Jon works half day on Saturdays, so the kids and I waited until we got home to take Leiko for a walk. Amber had a friend over last night, and the yakking and giggling went on till well past midnight. Jon went up at half twelve to tell the girls that it was, under no uncertain terms, time to catch some zzzzzz. They all woke up at eight though, which is something close to a miracle, as their usual rising time is around six, six thirty if the god's are smiling on me.

we took Leiko down to the 'exercise park', which has a woodland trail starting from it. W took a right, as opposed to a left that is! It was a nice walk, and we found that the right split of the trail leads down to the waters edge, where there is a board walk with fantastic views of the DSME shipyard, and close ups of several new cargo ships in the building. River is an amazing walker. He gets such obvious pleasure from the simplicity of the action, and even undertakes to jog some of the trails. Today he picked up a walking stick, and the result was just too adorable, using his walking stick like a pro on the inclines.

For supper we had a roaring fire in the fire pit , and cooked a delicious Chinese cabbage, with butter, some yummy potatoes, to be had with a soya mince chilli and kidney beans that I whipped up on arrival home. The bread machine has been a real blessing, there is nothing, truly, quite like the smell of fresh bread upon opening the door. The kids finished off the day with toasted marshmallows, and were quick to start nodding not soon after.

Tomorrow is Jon's only full day off in the week, we are planning to take an early breakfast hike up the side of a mountain not far from the house, should be fun, hope everyone is feeling fresh and fit, including mommy, after a couple of absolutes the night before!