Christmas: gammon, giraffes and assorted onesies.

Added: 09 December 2014

Our fourth son, born at the end of November, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 8 oz. I'd say he's small and cute, but I think we might just go with 'cute'.

A collection of mostly random shots from summer and autumn, along with a few photos from an August trip to Beale Park with James's parents. (We went to Beale Park almost weekly when I was a kid, and there's something about it that always feels like coming home.)

A smaller site than last year, with a few old favourites missing, but we ate and drank and made merry with as much gusto as we always do. And unlike 2012, the weather was lovely.

Our children have their adventurous lives chronicled. This year Joshua gets fully bedded in with not one but two uniformed organisations, Thomas's Doctor Who obsession reaches new heights, and Daniel starts school. Oh, and breaks his wrist.

We had a shorter visit than usual at Pembrokeshire this year, but all the usual suspects are here - the shadows-on-the-beach photos, the shingle photos, the Emily-reading-her-book photos...

In July, we managed to get round to doing what we'd been putting off for quite some time - another holiday in Yorkshire. We stayed in Hinderwell, just up the road from Staithes, where Old Jack's Boat was filmed, and which prompted much rejoicing. The weather was cloudy (as opposed to Oxfordshire, which was sweltering) but there were scarecrows. And ruins. And a lot of ice cream. Oh, and a Dalek or two...

As spring set in we took in a stroll at Cliveden, a National Trust property in Buckinghamshire we visited in 2012. We also managed to get down to Slimbridge again, where there was much feeding of geese and impersonating of flamingos. Ridgeway walks this year were, for various reasons, confined to one decent hike across from Ogbourne, with some spectacular views.

Joshua originally asked for a Zombies vs. Chocolate themed birthday party. We compromised with mad scientists. I got a wig from Ebay and we had them mix cocktails with different fruit flavour soft drinks. Then we did the bicarbonate of soda / vinegar trick, which was somewhat less than impressive, before I had them feel inside a sealed cardboard box to guess which body part they were touching. Finally we released dropped a tube of Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke, which worked quite well, as can be seen here. A fun day for everyone, and Emily's cake was terrific.

We visited Shropshire in May, taking in the sights at Ironbridge - Blists Hill, by the way, really is worth a visit if you're in the area - and then having a couple of bracing walks round the back of Emily's parents' house. The colours were particularly vivid that day, and as such this deserves a gallery all to itself.

The first quarter of the year began with snow and ended with snow. In January it fell with a ferocity and there was enough to do a decent bit of sculpting. In March we were in Shropshire celebrating the Easter weekend, and looking for signs of life beneath the craggy white surface in the cold lanes. In between the two, everyone went to Butlins, and there was much rejoicing.