Cardiff Bay

Days 5 – 11 of Project 365

January 11, 2014 by TheBoyAndMe 61 Comments

5-11 of 365

5. Flutter (Of all the toys that The Boy received at Christmas, the £1.99 plastic men with a plastic parachute attached to their back are his favourite by far. He will happily spend an hour floating them down and then going and fetching them to start all over again. And those aren't Christmas lights still up as I took all my decorations down; those are fairy lights that I put back up to brighten the hallway.)

6. Happiness Is… (… was the topic for his Christmas homework and so in true last minute style we sat down to do it on Monday afternoon. The Boy decided that happiness is Christmas because he likes having people over. He wrote all of that independently.)

7. The Weekly Stock Shot #1 (First day back at work and I didn't have time to take a photo other than once The Boy was in bed asleep; my fall back photograph! I was also demonstrating to someone on twitter how to use a torch light angled and no flash on the camera as it creates a softer photograph than with flash light, and doesn't wake your sleeping child!)

8. Concentration (A little sand art was the perfect after school activity, and I love this photograph because of the concentration throughout his body.)

9. Reflecting (I took delivery of the reflector pack that I'd ordered from ebay today (having read A Party Of Seven's post about bouncing light around). It's a cheap pack but I didn't want to spend much when I'm getting used to the technique of using reflectors. The light in our house is so dim and there are so many shadows that I decided we'd try to bounce some light around. In this photograph I've used the black as a backdrop and he's sat on the gold reflector which adds warmth to his face.)

10. The Weekly Stock Shot #2 (Feeding the swans on a Friday after school has become a habit of ours, they were certainly very hungry tonight.)

11. Oh Mummy! (Again another tip from A Party Of Seven is to have something silly on your head or around the camera lens to obtain a natural shot of your child's reaction. The Boy was clambering all over the old dock machinery in Cardiff Bay today and was pulling some ridiculous faces as I tried to get a decent photo of him. I bunged his dinosaur hat on my head and called him; this is what he thought of my new headwear.)

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Days 125-131 of Project 365

May 11, 2013 by TheBoyAndMe 50 Comments

125-131 of 365

125. Silhouette (Earlier in the day Mr. TBaM and I had sold at a car boot sale, and we followed that up with a trip across the barrage to the Bay for some very special celebrations. Today was the day that Cardiff celebrated its football club returning to the premiership, something it hasn't experienced for fifty years. There was a huge event down in Cardiff Bay with tens of thousands of supporters and proud Cardiffians alike. Secretly we were only after catching a glimpse of Alex from CBeebies who made The Boy very happy with a wave and a thumbs up! We then walked back across the barrage to watch the amazing fireworks.)

126. Crash! (Monday was a stunningly beautiful day. The buzz of lawnmowers, sizzle of barbeques, shrieks of laughter from children splashing in their paddling pools and the buzz of the honey bees filled the air. We entertained friends that we hadn't seen in four years; I was four months pregnant with The Boy when we last saw them. I was going to show a photo of The Boy watering the garden wearing an incredibly cute straw hat, however this one topped everything. He settled down to eat his cheese on toast, asked daddy for a cuddle and within thirty seconds he was asleep!)

127. Hide and Seek (The day was milder than it had been over the weekend but still sunny, especially late afternoon. We spent the morning trying to find some Summer shoes for The Boy, which is the reason it's rained on and off ever since! When Mr. TBaM got home from work, he and The Boy had a mad hour in the garden playing hide and seek.)

128. Choo choo! (A shorter than usual INSET today meant that I was able to get home and play with The Boy more than I usually can on a Wednesday. I made this super train track, with plenty of space for the station master to sit and command the rails.)

129. Zoom! (I set up a free painting session for The Boy to get to grips with after breakfast but he couldn't wait to get to grips with it! Car painting is the easiest painting around, minimum effort and maximum fun!)

130. Quack! (We got home at lunchtime after finishing school and nursery, only to find a pair of ducks on the drive. They've been around the neighbourhood for about a week or so, but are starting to wander into gardens now. I phoned the local nature reserve and was told that they're 'wild' ducks and unless hurt (in which case phone the RSPB) then leave them alone. Apparently in the mating season they often take themselves off in pairs for peace and quiet. We probably shouldn't have fed them, but I The Boy was worried they may be hungry.)

131. Pink Snow (We nipped into Cardiff for a review of Wetherspoon's new menu and parked near the Civic Centre, which has a beautiful park full of cherry trees. All were in full blossom and as The Boy ran through the park, the strong Spring wind showered him in pink blossom confetti.)

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Saturday 27th October 2012 – 'Golden Light' (301/366)

October 27, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 47 Comments

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I'm adding this 366 photo to The Gallery under the theme of Autumn for two reasons.

1) I've posted oodles of photos that could be used for the theme, and don't want to repost photos that I've already used.

2) To me, this photo symbolises everything about Autumn that I love: the warm sunlight, long shadows, woolly hats and crisp, golden leaves being frollicked in.

Monday 27th August 2012 – 'The Wa-ympic Torch' (240/366)

August 28, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 4 Comments

Tonight we went into Cardiff Bay to see the Paralympic Torch reaching the beacon for Wales and being lit. We arrived at 7pm, splashed around for a bit, found out that they weren't lighting it until gone 9pm and came home again. Reclothed in dry clothes and The Boy's splashproof suit, we went back out again (it's only 5 minutes from us) andreparked the car. Unfortunately, they didn't light the flame until 10pm which was way too late for little ones. However, The Boy did brilliantly and cheered hugely when Simon Weston was the last torch bearer in Wales. The Boy really enjoyed himself and did superbly.

Country Kids: In The City

August 27, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe 14 Comments

The very title of this post is an oxymoron, but as I live on the outskirts of Cardiff it's very difficult to ignore all that it has to offer. I also know that Coombe Mill's intention with this linky is to encourage outdoor play away from electrical devices. So I'm going with it.

The weather's been relatively sunny this weekend but I can feel the turn in the air; it's been less of a t-shirts and shorts weekend, and more of a trousers and cardigan time. It also feels like we haven't done very much over the weekend, but having gallivanted around the country for the past few weeks it's been nice to just stop and relax.

On Saturday we took The Boy over to Roath Park so he could practise his scooting and bike-riding. Unforunately he was a lazy monkey and wouldn't ride properly which resulted in him being removed from said bike and mummy getting cross with him. He had a fantastic time on the longest slide in the city anyway, and while he started out cautiously he soon built up his confidence!

He was also fascinated by the listening funnels (don't know what they're really called) on the climbing frame, and the cargo net which six months ago would have given him a challenge proved too easy now.

On Sunday we popped over to Cardiff Bay to have dinner at Pizza Express and then give The Boy a chance to scoot around. He is so confident on it and really loves going as fast as he can. I know given time he'll be the same on his bike. We also taught him how to use the brake on his scooter because at the moment he does this funny little galloping hop to stop. It was fantastic to see the sheer exhilaration on The Boy's face as he steamed past the couples and families walking along, and a sense of pride came over me when I saw them smiling at his enjoyment.

And no trip to Cardiff Bay is complete without a turn on the carousel.

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