Luca's 2nd Birthday Party

Today, Bennet and I went to Luca's 2nd Birthday Party which was held at Stoke Park Hotel and we sure had fun! There was lots of space inside and outside to run around and let off steam. There were also lot's of toys to play with. What Bennet also really liked was eating cake. He would go straight for the icing! Such a sweettooth! Towards the end of the party Cecile (Luca's mommy), who used to work there, gave us a tour of the hotel. They have lovely different themed dining roooms and they are all prepared for tomorrow's Wedding Fair. I especially liked the hall with pretty danglies of real Swarovski Crystals. They were sparkly! I can hear the fireworks outside. I think there are some Guy Fawkes Night Firework Displays tonight. We might go and see the fireworks at LEGOLAND before they close the Park up over the Winter Season. Happy Halloween everyone!

Bennet's 2nd birthday

On Thursday the 10th September Bennet turned 2 years old and today we held his birthday party at Burnham Beeches.

On Thursday, the "big day" Bennet got the idea very qickly of opening presents! The first one he grabbed was the little VW camper van that my sister gave him. He opened it and saw the front and said "Oh, WOW, chew chew (train)" and when he saw the hole thing he said "bus!". We only opened half and saved the rest for later, when Papa would be home again. Then we went to Jo Jingles Music Class (Music for Toddlers) in Burnham, but it was a very small class (only 3 toddlers incl. Bennet). Bennet was made to wear the birthdaycake-hat (which he didn't like) and, as always, spent more time trying to escape the class then participating in it, which makes me wonder whether I should enrol in the next term. We sang him a birthday song at the end, but he was more interested in investigating the radiator. As always he enjoyed the bubbles most. After that we went to buy a present for my mom's upcoming 62nd birthday and then we went to the park to collect some chestnuts. He put them in and out his little stroller and seemed to have fun counting "One, two, four." (Always leaving out the three, we don't know why?) When we got home I put him down for a nap. I was so tired that I fell asleep as well and I only woke up when Ryon came home at 6pm. I didn't want to "waste" the rest of the day so I put the candles on the cake and we went into his room to wake him up. He made big eyes when he saw the candles and even tried to blow them out himself! We had some cake and after that I cut up some carrots and we went to feed the horses at Dorney Lake. While Ryon went for a run we had fun throwing stones in the lake and there was even a nice big firework in the distance that we got to watch!

Today we met up with Bennet's toddler friends for a picnic in the Park. It was the perfect weather for it, sunshine, dry, warm. Quite lovely. He had much fun drinking everybody's drinks and finishing off everyone fairy cakes behind their backs and when he didn't do that he was busy escaping while we were distracted. The other toddlers had fund chasing the bubbles (good investment) and playing with the ball.

Ryon's fairy cakes were a hit! He made Rasberry Fairycakes with Orange and Peach Sugar Drizzle. So yummy! I had cut some fingerfoods and made a cheesy pasta salad "Tricolore" with Swedish meatballs. All in all a very very nice day to remember. Bennet was so tired he fell asleep on the way home and didn't even woke up when I transferred him to the cot. As our car was filthy, we then decided to clean it and now Ryon is playing with his LEGO and I'm just gonna put my legs up!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and thinking of Bennet. It is much appreciated. Can't believe Bennet is two now. The time really passes quite quickly! He is so good with the baby at the childminder I'm more and more confident that he will be good with his brother or sister (not that I ever thought otherwise) to be. We just have to work on the escaping habit, cause I don't fancy chasing after him with a baby!

Hope you're all well!

Milena

Creepy Crawlies

Last night I was lying in bed next to Ryon and we were both reading our books when I heard this scurrying sound to my right which sounded like little mouse claws scuttling over paper. So I said to Ryon "I think we have a mouse in here!" Both of us remember the infestation we had in our studio flat in Ealing and it's not a very pleasant memory as such! So Ryon moved over to my side of the bed facing the opposite direction, having the floor by the right side of our bed in his field of view. He went on reading his book when suddenly he saw something moving along the floor quickly out of the corner of his eye. He said: "There is *something* in our room!" I just thought >please not a mouse< knowing they are hard to get rid off. No! It was better than that! It was a huge spider moving from under our bed and running off to the side of our room where he have a little niche with a basin and now it was hiding under my tracksuit bottoms. I couldn't actually see it that well as I couldn't find my glasses, but Ryon was already in fighting mode anyway. "Just sit on the bed and don't come down" He said putting his arm out as if to protect me from a horrible monster. He was clutching his heavy A4 sized Scetch Book and all his senses were alert! Quickly it had moved on to Ryon's pants on the floor and when it came out again Ryon slipped the book onto it and jumped onto the book. He then turned the book around with the shoehorn only to find the spider wasn't under there. It was gone! "Oh no" I said. "Ryon were is it?" "I don't know!" He prodded his pants on the floor and it moved out from under them and with some quick fencing like movements he fought it. Legs flew off in all directions until it stopped moving. I'm really sorry if this is offending the animal lover who might read this. I am an animal lover, too. Normally I tend to catch spiders and let them back out into the Milly (Nature Reserve opposite our house) where they belong, but this was one size to big and a notch to fast! There was no way I could go to sleep knowing that this creature was in our bedroom. Yesterday, I let Ryon do his job.

Long time no blogging...SORRY!

Hello everyone,

this is me again, after an eternity has passed! I don't want to start with excuses...

I wanted to blog about my trip to Berlin in Febuary. I only went for a week, but it was oh so lovely. I'll try to get some pictures up! I even went on a one day adventure to see my 91 year old gran in Hamburg. Adventure it was, because I took Bennet along with me. Silly me had booked a seat on the train. I spent the entire journey chasing after Bennet on the train. :) When we arrived at my grans flat I realized it absolutely wasn't childproof! To top it of my cousin brought her little Westie who doesn't like children. The growling didn't keep Bennet from trying to cuddle it the toddler way. You can imagine how well I slept that night! It was lovely to see my gran again though! (She is going to turn 92 on 26th of June!)

Other memories from that trip are: first day I arrived there was snow! I saw my mums new flat. My niece Noelani is turning into a proper madam! My nephew Levon is such a sweet shy little boy.

Then on 20th May Ryon and I had our 2 year anniversary. Hooray! Despite the normal trial and tribulations of day to day married life with a toddler we're doing quite well. Didn't think about divorce once. :) To celebrate we went to a nearby Restaurant to have breakfast - just the 2 of us! What a rare treat!

The next day Ryon's parents came to stay with us and we took them to Burnham Beeches (lovely wood near us) in the afternoon. From 22nd until 25th May we were in PARIS!!! That was a real adventure! We stayed at a hotel right across from Cemetriere du Pierre Lachaise (a great big old cemetary that loads of tourists go to as a lot of famous people are burried there). On our last day we got to go there! We saw the graves of Chopin, Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. We really got a good sweep of french culture, too! The reason for that is that we had the best tourguide that you could ever wish for! If you want to get to know Paris from a different side, get yourselves shown around by a countryman (or woman in our case) who knows his/her city inside out. But don't forget to bring proper walking shoes as you are going to do LOADS of walking! We took many beautiful pictures! (Off topic: Never leave a desert unattended around Ryon!)

Memories that stand out about Paris: parisian breakfast at a parisian flat, walking through a farmers market on a Sunday, going to a "Clown Raustaurant", relaxing in Jardin du Luxembourg, spending lot's of quality time with family!

Once we came back to England we had another week to spend with the folks. Luckily the weather was fantastic so we went to see Leeds Castle, Sissinghurst Gardens, Ray Mill Island and Boulter's Lock, Savill Gardens and the London Aquarium.

Those were some action packed 2 weeks!

Now it's back to our daily routine, but we had a lovely break from it!

Milena

Our trip to the U.S.

Hello everybody,

we are more than a week into our holiday with the family on hubby's side (well also my famliy come to think of it as we share the same great-great grandfather :) and it is lovely to have the opportunity to be here again this year.

A quick recap: We flew out on the 31st Dec around lunchtime and landed around 3pm US MD time. Bennet kept us busy on the plane by walking up and down the isle, flirting with all kinds of people for many many hours. "You have such a cute baby" is what we continuously heard after the flight on our way to the baggage reclaim and, whether they mean it or not, of course EVERY parent likes to hear it! :)

New Years Eve we spent quietly, stayed up until 2am our time, but only 9pm MD time. I'm not unhappy about that, as it was quite a lovely way to end the old year and begin the new! It took us a couple of days to adjust to the different time zone (guess we're getting old as not as easy as last year :)

The first couple of days were packed with visitors and a party Ryon held for his 33rd birthday on Sat. 3rd. On his actual birthday, January 6th, we celebrated with family and as I decided to show my love by actions rather then presents I let him choose a yummy dish from our newly acquired Vegetarian Cookbook (Xmas present) which was received very well by everyone. It meant so much to him (and me) to be able to spent this special day with family and grandma Mimi in particular! It was a great great day.

All the while, Bennet has fallen in LOVE with PopPop's (Ryon's father) 19V electrical train system. He could even regulate the speed himself now how good is that? Every time the train would shoot by, the cat would frantically move its head which made Bennet giggle with delight in return. He has even adopted the *choochoo* sound. Other sounds he has learned are *woofwoof* and since we are in the US he even says "Mama" on a regular basis. While he knows that I am Mama he also uses the same word to address almost everything else, but it's still exciting!

We are flying back next week Thursday and we are trying the savor the days that we have left as they or the memories of them will be our "nourishment" to keep us going to the next time we will meet up again. Ellen (sister-in-love) will have had her baby by then and gotten used to sleep deprivation (due end of February) and Scotty and family might have even found their own place by then as he might have snapped up a job. We are very much hoping to see Mimi again next year, but after her 2 heart attacks in October we are naturally afraid of what the future holds. We are SO SO blessed to have been able to see her and everyone else again this year.

So, all in all, our year is off to a GREAT start! Couldn't be any better!

I hope yours is, too!

All the best for 2009 and Thank you for following this blog and your loyalty in that. :)

Much love,
Milena x x x