Llandudno

Since they hadn't seen the boy at all on the day before today, Mum and Dad took him out for a wander around Llandudno.  A fruitless search of the outdoor shops was made for Dad's Holy Grail shorts.  Poor Dad, he was a bit fed up of looking for those shorts and never finding them anywhere.  Mum had a look around the Holland and Barrett shop but all of the lactose-free supplies were far too expensive!

After the boring shopping bits, the Family took a leisurely stroll along the pier.

Mum was mesmerised by the waves.

Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine on the promenade.

The 2pm Punch and Judy show was popular with adults and children alike.  SAUSAGES!

The Boy had been very well-behaved last weekend, so Dad gave him a few pounds to spend in the arcade.  He chose to play a tank game.

 Here's The Boy looking all serious.

 He chose a lucky cat avatar.  Cute!

There was lots of shootering and rumbling of seats and stuff, but he won!

It got rather hot and Mum was very drowsy from taking hayfever medicine, so they headed home to cool off.

The Search for the Holy Grail Shorts

Following on from their 21st June search for some walking shorts, Dad had spotted a pair online that he really, really wanted to try on.  So whilst The Boy was at his friend's house, a visit to a few of the walking/outdoors shops in Gwynedd was made.

The first stop was Llanberis.  Llyn Padarn looked lovely, even in the gloom of thick, rain-filled clouds.

Despite there being numerous outdoor shops in the village, not one had Dad's Holy Grail (AKA Columbia Silver Ridge Cargo) shorts in stock.  It was nice to look around though and after the thorough search they went to the famous 'Pete's Eats' for breakfast.

Delicious fry ups were had at this cafe, famous for the great menu and the warm welcome that the staff extend to climbers, hikers and walkers.  Muddy boots are no problem here; they even have showers and a drying room for soggy gear!

A Dad-sized mug of English tea and a Mum-sized mug of peppermint tea.  Yum!

Next on the hitlist was Bangor.  Dad's not too fond of this place as it reminds him too much of his old work.  As they both walked round, he would point out buildings that he had laid cables for.  There were no cables sticking out of walls or roads so Mum concluded that Dad had done a marvellous job of cable-laying whilst he was with the company.

Pictures of outdoor shops or Dad's old work sites are not very exciting so Mum took this picture of Bangor Cathedral instead.

Sadly, none of the shops in Bangor had Dad's Holy Grail shorts and both Mum and Dad were a bit foot-sore from the traipsing.  As a thank you to Mum for trawling around shops and trying to be helpful, Dad bought her this strange-but-fantastic drink from the BubbleTeaFamily shop.

Apple fruit tea with strawberry 'pearls'.

The preparation of this weird and wonderful drink was fascinating to watch.  After selecting a flavour of tea, it's made and poured over the chose selection of 'pearls'.  These are tapioca balls filled with very strong juice.  When sucked up the provided wide straw and chewed on gently, a big burst of flavour explodes and makes people who like weird and wonderful taste sensations (AKA Mum) very giddy with happiness.

Mum, being all giddy with her magical tea.

After a bit of shopping to find Lactofree Spreadable and juicy slabs of meat, Mum and Dad drove home to watch football.  Dad cooked the steak (rare for him and medium for her) and Mum thoroughly enjoyed it.  Especially the onions.  Mum can't remember when onions tasted this good!

Omnomnomn.  Dad's steak was fab!

Even though the shorts had continued to prove themselves elusive, a nice day was had by Mum and Dad.

RSPB Conwy: Part...Umm... Must Be About Five By Now!

Mum checked the weather this morning and it looked like it was going to be a glorious day in the West.  So Dad quickly knocked up a lovely spot of breakfast and then they were off to RSPB Conwy for a walk in the sunshine.

The Boy had LOADS of fun in the new sandpit!

Happy, sunshiney smiles.

Pah-Doioioingggggg!!  The Boy is airborne =)

Mum loved these striking cornflowers.

Dad strolling on the boardwalk in the tall, dense, rustling reeds.

Beautiful views across to the foothills with some busy Canada geese.

Inside one of the lookout hides is a lovely children's area, Mum thought it was something special.

Dad, hiding.

The Boy, hiding.

The Boy loved the masses of little fish.

Wildflowers and grasses with the village of Llansanffraid Glan Conwy in the distance.

Many, many blackberry flowers had blossomed, and The Family saw the first signs of this year's crop.  Mmm lucky birds!

It was around this point that The Boy said he saw something long and brown with a white chest running into a wooded area.  Mum secretly hoped it was an otter but thought it was probably just a rabbit or something.

Mum was thrilled to see that the bee orchids were thriving.

Is it a bird?  Is it a fried egg?  No, it's Mum in her pretty sun hat and proof that she was there that day!

Dragonfly and Boy with Stick

How wonderful to see mixed wildflowers along our way.

Much fun was had by the boys along the edge of the estuary.  Stones were thrown, sandy mud went splat.  Dad threw in a stick, a very long way out, and it stuck in the mud standing straight up.  Mum and Dad giggled and The Boy wanted to make a stick stand up in the mud too.  He threw, he threw and he threw until finally his stick stood up, right next to Dad's!  Hurrah, well done for persevering, Boy!

The Boy's big stick next to Dad's smaller one.  Both were far out in the mud.

The Boy spent the whole walk picking up litter, something he decided to do on his own.  He only had a handful by the time they returned back to the gift shop which just goes to show how wonderful this place is for a walk.  

 The Boy, looking out for litter.

The RSPB lady was very pleased with him indeed and then The Boy noticed a video playing on a television in the corner.  He whooped, he pointed, he spluttered!  'Mum, look Mum!  That is what I saw!' he exclaimed.  Well, it turns out that The Boy had been lucky enough to see a stoat!  The RSPB lady told them all about the two stoat families that lived on the reserve.  She was very interested to hear where the stoat had been seen and what it was doing and wrote The Boy's response down in a book. How exciting!  Mum wishes she had seen the stoat too!

After their long, slow walk, they popped into Conwy for some delicious fish and chips, eaten at the harbour.  Lovely!

The Boy in Conwy.  He's growing fast but sometimes he still looks small, bless him =)

A happy, hot day was had by The Family.  They were tired and some bits of them were rather pink (*cough* Dad's neck *cough*)  It was time to go home and cool off.....so they did =)

MOTD: Ministry of Transport Diagnosis!

Yes, it was that time of year.  Dad's car was up for its MOT and so Dad, Mum and The Boy popped along to the Hyundai dealership based at Cheshire Oaks.  After sorting out a complete mix up (the Hyundai HQ had made Dad's appointment for a dealership in Crewe...miles away!), they trooped off to the Harvester for a nice breakfast.  They had delicious bacon.

Well done to The Boy for taking this nice picture =)

Since the MOT would take some time, they ambled over to Cheshire Oaks to have a look around a few shops, including Yam's workplace.  Mum hid behind a clothes rail and watched her work.

Here's The Boy watching his sister serve a customer.  She makes a super sales assistant!

They popped into GAME where The Boy beat Dad at Fifa 14 on the Xbox One and then wandered along to pick up the car.  It wasn't quite ready when they arrived, but they were given hot drinks and the tv was entertaining enough for the boys.  Mum stuck to drawing at the kids' table.

You can't take Mum anywhere!

The car keys were soon handed back to Dad with reports of a headlight bulb being replaced and something to do with the rear windscreen wiper.  Hurrah, no major problems with the car...and how shiny it looked when the family returned to it!

Brum brum, off they drove into Chester to look at shorts for Dad.  He tried lots of pairs on but didn't buy any today.  He has a good idea of which ones he likes now though.  Whilst ambling around Chester, they saw the Midsummer parade, which was super!

Raa!  A fantastic Midsummer dragon marching into Boy's Ear cave.

Mum asked Dad if they could pop to the Greyhound Park so that she could buy a canvas.  People have told her to put her artwork on canvases and so she thought that's what she might do.  A canvas was bought and Mum bought ice creams for the boys to say thanks for being nice boys!

They then went to Asda as today was Mum's first day of being free of lactose.  After checking her cupboards yesterday, she had realised that most of the things she was eating were making her poorly.  No more tummy aches for Mum now, though!   Yay!

It was a very tiring day indeed and finished up with The Family curled on the sofa with tired feet and  watching The Hunger Games until way past The Boy's bedtime.  Oh well, just this once =)

World Cup Friendlies

Mum, Dad and The Boy stayed in for most of the day due to thunderstorms and heavy showers.  After a lovely dinner which involved some very tasty prawns in a garlic sauce, the sun came out and everyone thought it was worth venturing out for a bit of fresh air.  They decided to go for a walk along the river at St Asaph, since it's not too far from home and quick enough to get back if the weather took a turn for the worse.

The river was high and the current fast in places.  There were lots of 'fairies' floating in the air which made it all very pretty indeed.

So this is where all of the greenfly live!  When The Boy got too close to a tree, they all dropped down.  Freaky!

There is no Boy and River without Stick.

Mum, Dad and The Boy got caught in a light, refreshing shower which didn't last long at all.  It was nice to see the raindrops in the sunshine.

The Boy was walking and suddenly his shoe fell in the river.  At least that's the story Mum and Dad were told.  Mum went and rescued it before it got swept away.

Dad found an Iron Age pencil.

Bless my barnacles, Mum found this fossil!

N'awwww.

After walking alongside the river and playing on the pebbled beach, Mum, Dad and The Boy had a kick around on the field with their new Brazil football.

Mum takes a shot.  She wasn't very good.

Dad and The Boy.  Hmm, isn't The Boy growing tall!

Mum and Dad

The Boy and his adorable cheeky face.

Once they got home, Double Deckers were greedily scoffed and the family settled down to watch the last England friendly before the World Cup starts next week.  The match was stopped and delayed for forty minutes due to a severe thunderstorm but Mum and Dad let The Boy stay up late until the game finished.

Glued.