Easter Holidays, 10-26 April 2010

Photo of the holiday: My wee champions!

Well, it was officially the Easter holidays, but this year, the French school Easter holidays were after Easter... but here is an Easter card that arrived for Ruby and Finn from Gran. She also sent some eggs for them to paint, of which there is a photo below (19 April).

10 April: Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre
Despite getting to sleep around 2.15am (which included reading a synopsis of Oliver Twist in bed as we had been discussing the story on the plane!) after our late night flight from Gerona, everyone was awake by 8am. This I wasn't quite expecting, and had booked our grocery delivery for what I thought was a healthy 1-2pm... so we had five hours after waking to wait for our food! Although a bit of a waste of time waiting to go out (on a beautiful day), Ruby and Finn did some playing inside and around the Mews and caught up briefly with Gabby and Max and Zac...

Ruby with her fruit and vegetable market stall (now branching out into water and wine!) but the two of them seem mesmerized by something on the small screen.

Finn on his scooter outside - he is so confident on it, riding downhill fast from the big garage to the gates, knowing exactly where to put the brakes full on before the sensor gets wind of him and opens the gates and he goes sailing out onto South End Green.

Ruby modelling her beautiful new dress.

Ruby and Finn on their way to the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre to go swimming, to have a picnic and go to the library...

Ruby and Finn became official members of the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre and were very excited to have their own photo ID cards!

We swam for 1 and 1/2 hours - it was wonderfully warm in the learners' pool. We played with "frites" (called "spaghetti" in England?), flutter boards, balls and other assorted toys at the pool. It was really fantastic fun. After we showered and got changed and went to the library and chose lots of books and DVDs before having a picnic lunch by the climbing wall.

Books:
Waiting for the C11 bus home - Postman Pat and the Blue Ball, Doctor Ted.
In bed - Wacky Wednesday (Dr Seuss), which Ruby and Finn really loved - finding all the wacky things on the pages; PB Bear's Spooky Game; Pointy Hatted Princesses (which Finn chose for Ruby and Ruby read the whole book to us! Bravo!

Dinner - Lamb burgers

Roses and Thorns - Roses revolved, not surprisingly, around swimming and library and DVDs, while thorns tended to lean toward what we didn't quite manage to fit in! (Little Rascals being high on the list!)

11 April: A sunny day at the Heath

Ruby has been working on creating an album using old and recent photos. She was given this really creative pack as a birthday present at her lovely party at Woodentots and is really enjoying developing it. (A job to be finished in the summer holidays.)

OH MY GOODNESS - just look at that sun! Ruby and Finn scoot up Parliament Hill (opposite our apartment) for a picnic and then play in the playground at the wonderful Hampstead Heath.

Finn tucks into a hamburger at our picnic.

Finn, with some help from Ruby, made a cake in the sandpit - with candles! And we sang happy birthday!

Finn made us a lovely pizza for supper. He carefully arranged all the toppings... A beautiful day and a nice way to end the second day of our time together.

12 April

I had the day off today and we played at home in the morning. In the afternoon we took the overland train to Richmond. My friend, Lavinia, picked us up at the station and we drove through Richmond Park. We saw a lot "reindeer" resting in the park, waiting for that busy time of the year in December. We also saw a Princess's house, with its own private road (Ruby and Finn seemed impressedby this!)

13 April: Richmond
I went to work today (10am-4pm). Natasha looked after Ruby and Finn and took them to Little Rascals at the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre. They loved it and Ruby, Finn and I were able to go back later in the holiday.

My skateboarding boy!

14 April: Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

Again, I was working, so Natasha took Ruby and Finn to see the movie "Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang" starring Emma Thompson. (The movie had just premiered in London.) Natasha told me that Ruby and Finn's first words after the movie were "Can we see it again straightaway?" They also seemed thrilled by being given drinks and popcorn!

15 April: A day at the Heath
Yet another beautiful day (with me at work), so Natasha took the children to the Heath to play in the sunshine. After dinner, I made ice-creams with decorations for dessert.


For supper we had a lovely fish pie followed by ice-creams and sprinkles! One happy boy and one happy girl!

Book: A very quick reading of Maisy and the Rainbow Dream as we were a bit late for bed because we finished a DVD after supper and before bedtime... we didn't want to be too late as Ruby and Finn are having a day at the Natural History and Science Museums with Natasha tomorrow, so we have to be ready to go nice and early!

I am happy as it is my last day of work tomorrow (although I am only working 4 days out of the 16 days that the children are on holiday with me) - bar a 11/2 hour presentation that I am doing on Wednesday, 21 April.

16 April: The Natural History Museum and dinner with Rebecca and Jonathan
Ruby and Finn were given charge of the camera today for their final big day with Natasha - a trip to the Natural History Museum. And, gosh, do we have a lot of photos! I have had to be really selective! Where to begin...

A portrait of Natasha!

Ruby and Finn's journey to the centre of the earth...

And then it was on to the second part of our day - to dinner with Rebecca and Jonathan.
The last (exhausting) two hours of my work were taken up taping a television interview with Bloomberg TV to air in the US and UK on Tuesday. (It concerns the post-recession revival of expenditure on luxury goods.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAXDg0xyKHQ

At 6.30pm we were due to meet Rebecca and Jonathan at the O2 Centre, Finchley Road, to choose from the plethora of restaurants there. Being creatures of habit (and burger fans at heart) we chose Fine Burger Co and enjoyed a lovely meal together (as usual) although the three of us side of the family were very, very tired.

Ruby and Finn registering their "commands".

No commands. Isn't she lovely? Oh, and he is OK too.



Sisters... what else is there to say?





The obligatory after-dinner rides...

After we got home from dinner at the restaurant there was a great rush to open the big box from Boden... here are a few of Ruby and Finn's favourite things...




17 April: A beautiful spring day at Kew Gardens
We woke up to a beautiful day. After boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast we made a picnic lunch, then walked across the street to take the overland train to Kew Gardens. The trip is about half an hour and we have done it many times before - mostly to go out in Richmond. It takes about 20 minutes or so to get from Hampstead Heath to Kew Gardens.


Ruby and Finn in the overland train going to Kew Gardens for the day.

Ruby and Finn wearing those new summer clothes at Kew Gardens station.

 

 Our guide for Kew.

Eating our picnic lunch in front of the Palm House Parterre and the lake.

Walking along the Pagoda Vista toward the Pagoda and the Japanese Garden.

Glorious, glorious blossom!

One of the highlights of our visit was doling the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, covering how trees are underground and then 18 metres high into the canopy. There were wonderful views!

Ruby reading one of the bronze sculptures on the walkway. This one was for my Dad, Ian: Where bees come to feed, flowers can make seeds.

Ruby and Finn amongst the spring flowers...

Mr Magnolia has only one boot... a favourite story of Ruby and Finn - what a magnificent tree and Finn soon took to being photographed by every one at Kew.

We took the Princess Walk to Treehouse Towers, the magnificent outdoor playground at Kew (with the indoor playground "Climbers and Creepers" alongside). There was  a café alongside called White Peaks and we sat outdoors there and had something more to eat and drink.

In the Climbers and Creepers indoor playground, activities included face painting which Ruby and Finn took to with relish. They were very excited to choose their faces from a big menu...

So what did we get? Our dalmation Ruby - doesn't she look great (and apparently armless)?

And who else but our resident monster?

The garden of White Peaks café.

Walking towards the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The secluded garden included an area devoted to Australia and New Zealand...

...which our Ruby was proud to point out!

Bluebells!

And Finny boy's ENORMOUS shadow!

Palm tree looking toward the Temple of Aeolus.

Palm House Parterre.

And a cone of chips on the train home... what an absolutely fabulous day! The weather was truly special, the setting magnificent and the enthusiasm of Ruby and Finn, a joy!

18 April: Another gorgeous day in London!
While the eruption beneath the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier continues to wreck havoc across European airspace, London awoke to another simply gorgeous spring day. Ruby, Finn and I were almost too tired from yesterday to really enjoy it, but we managed what we could. First a long coffee (or as Rebecca said, "Did Ruby want to prendre un café again?"), hot chocolates, triple chocolate muffin and chocolate tiffin cake at Costa, Belsize Park. We must have been there two hours or so. I read the paper while Ruby and Finn played with their DSs and did some colouring in. Conversation: Finn: "Ruby has a girl in her class who is like a boy." Ruby: "She is a garçon manqué; that is what it is called." Finn: "And what is a boy called who likes being a girl?"




I love Finn's style: his use of colour and his desire always to cover every bit of the page!

 More artwork from Finn...

And Finn's signature.

We returned home to pick up Finn's scooter to take to Chalk Farm. A few days ago a screw fell off Finn's scooter with the result that the back wheel came off and the two children had to take turns sharing Ruby's scooter. Today we had the time to go to Cycle Surgery at Chalk Farm to get some scooter surgery. A nice man there took Finn in hand and fixed his scooter for him for free! Wooh! We then did a very quick booster grocery shop at Sainsbury's. To add to our good fortune, a new product was being launched at Camden Market: Vitamin Water. Healthily large free bottles of the stuff were being given away to anyone who was prepared to spin a wheel which rewarded various flavours to the spinner. Ruby and Finn both lined up to have a go... Finn a bit nervous, but he did it and was so proud of himself afterwards - he won a flavour called "defence". The good people of Vitamin Water awarded Mummy girl with a bottle too, so having just bought two large cartons of juice at Sainsbury's, we were well-endowed with thirst quenchers. We scooted back home for afternoon tea.

Yesterday Ruby fell quite heavily on her knee while siding down a bluebell (yes, really!) at Kew Gardens. It had swollen quite a bit and today she complained of it hurting. Although I was not really very worried, I thought it best to get it checked out, so, we went to the Royal Free - luckily on our doorstep - and explained what happened and waited our turn to see a nurse and then a doctor. The nurse was very sweet, as was the doctor, who was sure Ruby's ankle was not broken, but checked that the inflammation was not causing any tendons and the like to be trapped. To verify this, Ruby had to do things like wiggle her toes and say when it hurt when the doctor felt around her feet and ankles. We came away equipped with the knowledge that Ruby should be taking alternately paracetamol and ibuprofen for pain relief and that it might take some weeks to heal properly. And, if, in the next few days, Ruby develops any more pain, swelling or tingling in her toes, we should go back (to the hospital rather than the bluebell). And that, was our beautiful, sunny London afternoon!

Not long after we got home, Matt came to the door and asked if Ruby and Finn wanted to join the boys for a pizza. Of course the answer was a resounding yes and they agreed that Margherita would be grand. So Matt headed off to our local Italian (apparently with a fantastic new pizza oven) and bought a couple of Margherita. The children ate the pizza outside (along with Alexandra, from the back of the Mews), then played in the Mews, after which I made ice-creams for all.

Zac, Ruby, Finn and Max eating their ice-creams and beginning to compare heights...

We came inside around 7pm and watched a bit of TinyPop, ate a bit more food (incredible!)... Finn played with his trains and cars and Ruby did more work on her album. A few push-ups later (I am on a regime of 20 in the morning and 20 at night and Ruby and Finn are now following suit) and it was bed time. Finally we got to reread Wacky Wednesday before sleep beckoned once again.

Finn watching Madeleine on TinyPop and playing the part of Miss Clavell. This really is hilarious and I am still laughing. He is just one crazy, performing child, and so hits the spot!

19 April: Chocolate fudge, the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre and an evening being babysat


After we had got up and had our breakfast, we made chocolate fudge cake - the old favourite recipe I used to make when I was a child (Ruby, Finn and I have made it before). When I say "we" it was mostly Ruby girl... Finn got distracted by his train... But he picked up interest at the end when it got towards the "who's going to lick the bowl?" stage. When we had got the fudge in the container and iced it, I said, "Thank you Ruby. Thank you Mummy." "But you didn't say thank you Finn," said Guess Who. "Because you didn't do anything," I said. "But I did," he insisted, "I licked the bowl and saved you from washing it!" Boy!

At lunchtime we made a picnic and went to the Swiss Leisure Centre. We ate our lunch in the sun at the outdoor exercise ground in the sun.




And then we moved inside to Little Rascals. Ruby and Finn love Little Rascals and I enjoyed it too. We played soccer and basketball, rode slides and just had a whole lot of fun.






After Little Rascals we went to the library and chose some more books to take home and read. We read some while we were there too (including Green Eggs and Ham). Afterwards we caught the C11 home in time for me to make a Red onion and cheese tart for Rebecca and Jonathan who were coming to babysit Ruby and Finn while I went to a quilters' meeting.


While I made the tart, Ruby and Finn painted eggs that Gran had sent them.

Rebecca and Jonathan arrived around 6.45pm and I left the house at 7.15. When I got home at around 10pm Ruby and Jonathan were watching Titanic, Rebecca was on the computer and Finn was playing. They had had a nice evening together... I had a fabulous time meeting some interesting people (and viewing a really interesting slideshow on Peru) and just getting back into the swing of creative workshops and the like.

20 April: Swimming
In the morning I worked with Ruby a little on her album. A parcel was pushed through our postbox and it turned out to be Finn's new swimming costume:

Finn swims for the camera!

Abigail came over and played for a while - these two are like sisters! Ruby is really "big sisterly" toward the lovely little Abigail.

Ruby dressed, ready to go to the Swiss Cottage Leisure Centre for a swim.

Ruby and Finn at the swimming pool.

We had such fun at the pool, staying about two hours. After we took the bus home, we went to M&S to pick up a couple of things and then Abby came over to play again for a short time. I made a really nice lasagne, with Ruby and Finny even enjoying the green (spinach) layer. We picked up some chocolate eclair sweets at M&S and I crushed these with a rolling pin and folded them into our vanilla ice-cream for dessert. The pieces of chocolate and caramel were fantastic in the ice-cream!

We watched Wallace and Gromit on TV and then Shrek 2 before baths and bed. In bed we read three stories, including a lovely book Ruby chose at the library: Fox in Love by Edward Marshall.

21 April: Where did it go?
I have no idea what happened to 21 April... no photos and no notes! I had to go into work briefly to do a presentation and Ruby and Finn went to play with Abigail at her house (thank you Kimberly!)... other than that, the day just disappeared... but we also had to go to bed early for tomorrow was to be a big adventure!

22 April: A really big day at LEGOLAND!
We had a very early start to the day as we were set to catch a bus to Legoland in Windsor (in the shadows of the castle) from Victoria Station.

Tickets, maps, ready to go! Hooray! You really know children are enjoying something when they just run at an unstoppable pace from one thing to another. And Ruby and Finn did that all day. We had such fun, going over and over again on roller coasters, log flumes, swinging and spinning pirate ships...

The first thing that made us laugh were the signs for the toilets! Ruby and Finn found them hilarious (as probably do all children).

Our first stop was Land of the Vikings where we rode on the Vikings' River Splash. We also had fun squirting water at people as they passed by.

Next up was the Spinning Spider.

Then we were off to Pirates Landing and the fantastic Jolly Rocker. It swung really high...

Not a great picture, but we had a fantastic time going on the rollercoaster (The Dragon) in Knights Kingdom. It was really super and we went on it over and over again. It started off slowly inside the haunted castle where we went by some goulish things and then into the open air where we went really, really fast - up, down and around.

Our next adventure was the Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench. And what a fantastic drenching we got as we came down the flume!

Some Mexican performers we encountered on our journey before the massive drench!

Ruby and Finn hanging out...

A ride on the Hill Train.

Champions!

We then moved on to the Traffic section, with our first test being to drive a fire engine to a house on fire and then put the fire out. It was really, really hard work and we came last :-( but it was lots of fun.

Next up was Balloon School where we were able raise our balloon high up in the air and then gently guide it down again. Fun!

Then next we were on to Driving School. Ruby was able to learn to drive on the big track while Finn, being five, had to go to L-Drivers. That's Ruby turning around in the second yellow car. She took to driving like a duck to water!

Finn at his L-Drivers training session.

Finn showed great skill at steering his car around the various obstacles (including not so good drivers).

Finn passed his driving test with flying colours and was awarded his licence at this ceremony.

So far we had learned to drive a fire engine, to fly balloons, and to drive cars... What could be up next but boat school!

Next up was an exciting pirate show: The Pirates of Skeleton Bay Stunt Show. And what a show! Lots of leaping and diving as they tried to get rid of a pirate ghost haunting Skeleton Bay.

Finn looking at some sombrero-clad Mexicans.

This ride is called the Wave Surfer and was fabulous, spinning around fast on the water's surface.

Ruby, Finn and I took up the Digger Challenge which was indeed a real challenge!

We went on a little international adventure...

Finn and Ruby meet Bob and Wendy.

 The Sky Rider.

An enormous lego dinosaur (with Finn standing underneath).

The Sky Rider... we hoisted ourselves up high and then let go to enjoy the fast ride down.

After the Sky Rider,we went back on our three favourite rides which were The Dragon (the roller coaster), Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench (the flume) and the Vikings' River Splash (the first ride we went on) until closing time.

Finn imitates the little lego boy outside the toilets.

Finn in the bus on the way home - says it all, really. Thank you Ruby and Finn for giving me such a wonderful day.

23 April: Ballet Shoes

In the morning, after breakfast, we crushed the egg shells that I have been collecting since the last holidays and made dyes with food colouring so that we could make collage (to be completed in the summer holidays).

Then Ruby made some false nails!

The afternoon was taken up with a bit of jamming with our resident guitarist John Etheridge. (See http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=john+etheridge&aq=0.)

Then it was time to get dressed up to go to the ballet. We went to the Peacock Theatre to see the London Children's Ballet perform the Noel Streatfield classic, Ballet Shoes.

 Finn dressed up ready to go to the ballet.

 See http://www.londonchildrensballet.com/.


London Children’s Ballet (LCB) was founded in 1994 to give talented young dancers age 9-14 (boys 9-16) a unique opportunity to perform as part of a professional ballet production. The 6-month audition to performance experience is free and the company of 55 is an exuberant and mixed bunch united by their passion for dance.

The Fossil children (left-right): Laura Croom (Pauline), Maria Gregory (Posy) & Lowri Shone (Petrova) in Ballet Shoes.

Ballet Shoes tells the story of Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil, who were adopted as babies by Great Uncle Matthew (or "Gum"). Pauline was the only survivor from a shipwrecked boat, Petrova the orphaned child of a Russian couple, and Posy the daughter of a widowed ballet dancer. They are looked after by Gum's great-niece, Sylvia, and her old nurse, Nana.
When Gum goes away on an extended journey, money becomes tight, and Syliva decides to take in boarders. Two of the boarders, Doctor Smith and Doctor Jakes, take over the education of the children (much to the relief of Sylvia, who had been teaching them herself when she could no longer afford to send them to school.)
Doctor Jakes tells Pauline that "the three of you might make the name of Fossil really important, really worth while, and if you do, it's all your own." As a result of this, the three sisters make a vow: "We three Fossils vow to try and put our names in history books because it's our very own and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers."
Another boarder, Theo Dane, is a ballet teacher at The Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. After seeing Posy dance, she arranges for the head of the school, Madame Fidolia, to train them free of charge. This means that as each child reaches the age of twelve, she will be able to work professionally on the stage.
Pauline soon shows talent as an actress, while Posy is clearly a gifted ballerina. Petrova, however, would rather spend time working with Mr Simpson (another of the boarders) in his garage. As the story progresses, first Pauline and then Petrova reach the age of twelve and get parts in various plays, while Posy becomes more and more focussed on her dancing...

The ballet was really, really beautifully done - doing huge justice to this wonderful tale.

24 April: A day in London city

For our last full day together we had a number of things to do. Firstly, we got up to meet Simon and Rebecca at St Pancras international train station. Simon had choreographed a dance piece called 'Leaving' which was being performed by some of his choreography students. But first, we ran into a wonderful group of Mexican musicians.

Leaving, by Simon Ellis

Leaving photo by Finn (you can see his reflection in the glass...)

Portrait by photographer to the stars, Finn!

Photograph by Finn of a statue of the English poet, John Betjeman (1906-1984) (whose poems I find a little depressing and self-deprecating).

Leaving, by Simon Ellis

Next up it was time to go into town for lunch and then to meet up again with Rebecca at Selfridges.

To save money, lunch was an M&S sandwich on the street outside Selfridges!

And look who we ran into at Selfridges! Hello Miss Kitty!

Rebeeca was going out to a hen party in the evening, so was getting her make-up done at Illa Masqua at Selfridges... we thought we would join in the fun!

 

Finn, still with his sandwich, at Illa Masqua.

The process continues...

Beautiful sisters...

Next off we went to Hamley's - which used to be the biggest toy shop in the world, but is now beaten by, I think, Toys R Us in the US. We had fun wandering around and looking at the various demonstrations.

A man did this picture for Ruby and Finn using a roller and rainbow inkpad.

Outside Hamley's.

In a little garage off Regent St, we came across this man who had turned his bike into a drumkit and was playing it!

25 April: Back to France..

An early flight back, arriving in Girona early afternoon. Andrew came to the airport to pick up Ruby and Finn about mid afternoon, then it was time for me to have something to eat, do some work and wait for my flight back to Gatwick, London.
 

You can only just see, but Ruby on her ticket was shortened to RUB and Finn, FIN. END! Next time it's summer - yah! (But we couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather in London in April. Go London!) Thanks Ruby and Finn for a wonderful time. X