THE KINGSLEY-SMITHS: August 2008

Thursday, 7 August 2008

A day at Longleat with Bug & Pee...

Yesterday we had a lovely day at Longleat Safari Park with Paul's sisters Julia and Amy (known as Bug and Pee!) It was really nice to see them both and have a fun day out together. We saw all kinds of animals as we drove around the park and Gracie enjoyed being able to roam free within the car and wave to Aunties Buggy and Pee through the back window.

Longleat house is beautiful and we enjoyed veiwing some English herritage but I think we both got quite a shock at how many people were there and somewhat missed the space we had in New Zealand!

Pee, Bug, Gracie, Laura and Paul on a fun day out!

The Monkeys!

Amy and Julia in their car!

Fun in the car

Feeding the deer from our car

Gracie taking a turn at the driving!

Longleat House

Mummy is always up for a laugh!

The three youngest Kingsley-Smith children

Gracie gets wild!

Catching up with the Cornells...

On Sunday we met up with James, Jenny & Evie; Good friends from Sheffield, although they now live in Manchester. We had great fun in Bristol, walking around Clifton and had a fantastic lunch at Pizza Express! It was sweet seeing Gracie and Evie playing together as they are really similar!

Evie...

Gracie and Evie

Gracie and Evie enjoying their deserts!

James - Just like old times!

Stealing food from a baby!!!

The six of us

Paul's 28th!

The day after our arrival home from Pittsburgh was my birthday... I spent most of the day at a job interview which wasn't ideal, but I enjoyed myself! The rest of the day was spent with my family, enjoying my new radio controlled helicopter (lots of fun) and a Nintendo Wii (even more fun... thanks to Zak and Jessica for getting us into this!).

My 28th Birthday cake... sadly mum got the age wrong!!!

Gracie wearing wrapping paper as a hat!

The new helicopter

Paul and Amy at the dinner table

Pittsburgh

The day after our week holiday in Devon we flew out to Pittsburgh to spend some time with a fantastic church called St Phillips which is actually in a suburb of Pittsburgh called Moon! We had a really fantastic although slightly exhausting few days with the church and with our wonderful hosts Jim & Kim Chickini. We saw the sights of Pittsburgh, ate good food, made new friends, and I played golf at the 47th hardest golf course in the USA! It was fantastic also getting to catch up with Dave & Janelle and their 2 boys - we've not seen Dave since our wedding, and Janelle since before that!! They took Laura to the Zoo while I golfed!

Gracie looking particularly perky at Detroit Airport

Downtown Pittsburgh

Janelle & Ben

A bear!

Gracie underneath the stingray!

Paul & Dave

Eric, the vicar at St Phillips

Us and our new friends the Chickinis

Me eating a Pittsburgh specialty... Steak, fries, salad and coleslaw sandwich - it was huge!

A Week in Devon

Okay it's been weeks since we lasted posted, but I can guarantee it's been because we've been very very busy. Since we last spoke we've been to Devon for a weeks holiday, visited Pittsburgh for 5 days to visit a church there, been to several places in the UK... It's been fun, but we're living in a state of exhaustion! Let's start in Devon!

We had a fantastic week in Devon in my parents cottage relaxing, taking walks to the beach and around Salcombe which is definitely one of our favorite places in the UK. We spent most of our time together as a family although Esther and Lois joined us for a night and Laura's parents also joined for 2 nights.

The M-F crew also descended on Bantham and West Buckland at the weekend with Paul & Nitca moving permanently to their cottage 3 Arches, and the Rose family and auntie Jess having a week holiday at Wragmoor! We had lots of fun with our family and the extended family!

Laura and the very (over) loaded car!