It's been a sad week in our family. On Thursday morning my cat of 12 years, Putty, died of a feline AIDS related illness and on Friday morning, we heard that my Great Auntie Margaret had passed away in the night, following a stroke. I've been looking back at lots of photos I've taken of Margi over the past few years and this one has always been my favorite.
During half term weekend we went to Hamstead Heath. We all love it, Ruby and Lucas love running up and down Parliament Hill and the fantastic playground. Ruby is always convinced the ice cream van will be there, Lucas loves meeting the dogs and I like having a nice cup of coffee and buying some good bread.
Ellie the Elephant, who goes to Ruby's school, came to stay with us during half term. I took a couple of days off to spend with them and we had a very good time at the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and lunch at Carluccio's. On the second days we watched the new Muppet Movie, went up and down lots of escalators at Westfield and had a big reunion with Misha and Mabel, who had just come back from 3 months in Australia.
These first two videos are Ruby telling me all about what she's looking forward to about our holidays, on Saturday afternoon, with Lookie muscling in on the action. The third is Lookie doing what he loves and jumping of chairs - just watch him go!
It seems an age ago now but way back on January 28th we had a fantastic night out celebrating Vittoriano's 40th birthday at the Sartori restaurant near Leicester Square.
Well that weekend was a vast improvement on its predecessor, lots of good sleep (by our standards) and two delightful children, who it was a joy to be with and receive some lovely comments about from other people. A quick run down of what we did.Friday night: Chinese, a movie (The Fighter), asleep on the sofa by 10.00. Saturday morning; ballet followed by Roundwood Park, bit of rest after lunch but no sleep from Lucas. Denis and Thomas arrived. Linda and Levan came round for a play, late afternoon. Lookie pulled Levan's hair, frightening him enough not be able to be in the same room as him. Birthday dinner with Denis and Thomas. Watched Borgen and quite enjoyed it. Sunday morning, big breakfast for everyone then train to Hamstead Heath with Ruby and Lucas. Had a great time at the playground. Early afternoon sleeps, homework with Ruby, cake and tea for Denis and Thomas (celebrating their 50th and 10th birthdays, respectively). Dinner at Kate and Dan's.
We met Robyn and Alex's new baby boy Finn on Saturday and it was lovely to see them all. But this was a highlight in an otherwise not very good weekend. Very rude awakenings from Ruby and Lucas, a missed opportunity for a long overdue walk to Golborne Road, a car breakdown, missed sleeps, tantrums and too much to do. I fully intend though to ensure this weekend coming, makes up for last.
Ruby started her new school on Tuesday 3rd January. She's in the nursery class of Leopold School and we are immensely lucky and grateful for her place and really hope she'll be there until she's 10. So this weekend we had to help her with her very first homework. This involved getting her read and describe what happens in a book about a visit to the hairdressers and cutting out and sticking 3 segments of a picture of a car. This was marked by the teacher and she did really well. I worked on Saturday morning while the others went to ballet and then cooked and relaxed in the afternoon. On Sunday morning we went to Golders Hill and checked out all the animals and had a lovely time. We also listened to lots of David Bowie to celebrate his birthday and Lucas indulged his passion for playing with the microwave and pressing any buttons he can get hold of.
