Zoo Trip

We had a fun day recently on a visit to the zoo. E was very excited to get a ride on the carosel.

Here she is looking at the giraffes:

 She said her favourite animal of the day was the zebras and she also liked the ibis. She did spend a lot of time watching those zebras.

There's something about these tortoise sculptures... kids just have to sit on them.

E also liked watching the (real) tortoise eating a flower.

We had lovely weather for wandering around the zoo. The gardens there are nice and we had fun spotting different fungi.
I was also happy to catch up with a couple of friends who work there.

-Polly

Sleeping Baby

This blanket box seemed to be a particularly comfortable bed for a particularly cute baby.

I wouldn't mind sleeping on 6 layers of blankets.

-Polly

Duck Park

There is a park not far from our house that E refers to as the "duck park" because there are always lots of ducks on the lake there. E likes to pretend to be a duck, waddling around and saying "QUACK!"

We have been spending a lot of time at that park lately. It's a nice place for a picnic. There are benches, tables and gazebos, as well as plenty of lawn, for a choice of where to sit.

E loves the play equipment. Here she is posing on the slide:

There's even a flying fox that is "not scary, it's fun". I think perhaps it's just a little scary.

The duck park is also a great place to go for a walk around the lake or to kick a ball around. It's quite a popular spot, so it's good for some socialising, too.

I love this time of year. I sit at the park, with the baby all rugged up, watching E play and looking up at the pretty deciduous trees.

-Polly

PS. Happy Solstice :)

Building Furniture

Lately, E's favourite things to do are to go for a picnic in the park or to "build something". Whilst she likes her Duplo and her wooden blocks, she has been working on more complex projects including her new bed and wardrobe.
E's dad took these photos of her putting together the wardrobe:

Bang, bang, bang.

Checking her work.

Bang, bang, bang.

E was very excited to get pink furniture for her room. Pink is her new favourite colour. We bought the pink 'Mammut' bed and wardrobe from Ikea and just managed to squeeze all the pieces into our little car. (The girls and I caught the train home to leave space for it). We may have bought the matching drawers, but they were sold out.

-Polly

Autumn Garden

In our garden there are leaves turning yellow and red and falling to the ground.

Our smallest tree is giving us lots of lemons which we have been making into lemonade and baked lemon slice.

Nasturtium plants are flowering beneath the citrus trees and parsley has taken over the herb bed.

Honey-snap peas are sprouting in little pots alongside spinach, basil and rocket.

And we're still getting ripe eggplants and chillies.
I wonder if we'll get enough warm days for the green tomatoes to ripen.

-Polly

A New Toy

E loves to build things. On a recent trip to Ikea, we bought her this bead toy and as soon as we were home she wanted to build it all on her own. And she did.

The blue beads are all threaded onto the blue wire and the red beads on the red wire.

E learnt how to use an allen key and was very proud of herself. She then helped her dad to put together the rest of our latest Ikea haul.

-Polly

Animal Masks

E loves getting mail. :) Recently she received a package from her grandma that contained a book of masks to colour and wear. They have now been coloured with crayons, paint, pencils and glitter and are ready for play.
Here's E as a chimpanzee:

And as a bear:

 Peek-a-boo!

-Polly