What a year it was… loads of adventures, loads of kids doing all sorts of adult things and there is definitely a sense of change in the air as four of our kids have finished school and the other four are powering their way into and through high school.

Another year in lockdown and by now we have learned to live alongside it and headed for the hills a lot… more mountains were clambered and climbed than ever before and more great escapes into the wild…
And the Hoods…

Hood 1 and his lovely wife: Living their best lives are moving back to the city in 2022 and I am so looking forward to having them closer to our home.

Hood 2: Finished his final year of college, and has his degree safely in his pocket… onwards and upwards and totally new things are waiting for him in this new year.

Hood 3: Will be in her final year of college this year, and spent every spare moment working and saving up for her exciting year ahead… She got engaged towards the end of this year and has a lifetime of adventures waiting for her.

Hood 4: His year in a word would be RUN… this lad ran and ran and ran… and excelled at it. He also finished his final year of school, more than survived his SATs and heads off to college. He got himself a “summer job” in the middle of the year and has grown so much and learned so much… he is ready launch.

Hood 5: Climbed the mountain again and again and again, ran up and down countless mountains and then finished off the year with an Argus Cycle Tour… and he has had a summer for the last month or two.. and is heading into his final year of school… interesting times ahead.

Hood 6: Discovered hockey… who knew we had a hockey player in the house.

Hood 7: Carried on doing all the clever coding stuff that she does and masses of lovely crafty journaling.

Hood 8: Challenged himself to read 365 books… and he totally did it. He rocked it. 365 Chapter books in the bag… super proud of him. He also conquered Nanorimo and is continuing forth with several writing projects.

Kip + Choge: And we add a new friend to the family for Kip… so two pups, who are best of buddies.
Previous Years…













Ten Years of Instagram and all the Best Nine

I decided to post the last ten years of picture collections… from when it was all about the kids and their doings, and I would never have ever dreamed of being in a photograph… all the way until now… how times have changed. I have always blogged about our adventures and what we get up to… but these photographs really do tell a story of our journey.








