Now back in Rhinecliffe NY with Emma Rob & Evie - Their house and garden are looking great!The view from their pool over the Hudson river. Emma & Rob had a Mexican Tamale party on Saturday night. All hands to the deck making the tamales (does it show that I was the only one not really knowing what I was doing!) Sit down meal for about 16.Lorelei turned up with special birthday cake for Rob and Emma. (its part hidden by Diannes flowers from the garden!) Played a round of golf on the local public course - great views - but I got hammered by Dianne so I wasn’t appreciating the views!A little rest in their front yard - Evie with her current favourite hat and with “all her guys” lined up on the chair! Then down to the waters edge with Evie … Dianne looking pretty good! and me trying to get the hang of the self timer.A little afternoon snack at Barnes & Noble with Evie looking cool in her shades! A visit to the renowned Burrito stand as a birthday treat for Emma! Check out Evie’s new hat!and a secret tete-a-tete with muzzie.A final drink on the porch .. watching the sunset over the Hudson.

The Bunts headed to Gerrards Cross for the Bank Holiday weekend. While the boys and Moo stayed at home to watch the football, Bex and I treated Chloe to her first cappacino a la costa or ”babychino” as its called - frothed warm milk with a sprinkling of chocolate and marshmallows …. Chloe was chuffed to bits to be part of the big girls outing!

Back home to 3 in a bath followed by story time with the Chief.

Next morning, I requested the pleasure of choosing an outfit for Alexander, and so he appeared in his new shirt bought by his cousins Chloe and Moo - what a dude!

Some play time with the cousins - miss you Evie xxx

Getting them all to look and smile at the same time proved to be impossible!

Moo just adores Alex, she kept crawling up to him and kissing him whenever she could. Here she introduces him to her favourite book and helps him find Iggle Piggles red blanket.

Impossible to narrow down the selection of photos from this day! Here Alex reads his book from Suzanne & John…And here Nan-nan enjoys her microwavable booties from the girls…Chloe checks out her fancy new keyboard from Muz and Granddad…Alex gets his first train, courtesy of the Bunts.Evie helps herself to the spicy guacamole, proving she truly is her father’s daughter…Heels!KMeggy Moo!Nan-nan cuddles the cutest little Father Christmas in town…Evie helps Nan-nan unwrap her toaster…The Pink Stinks team celebrates the fact that while we may throw like girls, we certainly don’t compete in sports trivia quizzes like girls…Princess Chloe!Rob leads us all in a Christmas sing-a-long on his uke…The lads get into the singing spirit… even a sober Christian:And, not surprisingly, the girls get even more into it…Happy Christmas everyone!

Off to Derbyshire this year at Granary Court, just outside Ashbourne - 9 cars loaded with food and drink.Lots of adult help with looking after the kiddies! Maybe an old fashioned technique from Nan-nan? Could this be a bit of wedding talk?? The newest Waylor!Eating seemed to be high on most peoples priority list … a bucketful of Muz’s Maccarone cheese went down well!.. and a girl always can find time to have her nails done! Then the ladies took off for a session in the hot tub what every well dressed girl wears for a hot tub session!Meanwhile the men took over kiddy duty … Christian and Megan James with Alexand Joe hangs out with the CaptainOf course the grab-bag game was popular … George and Tim seem interested in the box of old-fashioned sweets .Joe and Lucy well involved! seems George lost out to Bex! just time for some fireworks and the launch of Henry’s hot air balloonsbefore sitting down for “Christmas dinner”At the end of the weekend just half a dozen eggs and 3 jars of cranbery sauce unused, as well as a major contribution to the bottle recycling effort of Derbyshire. So a a toast to absent friends Emma Rob and Evie, but here’s to seeing them over in UK for Christmas proper and THE wedding of the year … GO EMILY & TIM!!

Christmas in October (in November) means golf and the 3rd annual Waylor Trophy played at Manor Golf Course.  Tensions ran high and nerves were raw as the young ‘uns set off first followed by the old ‘uns, with defending Champion John leading the way. Suzanne bravely managing only 8 holes before heading back with a stomach bug .. The stakes are higher as the Waylor trophy now means prizes …. and Dianne easily won nearest the pin (within 7 feet but then 3 putted!!) James Martinelli opened his shoulders and won longest drive but the winner with 36 points - james Wood!! congratulated by his old dad .. last years winner Doctor John

First of all, Nana Maureen came for a visit — here she and Evie pose conveniently in front of our brand new porch:

There were lots of other great photos of Maureen’s visit, but unfortunately Rob took a dip in the pool with that camera still in his pocket. So you’ll just have to imagine what a lovely time we had…

Then Bob and Susan visited from L.A., and while they were here, Niki (a.k.a. Auntie Nini) came up from the city. Clearly Nini will be the one to introduce Evie to stylish eyewear…

Bob and Niki join in with Evie’s incessant pointing…

And Rob attempts to teach Evie how to kick, as per her recent swimming lesson:

But Evie would much rather just be thrown up in the air…

And who could say no to a little girl who looks so sweet in her red cherry swimming costume?

These photos somehow slipped through the cracks. Here’s a lovely one of Malcolm, Dianne, Emma and Evie by the pool….

Here’s Evie managing to look super cool in her shades…

… even if it didn’t start out that way.

And one where we finally got the mini-hipster to take her shades off so as not to get corn flecks on them as she tucked into her first corn on the cob.

Where have the last two years gone?

The Bunts, Martinelli’s (and Jessica, of course) came over for a BBQ to celebrate our Chloe’s 2nd birthday.

Chloe was very excited by her first present from Nana and Papa - a set of golf clubs, so she can play golf with Muz and Dandad.  Uncle James gives Chloe some early tips…

Next up was the unveiling of the exciting present from the Martinelli’s and Tourtelots - Chloe’s kitchen - this proved an instant hit! (and for once, it isn’t pink!)

Chloe gets stuck in loading the dishwasher.

Having learnt twice this week that singing “Happy Birthday” to Chloe ends in tears, and having Chloe specifically say to me “want cake Mummy, but please don’t sing” -  we had a cake, with no singing, despite James’ best efforts - just you wait Martinelli, 3 months to go, and you’ll be in trouble!!!

Some appeared to enjoy the cake more than others!!!!

Meggy Moo took the whole day in her stride, and was just gorgeous as ever. She clearly found the whole present upwrapping quite dull..

But was soon quite intrigued, and grew to love her initiation to “this is the way the ladies ride”

Ahh, beautiful, happy, little girl.

A house full of new toys, but nothing beats dancing in the garden with Daddy and balloons.

Happy Birthday, beautiful Chloe.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EMILY AND TIM !!!!!!!

Although facebook was given exclusive first rights to the release of the official engagement photograph, Quince Orchard is proud to annouce the engagement of Emily and Tim.

Early rumours suggest a possible Christmas wedding at Sandhurst ….  in true twinnie fashion, mother of the bride Suzanne whooped excitedly on facebook yesterday at 4:27pm ”Wedding at Christmas, get out the glad rags and big hats.”

Keep your eyes peeled - more to follow on what will undoubtedly be the most talked about wedding of the year!

Dianne and I and the Martinellis invited to a Barbeque at the Bunts … and look closely, its not just sausages and burgers … no its altogether more sophisticated ! are they fancy kebabs I espy? Seems to have at least got the Martinelli seal of approval looks like someone couldn’t resist getting involved!Meanwhile Dianne eagerly waiting in the kitchen to tuck into the vino! which was probably why the subsequent Tango demonstration on the lawn wasn’t exactly perfect … check out the sultry Latino expression (but not sure it fits with the LAPD hoodie top borrowed from Christian)oh well, maybe we need to wait until next weeks lesson ..!meanwhile guess who were the 3 beautiful ladies who stayed out of the way of all that manly Barbeque activityTame stuff maybe by Aussie Barbie standards, but the beer flowed, and no question that the Bunts have certainly raised the bar on UK Barbie standards … great evening!!