feb, 26th - a london bash....{the before pics}

day 1106 / 205:

we had a great time planning Limi's party this year. i saved some of the decorations from the jubilee decorations last year and we had a London theme....or more accurately, since we're basing her birthday parties on nursery rhymes...the theme was:

'Limi-cat, Limi-cat, where have you been?

I've been up to London to visit the Queen.

Limi-cat, Limi-cat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse under the chair.'

London is her city after all.

she didn't want to go as a cat though and chose a 'Buckingham Palace soldier' instead......Claya went as the-little-mouse-who-was-frightened-under-the-chair. there were plenty of queens and princesses, a London fox, a Carnaby St local and an Olympic athlete.

for activities, i built a cardboard 'house-palace' based on last year's success of the house of sweets {see day 736}, made some cardboard crowns for the kids to decorate and also some gingerbread soldiers and crowns for them to ice and decorate......the palace was destroyed (and they had a ball doing it), the crowns were very sweet and the biscuits and decorations were both eaten with glee....

tomorrow....the after pics.......

or in other words, what it really looked like after about ten minutes!

feb, 24th - 8/52....

"a portrait of the girls, once a week, every week, in 2013"

day 1104 / 203:

Limi: dressed up as a Royal Guardsman for her London themed birthday party

Claya: dressed up as the little-mouse-that-got-frightened-under-a-chair from the rhyme ' Pussycat, Pussycat where have you been?'.

you can read more about the 52 Project here.

feb, 20th - concrete cafe....

day 1100 / 199:

the concrete cafe (which is also a bar although at this stage i experience it more as a cafe) is part of the Hayward Gallery and a stylish spot to grab a coffee......

feb, 19th - light show....

day 1099 / 198:

i should be posting about Limi's birthday party but I'm a bit all-partied-out right now.....so thought I'd just slip in a post about a fantastic exhibition that I went to last week at the Hayward Gallery on the Southbank.

it's called the Light Show and looks at how artists have experimented with 'the visual and sensory effects of artificial light' since the 1960s. since i've been lusting after a bespoke neon sign for years now and have always loved Tracey Emin's neon messages {see day 554} this is my kind of exhibition.

the exhibition guide says the following:

"Light Show explores how we experience and psychologically respond to illumination and colour, and also encompasses more conceptual and political concerns. Almost all of the 25 works use artificial light to conjure a sense of sculptural space that directly calls into play our individual perceptual responses. Some require our patience and attentiveness before they fully reveal themselves. The exhibition invites us to wonder at, contemplate, investigate and, in some cases, to interact with, illuminated environments and sculptures. In doing so, it asks us to reconsider our relationship to our surrounds and how we see the world."

it's a show that really stretches the sense of sight.....

we have tickets to take Limi along in a couple of weeks time.....i think that she's going to love it.

p.s. there is a no photography policy inside the exhibition.....otherwise this post would have been pages and pages long.

feb, 17th - and then she was three....

day 1097 / 196:

sorry about the deep silence around here this week......we've been gearing up for Limi's party which happened today......she proclaimed that it was her BEST party ever (which is sweet since she's only had three and one of those she would definitely not remember)......anyway, pics to follow or you can find a preview here.

hope your weekend was just as full of fun. x

feb, 10th - 6/52....

"a portrait of the girls, once a week, every week, in 2013"

day 1090 / 189:

Limi: it was her birthday this week and we had a Yellow Balloon day

Claya: love it when she smiles during sleep...it may just be wind....but i imagine that she's having the best dream about wrestling the balloon away from her sister or running across the park....

you can read more about the 52 Project here.

feb, 6th - 3 today....

day 1086 / 185:

Limi loves yellow.....it's her favourite colour. so we decided to have an all Yellow Day on her birthday. her party is later in the month so this was for her actual day. she was a bit overwhelmed when she walked through in the morning but loved dancing around in the balloons and using her giant three like a seesaw. Claya on the other hand, acted like her living room is always filled with yellow balloons.......

so, three.......i suspect it will be an interesting age: mostly fantastic with spells of high drama.....two was! more and more Limi mimics so much of what we do....and reflects both the good and the bad. this age certainly acts as a bit of a mirror on all your failings....but hey, i guess we have some time to fix them before these memories stick too hard....

anyway, what I love the most are all the funny conversations that we have.....here are some of the recent ones:

Limi (after seeing a flock of birds in the sky): Mama, why are the birds swimming in the sky?

*

Limi: Dada, when i turn my head, i can't see my back just other people. Do you think that pigeons can see their backs?

*

Me: Limi, do you only have Why in your head today?

Limi: Yes Mama but it's better than having elephant.

*

Limi: Mama, does the moon have a Mama and a Dada?

Me: I'm sure he does sweets.

Limi: So, where do they live

Me: Well the moon doesn't live with his Mama and Dada because he's big enough to live by himself now. 

Limi: Well if the sun gets up early then he can look after the moon.

*

Limi (whilst listening to A. play guitar): Dada, stop! I need to load another song.

A: Limi, you don't load songs onto a guitar, you just ask me.

Limi: Do you know 'you better done done this' (Jason Mraz - I'm yours)

A: Yes

Limi: Ah, so it's already loaded?

feb, 5th - beach house.....

day 1085 / 184:

Limi's beach house....which is about as big as the Shoebox but with a much better view. i love this playhouse. it was part of the h&m UNICEF range {see day 989 / 88} and Limi opened it on Christmas day......after that, we were all coerced to spend ages in the house even though it felt a bit more like a sauna in the summer heat.

we haven't used it as much since we got home as it starts to feel a bit like a Russian doll house when we put it together in the Shoebox.....

feb, 4th - monkey temple....

day 1084 / 183:

i have a couple of final posts from our Asia trip (i promise to get them out the way before the end of Feb and move on).....

while we were in Thailand, we went to visit Wat Suwan Kuha also known as the Monkey Temple which as the name suggests, has a troupe of monkeys (one of my favourite collective nouns) that play on the hills outside. you can buy bunches of bananas to feed the monkeys. we avoided this as two coaches of visitors were just leaving as we arrived so, we figured that the monkeys needed time to digest.....

the temple is in a cave with a charmingly faded entrance. we obviously timed our visit (not deliberately) between coaches as we almost had the whole place to ourselves.....bliss.

there is a giant, reclining, golden buddha in the cave but personally, i found the seated buddhas arranged along the walls far more beautiful. you can explore the caves but with a buggy and a toddler this was slightly tricky. maybe next time.....

feb, 3rd - 5/52....

"a portrait of the girls, once a week, every week, in 2013"

day 1083 / 182:

Limi: 'Limi-Cat, Limi-Cat where have you been? I've been up to London to visit the Queen'....this girl is turning three this week and we were doing pics for her party 

invite....

Claya: foot obsessed but hates socks

wow, this portrait project seems to be coming around quickly lately....i will try and get some posts up in between or this will turn into a portrait blog!

feb, 2nd - weekend....

day 1082 / 181:

sorry about the sporadic posting lately, it's taken me awhile to get into the swing of this year....hopefully there'll be a bit more activity around here from now on.

last weekend we redid what is becoming a favourite way to spend a Sunday {see day 1009 / 108}......a (very muddy) walk along the river followed by lunch at The Olde Bell {see day 1010 /109} in Hurley. the girls had an absolute ball stomping through the sloshy mud which has to be an integral part of growing up in England....

 

after climbing over locked gates (including buggies and my mum) and wading down lanes, we happily settled in for another fantastic lunch at The Olde Bell. looking forward to many more Sundays spent in this beautiful spot.....