Time passes so quickly...

Backblipped 10.08.21

...when there's fun being had!

And all too soon it was time for our lovely friends and their wonderful girls to head to Glasgow for two days before heading home on Thursday.

But they didn't have to leave till 2pm so we made the most of the time we had left.

I was so glad that the weather had greatly improved as I had promised Sharon I would photograph the girls for family photos (as I do every time they visit) and I had hoped to get them outside in the garden and Gin Palace.  

Asking them to pose is hit and miss as it's likely to elicit that rigorous mortis grin children are so good at so I wanted to try and capture them naturally just doing what they do.  

We started off in the Gin Palace before moving back out to the garden where I shot away whilst they played.  I am happy to say I got a lovely mix of unposed and posed photos (see extras.  Turns out their formal poses are almost always natural too:-) 

The weather was so good we had lunch in the garden and Anna and Faith enjoyed a few games of Jenga with their dad.  With Swahili being Lewa's first language, he told us that the name jenga is derived from kujenga, a Swahili word which means 'to build'.  I didn't know that :-). The girls also had a play on the swing and a fun game of who can jump the highest off a rock!  Never a dull moment with these two around :-))

Before they left, they asked if they could play piano with David one last time so we all gathered round the piano and joined in singing Here comes the Bride and other silly stuff, then it really was time to say goodbye.  That took ages as the girls just kept cuddling us!  They were so sad to be leaving but we hatched a plan that they would come back again in October, which isn't that far away.

We waved them off from the driveway with Anna insisting her car window stayed down so she could stick her arm out to wave to us till we were out of sight.

The house was very, very quiet when we got inside.  

About twenty minutes after they left, Lewa texted me the photo of Anna in extras saying she was crying because she was so sad at leaving.  Seeing her sorrowful little face left me in tears too.  Wee sweetheart.

The rest of the day was spent taking things easy and getting used to the stillness.  My phone rang just after 10.30pm and it was the girls FaceTiming us from their hotel in Glasgow.  Anna had been crying again and said she couldn't sleep because she was missing us and Faith wanted to talk to us.  Lewa said they could FaceTime us if they promised to go to sleep straight after.  We chatted for a few minutes and made plans for October then we blew them kisses and said goodnight.  Lewa messaged ten minutes later to say they were both asleep.  

What a privilege to have these two little angels in our lives.  We will never have grandchildren of our own, but goodness, this little pair certainly fill that gap! 

Roll on October :-))

Backblips start here :-))

In other news regarding Covid restrictions, from midnight tonight Scotland has moved to beyond Level O, which means most of the remaining covid restrictions have been removed, apart from still having to wear face coverings indoors in public places and on public transport, social distancing rules still in effect in healthcare settings including hospitals, health centres and dentists, and where possible, people should still work from home.