Where did that month go?!?

Hi family,

It feels like it's been ages since I wrote an update.. and after checking the last few posts, it's been more than a month! How did that happen?! And what have we done with ourselves since then?

The last couple of weekends have seen us in 'Spring Cleaning Mode' - we've taken a car-load to the tip and 5 bin-bags full of stuff to the op-shop. I've packed up half of my wardrobe (all of the things that don't fit me right now but that I want to keep) and Bruce emptied out at least half of the shelves in the store-room and moved around some of the furniture in the lounge. *phew* Clearly, this is all part of the 'get ready for baby' preparations and we know we've got lots still to do.

Speaking of preparations, for those of you who missed the photo on hangouts, here's the bumpdate. This was from last weekend when we were out looking at prams and cot-beds (note: it's still not warm enough for t-shirts yet.. not for longer than a few minutes anyway.) :-) This week I'm having a glucose test (fingers crossed for no gestational diabetes) and I think we're almost sorted for all of the 'big' purchases - car seat, pram & cot-bed. Now it's just all of the 'little' things we need to work out (and I don't even know what they all are!). And I realise that I need to get in-shape - I've got about three months to build up my strength and flexibility. Anyone got any good links/suggestions for programmes/stretches/etc?

Work has been keeping B & I busy, as always. We've both been travelling lately, with more to come over the next month.

Easter was a welcome break - we had a lovely quiet Easter at home and then headed up to Birmingham(ish) for Phil & Sarah's wedding. Phil and B have been mates for years, so B was a Best Man. Here's a pic taken by Gwen - I'm sure you'll agree that Bruce scrubs up pretty well. :-) The wedding was lovely - religious ceremony in a little church followed by reception at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Good food, good company and we stayed at the hotel, so I didn't have to wait for B to be finished before I could go to bed. Yay!

After the wedding we headed even further north for a short-break with Vicki and Stephen. We stayed at a lovely little flat in Gatehouse of Fleet (Southern Scotland) and spent the time exploring castles and abbey ruins, spying on the local wildlife (we saw a seal in a field!), playing games whilst it rained, and enjoying wine, cheese and chocolate! I haven't looked through my "real" photos yet, so here are a few from my phone.

Caerlaverock Castle

Feeding the red kites

Sweetheart Abbey

The coming month is looking like it's as busy as the last - I've got two weekend conferences and at least two trips to North Wales! But we've also got two bank holidays in May (yay!) and I'm planning on taking some leave (not to go anywhere, but to sleep-in and relax a little). Next weekend is May Day and there's a local festival in Radyr and Morganstown - we might even see what that's all about.

What are the rest of you up to?

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everybody. I hope you all have had an enjoyable long weekend.

(more new photos over at flickr)

Oh, and big thanks to Auntie Dayna for the present, you can see him enjoying it here

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to everyone! It's been a little while, so I thought I should fill you in on all the exciting stuff going on in Adelaide.

...

It's been very hot.

...

But seriously, the Fringe Festival has ended now, it went for about a month all up. We saw a few shows: Ross Noble; Claire Hooper; Best of the Edinburgh Fest (all comedians, and all quite entertaining). By far the best thing we saw though was La Clique. It's a little bit sideshow, a little bit circus and a little bit burlesque. There was a couple of gymnastic guys who balanced on each other's heads, and a contortionist who fit his body through two tennis racquets. The contortionist was my favourite to be honest, he was both disturbing and hilarious, plus at one point he fell off the stage - who doesn't like that? There was also a rollerskater, someone with hula hoops, a guy in a bathtub and another guy with disturbingly high pants. I can't recommend it strongly enough, it's such a fun show to see.

The Adelaide Festival of the Arts has also ended - it had a public light show on North Terrace that was so popular they extended it for a couple of weeks, which was just as well because we only got to see it the other evening. It is really impressive.. Essentially they project lights onto the great old buildings along North Terrace.. but they create spectacular work with that simple idea. We didn't take photos because you really need a good camera with a long exposure and a tripod.. but thanks to the magic of the internet you can see some photos here and here.

In about an hour we're off to pick Sam up from the airport, he's visiting over Easter which should be fun. I hope you're all having an enjoyable time and hopefully we'll catch up around Christmas (or at least eventually)