Decided on a whim to go to Hastings this morning to check out their aquarium (we bought a packet of plastic sea creatures the other day which have become quite the thing) and had a great time. Oh, must add, L actually asked, ‘Are we there yet?’ when we’d just got on to the A27 (about 5 minutes from our house) and then again approximately 30 seconds later – who taught her that?!? Anyway, it was beautifully sunny,

we ate fish and chips and had a go on the miniature railway and the Captain Pugwash ride – hurrah!

There was the minor disappointment of the temporary lack of sharks (the things we most wanted to see, but heigh-ho) , but thankfully the impossibly small, upside-down jellyfish were there to compensate, not to mention the axolotl, who features in one of my favourite books of all time.

L also had a whale of a time (to continue with the marine vibe) in the fishing museum, thanks to the huge boat we were allowed to climb on, and where she had the following exchange with a boy about her age:

Boy: Ahoy, shipmate!

L: Arrrrr, me hearty!

And then off they went in different directions.

Tags: beach, Lucy, sunshine, Tony

The top one is my drawing of L (obviously – you can tell by the hair!) and underneath is her drawing of me (in my defence, it was early in the morning). I was so impressed, I took a photo!

Tags: Lucy

T and I finally painted our living room last weekend – Orchard Pink on the wall behind the bookshelves, White Pepper on the walls at either end, and White on the wall behind the sofa if you’re interested – and it looks great, if I say so myself! We saved a bit for L to do and she loved the mini roller and the fact that the paint went on pink and then turned white. Still working on her doing the hoovering and washing-up…

Tags: Lucy, Tony

Friends we’ve known since we were pregnant with our now-toddlers have just had their second baby, which gives me the chance to knit something small and sweet.

Tags: knitting

Things are finally back to ‘normal’, after all the snow, ice and then, oh yes, more snow, so here are some pictures from the last few weeks. It seems it hasn’t just been my gym-going resolution that’s gone out the window, but my more-frequent-posting one as well. Anyway, turns out living on a hill is great for views, sunsets and a feeling of space and sky, and really excellent on Bonfire Night, but is pretty tricky when it comes to going very far from our house when it snows! So thanks, Lovely Friends Up The Road, for being up for snow-related fun and face-painting!

I’d like to say that L painted that butterfly herself, but actually it was me. Clearly a little more practice wouldn’t go amiss.

Also just had to post this one of my lovely girl and her crazy hair (I know it’s only a matter of time before we have to – gasp - cut it, but I’m resisting for now)

Tags: Lucy, snow

… involved breakfast at a great cafe on the seafront with Nanny and Uncle Mike, followed by a quick scoot to burn off the round chips

then a happy afternoon spent helping Nanny to make the ‘traditional’ Christmas Chocolate Biscuit Cake (Lucy has an important quality control role in the process).

Tags: beach, Christmas, Lucy, Mike, Nanny

Take me to your leader!

Tags: Christmas, Lucy, park

The snow was too powdery to make anything even vaguely snowman-shaped, but I give you … the Snow Blob! 

At the risk of appearing all ‘bah humbug’, I’m now heartily fed-up with the ‘Winter Wonderland’. Yes, it was beautiful and we’ve all had a lovely time but for heaven’s sake, it’s Sunday night now and we’re still snowed in! We can’t drive anywhere, the buses aren’t stopping anywhere near our house, and the pavements are like ice rinks!

And we’ve run out of mince pies.

Tags: Lucy, snow

So Friday was very exciting and snow-filled. Bit disappointed that Lucy’s playgroup’s Christmas extravaganza had to be postponed, but hey, snowed in! No work! So straight after breakfast we headed out to play

The park up the road from our house was fantastically beautiful, not to mention good for sledging and making snow angels.

I like this one – it looks like I’ve just told Lucy a good joke (I think we were just shouting ’snowballs’!)

We stayed out until we could no longer feel our toes, then headed home for a hot mince pie.

Tags: Lucy, snow, sunshine, Tony

Her name is Babs! How marvellous is that for a reindeer?!

Can’t resist posting pictures of Mike and Sian, looking suave and stylish as ever…

Tags: Christmas, Mike, Sian