Thomas the Tank Engine

Yesterday we took Ellie to see Thomas the Tank Engine at Llangollen Railway Station. She had been so excited about seeing him all week. Asking her who she’d be seeing, Ellie would shout “THOMAS!!!”, in her characteristic high pitched shout .

We headed down to Wrexham pretty early to meet up with Nana Mandy and Taido, along with Uncles Craig and Ricky, who were tagging along with us.

Heading into Llangollen, it seemed to be pretty busy, and this was highlighted by the lack of parking spaces in the main car parks, so we had to find somewhere else to park. We ended up parking in the local secondary school, which was only a short walk to the railway station.

As we walked around the corner of the railway station, Ellie’s eyes lit up and with her usual excitement, she shouted “Percy!” as she clamped her eyes on Percy. We got the tickets for the trains quickly so that Ellie could get on to the platform in order to see Percy and then Thomas. Luckily the queue was not that big.

We were led onto the platform by Ellie who was eager to see Thomas and his friends. Ellie had her photo taken with both Percy, and The Fat Controller.

We also went for a short ride in the Troublesome Trucks, pulled by Thomas. Ellie was very keen to look out of the carriage to see where we were going. She was very excited to be taken on a journey by Thomas.

After the train ride, we all went for lunch. This caused a minor “disagreement” as Nana Mandy insisted on paying, but Gemma and I wouldn’t let her as she had already paid for the train tickets. So, with a bit of quick thinking on my part, I picked up her purse which was lying on the table and hid it from her so that she couldn’t pay.

We also had some ice-creams, even Ellie, who has never been keen on them before. She has always not liked things that are too cold, but yesterday was different. Just shows that tastes can change quickly. She really enjoyed eating until I licked around the edge of her ice-cream, which caused her to drop it. Oops! Sorry Ellie . Taido then saved the day by donating his ice-cream, which Ellie then wolfed down.

We then all went for a trip on the canal boats. These were old canal boats, pulled along by horses. The trip lasted about 40 minutes, and it was a really good relaxing time. Ellie enjoyed seeing all the scenery and loved the horse that was pulling the boat.

We all had a really enjoyable day, and it was great seeing Ellie’s face when she saw Thomas and Percy. They are the moments that you cherish forever.

Ellie’s Present

Ellie had another early birthday present yesterday, this time from Nana Jenny and Grandad. They came up to help with our garden, and brought Ellie’s present for her before her birthday on Thursday. They had bought her a little trike. Gemma put it all together and seeing Ellie’s face once it was built was a picture.

Ellie did get a bit bossy when Nana tried to push her the wrong way, shouting “Noooo!”

I think Ellie will love her new bike, and once she grows another inch or so then she’ll be able to reach the peddles

Ellie’s Early Birthday Present

Yesterday, Gemma and I spent the afternoon putting Ellie’s birthday present together. Even though its still a couple of weeks till her 2nd birthday we decided to put it up for her. She’s still at that age where birthdays don’t mean too much.

The hardest part of putting it together was getting the last piece of the main circular section together. After a few attempts at getting the last connection in place, I was getting a little frustrated with it. “AAAARGH!!!!”

Then with a bit of brute force we finally managed to get it together. After this it was all pretty much plain sailing. The legs fitted together pretty easily, although one of the bolts was cross-threaded, which made it so difficult to fit, I had to give up on that one. Fitting the springs and the mat to the frame was surprisingly easy.

Ellie had insisted on trying to help put the trampoline up so that she could go on the “bouncy” and was getting increaingly naggy as Gemma and I were taking far too long for her liking!!!

But seeing the look on her face when she was finally allowed to get on and jump about was fantastic!

Happy Birthday Ellie x x x

(I know its not for a couple of weeks )

An Evening Out

It’s not often that Gemma and I get to go out for a meal, but yesterday we took the opportunity. Ellie had gone out for the day with Nana and Grandad, and her cousin Dafydd to Chester Zoo, and was staying over at night.

We went to a lovely Italian restaurant that we’ve passed loads of time on our way into Wigan.

The restaurant is called La Cava and when we arrived it was very busy. which is always a good sign . The waiting staff were very friendly from the outset, and were very attentive and checking that everything was ok.

The food was very good, and great value too. They had a good selection of items on the menu, to start with Gemma had ribs, which just fell off the bone, and I had calamari, which was very good. To follow, Gemma ordered a Margherita pizza, which was large to say the least (luckily we were able to parcel up what Gemma didn’t manage to finish, and have it the next day ), and I had Penne Gratinate, which was really delicious and well cooked. Hats off to the chef.

Gemma and I both thoroughly enjoyed the evening out, spending some quality time together. We will definitely go to La Cava again.

UPDATE 31st May 2007: Added pictures of Ellie and Dafydd’s trip to the zoo

New Addition

There’s a new addition to our house…………..

MAX - the black labrador cross puppy. (See the photo below)

He was born on 8th January.

As we are all learning training a puppy can be a bit frustrating at times, clearing up after him, and making sure that he doesn’t eat the furniture etc. But it will all be worth it in the end. At least I’ve got the easier part of the deal, going to work Mon - Fri saves me from the mad house. I’m grateful to Gemma for all the hard work she’s doing looking after Max (and Ellie, who loves having “her doggy” as she calls him in the house)

A night out with friends

Last Saturday, Gemma and I went out for dinner in Wrexham with a few of our friends. It was good to see everyone again, after Gem and I had moved up to Wigan, makes it that little bit harder to meet up with friends.

I’ve linked to the photo taken by Sam.