London Zoo

Another short, busy weekend has passed.  Now its Monday morning and its time to get ready for work and school (and another long day of Mummy and Ben).

Yesterday we took the kids to the London Zoo.  Its not a particularly large zoo (maybe comparable to the Philadelphia Zoo) but we still didn't get to see everything.  Susanna loves reading maps, and immediately identified the butterfly house and wasn't interested in much of anything that we wanted to look at on the way.  We started in the aquarium, then the reptile house, then gorillas.  If I could get her to slow down and actually look, she was a bit interested, but she was more interested in keeping up with Ben (who was hardly interested at all) and Daddy.

She identified the butterfly house from its picture on the map and we spent several long minutes admiring the butterflies.  Once again none stopped to check her out.  We then walked through a good bug exhibit and saw all kinds of creepy crawlies (of course I see those everyday in my house!)  The anteater was MIA and the tigers were sleeping, but the camels were good for a quick visit.

Susanna's favorite part of the day was petting the animals (sheep and goats) in the Children's Zoo.  Ben's favorite part was the fish.  (There were no ducks or I'm sure they'd have been the real favorite!)

You say to-mah-to, I say to-may-to

Susanna is starting to develop just a tiny bit of an accent.  When she says certain words we can definintely hear it.  Like tomato, for example.  Every day at school all kids under age 7 are offered fresh fruit as part of a government eat-more-fruit scheme.  Its usually bananas (or ba-nah-nas), apples, oranges, or tomatos.  Susanna was surprised the first time tomatos were served - she didn't realize they were fruit!  Occasionally there are veggies, too - today she had beans.

I imagine that her accent will continue to develop over time as she learns letter sounds, phonics, and reading at school.  No accent for Ben yet...

Babyccino

Ben loves going for coffee with me.  Of course that is because there is usually a treat in it for him, to keep him amused while I enjoy my drink.  Ben knows the Starbucks logo and can spot it from a mile away.  He is also quickly becoming familiar with Costa, which is also common in these parts.

It recently came to my attention that Costa sells a drink called "babyccino," which is basically warm milk with lots of froth on top.  I suggested that Ben try this and he wasn't too sure.  Yesterday we stopped at Costa for a drink and I ordered him one.  It comes in a small but "real" cup - very grown up.  At first he thought it was too hot, but after I added chocolate from the shaker and a straw, he became more interested and slurped it down.  This morning we had to stop in at the big grocery store in town, which has a Starbucks cafe.  Ben had a babyccino again and this time liked it even better - must be an acquired taste!  

On the drive home, I asked whether he like Starbucks or Costa better.  His answer?  "Oregon Dairy in Brownstown!"  

Photos from Tam's visit

We just got some photos from Visitor #1.  Here are a few for you to enjoy!

Ben and I at the model village.

How do you like Ben's shirt?
Susanna in her summer dress (excuse the hair - long day at school!)

Rolling up the hill

Happy Monday!

We have had a busy weekend – I’m looking forward to the school week to have a chance to rest!

Yesterday we went to visit some friends who live a little over an hour away.  Once there we all decided to go to a nearby place called Knebworth House, a 16^th century Tudor mansion with extensive grounds that include gardens, a dinosaur trail, a train ride, and a big park with lots of play equipment and a bouncy castle.  It was a lovely place to spend a Sunday afternoon and the weather was very nice as well.  At one point the kids spotted a big hill that other kids were rolling down.  All the kids (my two and a friend) climbed to the top, but Ben was the only one interested in rolling down.  He could quite get himself in the right position to roll down the hill, and ended up doing a lot of sideways rolling and at one point even rolled up the hill.  It was very funny to watch.  Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera.

All the kids (and adults) had a great time and were exhausted by the end of the afternoon.  The drive home was about an hour and a half, through back roads, some of which were very narrow.  At one point Ben announced that he had to use the toilet, and within 30 seconds, we came across a shopping centre that included a Toys R Us.  What great timing Ben has!  Lucky for us it was still open (until 5 on Sundays – we were there about 4:40) and after going potty Ben found a kids’ cricket set to buy.  He is very interested in cricket right now – unfortunately Brad and I don’t know much about it so its hard to teach him!  It is similar to baseball, I think, with a bat (a bit different from baseball) and ball – Ben held the bat and Brad tried to hit it with the ball and Ben was happy.

As of today we have exactly one more month of school – the end is in sight!

Summer fayre

Tonight we went to a summer fayre at Susanna's school.  It was a very nice evening.  They had inflatables, kids games, hamburgers and sausages, and other assorted stalls.  It was fun to see the different games - pig races, lucky dip, mystery jars, and chocolate tombola.  Susanna had fun running through it all with some of her new friends.  Brad enjoyed a beer and also won a bottle of wine (actually I think Ben won the wine).  Ben also won a bean bag toss game with the high score for the night in the under-5 age category.  I worked for a bit at a tile painting stall and unfortunately was the one on duty when a paint pen exploded and a girl got paint all over her pretty dress and sweater.  Hopefully it will wash out.

Susanna continues to do well at school.  Her reading is getting better everyday.  She does come home very tired, but she's happy.  Each week a child in each class is "Star of the Week", and this week Susanna won the honor.  She is very excited about that!

We have a busy weekend planned.  Tomorrow Ben has football, Susanna has a birthday party, and we all have a BBQ with another family.  On Sunday, we have plans to visit another friend who lives about an hour away.  And of course I have to catch up on laundry and find time to buy some groceries.  Thinking about all this is making me feel very tired.  Hope you all have a good weekend.  Goodnight!

The deer came back (see previous post)

I just finished a post about all the lovely wildlife in and outside of our house, and once again, I saw the baby deer!

This time I managed to get the camera.  The picture is a bit fuzzy because I took it through the glass - didn't want to open the door - even so the deer didn't like being photographed.  It retreated into the hedges at the back of the garden and didn't come back out.

Here it is.