Merry Christmas!

Christmas eve...

Fergus loved his book from Father Christmas...
...and his cooker...

Thomas was very surprised to get a Wii....
Trying on new rugby helmet...
Video of Thomas and Grandad playing tennis on the Wii, plus a bit of Fergus's cookery...

Nutcase

Fergus loves the TV show In the Night Garden. He was quite excited when it came on tonight. At last video evidence of what we have been trying to tell you all along. HE IS NUTS.

World Of Sport

First of all, here's a video of sporty son and perhaps not-so-sporty son:


Thomas had his first rugby match on Sunday. He does not have a kit yet. He is on the stripy team, but he is playing in blue!

A team talk:
Thomas chasing a very large child...
Thomas locked on to the very large child...
Here's a few recent ones of the other fella....

Naughty Boy

Today Fergus really enjoyed his 'big boy dinner' at the table with Thomas (Thomas enjoyed it too, well they both ate nearly everything)...


However, after dinner when Fergus was pottering around, I discovered that someone had been into the kitchen, opened a cupboard, pulled out Thomas's "treat box", opened the "treat box", taken out a teacake, unwrapped the teacake, and left the wrapper on the floor...


I wonder who the culprit was...


While I am here, some older stuff. Thomas had to make a model Viking longship for his homework. We both worked on it together and Thomas was very pleased with the result (looks pretty nifty, eh?)...


Last of all, here are some pictures of the finally completed bathroom, as modeled by Fergus...

Cows! Cows! Cows!

From Gadloch Farm this morning...

Haircut

Lesley took Fergus to the hairdressers on Saturday for his first ever haircut. The hairdresser looked at her blankly when she asked for a 'Geoffrey Chaucer'. So she explained that she was looking for a something in between a Medieval minstrel and Pam Ayres. I think the hairdresser followed the brief quite well:

Walking (sort of)

Fergus can walk, when he can be bothered, which is rarely. Still prefers to crawl if he wants to get somewhere quickly.

I tried to film him walking but then he noticed that the lens cap of the camera was out of place...

Small Pleasures

Ah well, Fergus may be keeping us up all night, homework is due in, Lesley is too busy at work, but at least we could have a bath tonight, and enjoy the view from the bathroom...

Boy In Sink

The bathroom is slowly but surely taking shape. In the meantime Fergus is really enjoying the temporary arrangements...

Italy part #2

Holiday snaps! Click on to enlarge...

Lunch at 'our house':

Lunches out:

Thomas swimming in the lake:





A very late night for Ferg-Berg at the campsite restaurant (note lovely view behind):

Italy part #1

Had a fantastic time in Lake Garda. Weather was hot, lake was warm, wine was cold (white wine - red wine was served at room temperature).
Apart from the horrible start which we won't talk about it was very relaxing and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
I'll put some photos up soon, but for now here is a little film showing some of the edited highlights...

Got the Keys Today

Our new house....
















Ulp, we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Tried taking photos inside but they did not show much. Instead I have done two awful guided tours. Apologies for the dreadful narration and shaky camera work.

Thomas Teeing Off

Took Thomas to the driving range on Monday. He looked pretty good to me. Below is an example of one of his many drives that coasted, straight-as-a-die, to the 75 yard flag...

(I am afraid that due to my incompetence you will have to tilt your head 90 degrees to the left to watch this)

Happy 8th Birthday Thomas!!

Yesterday Thomas and pals went to the cinema for an early birthday celebration, then back to our for pizza and cake. (NB Fergus is not really drinking Fruit Shoot, he is playing with an empty bottle. Just wanted to clarify that.)



Had a really busy day today. After opening presents, Thomas and Fergus gave us a tune on the keyboard...



Then it was off to Amazonia, which was fantastic. There was marmosets...


































...ants and butterflies...




































..a toucan...




















...snakes...





























..and spiders...



After Amazonian it was time for some pirate-themed crazy golf...







































Then after lunch a couple of spins on the dodgems...



We're pretty exhausted now. Goodnight.

Playing Pool

Here is Fergus completing a record break on Thomas's pool table, albeit in a slightly controversial way...

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For...

Sorry haven't put anything here for so long. Been busy with house stress.
A week or so ago, Thomas lost his first top tooth...















And we gave Fergus his first taste of ice cream (with raspberries). He no-likey...

Four x Ferg

Four videos today. These are all from today or yesterday.

Fergus isn't very good at standing yet, but here is a rare moment caught on camera. He actually got stuck like this and couldn't get himself down...



Fergus loves grabbing everything and shoving it in his mouth - except for one object: a little plastic spider. He is quite nervous when it is around, as this video illustrates...



Lesley having some fun and games and giggles...



Fergus cleaning his teeth (this video is quite long I'm afraid - I need to get some editing software)...

Mouse Without a House

When I cleared out the garage last week I obviously evicted a mouse who decided to make his new home in our house. We put down some humane traps but he wouldn't take the bait. After adding some Easter egg chocolate last night he couldn't resist any longer and crawled in. After a brief photo session he was set free near the fields. God speed little fella...

Atchoo!

This is hilarious. It went on for about 20 minutes...

Crawling

When he can be bothered (rarely), Ferg. can crawl. Evidence:

Breakfast and Lunch

We missed swimming lesson on Sunday (didn't realise the clocks went forward), so we had a cooked breakfast instead. Here is Fergus finishing off his fry up (with a cameo from Thomas):



Later that day...
The pancake served after lunch was a big hit:

Nearly Crawling

Not there yet, but he can sort of scud backwards on a slippy floor. Fergus was on good form this evening (when the video was taken). He seems to be happy and secure in his new nursery.

Man of the Matches

Enough of this cooing over pictures of Fergus's pathetic achievements...
Thomas has been playing for the mighty West Park United for a good few weeks now, during which time he has scooped 3 man of the matches.
Below are the excerpts from the club newsletter. Click on a report to enlarge it. Check out the third one for a full-bodied account of Thomas's winning goal.
That's ma boy!

Thomas before first match, followed by match reports...