Science!

Today Phill, Ollie and I went to London. Ollie is signed up with the Birkbeck Baby Lab. He's done 2 studies before and we were invited to our third one this week. This time they had Saturday sessions so Phill could come too.

Spotting things from the train

We made a day of it, catching the train at 8.30. Ollie was a star on the train and then helpfully slept while we walked from Victoria up to Russell Square,

On the Mall with Daddy

waking up in time for lunch at our favourite restaurant, The Hare and Tortoise. Yummy Japanese food. Ollie is a big fan of all things rice so it's a good place for him too. He also drank most of my miso soup.

Let me eat, woman!

Mmmm… miso!

After lunch it was time for science. I wasn't sure how well it would go as it's an EEG study which involves a special net hat and sitting still. Ollie sat on Phill's lap while I watched from outside. Luckily Phill had thought to bring some chocolate buttons so Ollie sat beautifully.

Then we took Ollie to play in a local park for a while while we waited for our friend Zippy to arrive. Then, a trip on the bus to coffee and cake, then a visit to Hamleys. I must have lost my mind altogether!

On the bus with Daddy and Zippy

Gin and Tonic Teapot

Finally another bus trip back to the station and back onto the train. Ollie charmed most of the carriage on the way home.

We have to go back next week for a follow up session and he has some homework. Next Saturday is Pride so we'll get to watch a parade!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Two Years Old.

I'm not entirely sure where the last two years have gone but yesterday was my tiny baby's second birthday!

We had a party for him in the back garden with family and friends. He was very lucky and got some very nice presents

I made him a cake with secret smarties inside!

Helen did Lemonade Fountain which enthralled children and adults alike!

Last year we took a picture of Ollie with his two closest cousins. We tried again this year but they were not as cooperative!

A great day was had by all. Now Ollie is 2, he will move up a class at swimming. He got a badge today!!

 

 

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A Day Out With Sheep

I need to get back into this! Let's start with Wednesday's trip to Staunton Farm. Staunton is an old country estate to the north of Havant. One side of the road is a huge parkland with a lank and pathways. The other side of the road is a lovely 'ornamental' farm and gardens. You can buy food to feed the animals and often they have special events on.

Wednesday's special event was sheep shearing! 70 sheep needed a hair cut and we got to watch. The lady had a special device to hang on and save her back. Clever!

Ollie lasted long enough to see 2 sheep be sheared. He also liked looking at the lambs, corralled nearby.

We went to have a look round the other animals (pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, alpaca) and then stopped for a coffee. Staunton has a lovely little cafe and you get 10% off if you're a member. Ollie enjoyed his mini milk, sitting on a grown up chair!

After coffee, he had a little play in the playground. There's a little house on stilts he likes to play in. There is a seat and a 'kitchen'.

Photo by Helen

Then he had a ride on a donkey! So proud of him. I wasn't sure he would enjoy it but he was a natural! Sat properly with moved really well with the donkey's movement.

Finally, he fed the llamas. They had furry lips!! Such a lovely day out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Test

Is this thing on?

 

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Where was I? Day 4 - Yarn and the Golden Gate Park

Not sure what happened there, sorry for the big gap! On Thursday, we had left of Chinese food for breakfast from little boxes. Then, we walked down into town to catch the bus out to Castro where the yarn shop I wanted to visit was.

On the way, we walked past a park with people doing Tai Chi. This seems to happen every morning in every park in San Francisco!

When we go off the bus, we walked down into Castro past the Delores mission which is pretty much the first bit of San Francisco.

After I had bought all the yarn, got back on the bus over to the Golden Gate park. This park is huge! And full of stuff! The first thing we saw was a Dahlia garden. It was actually a roundabout in the middle of the car park. The dahlia is the state flower of California and there are lots of different varieties.

Nearby was a conservatory full of tropical plants and a special exhibition of deadly very day things.

This is a Bat Flower!

We walked down through the park toward the place we planned to go for lunch. Had a Groupon for a sushi place just outside the park. When we got there, it was closed! We were not having a great experience with our vouchers. However, there was another place nearby and it was a total win. Behold the Bento Box of Joy!

After lunch we went back into the park, thought the Garden Of Enchantment. This was not as enchanting as it should have been!

We went to the California Academy of Sciences which is a Science museum with an aquarium, a planetarium and a rainforest. It was fantastic but the entry fee really made us appreciate our free museums here in the UK. The planetarium has a unique design with the dome on the side instead of above so you don't have to lean back. This is an impressive feat with lots of digital projectors around the edge that have to all match up.

 

We got to the aquarium in time for Penguin feeding. This is Pam, the penguin keeper!

We were allowed to touch the starfish.

After the museum, we went to the Japanese Tea Garden for tea and a sit down.

We got the bus back to the hotel and got dolled up for Cocktails at the Top of The Mark, a fancy bar at the top of the Intercontinental Hotel. It was a bit out of our league but the cocktails were amazing! Luckily we got there early as later on there was a jazz band playing and they were charging people to get in.

We had an amazing view of the city sky line and you can see our hotel in this picture. It's the short building at the bottom of the solid white building.

Now I've written all this down, I realise how much we were squishing into every day but it was totally worth it!!

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