Once upon a time, a very long time ago, we visited the
Butterfly Farm at Symonds Yat. It was amazing! But also very hot in there! (do click the piccies to see the butterflies better!)
We saw all kinds of butterflies. There was even a butterfly with see through wings! We saw butterflies laying eggs & we saw pupas too. Timmy & Luke were so excited & interested in it all.
Timmy was a natural at holding the butterflies & listened very carefully to all the instructions the butterfly keeper gave him. It was so lovely to see Timmy helping Luke to hold one of the huge Owl butterflies- a really wonderful twin moment! Luke was a little frightened of the surprisingly heavy Owl butterfly to begin with but soon got used to it tickling him as it walked over his hands & up to his head! Jordan was distinctly horrified that the butterflies kept landing on him & left the greenhouse as soon as he could! Annie-Joy liked looking at the butterflies from a safe distance but really didn't enjoy them flapping about her (just like both her parents actually!). In the end we split up into two groups & Lee, Annie-Joy & Jordan stayed well clear of flapping things & Luke, Timmy & I braved the sweltering heat to hold butterflies again! Good fun if slightly nerve wracking (for me that is!).
Here is the tribe, being very middle class with our picnic blanket & posh collapsible basket (my bargain find from Lidl. It is now what Annie-Joy & I use when we buy the fruit & veg in Aldi every week. AJ loves to hold the basket & help me fill it with the produce. Cute! Makes all the older folk coo!).
And here is the tribe after the picnic being much less middle class having a lark about! I think Jordan may be waddling like a penguin at this point! Lots of fun anyway!
After our picnic we got lost... in
the maze! The boys ran off in all directions calling out 'Over here!' or 'This way!' as the maze owner had said we should! It was rather exciting!
In the centre of the maze was a lovely arbour with some seats to rest ones weary selves after dashing about.
At the end/middle of the maze there was also a little museum all about the history of mazes & lots more puzzles to try out. Annie-Joy is really very good at the diablo! Everyone enjoyed the freedom to run about & explore. It was such a gorgeously hot & sunny day!
After the maze we all played crazy golf. It was a bit chaotic with Annie-Joy playing too! The golf course was ever so busy as well. Still, it was all good fun & everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Not sure the score keeping was very consistent though.... After all that running around we sat down to have an ice cream. Timmy & Luke had LemonAge ice lollies. They were based on the Ice Age films & were lemon ice lolly on the outside with lemon sorbet inside & a jelly sweet acorn hiding inside all of that ready for
Scrat to find! They loved that! We then went round the maze & the butterfly zoo again one last time before heading home exhausted! A fabulous day out! :o)
Last Wednesday our dear friend Felicity married Urim Dobrushi at the Palm House which is a place we love to visit a lot (see here). You may remember that I have been busy making all kinds of things for the wedding including the invitations.
The wedding ceremony was absolutely gorgeous! Jordan was a page boy as Felicity is his Godmother.
He absolutely LOVED getting dressed up & having his photo taken by the wedding photographer (who said he was the politest, well mannered & well behaved boy he had ever worked with! He also said that Jordan would make a fabulous model!) You can see the official wedding photos here (click Dobrushi album if it doesn't come up on the link).
The boys loved the wedding cars! The chauffeur was kind enough to start the car with the old fashioned handle much to the boys delight! Timmy & Luke both said the car was just like Mr Toad's car in Wind In The Willows (which they had seen at the cinema the day before on a school trip). Annie-Joy had too much fun splashing in the puddles & got wet socks & Lee & Jordan nearly off the top of steps during the group photo but apart from that it was uneventful!
The wedding party with Felicity's parents at either end.
The gorgeous bridesmaids & page boys.
I made all the place names & table numbers & seating plans for the wedding. I was rather pleased with my last minute idea for tying a number tag to a wine bottle! The whole place looked really lovely. I love the picture on the bottom far right of the photo above- it's the reflection of all the tables in the Palm house roof! (Do click on any of the piccies to see them bigger by the way!). I might actually like purple after working with it so much for the past three months!
The speeches were great, the food was yummy & our children loved the company of the other guests as well as the goody bags Fliss put together for them all. Timmy & Luke's included an animal magazine with an inflatable tiger & a sticker book of all the places of interest in Liverpool. Jordan got a little book & a disposable camera to document his day as a page boy. He was over the moon with that & snapped away all afternoon taking pictures. Hope they come out ok!
And the cake I made! Gosh! It was a big project! I handmade the flowers out of sugar & put edible glitter on all the flower stamens individually (Fliss loves sparkle!). I had never made sugar flowers like this before! I had fun putting the beads onto ribbons for each corsage & I was pleased with the finished result... very pleased actually! The bottom layer was fruit cake & the top two layers were lemon madeira with lemon curd & butter cream filling (never done that before either!!). I missed the cake cutting though as I was taking Annie-Joy, Timmy & Luke home to bed. The caterer wasn't expecting to be cutting a cake & really wished that I had been there to do it for him! He apologised to me for cutting it so badly! I thought it was fine...
Jordan enjoyed dancing the night away & had fun with the ushers. The boys love Fliss very much. Timmy was desperate to give Fliss a hug after the wedding & wasn't too impressed that she was busy having photos taken in the Fairy Glen (part of Sefton Park). Eventually he got to cuddle her & Luke too! It was a wonderful day & we were all so glad to be a part of Felicity & Urim's special day. :o) 
