A Graduation Getaway!

Byron graduated back in the middle of July.  It had been a long four years for him doing his forestry degree at Bangor, but what an exciting four years too! which had us living in a different country every year: Wales - Canada - Scotland - Wales, and which also saw our family of two grow to a family of three! 

During that time we both lived as students in 1st year as I completed my masters degree too, then in 2nd year I took on 2 jobs in Vancouver to support us while By studied, in 3rd year Byron supported us while I was on maternity leave with Ella and then in his final year neither of us were working! so there's been a lot of frugality and struggling along the way but I'm happy to say we've made it out of the other side and not only did he pass his degree...

but he passed it with flying colours, by getting a first! and not only did he get a first, but he also got a special award from the Royal Forestry Society for his dissertation! and he also accepted a graduate job at the biggest forestry company in the UK! 

and let me remind you that he did all of this whilst being married, with a new baby, amidst sleepless nights and early starts, sometimes alongside having a job, and responsibilities at church...

and so we pretty much think he is a superhero! and couldn't be prouder of just how completely awesome he has done!

The graduation day itself kicked off with a rocky start...after Ella had decided the previous night to have a little party in our wigwam hut for half the night!

I'm not sure whether it was waking up in a strange environment or what, but for whatever reason it was one of the worst nights she could have pulled that stunt! 

So after having only slept half the night, it's safe to say she was pretty grumpy and the fact that Byron's graduation ceremony co-incided with nap time was another nail in the coffin!!

Ella and I had to watch By accepting his certifcate from a secondary lecture theatre with a large screen (as you only get 2 tickets to the grand hall where the ceremony takes place and so his parents had those), and I wish I could say we clapped loudly and I wiped away tears as he walked across that stage but he was one of the last faculties to be called up so we'd sat through plenty of name calling already and truth be told at the moment his name was called I was trying to make sure the empty plastic cups Ella had found and was drinking out of didn't contain any alcohol and that I could hold one of her hands to ensure her from fleeing the building whilst trying to snap a picture of our awesome daddy with the other hand! Graduations with babies are not the most leisurely experience!!

I had plenty of time to reflect upon his awesomness at other points in the day...but not at that exact moment!

We left the theatre the second after his name was called to let Ella have the run around she so desperately needed! and she loved exploring the halls and the grounds!

I really don't have anything nice to say about Bangor uni because my experiences of studying there were awful, but they do have some pretty buildings I'll give them that!

So this little girl was seriously sleepy and in need of a nap...

I drove her around for a while so she could have a nice nap and unfortunately missed By accepting his award for his dissertation but I did get some peace and quiet from this crazy one while she slept, and managed to take in a nice view of the Menai Bridge while she did so!

and this was a picture of what I missed - By accepting his award! #momlife!

Eventually after a nice hour long nap, we headed for some well needed lunch - I hadn't eaten all day and we went to one of our fave spots - Dylan's...

because you can't beat that view on a sunny day!

and when in Anglesey it would be rude not to stop at Red Boat Ice Cream Parlour, Ella was naturally loving it and trying to steal as much of Granny's ice cream as possible!

She also went for a little dip in the paddling pool...with a view!

and Daddy was not too important on his special day to get down on some playpark rides, suit and all!!

By's Mom was kind enough to turn the graduation into a little mini getaway by treating us to staying over for 2 nights in these cute little wigwam hut things! 

The scenery was amazing, and we lucked out with the weather! 

Our Braai King was super happy to be getting some meat on the barbie!

Ella loved being a sheep herder, sheep are pretty much her fave thing ever...after dogs that is,

and seriously she herded those sheep through three different fields! It was impressive!

Love that knee bend! capturing her in motion!

and the glow of golden hour!

I wandered down the lane and caught the sunset through this gate...

and then this little hare popped right into my shot!

and I loved the sunlights glow through these hedges.  

Wales, you are really beautiful in the sunshine!

North Wales Wanderings...

Pretty much the whole first month that we arrived we were blessed with weather like this! 

I remember the last time around that we lived here we had just moved straight from the Caribbean - and we got about one week of sunshine before we were thrown straight into the non stop rain and grey dreary skies! It would have been a much easier adjustment that time if we'd had the weather we've had this time around!

So every day upon waking up and discovering it was still blue skies and sunshine, we'd go exploring to make the most of what we knew would not last forever!

We took Ella to Aber Falls, which is just down the road from where we live. 

She loves getting out and about as much as we do!

I love her little clasped hands, and those cute baby toes!

 Not a cloud in sight! and I love a good sun spot in your picture! it makes me remember how vivid the sun really was!

 There is nowhere else Ella would rather be than up high on Daddy's shoulders!

The falls in all her glory!

and the sun streaming in, over those mossy covered rocks!

 We even found a different path this time around to take us up to a different viewpoint...

 It was a great sight...if I could spend the rest of my life chasing down every waterfall that ever existed I'd be one happy person!

 Love this one! Ella always looks so teeny tiny up on By's shoulders!

To be honest Ella was more excited about kicking her feet in the grass than that abundance of fast flowing water above her head! so clearly I've got to work on her adopting my love of waterfalls!

 On the way back down we came across some wild pony's - trips out are always made for Ella if they involve seeing some animals! something she clearly inherited from her Daddy and not me!

 This marina in Conwy is also just 10 mins from our house...

 

 It's a nice stroll on a sunny day!

 We also ventured further around than we used to...

 and came across this lovely little patch of sand!

 Ella was in heaven!

 When we decide we need some civilisation,we head to Chester and to Cheshire oaks, which is an outlet shopping centre!

For tons of bargains at Gap and Baby Gap

 and for nutella milkshakes at Ed's...that are thick enough to be the real deal!

 Just 5 minutes from our house is an area of Snowdonia National Park called the Sycnhant Pass, everytime we explore it we find a new walking trail!

 It's always just us...and maybe a lone sheep or two!

or a wild pony!

 

Ella and Daddy right at the top!

 admiring the view out to the sea.

 There were still a few heather remnants around that I had to snap some pics of!

 and here's the view down to our little village below!

 We also checked out a woodland festival on Anglesey, held at a country house called Plas Newydd.

 I was all excited for the 'food stalls' and we were planning to have our lunch there...we followed the signs for food and arrived at an ice cream van and a burger van! Another North Wales fail! 

The festival as well wasn't all we'd hoped it would be, but we did stumble across this cute little wooden house!

and Ella and I had fun exploring it!

Since we were driving right past the lookout for the Menai Strait Bridge, we hopped out to take a pic - how turquoise does the water look!

 It's a lovely spot with the mountains in the background!

We walked around a place called Church Island...where we had never been before.  This little windy path with a brick wall beside the water sort of reminded me of the sea wall path in Vancouver! on a much smaller scale of course!

 It's basically a tiny island with a church on and a lot of graves!

 but how cute is that old church with it's teeny tiny door!

 Ella slept through the whole thing! it's tiring work being a sightseer!

 We finished off our day on Anglesey by heading to another place we'd never been to before - a little coastal village called Penmon

 It had this cute little black and white striped lighthouse! (that actually we can see from our beach in Penmaenmawr)

 If you look closely in the distance the village directly in the middle of this shot is our village!

 Ella thought the rockpools were the best things she'd ever seen!

She could have stayed there all evening just splashing around!

I think you can see here that her leggings were soaked through from her ferocious kicking she was doing in the water!

 so ferocious infact that she even managed to get water splashed on her face!!

What a happy happy day it was - with the sun, the sea and plenty of splashing!

 We also checked out a new little walking trail in the next village over from us which is called Dwygyfylchi (it's even more fun trying to pronounce it!)

 We came across this pony in a random back garden! We've never had neighbours with ponies before!

He was all up for getting some attention!

We hiked to the top of the hill...and were met with this lovely view!

Ella, our little froggy, is at her most happy when she can forage in the grass!

 and was especially happy when she discovered this piece of bush of some sort!

 Even sunny days spent in our village are fun! It takes us exactly 4 minutes to walk to our beach and playpark.

 Ella LOVES the swings! which is just as well because there's not really any other piece of the play equipment that she's big enough to go on yet!

 but as far as she's convinced all she needs is a swing!

 It was an unusually calm day, usually it's always windy here! so look how still the water was!

 I also bet you don't have neighbours taking their horses for walks on the beach in their little beach buggies - this was quite a funny sight!

 This baby pulls the funniest faces! I think it's safe to say she is loving her new surroundings, and is becoming quite the little explorer! 

Here's to more days of fun in the sun before the rain comes!