Mr Alistair!

Isn't he handsome!
Yesterday after a trip into town, we had a very impromptu photoshoot on our conservatory sofa. He looked adorable in his little outfit. I can't believe is a full month old already! 

Anglesey Abbey

This weekend Pappy went home to Burnley to watch them keep their top spot in the championship against Charlie's new side, QPR. So Mr Bee and I decided to have a trip of our own. We trekked through 4 counties to get to Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire, with one hell of a diversion as there was a closure on the A14. 

And what an adventure we had. With autumn in full swing, we kicked, threw and chased leaves all over the huge grounds. We must have walked for miles and miles around the paths. 

 

Of course our tour of the house was whistlestop with Louie (remind me to visit again childless...!). We counted the hundreds of clocks inside the house and marveled at the deco bathrooms. The library was the firm favourite with paintings of Kings and Queens lining the shelves. Louie confidently pointed out King Richard (of course) and told the lady the story of Lady Jane Grey living in Bradgate Park, being queen for a short while and then having her head lost (as he calls it!). History geek in the making...

 

 (oh and the house was nearly completely carpeted so you could either go shoeless or with shoe covers on!)

 After a delicious lunch, we visited the formal gardens to hunt for bees and butterflies but came to the conclusion that they had gone to sleep for the rest of the year. We didn't see any, but we did see some beautiful roses and dahlias.

 Oh and some ENORMOUS fungi!

We walked alongside the river to Lode Mill. We watched the watermill turn the millstones to grind the wheat into flour, and even bought a bag of wholemeal to use for our pizzas tomorrow ;)

On our way home, we couldn't resist popping into the Cath Kidston factory shop (at St Neots) for some cheeky christmas presents. Well we were passing!

Taking it Slow

Sorry that we have been a bit absent recently. We have been spending lots of time playing train sets, learning to read and count and lots (and I mean lots) of baking.
This week we have had crazy thunderstorms turning the whole sky yellow, mild walks around the countryside and night time walks for hot chocolates all round. We have baked batch upon batch of shortbread, thrown together ham and mushroom muffins from left overs and baked so many loaves of bread, ending with an utterly perfect cottage loaf which was just delicious.
It has been pretty glorious really!

Tank Commander

 It was a dreary day, but we were up bright and early on Saturday morning, along with Dan's family ready to embark on a Tank Driving Day which was a gift for David's 50th birthday earlier this year.

It is safe to say that the boys had a wonderful time learning to drive the tanks and then having a paintballing battle at the end (which they won 11-9!). Louie wasn't very happy that he was too small to have a go though, but he enjoyed looking around the tanks and splashing in all of the huge muddy puddles.

Sleeping Beauty

Yesterday we joined the Stephenson's for our usual Tuesday outing, this time with the addition of Sam and baby Alistair. Well, Alistair was an angel all day and we barely noticed he was there, and Sam, well Louie was his shadow for most of the day which was just adorable!

We had delicious Mint Hot Chocolates (new to the menu and highly recommended) and whilst the Stephenson family had their picnic, I ordered a fantastic open steak sandwich with mushrooms and mustard mayonnaise. My compliments to the chef, as usual, it was delicious. I can't wait to see what he cooks up for our wedding breakfast next May!

 It was a glorious autumn day with soaring temperatures, we all regretted our long sleeves. The light was divine through the trees and Anna, Isaac and Louie had a very fun leaf fight!

This weeks main attraction was the walled raised beds. Boys being boys, they climbed and raced around the walls, Isaac was being very brave climbing up and walking the walls on his own!

It was a lovely day, and equally lovely to see the family thriving so shortly after their new arrival!