Halloween Pumpkins!

Yesterday Theo tried out his pumpkin outfit and we took a few photos..

He wasn't quite sure what to do with the real pumpkin..

But checked it over thoroughly..

This is my favourite picture..

Today a different outfit to celebrate his first Halloween.

The pumpkin was carved and illuminated..

And again inspected.. no hands allowed this time!

Activity Toys

When Theo was born we bought him a 'baby gym' and an octopus activity toy and at just a few weeks old he would lie on the mat and contemplate the various attachments, even though at that time he could barely focus on them, let alone catch hold of them.

Now it is a different story as he can reach and play with the hanging toys with both his hands and his feet and roll around on the mat, nothing is still for long.

However his favorite activity toy is the 'Jumperoo'..

This wonderful contraption is suspended from a frame on four springs, enabling him to sit in the suspended seat and bounce gently on his tiptoes as he plays with the toys on the tray, which light up and make exciting noises.

He absolutely loves it!  In this photo he also has 'Rusty the Robot' attached.

He is also a big favourite at present.

Autumn in Warwick

Although it was dull and drizzly in Warwick yesterday there was plenty of colour in the trees in St Nicholas Park.

This copper beech was looking very good.

Not quite sure how the neat lines of leaves came about.

The views of the river from the bridge by the park are lovely in every season, particularly in the direction of Warwick Castle..

Celebrating Four Years!

An early morning knock at the door today and some beautiful flowers arrived for Lauren from James, to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary.

These lovely blooms included the 'Avalanche' roses which had made up Lauren's bouquet and other flowers that were used to decorate on the big day..

This afternoon it was time to open cards and gifts with Theo's help.

For Theo, the most interesting part was, of course, the envelopes!!

Happy Anniversary, Lauren and James..

Christmas Outfits

Shopping in Mothercare yesterday there was a new and very full display of Christmas outfits for the young and very young!

Everything seemed to be there from junior size Father and Mother Christmas outfits to costumes for fairies, snowmen, robins, plum puddings and a variety of different elves.  

Enough to make a very impressive fancy dress parade in fact.

(Theo already has a couple of Christmas outfits lined up so he will be right on trend!)

Home Again

Flying in over South Wales this morning the dawn light was very beautiful above the clouds.

At Heathrow it was bright and sunny..

I was soon on my way from the airport and arriving at Lauren's, time to see if Theo in fact remembered me..

He has grown both in size and strength since I was last here and, whether he recognized me or not he was willing to be friends!

He tried on his Hawaiian beach suit (over his clothes)..

But was really more interested in the paper bag!

Winchester, Virginia

On our way back from Skyline Drive yesterday we stopped off at Winchester and Leesburg.

We had lunch in Winchester and then visited the Old Court House at the centre of the pedestrian street in Old Town.  The exterior is largely unchanged from the picture above, from 1862.  Inside it is now a Civil War museum.

The court room downstairs is laid out as it was used for trials in the 1870's and all around the walls are portraits and prints of local notaries.

During the Civil War the court room became a hospital for wounded and sick soldiers.  In the museum that is now upstairs we learned that the majority of deaths during that war - and there were more deaths in the Civil War than the total of all American losses in all wars since then - were attributable to disease arising out of poor nutrition, weather conditions and poor hygiene/unsanitary conditions, rather than deaths in the battles themselves.  Those injured in battle of course had a very high mortality rate - amputations could save the lives of those with damaged limbs, but if the injury was to chest or abdomen then it was likely to be fatal.

Winchester changed hands 70 times during the Civil War and so the hospital and upstairs, the prison, were used at different times for soldiers of both sides.

Some of the buildings in the Main Street, as well as the Court House itself, would have stories to tell.

This quite important looking colonnaded building was Taylor's Hotel in the 1860's and was the headquarters for Confederate General 'Stonewall' Jackson and his officers at one time - he is shown in this picture outside the building in 1862..

On a lighter note, yesterday Winchester Old Town businesses were in 'trick or treat' mode.  Many US town centres invite young children and their families to dress up and come trick or treating on the Saturday before Halloween.  

There were therefore many tiny witches and wizards, together with an assortment of supermen, spider men, ladybirds, flowers, princesses and dragons, all carrying their pumpkin baskets and receiving sweets and chocolates from slightly chilly looking shop assistants outside each store or playing Halloween related games!