more spring

We've been dealing with various life-gets-in-the-way-of-fun stuff over the last few weeks, like finding a place to live after July and finding someone to fix our car.  Success on both counts!  We found a place to live on the northern outskirts of town, and we found a guy who has the right attitude to get mediocre cars back into serviceable shape.  So that's good.  In the meantime the weather has been awesome, so we've been biking around and hanging out outside.  Hopefully the car will be back in action this week, and we can start getting out to see more of the country pretty soon.  Grantchester is a pretty pleasant place in the springtime, though, and it was nice to spend a weekend just relaxing around the village.

We're surrounded by thatch-roofed buildings.  These guys are getting an upgrade.

We spent a lot of time at the playground this weekend.

Letting him crawl wherever he wants without worrying about destroying the house is nice.

Determined to climb up the slide.

Elevated feet for a little more challenge on the pushups.

This is his concentration face.  The puffed-out cheeks add power to whatever he's doing.  The pursed lips are just for style.

Cal is about to be picked up and put in the stroller by mom (the enforcer), but he's blissfully unaware for the moment.

The one major downside of spring is the return of the cows and the cow crap all over the paths around Grantchester.

pop quiz

What is wrong with this picture?

 Answer:
1. The mother left out a box
2. Boy is on an unstable box
3. Boy is holding plastic wrapping from the box
Extra credit: Boy can easily reach expensive electronics

Not only is Calvin moving potential "stairs" to where he wants to go, he is also walking with his cart of blocks.   It's a good thing we have a shotgun style house so he has one long walkway.  He hasn't mastered turns yet (or straight lines, for that matter).

Calvin coming

Calvin going (minus trousers)

a new set of wheels

On Monday, we finally put to good use the money my parents gave me for my birthday: we bought a bike for me and Calvin.  And when I say for Calvin, I mean he gets to be my passenger.  Luckily I'm not a reckless mountain biker like Nick so Cal should be in safe (and extra cautious) hands.  He even has a helmet that has penguins on it.  The penguins don't make him like it any more than he already does, which is to say that he hates it on his head.  But when he is in the child seat, there are plenty of distractions for us to slip it on.  He seemed to enjoy the first ride, even though it was a bumpy one along the path between Cambridge and Grantchester.  He was saying "ahhhhh" the whole way (not a "I'm terrified!" ahh but a "my voice vibrates as we go over bumps" ahh) ending with him falling asleep just as we arrived home.  Nick installed a bell on the bike so I can warn pedestrians of our arrival but with Cal's vocals, I probably won't need to use it.

 First bike ride! (for Calvin, obviously)

Putting up with the helmet (which looks like it still needs some adjustment)

It will be nice to have the bike for many reasons but especially since our car is either going to have a lot of work done to it or we'll have to scrap it and get a new car.  Yes, our car had an accident but luckily we weren't in it.  Somebody hit our parked car (just outside our house) and moved it a car length and drove off.  We've had a week or so to cool off about it but we're still very angry.  We'll see what happens after the local mechanic takes a good look at it.

 Top view of the front of the car with hood ("bonnet") opened

What Cal thinks of people who damage cars and drive away

Stay tuned for the next blog post: exciting Calvin tricks!

spring: picnics and ungentlemanly conduct.

The weather for the past few days has been fantastic.  Today we wandered into town and bought Sam a bike and got a seat and a helmet for Calvin.  It has penguins on it and is Awesome*.  The bike will be built up on Monday, and then we're going cruising.  For trouble.  Since it was so nice out we grabbed some Mexican food** and had a picnic along with about 60 per-cent of Cambridgeshire.

*our motto is "my helmet is buckled", so now we're all ready for adventure.
**the best we've had in Britain.  This is not high praise.

Lunch on Parkers Pieces. 

Is he happy or sad?  Research is ongoing.

Love is in the air and all that, but a true English gentleman finds a more secluded spot for this kind of nonsense.

random shots

 On a windy walk

 Able to reach stuff on the dining room table now