If you go down to the woods today.......

Garston Wood is the place to be again as the bluebells begin to create a misty blue carpet all over the woodland floor.  Today was fantastic as the afternoon light was great and all the flowers are young and vibrant with many more on the way.  The carpet certainly hasn't reached its peak but all the flowers are fresh with none looking tired at all.

There is a new car park marked with a small "RSPB" sign that is positioned about half way along the side of the wood and not as far as the main, original car park.  If you park in the new one the best area for bluebells is literally a 1 minute walk, through the gate and straight onto the path across the wood.

Kingston Lacy

We all had a lovely afternoon walking around the gardens and woodland at Kingston Lacy today.  Daddy carried me in my Vaude baby carrier.  It was so lovely and sunny I needed the sunshade up.

I was hahhpy and a bit sleepy for a long time but got a bit grumpy and needed a drink by the time we reached the play park.... then I was a happy boy again.  Daddy had a huge piece of cake when we had tea in the stables tearoom.

Daddy said it was hard taking decent photos today as the light was so bright...he had to expose manually for the background and then add some flash to fill the shadows on lots of shots.  He only used his Nikon D300 and 35mm f1.8 lens as he was carrying me!

Look at me in my Munchkin carrier!

Dazzling tulips

Daddy loves the grotto because of the bendy trees and the cool flowers that come out at different times

Auntie S beat JB to first go on the rope swing!

....but not for long!

Sometimes I really laugh when I see people wearing sunglasses

Early April 2011

Its been a busy week.

On Sunday we were invited to Auntie Sal's where we all had a lovely meal and a very nice evening.

JB was playing on his computer and concentrating hard!

I was a good boy and enjoyed all the attention

Daddy has been on his Advanced Car Refresher Course, which he has to do every 5 years to requalify at Police Advanced level.  He says its a very tiring course as it takes so much concentration to drive to such a high standard and at very high speeds on the open road, but he said it was good fun as he felt relaxed this time and enjoyed driving a big motorcar, using someone else's fuel and getting top-class instruction.  I think I made it a bit harder by being a bit of a monkey and waking Mummy and Daddy up at night.....oops!  Never mind because Daddy passed his final drive examination today.  He says its the last one he should have to do now as he will hopefully be retiring in just under 3 years.

After Daddy's exam today he finished early and we all went out to Bournemouth to have lunch at the Print Room Brasserie.  Its lovely and it used to be the printing room for the Evening Echo newspaper.  Its a big, roomy place in Art-Deco style and the food was yummy.  I was very good and only got a bit unsettled by dessert time, when Daddy sat me on his knee.  Mummy and Daddy kept giving me little bits to taste.  I got especially interested when I tasted the lovely pears from Daddy's dessert...my face lit up and I kept reaching out and calling for them!  He gave me a lot of little pieces which I ate up very fast.

Daddy paid with some of the vouchers those nice people gave him for rescuing the little girl from the lake last year...it was much appreciated as the food was great and Daddy said it was very good value anyway.  A big platter of home-baked special breads and dips was only £2.95 and a lovely 3 course lunch was £15.

I was very interested in what was going on...as always

It was lovely and light with lots of colours and people moving about

After lunch we went for a long walk along the seafront.  It was amazing weather...looked just like summer with lots of people on the beach.  People were getting sunburned and some brave ones were even swimming...brrrrr!

The Lower Gardens were immaculate as ever

There were whole rows of spanking new, colourful beach huts!

Big Boy Eating!

I'm now eating ever so much grown-up food which makes Mummy very happy.  She makes me various soups and mashes out of sweet potato, spinach, casseroles and all sorts and also some sweet ones of apple and plums.  She freezes them in cubes and mixes them with baby porridge or baby rice for me to eat.  After eating my main course I often have a Petit Filous and I can help myself to water from my cup.

I have been a monkey this week keeping Mummy and Daddy up at night....last night I wanted to get up and play about for over 2 hours at 1am, then became unsettled!  I can't understand why grown-ups don't like doing normal stuff at night.

I have been to my childminder, called Lisa, for a few hours on two days and she thinks I'm delightful because I'm smiley, I like the other children and interact with anything and everything.  She keeps a diary of what I do and today she said I amused myself for a while by blowing raspberries and holding onto my feet!

Here are some shots of me getting ready for my food in my lovely dinosaur bib.

Weekend away in London & Surrey

Mummy and Daddy took me away for a nice weekend on Friday 18th March.  We stayed at the very nice Police Federation HQ in Leatherhead.  I had my own lovely cot with animal duvet and there was a pool so I went for a swim.  I kicked like crazy and went underwater several times.  I was a bit unsettled at bedtime though!

This is me ready for bed, although it was more fun to stay up

We all went to London on the train on saturday.  I was very good and went to sleep in my pushchair some of the time.  The weather was really nice and sunny all day.

Street entertainer near London Eye

When I grow up I want to ride BMX bikes and skateboards!

Mummy bought me some goodies in the Tate shop while Daddy took pictures of this funky bridge

We went to "The Real Greek" for lunch and I sat in a high chair for the first time!  I also threw a chip on the floor but ate some nice porridge and Petit Filous

St James's Park was full of daffodils

Westminster Bridge was very crowded...this man was selling coated, roasted nuts

...and Mummy had to have some!!!!

Daddy managed to grab a shot of this stunt pigeon before it jumped off the parapet

We had a cup of tea in a French bakery and I loved all the funny colours in the place

I'm a best-dressed munchkin!

On Sunday we went to the nice National Trust garden at Claremont Landscape Garden just north of the M25 and only about 10 minutes from Leatherhead.

This black swan kept chasing all the other birds but wouldn't eat any bread

The daffodil meadow was very colourful

I like my buggy...so do Mummy and Daddy as its one of the few things that makes me go to sleep!

Time for a spot of baby worship at the top of the hill!

Tummy time for big boy

I am really getting to be quite a big boy now I am six months old.  I am eating lots of baby porridge with fruit and soups that Mummy makes for me.

I am getting very clever with my hands and grab anything and everything I get the chance too...including plants and Mummy's hair!

I study everything on me and around me too and watch whatever Mummy and Daddy are doing.

This week Mummy has gone to work a few times so Daddy and Nana and Granddad have looked after me.