Greg, Andrea, Lena and Mitchell » Friends http://holmesmacleod.com Our lives and travels Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:59:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Summer Holidays 2010 http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/08/30/summer-holidays-2010/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/08/30/summer-holidays-2010/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:59:10 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=282 We have lived in the UK for 4 years but not had much holiday time locally. So we decided this year to take a Staycation! This meants we had plenty of time to check out the things to do near where we live, enjoy a few guests and more than anything relax!

Some of the highlights of our summer were

  • a visit from Baba
  • a ride on the London eye
  • Lena riding on Daddy’s head
  • Mitchell’s 1st  birthday
  • Fresh produce from the allotment
  • A fun trip to Littlehampton beach
  • Finding a massive spider in the house
  • Andrea’s friend Jane visiting
  • Eric, Anne and Darcy’s pizza party
  • A trip to Odds Farm
  • A visit to the Natural History Museum in Tring
  • Playing in the park!

Here are some pictures!

Summer pudding to celebrate Big family day out Lash, Mitchell and Andrea Andrea and Mitchell in the Eye Lena over London Lash in London Typical London tourist photo Lena on daddy's head Mitchell gets his first present Mitchell is happy Mitchell's 1st Birthday Mitchell opens his presents Lena likes playing in the mud Mitchell likes ice creams Andrea likes ice creams Lena likes ice creams Zuccinis Our blackberry crop Lena and Andrea at East Beach Cafe Mitchell Greg in the lobster shirt Lena at the beach Mitchell plays in the sand Mitchell playing on the sand Greg and Lena Lena building sandcastles Greg and Mitchell Mitchell on the sand Mitchell up close Lena and the sandcastles A big nasty spider - teaspoon for size Andrea's friend Jane visits Lena practices ballet Mitchell at the farm Mitchell feeds the goats Lena helps collect the eggs Mitchell and the giant slide Darcy, Anne and Eric Andrea and Anne Lena plays with the 'schoolchildren' Up at the allotment Lena and Mitchell on the spider swing ]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/08/30/summer-holidays-2010/feed/ 0 Nadine and Efren’s Wedding http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/14/nadine-and-efrens-wedding/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/14/nadine-and-efrens-wedding/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:07:33 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=260 So a wedding is always a lovely reason to take a trip, so when Nadine and Efren invited us to come down to Dusseldorf to celebrate, we couldn’t resist.
The trip took us through England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and we enjoyed a nice stay at a spa hotel and then off to the wedding. It was a good party and we enjoyed the coffee and cakes and then had a fun night watching the German team perform admirably in the football world cup against Argentina.

Nadine, Andrea and Lena The wedding ceremony Mitchell enjoying the ceremony Signing on the line Outside the Standesamt Christian and Gina Our family! Efren singing with the Mariachi band The Mariachi band Andrea and Lena chilling in front of the fan Us with the happy couple Mitchell reflects Mike and Sheetal Eindhoven Sheetal, Lena and Greg

On the way home we managed to catch up with Mike and Sheetal in Eindhoven. We looked around the city, enjoyed a nice meal at a Grand Cafe, and then we made our way back to the channel tunnel and had fish and chips for dinner in Dover with the setting sun.

]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/14/nadine-and-efrens-wedding/feed/ 0 Dad’s Camp http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/05/dads-camp/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/05/dads-camp/#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:23:24 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=244 Lena and Greg went to Dad’s Camp on Cookham Dean old cricket common. It was a fun weekend with about 40 dads and a hundred or so kids. We turned up, pitched our tent, and made sure the kids had a great afternoon with a big walk and treasure hunt.  Once we had fed the kids and put them to sleep, then there was a couple of hours for us Dads to have fun.

Lena and our tent Lena at Dads Camp Lena's team spell out their name Lena's team make a tarantula Lena's team on the treasure hunt Lena in her sleeping bag Packing up the tents

Thanks to Porteur, Mike and Darryl for organising a great event and getting everyone together.

]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/07/05/dads-camp/feed/ 0 Dean at the Dean http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/04/11/dean-at-the-dean/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/04/11/dean-at-the-dean/#comments Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:09:30 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=231 Friday night was the Gents Dinner night at my cricket club (Cookham Dean Cricket Club). We had a fab night – the club is hosting a beer festival over the weekend, and in addition, all the food and drinks was great. The guest speaker of the evening was English Test Cricketer Dean Headley, and he entertained us with some stories and answered a barrage of questions on playing cricket at the highest level.

Paul at the Bar Mark dressing right up Portraits of club members Mike gets his award from Tony with Dean Headley on right Alexis wins the charity auction Clive and Dean Headley No more beer says John ]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2010/04/11/dean-at-the-dean/feed/ 0 Summer pics from my Blackberry http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/09/24/summer-pics-from-my-blackberry/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/09/24/summer-pics-from-my-blackberry/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:07:44 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=205 Sometimes I get about without a camera on me. Luckily the Blackberry is handy. I wouldn’t say that it takes good pictures, but it is always there for when something fun happens. Also, with Mitchell’s arrival, Lena still deserves some of the limelight…

Lena loves merry go rounds... At least the aussies won something this summer For some reason goats turned up in the Maidenhead high st Brian had a pleasant visit, here he is in London Lena REALLY likes Merry go rounds Lena LOVES merry go rounds Street party with the folks in Spencers Lane Lena Loves bouncing Lena and Alody both Love Merry Go Rounds Sadly - not a good one... ]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/09/24/summer-pics-from-my-blackberry/feed/ 0 Munich: Dee and Martin’s wedding http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/04/16/munich-dee-and-martins-wedding/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/04/16/munich-dee-and-martins-wedding/#comments Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:05:37 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=113  

Lena and Andrea

Lena and Andrea

We had a lovely easter in the sun, to celebrate the wedding of Dee and Martin, in the Munich Ratskeller. A Ratskeller is not a place where rodents dwell, rather the cellar below the Rathaus or town hall.

The wedding started with a drinks reception in the courtyard of the Rathaus, and then we went downstairs for the ceremony and then dinner.

Dee and Martin's cake analogues

Dee and Martin in cake form

the happy couple

The happy couple

The service and facilities were top notch, and it was great to see Dee and Martin marry.

Lena celebrated in style by driving her SLK Mercedes (ride on edition) around the restaurant.

Highlights for us were the well organised wedding – meant we could just have fun!

The food was good, and of course it was great to see everyone there too.

Well done Dee and Martin – we wish you well!

]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/04/16/munich-dee-and-martins-wedding/feed/ 0 Lena and Alody at the allotments http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/23/lena-and-alody-at-the-allotments/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/23/lena-and-alody-at-the-allotments/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:29:11 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=92 As part of my lazy updates to our family blog – Lena brought her little friend Alody up to the allotment (with a side trip to the park as well of course). Lena and Alody have lovely matching mauve jackets and every time they see each other it leads to a crazy squealing contest.

Anyway – I thought this picture was cute :-)

 

Alody, Andrea and Lena at the swings

 

Check out more about Alody here:  Our Family: a field trip to the allotments.

]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/23/lena-and-alody-at-the-allotments/feed/ 0 Snowboarding in Bulgaria http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/11/snowboarding-in-bulgaria/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/11/snowboarding-in-bulgaria/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:43:28 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=87

Francois's picture of the groupLast weekend I visited Bulgaria with my work mates and got to see a ski resort and country that I barely knew anything about outside of games of Diplomacy. Bulgaria is a former communist country bordered by Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea. We went to the resort of Pamporovo (Пампорово) near the Greek border, about 3-4 hours from Sofia where we flew in. My colleague Peter owns an apartment that has recently been built in the burgeoning resort.

As far as a countries go, I think Bulgaria has a long way to go. I could describe it as stepping into a time machine, but only partially, because you see loads of soviet style architecture, half finished houses and buildings. But there is also a mix of new developments, mansions, and some just plain odd looking stuff mixed in. Also the roads ranged from recently built to scary bumpy tracks that people overtake on in the middle while cars pass each side.

For skiing, the resort had a fair size, and on good days would have a nice assortment of runs, ranging from easy to nice fast black runs coming down the face of the mountain.

It was a fun trip of poker, snowboarding, pool and watching sport, and while I mightn’t go back soon, I would say it is an experience you will only understand if you go yourself.

]]> http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/02/11/snowboarding-in-bulgaria/feed/ 0 Lena’s Friend Alody http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/01/14/lenas-friend-alody/ http://holmesmacleod.com/2009/01/14/lenas-friend-alody/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:42:53 +0000 Greg http://holmesmacleod.com/?p=66 One of Lena’s best friends lives just a couple of houses down the road, and is half-South African, half-French and of course all English just like Lena (except Lena doesn’t have the paperwork to prove it).

They get up to all sorts of fun games together including playing scarecrows, and sleeping bunnies.

Playing Scarecrows

Lena and Alody playing Scarecrows

Alody’s mum and dad come round and drink coffee, tea and wine whilst the girls play.

Alody has her own family webpage with her little brother Timo and posted some of this first here: Lena’s friend Alody.

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