We had a lovely holiday this year along the North Coast of Cornwall at the very pretty Mother Ivy's Bay. We were lucky with the weather and managed 3 lovely days on the beach visiting: Constantine Bay, Polzeath and Mother Ivy's Bay. We spent a lot of time in Padstow which was the closest town for food (can't seem to go to Cornwall without having some of Rick Steins posh fish & chips) and the days that were grey or rainy we headed inland for some sight seeing...

Hooray Oli has finally turned six - he has been counting down the days to his birthday for what seems like months now! We planned a Cowboy party at home for him and were hoping for sun so that we could play games and eat in the garden but it was not to be, so we cleared out the studio at the bottom of the garden and set to work making bits and pieces to make it feel like a saloon (well our interpretation of one anyway!)...

It's birthday time again, Lulu turns 3 this week and Oli 6 next week.  I've been busy making little bits and pieces for parties which started with more cupcakes and mini birthday crowns for Lulu...

What a hectic but fabulous week it's been. Tuesday the Olympic Torch passed through our Town, Oli finished school early & Rob took a long lunch break so we managed to watch the event as a family.  The weather was glorious and there was such an incredible spirit, we were really pleased to be able to watch the torch changing hands...

We have had a lovely & exhausting Easter break, we've caught up with family and friends, hunted for easter eggs, baked, played and made a mess!  But the most exciting thing we did over the holidays was a trip to Disneyland Paris...

Lulu was very happy to have been sent home from nursery Friday with Bertie Bear!  He arrived with his very own suitcase containing his toothbrush, flannel, comb, favourite bedtime book and his journal for us to write in!

To be honest with you I think I'll be glad when he goes back to nursery tomorrow, not because he's been a nuisance but because he's so small he's prone to getting lost...

I've been busy crocheting hats this week so just a little mid-week pause to share some pictures of Lulu who is full of Spring & mischief and growing too fast...

I can't get over this fabulous weather, It's been so hot here over the Easter holidays that it's felt more like summer than spring.  Once again, we've taken full advantage of the weather and have been eating most of our meals in the garden and yes that means A LOT of barbequing; but as it's traditional to forgo meat in favour of fish on Good Friday I decided to do a very simple mussel and prawn linguine which was perfect for the whole family on a scorching lazy day...

We love good breakfasts and thanks to our garden hens we regularly have dippy eggs and soldiers or scrambled eggs for breakfast. I love that the children can nip down the garden, collect a few eggs and within 10 minutes they have a nutritious and tasty breakfast, I'm lucky that all three of the children love eggs as they are a great start to their day.  At the weekends we have the time to be a little more adventurous with breakfast so I was very pleased when I was given some quail eggs by my sister-in-law (whose family has inherited 50 quails to look after!)...

So here's the second half of my 'year in pictures' for 2010 using only pictures from my phone...