2008 - Highlights

Photos from all weathers in all seasons. Quite a lot of food. For some reason the best shots I have of the children are ones where they're not looking at me. Not that we don't want to see their faces. I'm biased but I think they're all very handsome. Thankfully they inherited Emily's aesthetic genes.

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Easter 2008 was about as early as it's possible for Easter to get. We packed up the Subaru and headed west on Good Friday to spend the weekend in Shropshire, amidst family, dogs and comparatively sunny weather. Featured: bun-making sessions in the chapel; lambing with Rose; Autny Miriam’s birthday cake, and the first appearance of Dotty the collie. Cute puppy eyes. Awww.

Easter, 21st - 24th March 2008
   

It was a little strange, having such a heavy fall of snow as late as April, but we made the most of it before the inevitable thaw (which came only a day later). My parents were visiting that Sunday, so Joshua went into the garden with Gramps, and the resulting session forms the basis for this gallery. The photos speak, I think, for themselves, so I have left them caption free. Many thanks to my father, who took many of the best of these.

Snow, 6th April 2008
   

In May 2008, our company had a strategy meeting in Philadelphia, where our U.S. office is based. These photos show what I got up to once we'd finished eating pastries and talking about directions and policies. Included: a sunrise over the Delaware, a tour of the art gallery, where we succumbed to peer pressure and did the Rocky steps thing, and an excursion to Atlantic City, which was full of towering hotels, swanky casinos, and miles and miles of beach – as well as the tallest lighthouse in New Jersey.

Philadelphia, May 2008
   
The first of our miscellaneous collections for this year: another visit to Didcot Railway Centre with Kirsten, Benedict and John; a St. David's Day wander over Shotover Hill; an excursion to Folkestone to see my extended family; Emily, Josh and Thomas visiting Shropshire while I was living it up in Philadelphia; shots from my 30th birthday party at the end of June; and highlights from Emily's Babycentre meet in Telford. Enjoy the randomy goodness!
Misc 2008, Part 1
   
I'd been here before as a child, but thought it was time I introduced everyone else to the (seven? eight? fourteen?) wonders of the Isle of Wight. Cue visits to Blackgang Chine, Brading, Ryde and an excursion to Osborne House, Queen Victoria's summer residence par excellence. We camped on the west side of the island, which is quieter and less prone to throngs of tourists, but there's still plenty to do, and the marvellous thing about the place is that you can get almost anywhere from almost anywhere else in an hour or so. Look out for the sloth.
Isle of Wight, June 2008
   

This year: Thomas learns to love his bath, Josh creates a couple of culinary masterpieces, Miriam and Dave do a little dance (make a little love, get down tonight), we are formally introduced to cousin Isaac, Joshua has a little accident with a bean bag, a hedgehog turns up, and there are assorted birthday parties. And lots of cake. Mmm. Cake. And now I'm hungry.

Joshua and Thomas 2008
   

Another of our annual excursions to the Welsh coast, with the usual mixture of digging, swimming and eating. After we were done in Wales we headed back to Shropshire for the Bishop's Castle Holiday Club, run once more by the inimitable Mrs Knight, and this year carrying an oceanic theme to tie in with the subject matter, which happened to be Jonah. For those of you who don't know, Jonah was a whinging coward. He happened to be played by yours truly. I swear I was being typecast.

Pembrokeshire / Holiday Club 2008
   
I've worked with Kay for number of years, and it was lovely to see her finally tie the knot with her fiance Peter, on a glorious late summer's afternoon in Wokingham. The bride was suitably radiant, the groom immaculate and the silverware sparkling. I went with a few friends and colleagues from the office: we ate fish, toured the grounds, Sylvie and I had a friendly and entirely unofficial competition to see who could get the most interesting photos, and it was generally a fab day for everyone. Look out for three wise monkeys and a cat.
Kay and Peter's Wedding, 27th September 2008
   

We've visited the south coast twice in October, both times to celebrate an anniversary, and on both occasions it's been one of those anomalous weekends where the nation at large has experienced bright sunshine and abnormally high temperatures - the last vestiges of an Indian summer before the autumn kicks in good and proper. There was a lot of sand and sun, a dearth of ice cream and an English channel that was perishing cold, but a good time was had by all (and at least the pool was warm).

Bournemouth, October 2008
   
In August we visited the Cotswolds for a semi-impromptu day of sign photography (documented elsewhere and accessible from the main page). Greenbelt was the usual mix of Pot Noodles, twilight guitars and children who stay up way past their bedtime. And in December we had another visit to the capital, where we took in the delights of Hyde Park's winter wonderland. Which was very expensive, but at least they had Glühwein.
Misc 2008, Part 2
   

One of the things about the festive season is that if you're anything like us you spend a lot of time running around seeing everyone. Thus, Christmas Day was spent in the company of Miriam and Dave, and my parents. Boxing Day we went to High Wycombe. New Year was spent in Shropshire with the Knights, where we went on some glorious wintry walks that form the second half of this gallery. But still. After all that travelling it's kind of nice to get back to work for a rest....

Christmas & New Year 2008
   
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