The Nutty turns FOUR!

And she was blessed with 387 new dolls!

She had two friends over for a party on Saturday.  They made princess hats and mirrors.  Played outside with ballons and bubbles, and generally had a fun time!

And there was princess castle cake!

"I LOVE IT WHEN IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MUMMY!"

So I think she enjoyed it!

Another Medieval Festival

Two weekends ago we went to one of the better medieval festival in the area (seems like during summer, most of the bigger towns have one!)

There was a really large market, lots of demonstrations, face-painting, wooden swords and archery displays, etc etc!


Here, Hazel having her face painted by "a lady with a tree on her head" (Hazel's words!)

Patting the goats - they were selling goats milk direct from the goat, into the cup.  I decided not to try - semi-skimmed, pasturised cow milk is my favourite - but the kids liked the goats.  And one goat really liked a scratch around the ears / base of her horns; and Hazel enjoyed obliging! 

 (Note view back to the Chateau de Pierrefonds)

Afterwards, we went to a créperie.  Rhys was a bit hungry / thirsty, and so when the meal arrived, he wasn't too interested in group photos.

And lastly, the view from our table, back to the chateau.

la canicule

It's been hot hot hot here.  Grass is brown.  Chickens are unhappy.  Blinds are down.  And it's icecreams all round.
And so the kids have been playing with their pirate ship water toy A LOT!

When we weren't in the pool...

... we were blowing bubbles.  Hours and hours of fun!

"Beeerrrrk!"

Whilst at the zoo, Hazel got a chick anatomy lesson.

"What is he eating?"  "A baby chicken.  It's meat"  "bbbbbbbuuuerk!" (That's French for yuck!)

Zoo!

Just back from a fantastic holiday in Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, on the Atlantic coast near Nantes.

Nutbag would have happily stayed at the caravan park for the entire week,  all day every day, such was the fun she had in the pools with the other kids.    This year she told both her parents that it was too slow when she was accompanied down the big waterslides, and did both of the big slides solo (repeatedly!!).   She met a couple of kids roughly her age too, and didn't want to play with her family much!   Rhys enjoyed the pool too, but without the same sprinting and screaming and splashing, he got too cold after a while.   No photos of the pool though, sorry!

One day we did an excursion to a zoo in Sables d'Olonnes.  Quite a small zoo - perfect size for nuttykins and knievel.

They mainly had smaller animals - lemurs, meerkats, wallabies, etc.   The biggest animals  by far, was the family of giraffes.  This is my animal shot of the day...

And these are photos of the other animals at the zoo that same day!

Stylin' his extra large hat...

Driving the jeep - with extra speed humps from Papa...

 "Take my photo!!!"

More pics to come. 

New swings!

Thanks Mamie and Papy for replacing the old swings in the garden with this gorgeous new set!

The kids love it!

The New Ladies in my Life

Photos are not very good...  But they're shy - especially with small children as an audience.
Introducing (from left to right), Whasah, Kristoff, With Chips and Elsa.  (That's what you get when everyone gets to name a chicken!)

Not fans of cuddles yet, apparently.

Weekend in England

Just back from a lovely weekend in England.

Friday we had a pub lunch with Dav and his girlfriend in Canterbury.   Didn't realise how much I miss English pubs, and their beer gardens!  Fish and chips, sausage and mash, and burgers were awesome (I didn't order three mains, promise, I  tasted the kids meals!)   

Then off to our friends a bit further north.  Nutty and Rhys had a fantastic time with Christopher and Peter.  

Nut had her first go at cricket - a complete failure...  

But the sack and one legged races were a huge hit!

PS - spots and stripes.  Dont judge me for picking my own outfit Aunty Fifi!!! 

Wisteria

The neighbour says it's the best it's flowered in years!  Clearly the rather savage pruning we gave it last year, and clearing out the surrounding shrubs agreed with it.  And it smells divine.

Roses are next to pop in our garden.  Photos of them to follow.

Trip to Lyon

This past weekend, we went on a trip to Lyon for Magalie (Rhys' godmother) and Valentina's wedding.  The kids had lovely new outfits, and, like their mother desperately wanted a lovely photo together....

.

Hazel had a great time running around before and after the ceremony.  The tulips around the mairie were lovely in the sunshine.

During the ceremony, both kids wanted to see their Papa (who was a witness, and thus part of proceedings). 

On Sunday, we had a BBQ with Vicki, Yoyo and Mia.  Nutty and Mia had a great time playing together, and Rhys had a good time trying to keep up with them!