Easter fun, fun, fun

The grandchildren came to stay with us at the start of the Easter holidays which was a lovely treat so we took them to Jake's, just walking distance from us.  It was absolutely fantastic.  Right from the off we felt at ease and were happy to let them engage in all the wonderful activities on offer.  Of course, being able to be outside at this time of year was an extra special bonus as the weekend's weather was truly a springtime heatwave.  With brilliant sunshine on Sunday temperatures climbed to 25 C - a record for April 9.  Even more impressive, it was the UK's highest temperature recorded this early in the year.

This has helped make a memorable spring - flowers blooming, trees breaking into leaf and heaps of blossom sparkling in the sunshine.  As Shakespeare put it in Sonnet 98:  "When proud-pied April dress'd in all his trim/Hath put a spirit of youth in everything".  Even sat in the garden with the sun umbrella up and had a bar-be-que.

The weekend's hot spell was only brief, though.  Monday came down with a bump.  Temperatures returned to something more typical of April.  As an old saying warns, "Till April's dead, change not a thread", meaning, don't pack away your warm clothes quite yet.  It makes good sense because April is a transition month between winter and summer, often making for some wild swings in weather. 

Apart from the unusually mild weather so far this month, another striking feature is how dry it has been.  There has hardly been a drop of rain and the ground is drying out fast in the warm sunshine.  And with the trees unfolding their new leave, they will soon start drawing up huge amounts of water from the ground, drying out the soil even more.

With the ground so dry though we decided it was ideal for a picnic, so packed the blanket and the grandchildren and headed to Mottsifont.  They really enjoyed the informative Easter egg hunt - just the right size for little legs - and also the Easter activities in the Stables.

                                                   Jamie loved building the bug hotel.

Whilst looking at the Pet Cemetary in the grounds Grandad spotted the "real" Easter bunny.  We then wandered by the Test river looking for and seeing the Trout.  Great excitement when seen.  Really enjoyed our first picnic of the year and as children are allowed free run on the well kept lawns they had such fun.  Can't beat rolling down hills.

On Good Friday Emmie invited me to watch Beauty and the Beast with her.  After admiring her beautiful Easter decorations we headed off  to the cinema.

I really enjoyed it.  Ian McKellen's take on Cogsworth is a treat and Emma Thompson is the singing teapot you never knew you wanted and whilst Ewan McGregor's French accent may stretch things a little as Lumiere, he's hard to resist.  Gaston and LeFou are an excellent double act.  Emma Watson is a fine Belle and Dan Steven's Beast has the scary edges knocked off early BUT the Wolves are much meaner, uglier and hungrier.  They are SUPER TERRIFYING this time.  Maybe, it's the way Disney brought them to life, but regardless, they seem vicious and ruthless.  They also pop up multiple times; they terrorise Maurice before they try to attack Belle.  There's also a nasty ringleader who has a scar and a backstory that we never get.  Oh well, thank goodness Emmie was holding my hand.  I loved the Disney original but this film also worked for me.  A full on, lavish, theatrical musical, a tale as old as time. Thank you for inviting me Emmie.   And after all this excitement we headed to Branksome Beach for a glass of wine and fish and chips followed by a lovely walk along the coast.

On Saturday the whole family headed to Kingston Lacy (except poor Alun who unfortunately had to work) for another Easter egg hunt. The grounds are full of great places to explore, climb and play. A great day out for everyone.  Lots of exercise and fresh air with a chocolate rabbit to end the day - gets no better than that.  We then wandered through the beautiful grounds, vistas and gardens which whilst immaculate are also very family friendly and relaxed.  Stopped at a great picnic spot too.

                                                    Learning to tell the time.

                                                 How many does it take to hug a tree = 10

Caroline invited us over for the perfect Easter lunch on Sunday.  Easter is the festival that puts lamb and fresh greens on the table which Caroline cooked beautifully.  Followed by a delicious frozen berry yogurt for dessert. Yummy. So lucky to have a daughter who is such a good cook.  The apprentice is now the Master.

Excellent.  We had such a lovely Easter relaxing with the family, good food and fun.  Thank you.