Winter Wonderland

On Sunday we decided to soak up some Christmas atmosphere at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Even though it was freezing cold the sky was blue and the sun was shining so it was great being outside. The boys found the partly frozen Serpentine fascinating. Daniel had a ball teasing the water fowl that were walking on the ice and Nicholas enjoyed breaking off slices of ice for skimming and shattering on the smooth hard surface of the lake. Then we had fun at the actual market going on some of the rides, trying to spot Father Christmas and feasting of typical German fair. Not quite the same as the Aachen Christmas market but nice enough for a day out with the kids!

Same same only different

At around 18 months

Dix

My cousin, Deidre or Dix as the boys fondly called her, spent the last 6 months in England. We saw quite a lot of her in between all her jaunts around the country. The boys loved having her around and grew really fond of her. She did exciting activities with them, took them on some great excursions and most importantly showered them with love and attention. It was super having family around and we'll all really miss her!

Making a volcano!

A trip to the London Zoo!

Can you see the delight in his eyes?

My baby is a big boy now!

I can't believe that Nicholas is already 4 years old! He grown into a lovely and lively little boy with a caring and gentle nature. I love the fact that he is friendly to everyone whether they be young or old. He is inquisitive, intelligent and entertaining. To us he is perfect and we are extremely proud to have him as our son. We love him more than words can say!

This was this morning!
This was 4 years ago!Today he said 'Mom the presents just keep coming!' and I replied 'You aint seen nothing yet baby!'. Thanks to everyone that sent texts, emails, cards and presents to make our boy's day special. It's been so much fun spoiling him. We're only having his party on the 4th because there are loads of other birthdays at this time of the year. It's going to be a DRAGON party and we're all so excited. Watch this space for more photos!

Wakey-Wakey-Rise-And-Shine

I just love this series of photos!

Fancy Dress

Everyone, young or old, likes a good excuse to get dressed up. The occasion was Princess Phillipa's 4th birthday party. Knight Nicholas and Danny the Dragon loved all the excitement of putting their outfits on and refused to take them off when we got home. It was quite clear who Nicholas' favourite Princess was and he had a lot of little beauties to choose from!

Fog

This is what we woke up to the other day. The fog hung around all day. It was kind of eerie. Winter is definitely creeping up slowly but surely. The question is whether the snow will arrive before we leave for South Africa on the 14th December?

Fireworks

We got back from our holiday just in time to catch the tail end of the Guy Fawkes celebrations. One night we went out to playing field at The Telegraph set off some small fireworks of our own. The kids thought it was all so great especially the sparklers and the fire lanterns. We were also lucky to catch someone else's (more impressive) show!

Then last weekend we went and joined the masses on the South Bank to watch the Lord Mayor's Fireworks. It was really spectacular with the night sky of London as a back drop. Not sure whether we or the boys were more impressed!

Granny Lily

Sadly our Granny Lily passed away last night at the age of 93. Even though we didn't see her all that often we will miss her terribly. She has a special place in our hearts. These photos were taken the last time we saw her in March. May she rest in peace.

Yellow

This is the scene that greeted us when we got home!

Tenerife

Amanda and Jan kindly invited us to join them and their two boys, Wolf and Max, in Tenerife for a week. Dad needed a break and I could do with a change of scenery so we decided to go for it. We were based in a town called Los Cristianos in the South. It's a package tourist paradise with long stretches of beach lined with restaurants, bars and shops. Our apartment was comfortable and we literally had a pool right on our doorstep. It was a pleasant 28 degrees almost all week. So all in all it was just what we needed: relaxation in the sunshine!

As I'm sure you've guessed we spent a lot of time at the beach. The boys loved playing in the sand and swimming in the sea. The water was warm and sometimes there were perfect kid-sized waves for them to jump over. Daniel greeted the ocean like an old friend and for the first time Nicholas was really at home in the sea. Watching them having so much fun in the water really made it worthwhile!

When we weren't swimming we were building sand castles, checking out boats and getting a pedicure with a difference. They call it a royal fish spa. It was kind of weird feeling the little fish nibbling at our feet. Nicholas was a real clown and put a fine performance on for all the people that stopped to take a look!

The advertising raves about Loro Parque and since we have kids that love animals we thought we'd check it out. It was very impressive indeed. We saw penguins, seals, dolphins and orcas not to mention tigers, jaguars, gorillas, chimps, parrots and iguanas. As if that wasn't enough they ended it all off with a fantastic aquarium. Our favourite part was definitely the orca show!

A highlight for all of us was an expedition up the volcano that dominates the centre of the island. The scenery in the Mount Teide National Park was really spectacular so I couldn't resist adding a few scenery shots. Nicholas is very interested in volcanoes (they are associated with dinosaurs after all) so he loved exploring the different lava fields and catching the cable car to the top (almost - we didn't climb the last 200m). It made the perfect topic for his show and tell this week!

We also drove up the west coast to check out the beaches but there wasn't much until we reached Los Gigantes where we found a black beach (caused by the volcano) and a sparkling marine pool (with the magnificent cliffs as a backdrop). Both proved to be quite a novelty. It was a quaint little village compared to the rest of the places we saw so I'm glad we stumbled across it!

We couldn't resist going on a boat trip. There were so many different kinds of boats, and after much deliberation we chose a pirate ship. As if the whole experience wasn't exciting enough we saw dolphins and also a few pilot whales. The boys were in top form and loved every minute of it!

Oh and don't forget the food. I'm not sure if us or the boys enjoyed feasting on the great selection on offer more. It pleases me no end that we can share our food with our kids. They'll happily try anything we present to them and tapas were no exception. Here they are devouring some deep fried baby squid and little fishies amongst other things. Meal times were always filled with fun and games!

When we had enough of everything else we retreated to the pool at our apartment. It was very calm and relaxing there and, as expected, we had a lot of fun in the water. The big pool was a bit on the chilly side but the kids pool was lovely and warm. It was awesome being able to swim every single day for a whole week!

And then sadly it was time to say good-bye to sea, sand and sun!
Hope we see you soon again!