Christmas Day 2011

Christmas Day 2011, a set on Flickr.

A very excited Samwise was up at 5am today. Luckily Santa had delivered a bunch of stocking fillers, which kept him occupied until about 7am, at which point we all had to go downstairs to find out what was under the tree. Only took us an hour to figure out how to operate the new coffee machine this morning :) Had A very tasty Christmas dinner with drinks all day - quite relaxing. Christmas pudding was the best that I've ever made - OK that's cheating, I've only ever made one :) - it did turn out to be a real treat though.Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Eve - GO TO SLEEP!

My on-call week officially finished at 8pm.  Couple of beers and a large gin and tonic are getting me into the festive spirit.  Presents mostly wrapped, but not under the tree as Santa hasn't quite arrived yet - he's got to put the wheels on a brand new bike when he does :)  Two very excited boys wearing new pyjamas in bed and trying desperately to get to sleep....
Wishing everyone who reads this a very Happy, Hearty and Merry Christmas indeed!

Everyman Rock 'n' Roll Panto - Cinderella

Went to see Cinderella, the Liverpool Everyman Theatre's Rock 'n' Roll pantomime yesterday afternoon.  This year it's on at the Playhouse, since the Everyman is being refurbished - actually it's more like a rebuild.
A little different, due to the change of venue, but a great and fun production as always.
Unlike the Everyman, the Playhouse has three levels.  We had seats in the middle tier, at the front of the dress circle.  The boys thought that they might be safe from the water projectile weapons, which are wielded by the cast every year.  No - two of them ran upstairs, one to each upper tier, and ensured that everyone got a good soaking!

Christmas Nights Out

Busy weekend. 
Work Christmas do on Friday night - Beers and Buffet in the Cornmarket Pub.  Didn't overdo it this time since I'd planned to take Novelist Supermum the following night (a couple of weeks ago I fell asleep on the bus on the way home and walked back 3 stops to sober up a bit).
On Saturday we went to Chaba Chaba on Allerton Road for a Thai meal, and finished off with a few beers in The Rose of Mossley Hill pub, listening to the two acoustic guitars and a drummer who were ching-a-chinging through the cover versions.
Took Samwise to his Ju-Jitsu club ground fighting tournament and Christmas party at Everton sports centre today.  He didn't win either of his two bouts, but didn't give up either, giving his opponents a hard fought win. He was pleased to get a taking part medal, and enjoyed the fun and games party afterwards.

Homemade Mince Pies

Homemade Mince Pies, originally uploaded by Dark Dwarf.

Another first for me this Christmas. I'll be testing them out on my workmates tomorrow, and if OK will be making a second batch for us :)

Liverpool Santa Dash 2011

Liverpool Santa Dash 2011, a set on Flickr.

We did the Santa Dash in 50 mins this year - followed by 2 hours in The Railway Tavern :)

A Night at the Museum...

Feeling a little the worse for wear today after a few Friday night drinks with workmates, and falling asleep on the bus on the way home - a kind chap woke me up before I went all the way to the airport, and had to walk 3 stops back home.

Took the boys to swimming, trampoline club and the school Christmas Fair and then finished off a busy day with "Dino-Night" in the Liverpool World Museum.  Four hours of after dark activities and exploring the museum at night!

The lighting had been dimmed to give an eerie atmosphere as we wandered round.  A drama was being acted out around the museum - some burglars had stolen a dinosaur egg, and a bunch of time-travellers were hunting them to try and get it back!

We had a meal in the cafe, and took a look at the time and space exhibition.

The fish and other creatures in the sea life exhibition were great to see at night - as they seemed to be much more active than during the day.  The same was true of the bug world exhibition.

We got to see the Age of the Dinosaur exhibition with it's animatronic dinosaurs (without the usual crowding - as tickets for the event had been limited).  The boys got to do some fossil rubbings, make plaster casts of fossils and try a fossil 'dig' - hunting through heaps of flint for some real fossils of sharks teeth and benemites.

The highlight of the night was a 14ft long juvenile T-Rex that came out at regular intervals to interact with the children (one brave girl got to put her head in it's mouth). It charged into the shop at one point, and was also spotted on the dino-disco dance floor.  Samwise and Frodo got to pat it's leathery skin, and had to duck when it whirled round and swiped it's tail at them, which just caught Frodo.

A visit to the museum shop, then we had to ask the security guards to unlock the Museum door and let us out.

A great family experience - the boys friends at school won't believe them on Monday!

The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor - Unity Theatre, Liverpool

Went to the Unity Theatre (off Hope Street in Liverpool) to see 'The Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor'.  We'd won family tickets as a prize in the Liverpool Cathedral Photography Competition.
This was a simple, but really clever and effective production involving a handful of actors, a few props, light and smoke effects and a some puppetry.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it.  The boys were on the edge of their seats as we watched Sinbad and his crew get swallowed by a giant whale, outwit a terrible giant, fight with the Roc (giant bird) and it's hatchling, summon the Genie of the Ring, sword fight and ride on a flying carpet.  All taking place non-digitally right in front of our eyes.
When a magic word opened the door to a treasure trove Samwise caused some laughter when he exclaimed "That's not treasure, it's a smoke machine!".  He still voted the play 'best thing ever' in the taxi on the way home.

Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding, originally uploaded by Dark Dwarf.

Quite pleased with the result of my first ever attempt at making a Christmas Pudding.

It's been a pudding-obsessed weekend - stirring it up the mixture on Friday night (we all had a go and made a wish, of course), leaving it in the fridge overnight to let the fruit soak up the brandy infused liquid, and then 6 hours of steaming on Saturday night - checking every half hour that it hadn't boiled dry.

Now all wrapped up and stored away until Christmas day.

Fireworks - 5th November 2011. Sefton Park.

Fireworks - 5th November 2011. Sefton Park., a set on Flickr.

The fireworks display at Sefton Park this year was a pyrotechnic spectacular, as usual. Took the opportunity for my first ever attempt at firework photos.