Legoland

Last saturday we went to Legoland with Rebecca and Jackson. It sure is a fantastic place for a family day out. Although Nicholas and Jackson are a bit young (short) for most of the rides there was still loads for them to enjoy. Just seeing all the amazing things built out of lego bricks was enough to keep us all entertained. All the different themed areas was a fun touch and miniland was especially impressive with all it's replicas of real life places.

Knights' Kingdom (and the scary dragon ride)

Construction (and the digger challenge)

Adventure Land (and the dinosaur safari jeeps)

Duploland (and the helicopter ride)

Miniland (London was a big hit)

Even Daniel enjoyed the day!

London with Jackson

We had loads of fun over the past couple of weeks with Rebecca and Jackson visiting. Even though they did not always see eye to eye the boys had loads of fun together. Nicholas liked the fact that someone else shared his latest passion for dinosaurs, that there was someone else who not only liked it when he roared at them but also roared back at him, that he could wrestle with someone without being told off, that there was a good excuse to watch tv more often than usual and most of all that he had a playmate every morning when he woke up and every night before he went to sleep. We're missing you guys!

One of the highlights was a day out in London Town. Nicholas finally got to go up the London Eye. We've been looking at it and talking about it for ages now so there was great excitement when it finally happened. Needless to say Nicholas and Jackson loved every minute of it and weren't scared in the least. Even Danbo seemed to enjoy it. I don't know how I am going to explain that we can't go on it every time we're on the South Bank.
No visit to London is complete without spending some time in Trafalgar Square. Even though the pigeons are gone there are still loads of things to catch a child's eye. The boys loved the lions especially when we lifted them up onto the plinth (no not the 4th plinth).

We finished off the day with a late lunch/early supper at the wonderful Rainforest Cafe. It's a perfect setting for treating kids to a special meal and some entertainment. The two of them loved all the decor especially the tropical storm. And as you can see Nicholas enjoyed his ribs too!

Daniel Week 16

Besides the rolling over that I've already blogged (bragged) about, Daniel has also started copying us: saying gu, blowing raspberries, sticking his tongue out, trying to make kisses and of course smiling and laughing. It is really fun interacting with him now. Even Nicholas has noticed that he can get a nice response from him. I love it when they play together and Nicholas 'translates' what Daniel says - like 'one more', 'give me a cuddle', 'I'm having fun', 'sing a song for me' - it always seems quite accurate and leaves us wondering if they have a special understanding of each other.

Rolling over 1 2 3

Did it!

Blowing raspberries

Sticking tongue out
Smiling (as usual)Sitting in the bumbo

CuteCuterCuter stillChubby thighsToesMore raspberriesThoughtfulGummy smileBrotherly Love

And some more

Roll Baby Roll

Daniel surprised us by rolling over out of the blue one day - but then he did not succeed again for a while after that - a couple of weeks ago I noticed that he wasn't in the same position I left him in. That started happening more and more often and then finally I got it on camera. Practice makes perfect and now he can roll over from back to front as well as front to back. And, boy, does he love demonstrating his new skills!

Front to Back (22 August - 10 weeks)


Back to Front (6 October - 16 weeks)

Swimming

Nicholas is doing so well at swimming - he has been moved up into the big boy lessons where the moms don't get in with the kids - I get to sit on the side with my heart overflowing with pride now. He has improved in leaps and bounds over the past few weeks and his favourite is swimming underwater looking for things on the bottom. I have taken Daniel into the water a couple of times and he is totally unfussed and seems to enjoy it too. I hope that he'll take after his big brother and that both of them will take after their Aunty Kerryn who is going to compete in the FINA world cup later this month. Best of luck from us in London, Kel, we'll be holding thumbs for you!