Rollercoaster Mum: 2014

ShareThis

Sunday 31 August 2014

Silent Sunday #MySundayPhoto

Life quote



Wednesday 27 August 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - P is for...

There are some letters that you just know what you are going to use for the #alphabetphoto straight away and P was one of these and we say that P is for...

Peacock

Peacocks are the most amazing birds and we were lucky enough to see wild ones in Sri Lanka a few years ago and they were a wonderful presence at the Larmer Tree Festival that Rollercoaster Dad and I went to in July, with one even dancing away on top of the stage whilst the bands were belting it out!

wild Peacock, about to display, Sri Lanka
wild Peacock captured in Sri Lanka - unfortunately his display was away from us mainly! 
Peacock sign for the Social, Larmer Tree Festival
The fabulous Peacock sign for the Social Tent at the Larmer Tree Festival

Peacock, Larmer Tree Festival
Peacock chilling out at the Larmer Tree Festival

Peacock dancing to Stornaway on the roof of the Garden Stage, Larmer Tree
Peacock dancing to Stornaway on the roof of the Garden Stage, Larmer Tree
For more ideas for P #alphabetphotos then go check out the lovely PODcast and her Alphabet Photography Project.

Sunday 24 August 2014

Silent Sunday #MySundayPhoto





Friday 22 August 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 34

As soon as the girls were back last week we were in the usual whirlwind of activity, friends beer festivals, work, a fabulous day out to Mottisfont with the National Trust (they have a great Quentin Blakes kids trail on at the moment which I highly recommend), shopping and very very sadly losing favourite teddies. Anyways it's still summer hols so I don't have time to chat so on with the pictures...


Tortoiseshell Butterfly on Verbena Bonariensis
A lovely Tortoiseshell Butterfly was fluttering around the garden between showers

welly flowers
A friends adorable little girl admiring the wellies at the Beer Festival

change4life 10 minute shake up
When they have had a spare moment the girls have been inspired by the change4life 10 minute shake up campaign and this was Olaf's summer dance apparently! 
Quentin Blake, NT Mottisfont
We visited National Trust's Mottisfont to see the Quentin Blake exhibition and the girls did the Adventure Quest wher you get to write your own book and I have to say it was brilliant with fabulous play places and lots of imagination. I think it runs until 14th September - well worth a visit.


National Trust Mottisfont, a place for contemplation
I loved this bench at Mottisfont in one of the play areas, a quiet spot for contemplation

National Trust Mottisfont, having a rest
The girls having a rest on the Adventure Quest at Mottisfont and checking their books.

gate into walled garden, National Trust Mottisfont
The enticing gate into the enormous walled garden at Mottisfont - need to go back as I didn't have time to explore properly.


#lostteddy, #southampton
I know I have done a separate blog post on this but I had to put this in again as it has made us all very sad this week as we have lost Spencer - I know he is only a soft toy but he was very special so just in case you see him please let us know - he was lost in Southampton on Wednesday 20th August - his story is here.
Linking up as always with fab the Boy and Me - do go and see what everyone else has been up to:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky


Thursday 21 August 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - O is for ...

mmm O - what the blazes do I do for O? All I can think about is 'orange' - I blame Blogger's logo! I think I am going to have to go back a couple of years and re post a couple of photos. So I say that O is for...

Olympics

I was initially slightly cynical about the 2012 Olympics but Rollercoaster Dad was very excited and proceeded to pursue getting tickets with gusto and we are all glad that he did. We had two amazing Olympic days in London in 2012 and it is an experience that I certainly will never forget.

Wenlock, 2012 Olympic mascot
Meeting one of the Olympic mascots dotted around London - also the day we got Spencer the dog who we lost recently - very sad 

Beatbox 2012, Olympic rings
The Olympic rings outside the Beat Box - one of the Olympic Park venues

Olympic flame 2012
The fabulous 2012 Olympic torch in the Olympic stadium

2012 Olympic Park, Wenlock
Running with Wenlock, the Olympic mascot in the wonderful Olympic Park

For lots more O ideas go check out our lovely host on PODcast and her Alphabet Photography Project.

Lost Teddy in Southampton - Please Help to Find Me

Hello my name is Spencer and Little Miss and the Rollercoaster family lost me yesterday - Wednesday 20th August in Southampton. I was wearing denim dungarees and a check shirt like in this photo but I didn't have my hat on. I am a Build a Bear Fudge Pup - basically a chocolate brown puppy with white/cream patches and  I was strapped into a backpack but I was lost between JD Sports on Above Bar and the bottom of the steps of Portland Terrace car park - probably along Portland Street.

#lostteddy, Build a Bear Fudge Pup

I had been strapped onto Rollercoaster Mum's backpack and they checked on me just by JD Sports then walked quickly down Portland Street, across Portland Terrace and down the stairs to level 2 of the car park where they realised I was missing - for anyone who knows Southampton this is a very short distance and they ran back straight away to look for me - going back up Portland Street less than 5 minutes later but I was gone. This all happened between about 1.15 and 1.30pm. They searched the Street 3 or 4 times and asked in all the close by shops but nobody had seen me. Please please please if you have seen me or picked me up please get in touch to return me. I can also be taken back to the Build a Bear shop in West Quay, Southampton as I have a tag inside me. We had been to Houndwell Park just before but they are pretty sure it was along Portland Street that they lost me.

I am very special for Little Miss as she got me on the very first day of the Olympics in 2012 when my family visited London and she got me from the Build a Bear shop in Hamleys as a very special treat. She takes me on all her holidays and she is very sad I am lost - she couldn't sleep last night because I wasn't on her bed.
This is me in her hand on the day she got me..


#lostteddy
 You can contact Rollercoaster Mum by any of the buttons on the top right of this page - email, facebook, twitter etc if you have any news of me and the Rollercoaster's would be very grateful if you could share this story in case I can be found.

Wednesday 20 August 2014

The Alphabet Photography Project - N is for..

Well this is a bit embarassing, I haven't even been away and I completely forgot to post a #alphabetphoto for N and I even had the perfect word so I guess I had better get on with it! N is for my beautiful....

Nine year old

And here she is - she drives me nuts but I love her dearly! I could of course have posted loads but I will restrain myself to just a couple.

Blowing out candles
This was her birthday cake when she turned nine a few months ago.

#Leo9, Leopallooza Festival
Having fun at a rather wet Leopallooza Festival earlier this month

chilling in the hammock
Chilling in a friend's hammock
Too late to link up this week but do pop on over to the lovely PODcast to see what those less tardy than me posted for N in the The Alphabet Photography Project.


Tuesday 19 August 2014

Billy Smart's Circus is coming to Town!

There is something eternally romantic and exciting about a circus - even these days and when I heard that the famous Billy Smart's circus (they have even performed in front of the Queen!) was coming to visit my home county of Hampshire very soon I had to know more. These days circus's are all about human performance (no animals thank you - it's really not fair on them) and the UK tour of Billy Smart's Circus sounds like it has some awesome performances including acrobatics, comedy, music, juggling and amazing aerial feats.

Billy Smart's Circus

The tour is hosted by Yasmine Smart (granddaughter of founder Billy, no less) and includes amazing performances from artistes like :

The Flying Aces - five youngsters on the flying trapeze, swinging and somersaulting through the air (eeek!)

The X-treme Brothers - three talented Romanian acrobats showing off amazing feats of balance (definitely not me after a couple of gins then!)

Alina Eskina - with her unique 'cube' routine (curiouser and curiouser)

Germaine Delbosq - foot-juggling on the back of a motorbike (the mind boggles!)

The Asadullin Troupe - all the way from Russia they use a seesaw to propel one another high in the air (thank goodness there's no seesaws at the local park)

Caroline - a high flying, solo trapeze star (respect is all I can say)

Jonny Bogino - whimsical Italian clown (there has to be one and thankfully he doesn't look too much like one - for anyone with clown fears) - but he is funny!

Indian Spirit - whirling bolas to the rhythm and beat of the drums (mental note to keep well clear!)

And all this complemented by a real live band - wow!

Anyhoo - down to the details. Billy Smart's Circus will be in Southsea Common from Thursday 21st to Sunday 31st August and Old Common in Basingstoke from Tuesday 2nd to Sunday 7th September. They do two performances a day and tickets start at £7 for kids and £9 for adults if you book online. For more information including performance times and prices and to purchase tickets visit their website - www.billysmarts.com or phone the ticket and info line on 0113 2602444 or just do it the old fashioned way and visit the box office on site. Mind you they are so modern these days they even have a facebook page if you want to catch up on their latest news and see some pics.  Here is the poster for Southsea and I think the timings for Basingstoke are a bit different so you can still get to see them after school - no running away with them mind!

Poster for Billy Smart's Circus
Disclosure - I have been offered a family ticket for one performance for sharing these details with you (I am genuinely excited though!)

Sunday 17 August 2014

Silent Sunday #MySundayPhoto

Dipsacus, Teasel flower




Saturday 16 August 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Week 33

It's been quiet, oh so quiet, this week. The girls you see have been at the in-laws for the week, in the name of childcare (for us) and quality time (for them). This has become an annual thing in the summer holidays but despite them driving me mad when they're here I hate them being away for a whole week. However they are now back and life is back to it's noisy normality. In the meantime I barely took any photos  - missing rainbows, kingfishers, grebes, views and all sorts of delights but here is what I did manage to capture:
Super moon
There was of course the 'super' moon which I did manage to capture, even if not the meteor shower! 

Pelargonium flower
Random picture of the red Pelargonium flowers outside the back door on a sunny morning before work.

double rainbow
I did manage to capture the second double rainbow of the week - you can just about see it's a double one! 

shiny new wellies, Aigle Lollypop
My bargain of the week - sod schoolshoes - new wellies squeeee! The girls both had holes in theirs after our camping trips and these were no more than a pair of supermarket ones - yay!

teddy love
You can tell the girls are back - the teddies are back on the sofa!

sunny sunflower
Not the best photo as taken on my dodgy camera 'phone but I was so pleased to see Bigger Miss's sunflower had flowered at the allotment that I had to take a pic of it to send her.
Linking up as always with the wonderful the Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky

Tuesday 12 August 2014

World Elephant Day

Apparently it is World Elephant Day today and whilst I am not entirely sure what is behind the campaign I applaud any organisation that is against the appalling ivory trade and in favour of helping elephants.

We are rather fond of elephants in the Rollercoaster household - partly because Mr Rollercoaster and I ended up with an elephant at our wedding in Sri Lanka many years ago. We took the girls back there in 2011 and visited the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, a highlight of our trip. So in honour of these magnificent and amazing creatures I thought I would share a couple of photos with you from a couple of years ago.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka
Bigger Miss was very happy to see the elephants

baby elephants bathing, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka
The elephants love their daily bathe in the river.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka
Two very hot little girls entranced by some of the most amazing creatures on the planet.


So please remember that no one in the world needs an elephant tusk but an elephant and it is not just the ivory trade that is affecting them but the loss of their habitat in many areas of the world.

The Alphabet Photography Project - M is for ...

Finding the right #alphabetphoto for M was tricky - I thought of Moon and Music Festival and finally I settled on M for...

Mountain Bike 

These guys did some incredible tricks on their mountain bikes and as it all took place at a Music Festival you could almost say it was a double M!

Leopallooza, Jack Gear FMB tour

And then there was all the talk of the 'Super Moon' this week and I just had to include a sneaky super Moon!

Super Moon

To see what other people came up with for M head on over to the Alphabet Photography Project organised by the lovely Charly Dove from PODcast. 

Monday 11 August 2014

The Year 2014 in Photos - Weeks 31 and 32

Hello Blog - you still here? Sorry I've been neglecting you a bit but we've been too busy living real life and however much I love you when the sun is shining and the holidays are here the family comes first. Anyhoo this is a bit of what we've been up to..

Isle of Wight sunset
The first weekend of the holidays we set off for some camping on the Isle of Wight - we played, relaxed and witnessed some awesome sunsets.

Isle of Wight sandcastle
There was the compulsory visit to the seaside and the making of sandcastles.

uses for straw bales
After one brief night at home we headed off for more camping, visiting relatives on their farm where the girls enjoyed running free.

Crackington Haven rockpooling
We squeezed in another visit to the beach - this time for some rockpooling at Crackington Haven

Leopallooza - The Greatest House Party in a Field
We then packed up the tent again and headed off to the nearby Leopallooza music festival with a whole gang of people - thoroughly enjoying ourselves despite the rain for the first day and night

Leopallooza 9 - music festival
This was the first time we had taken the girls to a festival and camped and even though there was no special kids entertainment they had a great time and did not want to leave - my two festival chicks! 
Jack Gear Freeride Mountain Bike, #leo9
Leopallooza also hosts the Jack Gear Freeride Mountain Bike competition and there was some incredible tricks being shown off.

progress on the allotment
We finally returned home and this week I have done LOTS of washing and generally catching up at work and home and we have even made a little bit of progress on the allotment - we have actually planted something but a lot more planning and digging is needed yet!


Iron Age village at Butser Hill Ancient Farm
The girls and I still managed to squeeze in one very hot, sunny day out - to the lovely Butser Hill Ancient Farm for lots of fun with the Rural Areas Play Project - they practiced archaeology, did chalk carving, made clunch walls and even iron age jewellery.

Sorry for all the pics - you could have had many more though! Until next week (maybe) don't forget to check out the rest of the gang at the Boy and Me:

TheBoyandMe's 365 Linky


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...