Into the green

Lately we've been trying to make the most of the mild weather and the nice green spaces we have so close by.  Here are some photos.

Münster

 Last week, while Dad was here, we visited Münster.  It's been a long time since I've visited a new city and it's definitely a different experience with children!  We decided to drive there which takes just under two hours.  We were ready to stretch our legs when we arrived.

 We had lunch and then headed further into the centre to visit the cathedral.  I found the surroundings of the cathedral a bit strange - not pedestrianised and busy as in many other cities but the cathedral itself was lovely.

 We had a look around inside.  The alter looked beautiful as it was all set up for the harvest festival.  There are some special features in the cathedral - an astronomical clock and a St.Christopher statue.  Unfortunately, children and quiet spaces don't mix well so I didn't see these features but Nico manage to find them for me.

 There is a second large church, pictured at the top of this post, which is famous for the three cages in which the corpses of criminals were displayed (as a warning to others) many years ago.

 We also visited the town hall.  For the children, the main highlights were chasing pigeons and being kitted out with new clothes in Primark.

 We sat outside for a drink before driving home.  We were very lucky with the weather.

 I can see why Münster is twinned with York.  Apart from the cathedral, which strongly resembles York Minster, the cities are around the same age, both have universities and lots of cyclists.  It is a really beautiful city and I would love to go again.

Make it Monday - Project Life Update

It's been a while since I've blogged about Project Life but that's really because I like to have photos for my posts, I don't like to post photos of our children online and my Project Life is basically all about the children now.

I first started this project back in 2012 and I loved it. I'm not really sure why I stopped at the end of 2014 but I am so glad I got back into it this year.

I update my album weekly and I love flicking through from January each week. Seeing the story and development makes it so worthwhile.

I was in England for my friend's wedding at the start of last week so I can finally share a page in this space! While the average week tells its own kind of story, I love when we have something special going on as we tend to have better photos and it's generally easier to make the colours work.

That was really true this week as I could get in some of my favourites from the Seafoam edition to brighten up a really happy day.

If I can keep up the energy on this project, the kids are going to have something really special to look back on one day.

My process:

- Go to Rossmann and print out my favourite photos from the week (phone and camera)
- Place the photos into the layout, cropping where necessary.
- Pick a colour idea for the week and select cards that work, starting with the big date card.
- Journal on the appropriate cards.

Bike ride

Here are some pictures from our beautiful bike ride to Bremen on Monday. I love that we are so close to water and nature. Now that we have the trailer for the kids we have to do this more often.

Photo Walk

The fields near our home.

Such a peaceful street

My walking buddies

This is a small river

More fields

Even relaxing at this time of year

An old farmhouse

Our local church

Some photos from a recent walk to try and get baby moving.

Photo Wall

This was an idea that Nico had a while ago. I wasn't so keen because I don't like these plastic holders but I've come round to the idea, we did it, and we're all really pleased with the results.

Isabella has had a lot of change lately with nursery friends moving on to Kindergarten and soon there's going to be an even bigger change in her life and we wanted to do something that gives her a bit of reassurance.

She loves photos and people and we've managed to fill over half the photo holder with pictures of friends and family. We've gotten almost everyone in there, though some of the pictures are a bit older.

That's one of the advantages though - the photos are easy to change out over time and soon enough, she'll be able to organise it herself. I really recommend it!

Northumbria

 The Lighthouse at Whitley Bay

As I mentioned, we spent last week in Northumbria.  Here are some photos if you'd like to see.

 Alnwick

 Alnwick

 Alnwick

 Alnwick gardens

 Bamburgh

 Bamburgh Castle

 Bamburgh

 Tynemouth Harbour

 Tynemouth

 Tynemouth

 With Mum on the harbour wall at Tynemouth

 Whitley Bay

 Her first dip in the sea

 Lindesfarne

 Lindesfarne at low tide

 The castle on Lindesfarne

 Lindesfarne

The abbey at Lindesfarne