let him go on merry-go-rounds a couple of times recently, we decided against our better judgement, to go on this one. We avoided the horses and all three of us sat in a carriage. Ben thought it was fantastic, waving to all the people as we passed by and didn't want to come off.

It was soon time for Debbie to meet up with her friends, so Mark took Ben back on the train, discovering when they arrived at the car park at Berkswell that he didn't have his car key with him. So they trooped back to Birmingham to collect a key from Debbie, with Ben putting up with things stoically, although not enjoying his third and fourth train journeys quite so much as the first two!

A big boy now

Last weekend we celebrated Ben's second birthday. We can hardly believe how fast he is growing up - he even announced the other week "I'm not a baby any more Mummy". We had a fun weekend with the Willshaws staying and family and friends joining us to celebrate the big day. Ben enjoyed being the centre of attention at his party - especially as he was able to show off his new rock and roll guitar - an upmarket version of the inflatable version he has been "playing" incessantly for the past two months.

It took Ben a little while to work out what his cake was ("What sort of cake is it Ben?" "A birthday cake"), but we were quite pleased when all the hard work paid off and he piped up "digger". He was most excited about the fact that it had "two candles".

After all the excitement, we had a quieter day on Sunday, braving the cold to visit the slightly disappointing Christmas market in Leamington. There was chance however, for Ben and Tabitha to cement their friendship. They were so sweet together all weekend, playing and giggling and dancing together. Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a special weekend for us all.

Seasons

The British weather has been keeping us on our toes the last couple of weeks. First came the unseasonal snow - first in October since the 1970s apparently. A wheezy Ben wasn't able to fully enjoy it as he was stuck indoors, although if this video is anything to go by he wasn't too interested anyway. But the next day he did get to build a snowman at nursery, with a carrot for a nose, as he delighted in telling us.

After a brief taster of winter, the weather has reverted to autumnal - grey, drizzly, cold, and occasionally sunny. On Friday Debbie, Ben, Nan and Grandad took a trip to Ryton Pools, where Ben enjoyed playing in the the autumn leaves, kicking them around and throwing them up in the air.

Last night it was the Kenilworth Castle bonfire and fireworks display, but just as we arrived in Abbey Fields to watch, the heavens opened, so unfortunately no photographs, and a very wet Mummy and Daddy. Ben, who enjoyed competing with the fireworks by shouting "Bang, bang!", was nice and cosy in his pushchair behind his rain cover.

Exploring

Our blog entries continue to be slightly in arrears! Two weekends ago, we joined Stephen, Lucy and Craig for the day aboard the canal boat Explorer. They picked the boat up from Napton on Friday evening and we joined them the following morning at Braunston, travelling to Crick in Northamptonshire. It was cold, but mostly clear and sunny and we had a thoroughly enjoyable day, honing our muscles on the locks and catching up on reading time.

Meanwhile, we had left Ben with Gran for the day, not attracted to the idea of containing him on a boat for a whole day. He had the best of times, playing with the diggers and the animals at Hatton Country World. He came home with one of these hard hats, so we now have our own little Ben the Builder all the time.

On Sunday, we decided that it would be fun to join up again with Stephen and Lucy, as they were heading back to Napton on their own, to give them a hand with the run through the six Braunston locks. This time we took Ben along for his first canal boating experience. He was remarkably well behaved and loved helping to push the lock gate and exploring the boat, which even had beds to jump on! Here he is navigating a lock with Aunty Lucy - we thought it was worth training him early so we can sit back and enjoy a rest on canal boat holidays in a few years time...

More photos of our trip are on Stephen and Lucy's website.

Royal Parks Half Marathon

A couple of weeks ago we returned to the London for the first time since April, and once again it was to watch someone competing in a race - this time Stephen competing in the Royal Parks Half Marathon. It was a gloriously sunny October Sunday - also notable for being Mark's birthday.

We travelled in from Oakwood on the train after staying overnight at Tim and Celeste's (whose hospitality we had also taken advantage of for the London Marathon - this is beginning to be something of a habit!) This was Ben's second trip on an underground train and although in this photo he appears to be taking it all very seriously, he seemed to enjoy it.

We joined up with Mark's Mum and Dad, and Lucy to watch the race, seeing Stephen pass us at around 8 miles before forcing our way through the crowds to to see him cross the finish line.

He did extremely well, completing the course in a very creditable time of 2:05:14, and finishing 4077th out of 7431 finishers. We were all very proud of him, and just a little bit in awe - it's relatively recently that he's taken up running.

After a brief detour to the Serpentine to feed the ducks, we all travelled back to Enfield for a meal at the Halfway House, to celebrate Mark's birthday and Stephen's fantastic achievement.

Blackberrying

It's that time of year when the blackberries are out in the hedgerows around Kenilworth. So on a sunny Saturday afternoon, what better than to wander along the nearby lanes filling our basket with them. The blackberries were actually a bit thin on the ground, but we think we have enough to make an apple and blackberry crumble together with the apples from Debbie's parents garden.

This photo captures Ben discovering the delight of playing with shadows for the first time - co-ordinated with Mummy in more ways than one!

Wet play

Now that autumn has clearly arrived, "raining, pouring" has been Ben's constant refrain - and it really hasn't stopped this week. Trying to entertain a little boy indoors on days like this is quite a challenge, so yesterday we finally resorted to braving the elements and going to inspect the flood by the castle. And we learnt an important lesson - now we all need wellies.

The end of the summer

As the rain has continued to fall all week it looks like we have seen the last of summer. We were fortunate though that last weekend we were in Suffolk with Mark's parents where we enjoyed some beautiful sunshine and Ben got to make probably his last visit to the beach until 2009. On Sunday we also took a trip to Sutton Hoo and the farm nearby where we went round a Maize Maze and Ben got to drive a tractor.

We headed home, leaving Ben to stay with Gran and Grandad for a couple of days, stopping off in Woodbridge to see our former fellow Kenilworth residents Richard and Clare who now live just a few minutes from Mark's parents and where Clare is beginning to show signs of the little bundle of joy due in February.

Wedding No.2

On Monday we had the rare privilege of witnessing the marriage of two of our closest friends - Kay and Dave. The festivities began at the Slug and Lettuce on the Sunday evening where many friends gathered for a pre-wedding tipple, to wish the couple well.


On Monday morning whilst Debbie was getting ready with Kay and the rest of the bridesmaids, Mark joined Dave, the best man and the rest of the ushers in a surprise limousine ride to the church with a glass of champagne along the way.

Whilst they all greeted the guests and made sure of the final arrangements, Kay, Debbie, Amanda, Lindsay, Angela and little Caroline continued to make themselves look beautiful before finally getting to the church on (South American) time. (Only 20 minutes late).

Here Kay has just arrived with her Dad and is being teased about her timekeeping by the church pastor, her old boss.

The South American theme continued through the service which was a wonderful celebration, full of personal touches and poignant moments. The wedding party even salsa danced around the church as they processed out after the service. Debbie was glad that she been provided with waterproof mascara and that Mark had had time to nip to the car for some extra tissues just before the start of the service.

Kay and Dave have both worked with children for years and so they made sure that children were involved throughout the day. Here James' daughter is trying to muscle in on the photographs and caused great entertainment by falling for the "catch Daddy's mobile phone" trick every time, leaving just enough time for the official photographer to get the snap she wanted.
Other children served lemonade and popcorn (another South American tradition) to the guests and hungry bridesmaids.

Then it was time to head off to the reception venue. When we arrived we found the newlyweds relaxing in their wedding car with a glass of champagne, savouring the moment.

The rest of the day flew by in a blur, with more photographs, catching up with old friends, eating good food and ceilidh dancing. Debbie even managed to conquer her nerves and stand up to say a few words about her special friend.

A wonderful day. We're so thrilled that Kay and Dave have finally tied the knot after what seems like years of waiting. Actually, it is after years of waiting. We have been subtly (and not so subtly) dropping hints since Millennium New Year about how perfect they are for each other. It has been a complicated story, involving Dave spending two years in Peru just after they first got together and then Kay spending two years in Ecuador just after they finally rekindled their romance. They got there in the end!

They're an amazing couple, driven by a passion for justice and a heart for the poor, and a wholehearted commitment to Jesus and to serving him abroad. Thankfully for us before they go, they are going to be living in Kenilworth for a little while. We're looking forward to boys nights in the pub (Mark and Dave) and girlie giggly chats (Kay and Debbie), and Ben is looking forward to getting to know his Godparents (and watching Kay doing the ironing!).

After some soul searching we decided to leave Ben with his Nan and Grandad for these couple of days. We missed him lots and in many ways would have loved him to have been a part of the celebrations, but the crumpled face as he said goodbye showed us what a great time he had had on his "holidays".