Off to Italy with Becky, James and Alexander for 5 super days of wining and dining, and meeting all James aunts, uncles and cousins (and showing off Alexander of course! Alex always available for food! and trying watermelon for the first time. Time for a nap so Nonna Martinelli works her magic!Meanwhile the girls play “thoughts & crosses” becky’s new game and the boys get a card school going! Off out for the local Saints Day celebration.Then a visit to Carlo’s sisters home .. I wonder why Becky’s looking so pleased with herself!!!Back home for a dip in the pool when the sun finally shone! Out for lunch overlooking the Tuscan hills! Alexander with a very proud Nonno Martinelli.and one final shot of Alex looking very pleased with himself at his latest “look no hands” trick.A fabulous “family” time in a beautiful part of Italy - Thanks Carlo and Caroline.

Just one last adorable pic of Alexander that I found on my camera when I downloaded for the first time in a while. Come back, Big Al, we miss you!

Bex and Alex drove over from Gerrards Cross  for day at QO with Chloe and Megan.  ”Row row row the boat” in the washing basket was popular! Then out with the tea-set.but not sure Alex understood the rules of the game.The hose pipe made a great water gun. Chloe quickly decided which side of the gun was best!and Muzzie gets it! a super day … and I dont know why Megan doesn’t feature anywhere. She was definitely around!

We seem to have been a bit lax in recent postings so here’s a bit of a random catch up …. starting way back with a party on Chloe’s birthday at Quince Orchard taking advantage of the beautiful weather. The beautiful birthday girl tackling her jigsaw present from Uncle Mark Her Snow White costume present from Emma, Rob & Evie proved very popular (although not sure where the hat came from!)and hows about the “stick horses” Muzzie made for the girls Chloe gets the hang of “riding” her horse Very exciting that for the first time, Bex drove over with Alexander Carlo the great I think he misses darling little Evie!and Meanwhile Megan discovers ice-creamMegan gets a bit too friendly with little Alex Chloe still in her favourite costumeAlex doesn’t quite get the hang of Megan’s stick horseChloe helps Muzzie with cooking the lunch .. whilst Alex investigates the photos in the lounge and Megan gets into mischief … again!Finally, a quick trip to the park … Alex on the swingand Chloe looking after her little sister …. ah bless!!

While Bex and Jim partied away at a wedding recently the Bunts headed to GX for the weekend to hang with Big Al. Al made it very clear that whilst everything else was fair game, the England ball was his and only his - and Moo was assigned to bring it to him at every opportunity, which she did, bless her.

In fact, the 2 became best buds and stuck together all weekend.  Here they are having a little drink break at the park. After an initial squabble over who would have which cup, Moo agreed that Al could use her purple cup snd she would use his blue.

Next they joined Chloe and Christian for a ride (together) on the see saw.

Then Al has a turn with me, which clearly was not as fun as Moo and Chloe!

Back home for some play in the garden (Moo and Al clearly find whatever Chloe is doing far more exciting that Christian taking a picture!)

And finally, 3 in a bath and then to bed.

You might have noticed that Big Al is even cuddlier since his trip to L.A…. particularly in the thigh area. And this photo explains it all — you’ll notice that I haven’t even sat down in my seat yet, and already Alex is reaching for a muffin. Which he very much enjoyed, for the record. Same goes for Evie’s pancakes! At least it was the all-you-can-eat brunch at the beach club, so I could go back for seconds…

To shake off the disappointment of the U.S-Ghana result, we took a trip to the park around the corner. It was Alex’s first experience with sand. And he didn’t try to eat it once — clearly a genius!Not quite as sure of the slide as he was on the swings… no tears, but we got the impression he was reserving judgment.Okay, Evie, now you’re just showing off…Working on her climbing skills.Meanwhile, you’ll never guess who’s still giggling away…And then, miracle of miracles, Evie agrees to share her sand toys!

These photos speak for themselves… I somehow managed to take about as many photos at the pool today as Rob did of the Sydney fireworks, so it was as much as I could do to edit the selection down to these!

Big Al arrived in L.A. in just as good a mood as he left London in… despite having napped for a total of 40 minutes on the 12-hour flight… and despite the fact that it was about 2am his time when we got back to our apartment in Westwood. He dug into dinner with Evie like a champ and then grinned his way through a bath…The next day, he caught up on a few zzz’s while the girls caught up on some shopping.Evie shows her little cousin how to build a “very very very tall tower.”Of course, it’s only a matter of time before she decides to pick it up and move it to the coffee table, where he can’t reach. Sorry Big Al, too slow this time!Al cheers on England.I came to the realization that I am purely a second-half football fan when kick-off is at 7am…If it’s not completely obvious, Evie is wailing, “My elbow! My elbow!”A little Peppa Pig on YouTube puts the world to right…ING-ER-LAND! (By the way, it must have been at least 90 degrees all day, and though Evie kept saying, “I very very hot,” she refused to remove the leg-warmers.)More bath-time together…Bex and Alex still hoping for a good result…Rob, feeling magnanimous after the dramatic U.S. win, consoles a little Italia fan.Fits of giggles on Evie’s tricycle put the world to right again…

Evie’s not always the cheeriest of souls when she’s just been rudely awakened from an afternoon nap. (And by “rudely awakened,” I mean that Rob played gentle ukelele songs to her for half an hour as she lay in the crib.) As you can see, she wasn’t hugely amused at my attempt to take a photo of her ragamuffin get-up.But then when we dared to suggest that this was a good time for a cousin photo op… Well, the first rule of the nap monster is, you don’t mess with the leg-warmers.And you absolutely definitely don’t attempt to mess with the Nap Monster’s Elmo…And don’t expect the Nap Monster to be grateful if you reach out with a friendly pat on the shoulder to cheer her up: