A Ticket in Time Saves..

Having to be in a long queue to get into Kew. My season ticket arrived on Friday, and with children to entertain and it being a sunny day and all, we slowly got ourselves ready to head off.

First things first, a stopoff at the Yellow Cafe (Brooks) for coffee, croissant, juice and babychino.

Then pick up lunch, and onto the train.

Sweep past queue presenting season pass. Find Daffodils.

And Ducks.

Go home, have quiet time, and a rousing rendition of row, row row your boat.

Ash Friday (and probably Saturday)

Unsurprisingly, Alix's plane was not going anywhere today. And strangely enough the ferries were wildly overbooked.

Currently booked on a 10AMish flight. Since the current report says that most of UK airspace closed until 1PM, I'm not hopeful.

On the plus side, small children have been (relatively) well behaved).

Look at my gnashers.

Look.

Ash Thursday

Hmmm. I've got the day off to wrangle the children while Alix is in Guernsey, but it doesn't look like she'll be flying back in a hurry!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm

Stupid volcano.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Is there any better way to watch them?

Butterflies

High on Yoghurt.

Perambulation

Things just... move around the house.

Glee

Not the TV series.

Communication

Her Snufflyness is getting very chatty these days. "Yes!" seems to be one of her favourite words (admittedly generally in response to "would you like a banana/cuddle/book/bottle?").

Duck, Dog, Book, and Baa (her fluffy sheep) are also pretty common.

Also she seems to spend a lot of her time singing, and while its not fully formed words most of the time, a few are beginning to pop out. Favourites appear to be 'twinkle twinkle' and this one - I'll give you a clue: "The wheels on the..."

Bananaphone

Hello? Hello, Operator?

Remember Me?

And in this corner, a blast from the past.

Pit Crew

Because you know it's easier for Mummy to fix the pram if you crawl inside it.

Internet Shopping

Milk and baby biccies and fruit plzkthxbye.

Around the Corner

Small child w/missing pants? Check.

Baby on bike? Check.

Great Grey Beast

Hi Spring? Anytime you're ready, man.

Words Define Reality

"Wake Up Daddy! You're not very, very tired!"

Waaake UP!"

Chino, Part MMX

And so it begins...

edit: Roman Numeracy Fail

Shopping

Now with added commentary.

Victoria and Albert and Emily

Our Google Widget Thingy reminded me of the Summer of Auntie Lisa.

Natasha and (Another) Cat

Renata took the girls to a birthday party last week. There was cake, dress-ups, cake, and as Natasha correctly identified, a cat.

Mecha-Toddlerzilla

Fear my orange paws and kleenex-box feet.

FEAR ME!!!

Still Cold

But a bit more picturesque. Until now, the snow has been regular, but not thick enough to stay on the ground. That seems to have changed.

Oddly enough though, in most of London, things haven't frozen solid yet. The tube (more or less) works, however a lot of people commuting on the train haven't found it too pleasant.

Snow

It's really really really cold.

On the plus side, staggering drunkenly with ex-workmates in the snow around the City was pretty surreal.

But it is really really really cold.

Cake

Cake?



Cake!

Caaake!

CAAAAAKE!!!!

More Presents

Much presents from various family members and friends. mainly lots of nice tops, with a very pretty dress from Renata.

However the star of the show was the sheep bag, which was quite the hit with her snufflyness as you can see below.

As usual, an attempt to read a book resulted in Alix being covered in children.

And Emily wanted to 'help' Natasha unpack the box of blocks.

Lunchtime

Now generally much messier.

The girls thought the spread laid on for Natasha's birthday was pretty yummy. Emily hoovered the fairy bread in record time. It was apparently an almost acceptable substitute for cake.

Presents

Who needs to open them, when you can use them to clamber somewhere?

Adventuring

Finally put the photos up. And they look fabuloso.

Made in japan

This one's for you, Winston.

Morning After

Well that was interesting.

Spectacular meal at a "country restaurant", with many of Effs fellow concierges. Much incredibly yummy food, cold beer, and hot (and cold) sake. For a ridiculously low price.

Then we relocated to a karaoke box for more beer plus horrific screeching.

And to finish the night, a dodgy gay bar in Roppongi.

I stumbled home at 2ish, Supermodel and Unpronounceable at about 6, and Rhys staggered in at 10ish, muttering darkly about police.

Tokyo!

After a longish and completely sleep free flight (odd considering how little sleep I had over the last 2 days), we are now ensconced in the surrounding of the Tokyo Hilton, ready to head out to the dubious delights of Roppongi. Should be interesting.

Financial Crisis as Translated by Toddler

"I need lots and lots of money!"

Don't we all Emily, don't we all.

Working for Tha Man

Employed again, for a fairly good six-month contract on the edge of the City.

This whole getting up early to go to work is a bit sucky. I imagine it'll be suckier soon when I go to work in the dark, and come back in the dark.

Baby vs. Robot

Who needs a pet, when you've got Roomba.

Stubborn

Do you want me to take your bag? Noooo.

Do you want to put it in the pram? Nooo. Want to carry it.

Sigh.

Playing on the Lawn

Now in Widescreen.

Muffins

With nothing but a little light shopping on the agenda, we packed small

children into the pram and headed up to Westfield (via park for frolicking in autumn leaves and playground for swings and slides.

Since Starbucks has these nice comfy chairs, and lots of space to spread the children out (and a relaxed attitude to mess produced by the same), much coffee, cake, juice and panini was consumed. Yum.

Natasha, after creating a spectacular mess, crawled around looking adorable, getting lots of smiles.

One Mouse, To Go

Amazing what you can find in Habitat these days.

Nightlife

I thought is was pink elephants one was supposed to see on a night on the tiles.

Food? Nah.

But someone's learnt how to play peekaboo. On the downside, said video had just followed very little food going in the baby, and much food going on the baby (and parent).

Sometimes

You've got to pass out on the bed with a belly full of milk. Note cute buzzy bee shoes.




And in other news, toddler in red is still a bit obsessed with the Westfield information pods.

The Robots Are Here

And they're cleaning my floor.

We're now the pround owner of a Roomba. It's fantastico.