Poole Ice Rink

We decided as a Christmas holiday treat we would take the children ice skating. It has been at least 20 years since I last skated and was a bit anxious about taking four children, but luckily there were some great ice Marshall's and some very helpful penguins. By the end of the session the children had progressed from edge gripping monkeys to gliding signets.

Katharine pushing Jacob & Rebecca, plus two penguins and balancing two balls on her nose! what a neat trick.

Oliver ready for the push off!

Rebecca and her friendly penguin

Rebecca and the penguin had a race

You can tell from the look upon her face

That the speed was not her usual pace

She let go of his fin

And boy did she spin

But it was the only way to win!

Bethany was desperate to master this graceful event.

Jacob having a rest in the marshall's speedster chair.

Boxing Day 2009

Boxing day walks are always ones to be treasured, because it is where you can show your new gifts to the world! We only allowed Rebecca to take her new pram for a test drive today, as the three pram convoy to church yesterday ended in a sparkly shoe being driven over twice and almost a pram / car crash!.

The weather was nice just a sprinkle of rain, but we were glad to see the cafe hut had been bought and was open for customers.

Rebecca and new baby going for a stroll.

Hot chocolate & coffee to go please

Holiday dreams for 2010.

Bethany's photo of the boxing day walking experience.

Lighthouse Keepers in the making!

Chesil Beach Tsunami

We were supposed to be going to Abbotsbury gardens as Oliver rightly said it is quite sheltered and there may be some icy puddles left to skate on. However it was all locked up for Christmas, so we went down the road to Chesil beach.

A

Bitterly cold and colder and windier the higher up the beach we went!

We were right down there by the waters edge when a 7 foot (honest) wave came far too close to swamping us all.

With children and wellies intact we were undeterred and with mummy trying to convince the children what an adventure we were having we sat in the rain with a bag of popcorn.

However, the children were not convinced and after much begging, Mummy relented and we finished the popcorn in the car and drove home!

Caste Gardens Sherborne

Christmas cheer is in the air, so we decided to take the excitement even further to visit Castle Garden Center at Sherborne. This garden center has one of the most impressive Christmas decoration displays I have ever seen. The Theme this year started as the Nativity scene, followed by Aladdin's cave then by Narnia.

My camera was beaten by the swarming visitors rushing to see the crib! I believe it must have been slightly different back then!

Rebecca liked this tree!

Every home should have a moving dog by a fake fire

Bethany & Mummy discovered Aladdin's cave, trying to make them move on was difficult

Walking through the wardrobe!..... or fire exit!

In Narnia

Argh!!! the Ice Queen

Come on Aslan do your stuff!!

Part of the huge Train Scene

Think I will stick to the Butchers Turkey!

The icing on the cake, Santa was here!!

The Hammond 2009 Christmas tree. We could not find a big one!

Feeding the Squirrels

12th December weekend we thought feeding the squirrels would be a good idea, before they set off for hibernation. We wrapped up warm and with nuts in hand, off we went!

Feeding squirrels such a perfect idea

Bethany wrapping up warm, she is wearing pink but I thought a change of colour will good for blog viewers!

Jacob Ready for action!

Where are the squirrels?

Given up on feeding the squirrels, so children are the next best thing!

And mummy of course!

Maybe the birds have eaten all the squirrels!

Christmas Torch Art

Today was the first performance for parents of Bethanys' school Christmas Production. Scott had the afternoon off work so he could watch too. Unfortunately although we took the camera, neither of us remembered to check that the batteries were charged and of course they were completely flat. So we can tell you that Bethany was the most beautiful and by far the most angelic looking Angel of the lot. She sang louder and danced more gracefully than all the other Angels put together! After collecting Oliver as well we went to buy our Christmas tree. Huge excitement all round and we came away with a lovely traditional Norwegian spruce that spent the journey home sticking out of the moon roof of the car between Oliver and Bethany. The tree is now safely in the back yard until the week before Christmas, but Scott did put up the lights on and under the balcony so we can see them for a bit longer. The children raided the box to find some Christmas stockings. They look like the perfect Christmas presents to fill a stocking with!

On the balcony with the lights and we were all getting very excited.

Another go at torch art and I was very pleased with my efforts! Bright,sparkly blue lights which look like fairy rain. The Christmas elves underneath have now become so excited and overtired they don't know what to do with themselves.

Time for bed!

Weekend at Hayling Island

As Katharine was not working we decided this was a good weekend to visit Hayling Island, On Friday night we took the children to Hayling village for 'Late night Christmas Shopping' the children enjoyed the fair rides and the fake snow, but we were too late for the mulled wine!

Saturday morning we went to see the Tesco's development at Havant, a vast improvement on the previous site, afterwards we told not to miss the Christmas display at Keydale nursery, by the time we found it, I wish we had missed it!.

Not sure who is going to win this confrontation!

Bethany and Jacob playing gently with cousin Chloe

Resting the day away in bed with Nanny.

Male Hammonds waiting for the evening meal!

Sunday was the DEK childrens Christmas party, which was almost a disaster due to last minute issues:

• Santa cancelled
• DJ Cancelled

So after one hour of Radio 2 a DJ entertainer arrived with the goods and a stand in Santa was found. The rest of the afternoon was then full of dancing, sweets and helium balloons. Bethany danced her socks off and finally one a lolly for her dancing!

Advent

Advent always triggers off excitement within children. This year we have three advent calenders, Natividad, advent candle and one advent novel. To manage all these ceremony items, the alarm clock has moved forward 15 minutes to Katharine's distaste.

Bethany getting ready to open the doors

Rebecca and Jacob waiting for the contents of the mystery bag!