West Holiday October 2007 in Pictures

Day one was at the pleasure beach in Blackpool. After dark we cruised the strip (as much as you can in a Mormon wagon) and saw the illuminations

this ride is awesome- it’s a giant pendulum that takes you 100ft in the air then waves you around. I’m the one (David) that has the long legs and waving.

Just Cruisin'

Where baby, I don't care

I love my family!

Valhalla is by far the coolest flume ride. This was Rebecca and Sammy’s first go… I guess someone forgot to mention that it was a little wet (ooops!)

the kids loved this one- they must have taken seven rides over the course of the day

at least there was no hat-knapping

amazing!

Target sited... fire!

Micah… like a shark sensing blood in the water…

he attacks… a fatal bite!

I'm cheesy!

mmmmm... blue

wow- steam!

Windermere

I see no ships!

at the Beatrix Potter attraction. The models are amazing…

some are a little scary though!

don’t touch the exhibit! But she is just so darned cute!

Lara is so defensive of her brothers

a red tree!

and huge rhubarb... stuff

a gate in the middle of the forest?

probably the most pointless "maze" in the world (Muncaster)

What did he see?

Sammy got to touch an eagle owl (they are soft and warm in case you are wondering)

Everyone is tired by the end of the day...

this is why we love the Lake District so much!

Excitable little fellow!

YMCA- you can see that Rebecca and I are the product of the Church Youth program!

so beautiful!

We got good vibes when we arrived at the South Lakes Wild Animal Park and saw some meditating lemurs sitting on the entrance gate.

I had no idea giraffes tongues were so long

I have not seen a robin for years

This guy sat at the top of this 50ft pole howling for over an hour

this one was watching it’s howling friend… he looks about ready to climb the pole and push him off!

I’m on to you… stay away!

Having four rambunctious rapscallions of my own, I felt some affinity with this poor lemur…

these penguins must have been hungry… or just plain vicious…

after Lara's bum

and tender Micah cutlets

Oh no! Micah! Wake up! Don’t let your guard down!

Bonzai! Lemur attacks!

Brothers bear

These pygmy hippos were so chilled- these monkeys were jumping on this pair for ages

I love seeing adults and young together. It is easy to see why people personify animals when you see the young learning and playing.

This made me smile when I was looking through the photos later in the day. I guess everyone got tired of the school groups!

stupid piggy!

the ferocious bunny, after stalking his prey, attacks his unsuspecting victim…

Sammy Irwin chills after a hard day of animal hunting

I was surprised how fast tigers are. This chicken was fixed about 20ft up a telephone pole and the tigers had them and were down again in less than five seconds.

What? Me? You want to sit on my lap? I am so honoured!

What a great holiday... and none of us got really sick (unlike holidays taken during the past two years). Walking in the beautiful countryside, playing with lemurs and wallabies, feeding giraffes. All with the family. Wonderful...

A blow for dwindling human compassion?

Catching up on the morning news and the headlines lead with the continuing sorry story of Madeleine McCann.

Guardian coverage
BBC coverage

As the distressing story of the missing 4 year-old unravelled even I, who pride myself on being somewhat emotionally detached from the world, could not fail to be touched- having four children aged under six, I could easily empathise with the case. As I caught check of my emotions, I saw something almost wonderful unravel.

I watched with interest and satisfaction at the world’s reaction. At a tine where we are shocked so frequently by the many evils that are being performed, it has been refreshing to see a community attitude of compassion and love be focused by a body of people so diverse and extensive, across all ideologies and geographies. The responses by the widespread community have been a credit to civilisation.

And now this has the potential to be dashed to pieces- not just the McCann following but also any hope that a future movement will occur.

Of course I am shocked that parents could kill their child. If truly accidental, I am astonished that a parent could hold themselves together to such an extent that they could lead a deception for so long. But this is the small picture.

If this case should conclude with the charging of the McCann parents for a part in the death of the child, the world will become a little darker. Those naturally loving, trusting and empathetic (like my wife) will become harder and less trusting, retreating into themselves in embarrassment at having been taken in and used, especially for such a nefarious cover. Those cynical individuals will be exalted in their hardness, reinforcing their steel while lauding their “I told you so” over those that had conviction in the Madeleine story and sought to help wherever they could.

The world will become dimmed at the hope and trust that will have been killed in the hearts of so many. Those that require the assistance of others in the future will find it more difficult to obtain support and find more hindrance that previously would have remained unvoiced.

I am saddened that the world could lose a little more hope and humanity.

Samuels first testimony!

As practicing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we attend church each Sunday. The first Sunday of each month is designated as "fast and testimony meeting". Members fast for the period of two meals and donate the money saved (we are counselled to be generous in this respect) to church humanitarian projects. The main Sunday service is open to the congregation to "share their testimony". This entails sharing their thoughts, feelings and experiences associated with their personal beliefs of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the entire congregation (the meeting in which this happens is called "testimony meeting").

description of "testimony" from www.lds.org

Each testimony meeting, Sammy normally expresses his desire to get up and share his testimony. Normally though he gets nervous and changes his mind. Today though he surprised us all when he told mummy that he wanted to go and then jumped up and walked to the front. After a bit of a pause (like a stunned rabbit in headlights) he whispered to daddy that he wanted to bear his testimony and asked for some help. Daddy then asked him some questions to prompt his response. Firstly that he liked going to church; that he loved his family; that he loved Jesus and that he was trying to be good. He then closed in the proper way and sat down.

Needless to say we are very proud of him- it is a big thing to be willing to stand up in front of a congregation and talk. Hopefully we can continue to foster a desire to grow and progress and keep him growing in the church.

Twice in a week!

Firstly check this out. It is quite amazing... Perfect eutopian web 2.0

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We have booked our October Holiday- we are off to the Lake District for a week or so.

We are just starting to get together activities and walks that we can all do. We will be starting at the Preston Temple for a weekend (about the halfway point) then heading the rest of the way for a week on Windermere. Hopefully the weather will have stabalised by this point so it will be comfortable. We are all kitted with wet-weather gear though so we should be OK whatever the weather.

Does anyone have any suggestions for some good walks suitable for young children? Micah will be on David's back but Lara and the other boys will be strolling alongside. Because of this, we need something with great views but not too challenging. Scafell is probably out...

I'm going to try this with some Schloer!

Quite possibly one of the coolest things I have seen for a while and, as a Mormon, maybe one of the only things that would make me buy a bottle of champagne! Now where did I put my sword...


VideoJug: How To Open A Bottle Of Champagne With A Sword

This is probably better for me... that way I don't miss and chop my hand off... or Rebeccas head as I try to impress her with my opening-a-bottle-of-fizzy-grape-juice trick!

Feeling strangely festive... only 121 days to go!

Probably due to the abysmal weather this summer, and the particular chilly weather and dark mornings. Maybe it is David working in global logistics and having a few hundred containers of Christmas tree arriving into the UK over the next few weeks. Maybe we are just insane. Whichever option is accurate (I think that it is a nice cocktail of them all) the West family have been feeling rather festive during the recent days. But it is still August! The kid’s haven’t even started back to school yet! We have not even had any really decent weather so far! How can Christmas be on its way? The problem is that it is not… well not fast enough!

Is this how animals and plants feel? Is this what the feeling of hibernation or gathering nuts for winter feels like? Who knows? All we can identify is that we have the inklings of Christmas in the home but almost a third of a year before the big day. Crazy! Looks like we will have to plan a holiday in October just to break up the months until Thanksgiving!

In the meantime Rebecca is getting her “festive fix” by making our family Christmas cards ready for a festive photo to be attached after Thanksgiving.

Until then it’s time to fine-tune the house ready for the festivities. Redecorate the dining room (after the demolition work of inserting a French door and a window to the kitchen), retile the kitchen floor and worktops and provide a lick or two of paint around the house. Maybe David will even get the time to plumb the ground floor washroom before the ground freezes…

Alton Towers- fun, thrills and Schutzstaffel

Got to watch that Nesquik bunny

Sammy's first rollercoaster

and then Harrison

And finally Larakia

Squirrel Nutty's wild ride- Grandma, Kaila and Sammy

Sammy and Kaila tracing their farming roots

She is so damned cute!

Chilling in the boat near Old MacDonalds Farm

Good horsey!

Like a rhinestone cowgirl...

My goodness... all the gargantuan toys are stealing Sammys hat!

Harrison after the flume... a bit damp

They picked up some lizards and frogs from the gift store

On the 9th August the West clan, accompanied by mum and dad West and Aunty Kaila, descended upon Alton Towers for a fun-filled frolic in the hills of Staffordshire. The day was glorious- the sun shone all day and we were blessed with a light breeze that helped keep us refreshed.

Starting in Adventure Land, the children rode their first rollercoaster- the Beastie. They loved it- screaming and clinging to their dad as they plummeted down the steep 2m drop.

Then on to Squirrel Nutty’s car… ride… thing… Not as thrilling, but fun nonetheless.

Teacups were great, until David got a little carried away with the wonder of centripetal acceleration causing Kaila to be forced to the outside of the cup, bouncing off the cushion back and into Sammy’s nose, which immediately erupted with blood. For what seemed like an eternity, the next few minutes of the ride were spent trying to minimise the spin while Rebecca controlled the bleeding (and the mess).

Then the real fun began- the water rides.

Starting with the flume, Lara had to be stand with her back to a ruler so that a Schönheit sister with a plastic triangle could ascertain her height to be above the mandatory 90cm. Following a period of cajoling, bargaining, threatening and cuddling, Larakia consented to the black-and-red shirt to carry out her ritual and Larakia was finally granted access to the bathtub cubicle. Everyone had a great time. Harrison (the pilot) got completely soaked and all were thrilled at the descent.

Next stop Katanga Canyon. Rebecca loves the River Rapids and was especially excited as this was the only ride that all but Micah could ride on together. We queued like only the British can, waiting for the fun to begin. Finally our turn arrived and we stepped onto the rotating disc approaching our chariot of Poseidon, little recognising the goose-step approaching. Once again Lara’s height had to be verified.

Unfortunately, this time Larakia knew what was coming and refused bluntly to stand straight against the ruler. Squirming and trying to be free again to enjoy her day, she would not allow the bearer of the plastic rapier to judge her worthiness. Despite all of us explaining that Lara had already passed the bar of two previous rides, the frustrated jungend asked Rebecca to help control Larakia- advising us that if this were the case she would have been given a tag to identify her height. When Lara refused to lift her head from her chest and the attendant announced her height to be 89cm, Rebecca refused to continue the charade, stating clearly (and rather fiercely) that she would not further torture her daughter.

While we understand the need for safety, we are shocked by the lackadaisical approach of the staff to this. If there really is a system to minimise the measurement of children, why was this not offered to our daughter the first, or even the second time she was measured. Had this been done, our daughter would have been spared the horrific treatment and distress and Rebecca would have been able to enjoy her day to the fullest without having to defend her child against the extemporised approach to safety.

We decided it was time for lunch, after which we enjoyed the Runaway Mine Train- Samuel sat on his own while David sat next to Harrison. All three boys loved the ride, enjoying the thrill. Samuel especially seemed quite addicted to the adrenalin.

The surprise of the day was the modified house of horrors. We all loved the laser-gun facet of the ride- this has certainly improved what was a fun, but mediocre, exhibition of 90s FX. Nothing better than riding in a train shooting green lights fixed on spiders, ghosts and ghouls!

Pants-ride prize goes to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride. It smells good (it really smells like a chocolate factory) but stinks as far as entertainment value.

All in all, Alton Towers never fails to impress. Despite the inadequate continuity toward policy, the rides and atmosphere add an almost Christmas wonder to all within the turnstile gates. We have some great pictures, some good memories and an amazing insight to how our children (especially our oldest boys) will become in the years to come.

Make the most of the sun...it is England!!

IT'S HERE... THE SUN .... IT'S HERE!!!

When we saw the sun today we thought we had better make the most of every moment of the sun so out came the pool and we fired up the bbq.

The children enjoyed 5 hours of swimming pool fun a david enjoyed being a big kid again, and as for me well someone had to take the pictures!!!

The silver van in the background is our new car!!! Nine seats... yep NINE seats!!!!!
Thats alot of protential childrens seats!!!!!!!!

Like father, Like son!!

Lara took to the water like a dog to a bone.

Amazing Micah, he is crawling now and getting stronger and cuter by the day.