Winter Holidays, 12-28 February 2010

Ruby and Finn enjoy their Winter Holidays in London from 12 February until 28 February 2010. The last day marks Ruby's 7th birthday!


A mother Kiwi tends to her two babies... a lovely picture sent to Ruby and Finn by Gabrielle.

12 February: Flying to London


And guess who made it all possible?

Ruby and Finn quenching their thirst at Girona airport... waiting to fly to London for their winter holidays... Ruby's French reading is really coming along and she read Bouclé d'Or et les trois ours beautifully. We will work on English reading a bit in the holidays! We finally arrived home about 1am on Saturday - lots of excitement!

13 February: Chefs' Day

Groceries for the next two weeks were delivered in a big truck at 2pm - the focus of much excitement! We checked off the delivery against the order and then put everything away where it belonged. We were now well-stocked for a baking session!

Introducing... Pirate Chef Finny! King of the High Seas (and great cupcake maker)!

And Princess Chef Ruby... mixing the icing...

Ruby artfully using the new cake decorating set that Gran bought her.

And hooray! The finished product.

Ruby and Finn had a lovely day today. Although tired after yesterday's journey, they managed to catch up with their Gran in New Zealand via Skype and their friends Max and Zac who live here in the Mews. They are currently in training for cooking Ruby's birthday cakes, not to mention licking the bowl! Tonight Ruby watched Titanic on the computer, while Finn was enthralled by the first day of the Winter Olympics. He has already decided he now wants to own a snowboard instead of a skateboard ("Can you look up on the internet how much they are Mummy?") and that we are all going to watch him win at the Olympics - cheering him on while he raises his arms in victory! He practised ski-jumping by jumping off a stool with his body leaned forward and his arms behind him. Definitely a future champion!

Bedtime book: Roald Dahl's The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me.

14 February: Family Day

Another late-ish start to the day. Rebecca and Jonathan came for lunch (and to watch the Winter Olympics, do puzzles, witness Finn in ski-jump training... ). A grey, wet day but warm inside.


Ruby, Finn and Jonathan about to begin a puzzle...


A beautiful velvet red Valentine's Day rose.


...and a high five for finishing the Transformers puzzle!


Ruby and Rebecca reading a French book. (Jonathan really is just looking on!)


Finn on his next puzzle... he is a budding Olympic jigsaw puzzler too!


Uh oh... spot the unhappy one!

A long and tiring day - well for the cook anyway! It really was a true happy domestic day though.

Bedtime book: More of Roald Dahl's The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, which is great fun. In addition we re-read Where the Wild Things Are (given to Ruby and Finn by Rebecca at Christmas 2009) in preparation for a very exciting day tomorrow... The children then had a further ten minutes with the light on searching for Where's Wally (also a young Rebecca favourite).

15 February: Where the Wild Things Are


The Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, London.

A dramatic night last night with poor Finn sick several times. He thought it was because he ate too much chocolate! Once we were up and dressed, we made a lovely packed lunch of tuna and cucumber sandwiches (one of Ruby's favourites), cheese and crackers, and bananas. We set off for an afternoon at the wonderful Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green. We were to spend the time recreating the story.

"Make reading come alive with Wordburst Wild Rumpus, a week of action-packed three hour workshops led by the award-winning team from Artburst. Join in drama, movement and art inspired by Maurice Sendak's well-loved picture book Where the Wild Things Are then have a go at performing the story yourself. Grown-ups are expected to join in the fun!"


Max travelled to the land of the wild things...


Ruby and Finn travelled by bus to the land of East London...

Artburst is the company that created - with the children - the Wild Rumpus that filled the V&A Museum of Childhood with terrible roars, teeth, eyes and claws!

In the first part of the workshop we made 'wild thing' masks. We then broke for a snack in the museum's picnic area.

After our snacks and drinks, we then swapped places with the other half of our group. They went to make their masks, while we went to work painting the backdrop (and making leaves and stars to stick on it) that the other group had begun. When we were all finished we were to give a performance of Where the Wild Things Are in the museum!




Our finished masks.

When we had finished the masks and backdrop we continued to rehearse our roars, gnashing our teeth, showing our claws as well as making a wild rumpus... It was really tremendous fun (although Finn wasn't feeling too great) and show time was fast approaching!

But no show to show! Unfortunately we have no photos of the performance of Where the Wild Things Are as all of us had to take part, so taking photos was impossible! :-(

After our Wild Rumpus session we went by tube to The Place to meet Simon who was taking us to Pizza Express on Euston Road for supper.


Ruby gets stuck into the J2O!


No noses!



Ruby and Finn excited by dessert... although even with all the will in the world, Finn remained off his food.


Portrait by Finn. A big thank you to Simon for a lovely night out.


As for the Olympics... the winner of the men's mogul was Alexandre Bilodeau, the first Canadian to win a gold medal at Vancouver. Finn really liked this artistic photo and it reminded us of his ski jump practices... arms back, body forward... and tumbling off a high stool!

16 February: An at home day

Not a busy day today... we caught up on some much needed sleep, which was great. Ruby and Finn worked on Ruby's birthday party invitations. We printed off the basic invitation and then Ruby and Finn drew pictures to decorate each invitation.



Ruby and Finn then hand-delivered the invitations to the children who live in the Mews. Later we went down to Belsize Park and posted the remaining invitations and went to the DVD shop to rent two DVDs. Ruby chose Upside Down Alice - a story about a girl who has to learn to fit in after she moves towns and has to start at a new school. Finn chose The Incredibles, which he had seen before at his friend Joel's house. Finn really loved it!



And then, in the evening, of course the Olympics continues... tonight's highlight sport: ice hockey!

We watched Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets on television tonight because I love RB and I love the children learning about cooking and eating being an enjoyable, interlinked activity. I also wanted Ruby to listen to his English so she could learn to pretend, if she wanted, to speak English like a French person! We loved the programme, especially since it concentrated on chocolate recipes, including a magnificent chocolate cappucino-where the cup and saucer were made from chocolate!

I later tweeted RB:
@raymond_blanc My 5 and 6 year olds were thrilled you said that everyone should eat some chocolate everyday! It's official Mummy!2:11 PM Feb 16th via web in reply to raymond_blanc

And then I saw Simon tweeted:
Raymond Blanc: "If melancholic eat chocolate, if under pressure eat chocolate, if happy eat chocolate". Trying to find a flaw in his logic.
10:18 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck

17 February: A work day
I was up late last night preparing a presentation and then we all got up early ready for a normal working day. Boy, that was hard! (I am working for two days each week of the holidays, so four days in total out of the 14 day holiday.) We walked to South End Green at 8.30 to meet Janet and then I left work at 4pm to snake my way home, meeting the children and Janet at 4.45pm.

Dinner: Risotto primavera

Bedtime story: We finished The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, then began Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Glass Elevator but we decided that it was a bit old for Ruby and Finn, so we put that one to bed. And then Ruby and Finn!

18 February: Another work day
We got up early again ready for another normal working day. Finn slept in until the last moment - he is OK but still not 100%. Ruby was up a bit earlier, so we had time to do braids. Isn't she beautiful?


Ruby and Finn went off with Janet on the C11 to pick up Aurora and her little brother, who Janet was also looking after today. In the afternoon they visited the recreation centre at Hampstead Heath. They played on the outdoor equipment and did some artwork.


Finn's drawing. "A yellow rabbit with Finn in his mouth."


Ruby's drawing is actually a montage of separately drawn images, stuck to the background.

Jade, Janet's daughter, and Jade's little son Corey, brought the children home to play after they had been to the rec centre. It was cold and rainy today, so it was nice for them to be inside in the warm. I arrived home from work at 4.45pm.

Bedtime story: Chapter 5 from the wonderful new edition of Pippy Longstocking (illustrated by Lauren Child of Charlie and Lola fame). This copy of Pippy Longstocking was given to Ruby and Finn by their Gran.

Tomorrow we are excited as we are going for a swim!

19 February: Swimming and reading



When we got up this morning we put on our swimming costumes under our clothes, made a lovely picnic lunch, went to "Marks and Spensive" as Ruby calls it for some lovely fresh fruit. We took the C11 and went to the Archway Leisure Centre. The ALC is a lovely swimming facility that has a pool with a beach (or "short" (shore) as Ruby says), a wave machine, waterfalls, and jets on the bottom which tickle your feet. There is a little slide and a great big flume which actually goes outside the building! But we had to pay a whopping £9 for a two hour session!

Unfortunately we only have these two tiny photos from the Aquaterra website, as we were not allowed to take photos there (for children protection reasons).

We went home to drop off our swimming costumes and towels, then took the 168 to the Camden library to get some books and DVDs. We now have a good collection of books to keep us going for a few days and we are looking forward to reading them. Our DVDs include a Dr Seuss story as we are going to see a Dr Seuss play at the Old Vic on Tuesday. Ruby now seems to have caught Finny's bug so we came home and she is tucked up on the couch watching Charlie and Lola.

20 February: Master Makers and a bit of FBC

This morning Ruby read Goldilocks and the three bears all by herself in English! So, she can now read this story on her own in French and English! Hooray! We are going to get some other readers in English as she is really proud how well she is doing!


We created a new hair style for Ruby - just as a contrast to her plaits from two days ago!



We were inspired by MisterMaker on cbeebies yesterday painting and decorating boxes so we decided we would take down our activity boxes from the shelves and get doing a similar thing. Ruby and Finn both chose a round French cheese box to decorate and first started out by painting them.


Ruby wanted to use some jewels to decorate her box so she carefully removed them from a crown she had made earlier...



Fireman Finn breaks for a pasta lunch (watching Mr Tumble).


Ruby decorating the lid of her treasure box.


Our studio!


Ruby's exquisitely finished box! She would make a great hat designer I think! A pink and gold pillbox! Finn's remains, shall we say, a box in waiting...


Meanwhile, Spiderman dressed in a, er, Monsoon bag!


Then time was upon us to go and meet Rebecca and Jonathan at Fine Burger Co. (Hence Finn's dress.) Ruby wanted to keep the hair theme going... When we arrived at FBC, Rebecca was there but no Jonathan. He was sick, poor boy, so it was just the four of us.



The gang lined up!



Ruby and Finn loving a virtual car race.



My babies, my babies, my babies... how much fun we have!




Wooh! Spiderman on the loose in London!


And caught!


Our table had a computer where we could place orders for food and drinks, play games and puzzles and draw pictures!

Thank you Rebecca for giving us a nice night out (even though, as Finn said, you are not a Mummy!) Not home late as we are keen to see Fantastic Mr Fox at the cinema at 10.30am tomorrow.

Bedtime Stories: The Tiger Who Came to Tea and The Emperor of Absurdia.

21 February: Fantastic Mr Fox


"The mean old farmers - fat Boggis, squat Bunce and skinny Bean have joined forces and have Mr. Fox and his family surrounded.
What they don't know is that they are not just dealing with any old fox - it's Fantastic Mr. Fox and he has a fantastic master plan to save the day!"


A non-photo day today. We got up at 9am to get ready to go and see Fantastic Mr Fox at the O2 Finchley Road. It was, well, fantastic! We loved it as part of our ongoing friendship with Roald Dahl and his wonderful stories. I love the moral confusion tied up in his characters/stories and am sure they must inspire children to think about right and wrong and that vast grey area.

After Fantastic Mr Fox we did a spot of shopping at Sainsbury's and then caught the C11 home to continue a day of movies. The weather was wet and grey, so movies were an entirely appropriate activity. Firstly we watched Marley and Me (with the lovely Owen Wilson) and then The Tale of Despereaux. I hope Ruby and Finn will always love movies...

On the way back from the cinema we chatted with another Mews resident and found out that the mice that we have been having trouble with actually have free run of our rows of houses. Oh dear - a big problem... Ruby and Finn thought it might all turn out like Ratatouille with me shooting the roof out and thousands of rats [mice] tumbling down on us...

I cut Ruby's hair today and she is almost back to having a short bob - a major achievement given her desire for long hair (which needs to be balanced against what suits her and the ("handy" (well, in this instance)) fact that she continually has nits. It looks great! Finn has to wait for the arrival of some electric clippers (in the next day or so) for his woolly hair to be shorn right back.

The children had baths before supper and came out into the sitting room to get dressed. Ruby said to me, "You know how Jesus is always watching us?" "Yes." "Well, one day Finn asked Daddy what Jesus does when we are 'snaked' (Ruby's word for naked)." "What did Daddy say?" I asked. "He said Jesus quickly looks the other way," was her reply. I liked the story and I love the way Ruby says snake-ed! And early to bed night tonight as we are getting up early for work tomorrow... it is quite exciting as I am delivering Ruby and Finn to Jade's house right by Sadler's Wells (and my work) so we get to go on the bus together and then I will pick them up from there too and take them back to work to say hello to everyone.

Bedtime stories: Aliens Love Underpants and a few pages of Pippi Longstocking.

22 February: A day at work

We took the bus to Sadler's Wells and met Jade then I walked back down Roseberry Avenue to work. Ruby and Finn played with Jade's son Corey at their house- it poured with rain all day! I picked up Ruby and Finn at 4.45pm and we went back to my work to see everyone on the FS desk. We also went downstairs to sales, where the children remarked how much more alive the floor was (how true!). Ruby and Finn made hot chocolate at sat at a table beside the Wealth and Investments team while I printed off some documents and tidied my desk. We left work and went home by bus.



The hair clippers arrived! Hooray! And what a difference!


And here's Ruby's haircut - as short as I was permitted - from yesterday.

Ruby got an email from her Gran in New Zealand today:
Dear Ruby,
Today I received a beautiful invitation to your 7th Birthday. Thank you so much. What lovely printing and I loved the big 7.
I feel rather sad that I cannot get on a plane and arrive there in time but New Zealand is soooooo far away.
I hope you have a lovely party and that it will always be a special day to remember. Perhaps you will skype me and tell me all about it.
With much love to you dear, my grand girl,
Gran
xxx ooo xxx ooo xxx ooo xxx ooo XXX 000 XXX 000 XXX 000

Bedtime story: The Last Dodo.

23 February: The Cat in the Hat, Mamma Mia, and a boys' night

After getting up and having breakfast, we played Monopoly at home.


All smiles here, but it is always a bit of a struggle ensuring everyone has a go winning, otherwise some cross storming of the board can occur! This particular game I lost and Ruby and Finn both won because Ruby had £45 and Finn £35! We all know these amounts are practically the same.

We then set off and snaked our way on the 168 to the Young Vic theatre at Southwark to see The Cat in the Hat - a book I loved as a child and which Ruby and Finn know and love too.



Ruby and Finn at the café at the Young Vic before the show.


Ruby and Finn sitting in the Young Vic theatre awaiting the start of a wonderful show... and here he is, the cat himself:


"From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears around the door, Sally and her brother know that the cat in the hat is the funniest, most mischievous cat they have ever met.
With the trickiest of tricks and craziest of ideas, he is certainly fun to play with. And he turns a rainy afternoon into an amazing adventure. But what will mum find when she gets home...?"



It was a fantastic show which completely followed Dr Seuss to the letter. Lots of laughs and an ingenious interpretation for the stage.

After the show finished, we went outside to find the heavens had opened, so we walked in the pouring rain to catch the 168 home.By the time we got home, we had only a little time to tidy the house ready for Jonathan to come round for his boys' night with Finn.



Ruby and Finn in the bus on the way home from The Cat in the Hat - how warm the bus seemed after walking in the cold rain!

Finn and Jonathan went out to Giraffe at Belsize Park for supper, then got the video of Kung Fu Panda to watch at home. When Ruby and I got home, Finn was still dancing to Kung Fu Fighting, which played at the end of the movie. Apparently Finn didn't want to stay at Giraffe, claiming the pasta and sauce was too"spiky" (spicy) and the restaurant too loud (Finn, since he was a baby has always hated noise.) And, on questioning, Finn seemed a little reticient as to whether he wanted another boys' night... but all is explained below. A big thank you to Jonathan for his hard work entertaining Finn,but as Ruby said to Rebecca, "It is good practice for him!"

So what were we up to? Rebecca, Ruby and I went to the West End to see the stage show of Ruby's much-loved Mamma Mia - a birthday present for Ruby.



Ruby outside the Prince of Wales theatre.

We met at 7pm outside the Prince of Wales theatre at Piccadilly and immediately headed inside to take our seats. Despite having watched the movie, oh, about 500 times (at a conservative estimate), how fantastic the show was! The words of all the songs echoed in our minds for a long time... At the end, I think it was Ruby's favourite part, as the cast performed a concert with songs from the show and all the audience stood up and sang and danced. It was so energizing!


Bedtime story was overlooked because it was 11.30 when we finally got to bed and Wednesday is a working day!

24 February: Another working day

My fourth and last working day while Ruby and Finn are in London for the Winter holidays. This is the only picture we have from that day. As much a sign of exhaustion from last night as anything else...


Bedtime story: Katie and the Sunflowers by James Mayhew (given last year, I think, to Ruby and Finn by their Gran).

25 February: Hot chocolate and reading

This day we were going to go to the V&A as it was our last "free" day before the end of the holidays. But we all felt tired and in need of a day at home. So that is what we did - stayed in. Later in the afternoon we headed off to Camden library to return our books and DVDs and make a new selection. Prior to that we went to Prime Time in Belsize Parkand rented two DVDs - 27 Dresses for Ruby and Meet the Robinsons for Finn (which he loved when we watched it later that evening). After visiting the library we went to Costa near The Place to meet Simon (who was working there in the afternoon). Costa is always a favourite, offering, as it does, hot chocolate with chocolate stirrers and chocolate muffins...


But still... oh my goodness, what do I do with this? (And note she came armed with her cupcake recipe book (part of her birthday present from Gran), so she is dreaming of yet more cake!)


But Finn is looking like he can cope with all the chocolate...


It appears that Simon needs a very large whisky to cope with the afternoon tea!!!

On the way home on the bus we passed Giraffe. I pointed it out to Finn and he said that he loved Giraffe. Ruby replied matter of a factly that he did not, that the food was spikey and that the restaurant was too noisy."No," Finn said, "I just realised that I missed Mummy and Ruby." Dear wee boy.

OK, we survived the chocolate festival... but Finn seems to have reacted to the day's proceedings by becoming Mr Colander Head. I keep thinking of the Bloomsbury Group's wonderful Charleston Farmhouse and their inventive painted colander lightshades... although Finn has adapted the concept to make himself look like an alien. This child has such a wonderful sense of fun - he gives us so many laughs.


26 February: Shopping for a VIP and baking party cakes

Today was, in many ways, the most exciting day of the whole holidays! It was pay day and we had to do shopping and baking for our Ruby girl's birthday party!

First up was the aptly named shop, Party Party in Belsize Park. We bought balloons, party poppers and a...


What a wonderful sounding word! Ruby chose a sun piñata... we took this home (along with the stick for beating the life out of the piñata) and then set off on the C11 for Sainsbury's and our enormous party shop, which was an adventure and a half for Ruby and Finn! We bought chocolates and other sweets to put in the piñata, party bags and their contents, prizes for games, cardboard for making masks, and food and drink for the party. When we got home, it was time for Ruby and Finn to make the cupcakes that Ruby wanted as her party cake.


Ruby stirring the first lot of cupcake mixture. We made a mixture of regular size and mini cupcakes. Ruby chose what icings she wanted from her cupcake cookbook.


Finn guards the Quality Streets and Celebrations to ensure they go safely in the piñata!


Ruby concentrating on filling the mini cupcake cases.



Et voilà! The final product, all made and decorated by Ruby and Finn.


Ruby takes a break at the computer.


Ruby with her piñata - photo taken by Finn.

After making all those cakes,we were completely sugared out (how come so much cake mixture and icing ends up in our tummies?), so we headed off to our local chippy for fish and chips - a much anticipated promise. Yum! Not as good as New Zealand ones, which are, undoubtedly, the best in the world, but good nonetheless!

Bedtime stories: Beegu by Alexis Deacon, I Want a Trumpet by Tony Ross, Lucy Meets Mr Chilly by Jill Murphy.

27 February: A Very Important Party


Mr Mischief with his feltpen sculpture.


Ruby outside Woodentots, ready to tie her balloons to the gate. We thought her haircut was a bit lopsided, so we evened it up this morning, so it is shorter and even better now! Ruby liked it!


Ruby and Beatrix outside Woodentots with Ruby's number 7 balloons.


Ruby and Samphire.


Janine hiding behind Paula hiding behind Samphy! A big thanks to dear Paula and Janine for all their help!


Finn and the adorable Abigail play house.



Making masks at Ruby's party.


My princess with her mask.


All the Wild Things lined up for me to read to them Where the Wild Things Are - we had a bit of activity thrown in too (learned at the V&A - thank you!)

Pass the parcel - thanks to Beatrix who did a fantastic job on the music!


And the winner is... my girl! (Really, it was not fixed!) She won a chocolate cow!


Musical statues... in the face of a serious challenge from Zac, who adopted the strategy of not moving, Beatarix, won this - and with some superb dancing. A chocolate cow was also awarded to Beatrix! William was also mentioned by many to be a great mover! Well done everyone.



A wee tea party. See all our party poppers' streamers draped across the bunting.




And time for all those fabulous cupcakes - happy birthday Ruby! (It took two blows!)




And we did discover that little Abigail has something of a penchant for cupcakes... just how many did you sample Abby?




Present opening time... thank you to everyone who bought and made such lovely presents for Ruby.


Ruby posing in the glamarous feather boa that Abigail gave her. (Rebecca and Jonathan bought the tiara for her to be a birthday princess for the day.)


Team photo!






Trying to whack the piñata. It turned out to be some tough cookie... after eventually creating a smallish break in it, Daniel held it up really high and showered the children with sweets! That marked the end of the party. Ruby and everyone there had such a great time, so thanks to all.


I took Ruby and Finn, Beatrix and Samphire, and Will to the park across the road from Woodentots, while Paula and Janine cleaned and tidied up, readying the school for the next day.



A lovely photo of Bea.



Ruby in her customised boho chic and customary pose... couldn't decide which one to choose...


Another lovely picture of Beatrix.



A wee kiss coming between Will and Samphy - and such a contented look afterwards!


That's me and my girl!


Janine and Paula took us home around 6pm - a long day!


Ruby in front of the computer (which does actually have a picture of Simon on it). Simon couldn't come to Ruby's party as he had to work. So, he made an online treasure hunt, with each clue leading to a unique url which had a video of Simon on it directing Ruby to the next clue. It was fabulous fun, so well done Simon! Ruby really appreciated the fun.


And the present... da, dah... a Gardening Mama DS game.

We were so tired when we got home that we went out for dinner - no one was in the mood for cooking. We revisited Giraffe and had a lovely time.




Two self-portraits by Finn.

Finn decorated his menu placemat (now a bit wrinkly).

Bedtime stories: Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins, Sam's Snowflake by Gillian Shields, Rex The Adventures of Our Class Pet by Ursula Dubosarsky and David Mackintosh.

28 February: Birthday girl and her brother return to France

Happy Birthday Ruby! How exciting to spend your birthday in three countries - England, Spain and France!


On the plane we finally wrote thank you letters to Adrienne for the lovely Christmas presents that she sent Ruby and Finn. We also managed to finish Ruby's school homework (yikes - just made it!).

Over the holidays, we learned some more emphatic, emotive words - such as famished and shattered (which Ruby pronounces shuttered). (Hunger and tiredness seemed to be fairly constantly themes throughout the holidays!)

We played Roses and Thorns every night - and the weather seemed to crop up a lot as the thorn! Finn did say one evening that his rose was that Mummy was going to buy him a skatebord - a kind of forward looking rose for the day.

We did lots of creative activities - including making masks and performing a show at the V&A, baking cakes, going to the theatre.

At Ruby's party we were able to spend lovely time with friends in a wonderful environment.

And finally, but by no means least, we had lots of kisses, hugs and cuddles. We loved every minute of our time together as a family and are all looking forward to 10 April when we are together again for more adventures! I am already planning!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a great time together. XXX