Peppa Pig

Today we went to Merry Hill and when we arrived we discovered that Peppa Pig was visiting the centre. Unfortunately we were too late to get a ticket to have our photo taken with Peppa and George but we did get quite a good view. The girls believe Peppa and George waved just to them, so they were happy anyway!

It's Showtime!

Emilia recently had the opportunity to attend a holiday club called 'Showstoppers'. She had a great time, as did Esther who particularly enjoyed the song, a snippet of which is below!

Busy Times

It's been a busy time in the Scott household! Too busy to blog! It has been mostly good things (barring a regrettable incident with our van and a lamp post) which we have all enjoyed. The photos are from the Stourbridge carnival. The theme of this year was 'food'. Emilia and Esther dressed up as strawberries. Almost at the last minute Andy was asked to wear a Bananaman costume - he couldn't say no! The Church didn't win the main trophy this year, but we did win a smaller cup which Bananaman received from the Mayor of Dudley! It was a beautiful day, no sign of the thunderstorms from last year!

Emilia also celebrated her final day of Pre-School. They had a leavers' service followed by a Teddy Bears' Picnic, which started off fine and then in true British fashion the rain came and we all had to dash indoors! Although Emilia and her friend didn't seem too bothered under their brolly!

Adventures in our Bongo - Salisbury

After Easter we took a well-earned break to Salisbury. We were fortunate to have nice weather and a pretty and quiet campsite. We enjoyed walking into the city centre and wandering around the cathedral. We also had fun at Old Sarum castle, where we practised our archery skills (not very good!)

Emilia and Esther had great fun pretending to drive the van, although we don't think the other campers appreciated a few early morning blasts of the horn.

we've also just returned from a long weekend camping near Bournemouth for the annual Baptist Assembly. It was a good weekend, apart from a small matter of chicken pox.

Happy Birthday Esther!

It's the season of birthdays in our family at the moment! Esther celebrated her second birthday this weekend. She had a lovely day opening presents and eating cake! First thing in the morning, when we wished her a happy birthday she replied; 'Where's my cake?'! We also wish a happy birthday to Uncle Steve and our friend Carol and Katherine who all share Esther's birthday.

Opening presents and cards with a little help from someone!
Posing in her new outfit!

Blowing out the candle on the all important cake!

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Mummy recently celebrated a 'significant' birthday! Daddy surprised her with a trip to London, a nice hotel and a West End show (Billy Elliot). They enjoyed catching up with their friend Elizabeth, who then had baby Hattie the next day! They also enjoyed wandering around the sights of London, visiting the Queen (she didn't invite them in!), and browsing around 'Fortnum and Mason', but they decided againts buying the lovely green wellies (£245)!

Outside 'The Ritz' - across the road from our hotel!

In the Queen's front garden!

The Queen was in residence

Red Nose Day

In the spirit of Red Nose Day, Emilia and Esther wore red and took their noses with them to Pre-School and toddler group respectively!!

Honk honk!

Esther showing me where the nose should go, unfortunately her nose was too small!

Happy Birthday Emilia

You are now 4 years old!

What a busy but fun weekend, a birthday party on Saturday and lunch with Grandparents and Auntie Anna today!

Some photo highlights;

More snow!!

We've had more fun in the snow again this week. All the schools in the Dudley borough were closed today, giving us more time to play out. We went to the park this morning along with just about every other child in town, and then built a snowman in the garden this afternoon. We think this one is much more respectable than our last effort.

Belated Happy New Year!

Well, there has been a lack of blogging on our part for some time. The reasons for this are:

a) We have not done anything interesting since New Year.

b) Shona has too many other 'little' projects going on to find the time to blog.

c) We had to spend a lot of time putting up shelves to accomodate all our new stuff.

We had a very nice time over Christmas and New Year and have plenty of new toys to play with now (all 4 of us!). Here are some pictures of us playing with some of them

A Snowy Day!

**2008 Scottie highlights**

As we entered 2008 we were hoping for a slightly quieter and less eventful year - no new babies or new jobs, no moving house, no major changes! We have enjoyed a year of being settled but looking back now, it has been a busy and eventful year. Read on to find out why!!!

In January we traded in our old red Rover for a jazzy Mazda Bongo - a cross between a car and a campervan. The roof goes up so you can sleep in it. We hope that, as well as getting us from A to B, it will be a source of cheap holidays!

Our new wheels!

Emilia turned three in February. She had a weekend of birthday celebrations, including a trip on the Severn Valley Railway and a fairly ambitious Princess Castle cake!

Birthday tea

We braved the cold (and snow) in March to take our first holiday in the Bongo. Northumberland has long been on our list of places to visit, and we very much enjoyed it. We packed a lot into four days, visiting Lindisfarne, Bamburgh Castle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Edinburgh and the Alnwick Garden, which is highly recommended by the Scott family as an excellent day out!

Excited at sleeping in the car!!

Esther celebrated her first birthday in April, with a trip to the World famous Red House Glass Cone in Stourbridge, and a lion birthday cake. Big sister was very helpful in showing her how to open her presents and blow out her candles!

Birthday girl with a love of shoes!

In May we took the Bongo to Blackpool for the annual Baptist Assembly. It was a very enjoyable gathering where we were able to catch up with many old friends and acquaintances. It was a little cold for going to the beach and we didn't venture up the tower (what a rip off!) or to the pleasure beach, and we won't be returning to Blackpool for a holiday!

Camping in the sunshine!

Shona, Emilia and Esther visited the West Midlands Safari Park in June on a coach trip with Emilia's pre-school. It was good fun, especially the rides at the end, well Emilia enjoyed them, poor Esther had to sit and watch as she was too small!

Emilia enjoying the Theme Park

Stourbridge carnival takes place in July, and this was our first experience. The Church has always been very involved, organising a float and stalls along the High Street. We had a great day, and were really pleased to have been a part of the winning float - an Olympic theme, with representatives from every continent!

Emilia representing Japan

We took the girls abroad for the first time in August. We spent a pleasant fortnight camping in Picardie, enjoying the outdoor life, and even enjoying a few days of sunshine!

A sunny day at the seaside!

At the end of September we celebrated with Steve and Eileen (Andy's brother and his wife) at their wedding. Despite all the rain at the beginning of the month, it was a glorious day in every respect.

Mr & Mrs Scott

During October half-term we travelled to the east of England, and spent some enjoyable but chilly days exploring Peterborough, Norfolk and Cambridge. For 5th November the girls were allowed their first experiences of sparklers and toffee apples, both of which went down well, although Emilia was initially hesitant to eat the 'glass' on the outside of her apple!

Wrapped up, ready for bed!

December is always a busy month! We are enjoying the advent season and the girls have been busy creating all sorts of things - cards, tree decorations, paper chains and mince pies. We are looking forward to Emilia's Pre-School concert and she is excited to be playing Mary in the Sunday School play! Let the festivities commence!

Emilia making the Christmas cards!

Thanks for reading our message! We hope you have a fabulous, fun-filled Christmas season and a peaceful New Year.

Cooking with chocolate!

We had the idea of making Krispie cakes last week. More of the mixture got eaten than made it into the cake cases, but isn't that what cooking is about when you're 3 and 1?

Adventures in our Bongo - East of England

For half-term this year we took a trip to the eastern side of England. It was cold (we had snow in Stourbridge the day before we left), but we were well prepared for the weather and slept in hats and gloves.
We stopped first in Ferry Meadows, near Peterbrough and enjoyed exploring the country park and also taking a trip on the Nene Valley railway, where we had to pay with a credit card on one of the old manual swiping devices (you know, put the card on then a slip of paper then swipe over it, and fill in the rest by hand!) talk about stepping back in time! We also managed a glimpse of Thomas.Next stop was Norfolk, and a trip to Cromer to meet with friends. We had a lovely day catching up with the Lindners, playing (err learning ..) in the lifeboat museum and lunching in a cafe.

Finally, we drove down to Cambridge, slept in a service station and wandered around the colleges early on Sunday morning, and arrived home in time for lunch!