Back from our whirlwind tour of England... Visited Brighton and Hove, Chichester, Nutbourne, Chelsea, Battersea and Elstead, Surrey. Used a variety of modes of transport as didn't hire a car on this occasion. So little Willow is definitely getting the travelling bug. She screamed to get on the big red London buses, danced with delight at the prospect of going on the train again and enjoyed every minute of the flights which was fantastic for us! A big difference to when we flew to Florida when she was 15 months! So maybe the trip to Oz in December won't be as difficult as we are anticipating? MMMMmmm i can only hope!

New dress and shoes, accessorised by Willow....


First stop, Brighton, England...

Bob's daughter Dom with Willow

Bob's girlfriend Carol enjoying the wonderful view from the window seat in his penthouse

Next Stop, Chichester...

Family pub lunch in Nutbourne

(Great) Aunt Jane, Willow and Daisy

Willow and Daisy

Ben and Megan

Willow showing Megan her bling

Willow met Daisy, Grace and Megan, her cousins, for the first time and had a wonderful time

She particularly took to Daisy. It was very cute....

The walk to the Bunny

Proud daddy/uncle

Picnic at the Bunny, on Gran and John's memorial bench

Strawberries by Jane and Jo, cupcakes by Jo and beautiful picnicware by Rice, available online at Ben and Jo's company http://www.nettlegreen.co.uk/

Another proud daddy/uncle

The beautiful girls....

The beautiful birthday girl cousin Lucie

Cousin Harry's band Rob the Rich played an acoustic set which was very cool

www.myspace.com/robtherichtheband

The girls were a bit starstruck by their Uncle Harry

Young groupies!

A very tired little groupie


Next stop London, Battersea

Auntie Amber, Uncle Rolfie, Sienna and Caspian kindly put us up at their place in Battersea, again. Willow enjoyed a brief play with her cousins before they went to bed and again before they went off to school. Then we took to the streets of London for a fast-paced look around. We had lunch at Carluccio's in Chelsea which is always fantastic, and great for children. We made a few purchases, rode a few big red buses to keep Willow happy then back to Amber's for a delicious dinner that she had prepared, gourmet Indian followed by Chocolate Mint mousse. Deelicious!

Next morning we strolled along Northcote Road in the sunshine, spending time in Jamie Oliver's new venture Recipease. Wonderful place, as is everything he does. Check out http://www.recipease.com/. We bought some yummy bits and pieces from the bakery stand and took it back home to eat before our train to Surrey. Oh and husband bought his prepared crab from the seafood caravan that he always has to have.

Our conclusion is that it is now a lot cheaper to live in England (retail speaking....)

Auntie Amber, daddy and Willow had a little singalong before we dashed off to Grandma's

Final Stop, Elstead, Surry

It was a perfect summer's day in the countryside and a perfect way to end our hectic week, with a bit of nature loving and relaxation. We took a walk around Grandma Lois and Grandpa Norman's wonderful garden and so I leave you with some images of summer in Surrey...

Amanda and John's visit....

Amanda and John arrived safe and sound on the Delta flight from Orlando via New York to Malaga. Said it was pretty easy... not a full flight so they could stretch out and get some sleep. The boys played golf yesterday and the girls had a very girly time, watched Sex and the City movie, ate chocolate truffle pudding, then went for a long walk from home, down to the beach via Puente Romano to show Amanda (a fellow botanical appreciator) the beautiful and inspiring gardens, stopping to feed the swans (one of Willow's favourite things to do).... to Marbella Club for coffee, then back up the hill to home. By this time Miss Willow wanted to be carried the whole way home so it was an excellent workout. No guilt about the chocolate pudding...

Willow and Auntie Amanda

Feeding the swans at Puente Romano hotel

Marbella Club for coffee (and icy treat to keep her quiet...)

Note bride and groom in background

Madame making herself comfortable

We are off to Granada this morning to visit the Alhambra Palace and stay at a cute hotel in the old town so very excited, weather is perfect and should be great trip. Will no doubt have lots of photos to post...

Stop the Press.... i would like to announce that Willow did her first poo in the potty without me asking her to this morning, before school..... so clever!!!

Lip Gloss...
Madame is really enjoying the feminine touches these days.... makeup, jewellery, anything shiny....

She is loving her new crib.... the routine now is to sit in bed after bath and watch The Hungry Caterpillar dvd. v cute... doesn't last long though as she still jumps up about 20 times before she falls asleep, usually in our bed. But im sure it will happen eventually....

Social Summer is upon us....

Sunday was a BBQ at Brian and Kinga's for Kinga's son Karol's 3rd birthday. Lots of lovely food..... too much sugar for Willow, although she did enjoy her first lamb chop!

Karol the birthday boy

Was the Nikki Beach White Party on Thursday night. We had a super time! Willow spent the night at Tina and Janus' place, playing with her bfriend William....