Cake Queen

What could be better than a visit from a great friend? A visit from a great friend who brings cake of course! We are ever so grateful to her for not only fitting us into her hectic schedule, but also producing this delicious rhubarb creation (I love rhubarb, visitors please note!) in honour of Baby JoJo -who very kindly let us eat it all up! Recipe courtesy of Nigella.

Discovering Mirrors

Who's this handsome chap in my bed with me? Let's just have a little look, admire his fine blue eyes and perfect features...
Tee hee, I've been caught in the act!

Bank Holiday Fun

Always lovely to have a day off, and all the more so as the temperatures zoomed to above 20 degrees! Of course, this meant time for a picnic on the balcony...

And what could be hiding under here?
Ah, a sleeping teacher! Our strawberry plants are flowering. and we are holding our breath to see if their journey to fruition will come to an untimely end when the girls decide to put them in their cooking or pick the pretty flowers...
Then time for a walk around the heath - one of my favourite views, but the photo doesn't do it justice!
Struggling up Parliament Hill!We played in the playpark for a while where Bertie spotted one of my favourite TV people, Michael Palin, playing with his grandson! Sorry, no photo as I didn't want to be paparazzi-like! After grapes in the small park, it was off home for another of Bertie's delicious barbeques. Is it really back to school tomorrow? Ahh...

East London Meets North

It's always lovely to have friends over, and we were delighted to introduce them to Baby JoJo, who slept peacefully on them for hours. One great motivation of having visitors is that the flat gets cleaned, and on this occasion the sunny weather meant so did the balcony - thanks to Bertie and LissaLou's efforts. In fact such was LissaLou's excitement at her visitors that she checked the door three times to make sure they hadn't arrived! CassCass was convinced it was Tatie Evie come to visit! Enjoying hours of conversation and a sleeping baby
Who on awaking had a great time smiling away at his newest fan!
Spot the bookworms! LissaLou could have spent ALL afternoon listening to stories but finally allowed us to do a bit of chatting too!

Update

Not much has happened yet on the Gwada planning front, mainly due to not having any spare time in the day - where is it going to come from, I wonder?! We have accomplished the following however...
Bertie has handed in his resignation (but not yet started counting down the days - that will happen in July he says!)
Baby JoJo has passed his hearing test, and the cold is finally clearing up, hurray!
All three French passports are ready for collection, which will probably happen at half term.
HOWEVER, for Baby JoJo's UK passport, the Home Office decided it didn't like my choice of countersignatory (apparently we mothers are simply not professional, despite our degrees and previous jobs - grrr!) so I have had to select another friend. They didnt even send back the photo, hmph. I suspect that you don't need an extra photo and countersignatory in France as you have to collect the passport in person at your local office. Still prefer their system though!
We sent off the details for LissaLou to go to Maternelle, but they asked for additional information, including proof that Bertie pays his taxes! Can't quite see what interest that is of to them, but there we go!
Bertie has finished his French CV and Lettre de Motivation which apparently you have to send with all job applications and is not like our Cover Letter. For those familiar with the French way of finishing a letter (I assure you most honourable sir of my profoundest respect...), it is written on the same lines, with the first paragraph devoted to telling them how wonderful an institution they are, the second how wonderful you are, and the third how wonderful you will be together! Bertie has produced a sycophantic work of art in my opinion! Now he just has to post them...

Fun At The Farm (Part II)

If you have been reading in date order, you may have noticed something vital missing from all these farm pictures - that's right, animals! The girls could probably have spent their whole time playing, but they did enjoy seeing the animals too. Before we go any further, here is my favourite from the day. LissaLou thinks it looks like Father Christmas, and our question is, does it have eyes? Hmm, can't see any from this angle either!These are more what I am used to!Bottoms up! LissaLou practised milking the cow (although apparently it just had water in it)Luckily this cow doesn't kick!
CassCass was delighted to see the horses (no, Bertie wasn't trying to feed her to them!)
I love these photos Bertie took of LissaLou feeding the sheep (CassCass stayed outside in fear apparently!) The hand hovers near, but comes back again, then edges closer and closer until...success! One happy lamb!

Fun At The Farm

Saturday saw us set off to sunny Essex for a visit to a farm, which turned out to be a paradisical place for the girls and their friends who met us there. We took Grandma with us and so had to convert the car (Peugeot 307, for all those interested, wonderful make and highly recommended!) into Princess Seat mode (basically, the girls get their car seats put in the two extra seats at the boot, and the title seems to reconcile them to this situation quite happily!). Here they are full of energy and smiles and bursting to go...These give you an idea of the fun they had, read on below for the more detailed account!

A bit like I imagine the bicycle situation in Paris to be, where you pick one up and drop it off wherever you fancy, the farm had green cars all around, which CassCass took great pleasure in getting on and getting off as suited her needs...

Baby JoJo happily slept wherever he was put, in this case on Grandma's knee with her coat shading him from the hot hot sun (of course, BBC 5 day forecast had been saying rain all week, so the sun came as a lovely surprise!)
We've never seen a bouncy pillow before, so the girls and Bertie launched themselves on joyfully...

...whilst in a rare moment of wakefulness, Baby JoJo had a lovely time kicking away on the mat
The bouncy pillow is surrounded by sand, no idea what the girls were making though!

And eventually, after all their effort, LissaLou and her Best Friend had a well-earned nap, whilst CassCass played with her hero, Thomas!

After all that, it was time for ice creams and tea & cake, depending on your age and preference! We were fortunate to have my very canny friend with us, who worked out that buying a whole cake from the tea shop was way cheaper than getting slices!

Next stop was the little train, advertised as a journey of 8 minutes, which consisted of...going along the track; stopping and watching the driver take the engine back to the other end of the train; going back along the track to the start. Okay. Not the most thrilling journey ever but the girls loved it.
And don't they look gorgeous?
To end the day, a few group photos next to the farm craft village (great for scrapbookers!)

Our family

Our friends - with a couple of additions!
A moment of peace amongst the madness! Everyone (except the photographer)

Well, after all that, how could they do anything else but this on the way home? (Actually, LissaLou was just pretending!)

LissaLou begged all the way home for fish and chips, which she has taken a big liking to, so we picked some up and enjoyed them at home. CassCass was sufficiently rested to enjoy them too!Probably the most incredible part of the day for me was Baby JoJo then sleeping from 9pm till nearly 4am that night!!! Seven hours!!! Hasn't been repeated since, but it gives hope!