Summer fun in Glenavy

In July lots went on at 23a Pigeontown Road.  Ben got friendly with Mickey Mouse ...... and he discovered the hose .... a tree fell .... BBQ's went ahead rain or shine .... and 'long lost' cousin Gavin came to visit.











The weather in July was mostly great though you would not think so based on what is to follow in this post. 

The sunsets in Glenavy were definitely cool.







Lately Ben has been taking himself off into the porch where he parks himself on his folded up pram.  Just sits there chilling out he does.

So last night there was a bit of a storm and Marguerite and Jude heard this noise when they were getting up.  So they just thought it must have been Ben's wee pool being blown about.  But later Jude was outside and spotted ........






...... a tree had keeled over!!!!

Timberrrrr!












  
Like this was no twig ...... no way Jose ..... it was a proper full stem/section of a big tree.  And rather than get rid of it Jude decided he would wait until after his planned BBQ on the coming Saturday before cleaning it up ....... so everybody could see it!!










So along came Saturday and with Emma and Theresa arrived up.













Check out Jude's cool Rocket Salad ........ this stuff rocks!!














'Ahhh ...... Dada ..... ahhh .....', said Ben as he pointed in the direction of his Uncle Kevin who was doing something at the other end of the garden.  Kevin was up for the BBQ but what could he be doing in the garden?











 
Pitching a tent ...... that's what he was doing ..... in the back garden!!  Even though there was room for them in the house Kevin, Mary, Cormac and Grace decided it would be more 'rock n roll' to spend the night in their new tent. Seriously folks you can't make this sort of stuff up ....... here are the pics for evidence!

Ehhhh ....... like how many Irish folk does it take to pitch a tent? 

So do you think that's funny? Well .......





....... check this out.  Like it was said earlier, it was a 'rain or shine' BBQ and with this lot being good tough Irish folk ..... well they hammered on regardless  through the odd shower.  No bother at all! Never let a spot of rain spoil the fun folks!!!    
 









The tent fully erected ....... pretty cool actually.














Organising / hosting a BBQ is a busy job as Marguerite will tell you.

Meanwhile ..........











....... being a guest at a BBQ is an easy job ....... as Declan will tell you. 

Declan is Jude's mate from Ballygalget and he also goes by the nicknames 'Moon-man' and 'Rave'.       

Jude and Marguerite's cool new BBQ is going well, very well indeed ...... and thankfully with the summer being good they have got plenty of use out of it.












Also making a guest appearance tonight was Clare.  By the time you read this Clare will be back in Boston.  It has been great fun having Clare around these past few months.  Hurry back Clare!!!










A rainy night in Glenavy!














A couple of days later and Michael (Marguerite's friend Kerry's son) has joined Ben in chatting to the cows. 














Then Rebecca (Kerry's daughter) and Ben play with the hedge.














Oh yeah ....... what became of the tree ....... well now that the BBQ was over Jude and Ben got stuck into cutting it up.  But what would they do with it?












Well one by one Jude would cut .....














........ and Ben would carry each piece .....















..... into the main living room and started recreating what they had in Hamill Park, a fire full of logs. 














Jude and Ben were working like dogs tonight ....... and before you could say 'that sure was a big tree' ......












...... they had the fireplace filled up.  Some folk keep pointing out, 'but it's not full', to which Jude would reply, 'if it was packed up it would look too perfect ..... and so this is cooler because it is not perfect'.  Jude's artistic logic can be somewhat confusing.  Wha?    
    









In July Ben discovered the hose.  He just fell in love with the hose and could not walk past it without having his Dada turn it on for him.












Ben would just stand there and spray the thing, soaking anything or anyone in his path ........













........ and laughing all the while.  These scenes were repeated quite a lot through the month of July.












A couple of nights later and it's a double birthday celebration for Mary ....














....... and Marguerite Snr.

Marguerite's grandchildren Grace, Riona and Ben help her with the cakes and buns.  

Flowers for Mary ....














....... and a pat on the head for Grace.














Ben gets up nice and early on the weekends.  Here he is up at 7.30am on a Saturday ..... well that's just great! 

Here he is standing reading his wonderful 'London' book which Victoria bought him.










Jude is sporting his tight new haircut.  He looks like convict! You see since he moved to Glenavy he has been searching for a suitable barber ...... one who cuts it just the way Jude likes it.  This is a tricky thing folks.  When in Boston it took Jude about 7 months to finally settle on the right one .... which he then stuck to for the next 4 years.  He has only been in Glenavy for nearly three months so this could take a while.







Marguerite, Jude and Ben's gardens are really cool and Ben loves to dander around them.  Every now and again he hides in the wee trees and thinks no one can see him ...... it sure makes for a nice pic!











Tonight the guests include Jude's cousin's kids on the left here, Maeve and Aaron, Jude's neice Amy and Jude's brother Kevin.












The flash is a bit off on this one but that doesn't matter as the important thing is that is shows Jude and his cousin Gavin catching up for the first time in over 10 years.  Gavin grew up in Hillhead in Belfast before moving to Glenavy when he was about 15.  He has lived in England for the last 15 years.   Jude first heard the word 'Mucker' from Gavin and he has used it ever since.  Gavin and Jude spent the night telling some old and funny stories.






Aha the flash is fixed!  Here are, left to right:  Front row - Aaron, Ben, Amy, Maeve.  Back row - Gavin, Jude, Lorraine, Marguerite and Geffen. Gavin parents (Jude's uncle Jim and Aunt Mairead) also made an appearance tonight but were away before the camera came out.  It was a great night's craic!   

    
 






The next day and Ben and Jude are having an afternoon nap.  They have obviously been working far too hard and generally doing too much.  A wee kip will do them no harm at all.











It took two months but Ben finally discovered that the wee 'windows' in the wall can be climbed through.  In this pic Ben is kind of half ready for bed - he is still wearing his day clothes up top but has his 'jim-jams' on down below.  Cool, wha?














Here is Ben about to embark on his regular walk down Pigeontown Road.  He is leaning over the fence on the laneway up to his new house. 













Ben loves this lark and insists on doing it about three nights a week.  Marguerite and Jude tag along but it is always great craic as Ben marches up the road as if he owns the place!


 

A football is always brought along to kick along .....













  
......  or to try to chuck over the fence.

On Ben's first birthday his Godfather, uncle Kevin (Clarke) bought Ben this cool Mickey Mouse.  Ben did not really pay it much attention until this summer when all of a sudden he would carry him through the house, hug him, chat to him and even share his food with him.  Mickey and Ben are now the best of buddies!

Do you want to see a class pic? 







Ok ...... here is a class pic!