Easter in Nantglyn

Easter...where to start? Suffice it to say that it was the best Alf and his two English cousins have ever got along before. They seem to have reached the age where they can become a group and everyone is just about interested in the same things. It was a great trip up to North Wales and pretty good weather, too (for North Wales).
The kids were outside loads. They fed the donkeys; took a ride in the trailer behind the tractor; played in the creek in their wellies; drew with chalk all over the drive. My mom sent over some PAAS egg dye so we dyed eggs one day. I had found plastic eggs at Costco so we had a traditional American style egg hunt on Easter morning. The eggs were a bit obvious but the kids were new to it all. There's a photo of Edie on a bike her dad used to ride. There's a hilarious picture of Alf and Edie with the sun in their eyes. I told you how much he hates the sun in his eyes. Well, he clearly hasn't figured out how to keep it away without completely losing his ability to see by covering his eyes with his hand. Edie is clearly more intelligent at her 3 1/2 years. Janette brought down a box of fancy dress and the kids spent an afternoon running around in weird get-ups. Alf settled on being Bob pretty quickly and wouldn't let anyone else have a go. All in all a really nice time with this side of the family.

Meeting Suki for the first time

One of Alfie's godmothers moved to New York(from Banbury)when Alf was about(-7) months old, meaning I was only 3 months pregnant. We have visisted America, but only NC and Suki and Harj have been here but not near us or for long enough to arrange a visit until a few weeks ago. She is one of the doting-est godmothers imaginable, she just lives a few thousand miles too far for us to see her as often as we'd like to.
It started off a bit rocky as Suki does not find being quiet a natural state. I think Alf went into a bit of shock and refused to come down off my hip. He eventually was lured down by the toys. We met up at Suki's sister's house and Suki's neice, Layla and nephew, Dillion have lots of toys Alfie was interested in trying out for himself. Since the visit, Alf has told me a couple of times that we should go to Suki's house or that the person on the phone is Suki so it's clear that she made an impression on him. Hopefully we'll all be able to meet up again sometime soon, although Dillion was not so happy to see Alf playing with his stuff so it might do to wait a few months.

At Home

These are just a few shots of Alfie playing at home. Goodness knows now what his grand plan was, but he sure looks mighty cute to us.

Train trip into Bristol

The Shirehampton train station is about a five minute walk from our house. A few weeks before Easter we decided to take a trip into town on the train. Alf had been on it once before but it was probably about a year ago. He loved the whole experience. We just went a few stops to Clifton Down station where we had a snack at Starbuck's and then went to the library.
Alf had a paddy walking up the street, and I've put in a picture of our impromptu 'naughty step'. Alf looks out whenever we go on the Portway now because he knows he might catch a glimpse of the train.
The shades are possibly the best purchase I've made for Alf in a long time as he has a slightly abnormal hatred of the sun shining in his eyes.