I wish I was a little bug in your hair...

'I would crawl around and give your head kisses.'

This is what Walter told me last night as I was tucking him in. My little love.

We did yet another walk on Sunday, this time knocking out 5 miles. I think we are down to 80, but I have to check with our official tracker, Jer. We walked around Ardingly Reservoir, through some woods and through the village. To the boys great pleasure, we found lots and lots of mud. Owen even fell into it at one point and stood up happily covered in it. We came home and the boys both had showers/baths while I did loads of laundry and Jer made some Indian food. What a perfect Sunday.

More MUD!!!

We continue to knock off miles on our '100 mile of family nature walks' goal. Today we enjoyed a walk through Bramber and the Adur Valley. We started at old castle ruins, walked along the Adur River and through Beeding into Bramber, enjoying the beautiful sunshine and countryside all along. While we found it to be a generally muddy walk, there was one stretch that was particularly exciting with suctioning mud ready to gobble us up if we didn't walk quickly. As you can imagine, the boys LOVED that section and were quite bummed when we told them we were walking in a circle, thus not having to go through the major mud again. They kept there eyes out for more mud as we made our way around and yelled to one another "More mud!" whenever one spotted a patch, and the other would come running.

Owen and part of the remains of Bramber Castle (c1070)

FBF - February 2012

Kauai...visiting Great Grandma with Grandma & Grandpa...I think we could all use a little Kauai in February... Grandma - we're catching the next flight out of Heathrow! x

Pick a card, any card.

We have two three magicians in this house right now. Inspired by an episode of Dynamo at the beginning of half term...followed by a visit from Jer's childhood friend, Colin (who has mastered a few good tricks), the boys have become magic crazy. Its been primarily card tricks they are working on, but are also exploring a little slight of hand. If you see them soon, consider yourself warned and keep a close eye, because they aren't about to share their secrets.

So our super jet-setting friend, Colin, came for a quick visit over the weekend. He flew in on Friday and left us on Monday. If you know him, jet-setting and Colin don't really go together. He is one of the most real, relaxed, easy-going people you will find. But it did feel rather cool of him to just hop over the pond for the weekend! We enjoyed some beautiful sunny days while he was here. Saturday we walked along the sea from Hove into Brighton and back again. Sunday we showed him the country side and had a traditional Sunday Roast at a country pub. Hop again, Colin, hop again.

a recent winter storm tore off a piece of West Pier

can't resist the temptation...

oh how I wish this would have been in focus...

Happy (belated) Birthday Daddy!

We celebrated Jer's 38th birthday almost 2 weeks ago now. (You don't need to hear my excuse for not getting to this post earlier.) We did exactly as he wanted...we had Indian food, watched the Olympics, serenaded him and chowed some Rice Krispie treats...the entire 3 and 8!

You add a lot of photos.

Owen taught me how to use iMovie this week. We sat together while Walter was at a friends house and he helped me put this movie together from our Paris trip last fall. He couldn't believe how long my movie became and told me I use a lot more photos than he does.

Can I have another Starbucks?

The boys and I were off all week for half term. We had a wonderful week doing art, playing with friends, being at home and exploring Sussex. On Thursday we took the afternoon and spent it up at Wakehurst Place, part of the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. The boys loved it and are itching to get back with Jer, my parents when they visit, and my girlfriends who are coming soon, too. We enjoyed it so much, we closed down the park...leaving after all the concessions were closed so we could get a drink of water or a snack. We stopped instead on the drive home at a little shop and on a whim I bought the boys some Starburst candies. When we got home, Walter asked if he could "have another Starbucks"...proof I don't buy them candy too often, right?!

FBF - February 2010

At the Sunny Hollow Gala I chaired in 2009, we won the auction item for a weekend up in Lutsen at a cabin on Lake Superior. It was such an amazing getaway for us. Beautiful winter weather full of skiing, dog-sledding, fires and admiring beautiful Lake Superior. It almost makes me miss winter...almost. Walter was 2.5 and Owen was just over 5.

Three things.

On our scoot to school the other day, Owen told me he had come up with the three things he'd like to do when he gets older. He wants to 1. wrestle in the Olympics, 2. be an artist, and 3. be a farmer. I have no doubt he will do all three. He is a determined, confident, creative, hard working boy. On his farm, he wants chickens, horses and sheep (for their wool). He kind of makes me want a farm.

We went to London on Sunday to participate in the the Chinese New Year celebrations. It was completely packed! We barely saw anything, the boys are to the point where its hard to lift them to see over crowds so that made it extra difficult, but we did see all sorts of Chinese lanterns, heard lots of fireworks and even found our own dragons. The boys told us the stories of why there were fireworks and told us about various decorations and items for sale, so that was worth it for me!

Waiting for the train.