Rob’s old friend from high school invited us over to his house for a BBQ and pool party on Saturday. Despite declaring “All done BBQ!” as we walked into the house (she was grumpy at being woken early from her nap) Evie went on to have a brilliant time.There were four of these boats and they were each equipped with water guns that drew from the pool — perfectly for water fights. Or, if you’re Evie, just chilling out and floating around the pool with your Daddy.The only reason she’s not in her Peppa Pig costume is that we’d already swam in our own pool that morning, so it was still hanging out to dry. Life’s tough for the Bean these days.Next up: time to work on her kicking skills.And then… Evie’s first lolly! As you can see, she was skeptical at first.But she soon got the hang out of it, and took herself off away from the table in case any of us decided to take it away from her.She kept saying, “It’s cold, Mummy!”Stay away from me and my lolly! How cheeky does she look in this picture?Let’s see that orange tongue, Evie!

Evie and her cousin Paige play a duet after dinner at Papa & Sue-Sue’s house…

Lori sent Evie mini versions of Elmo, Cookie Monster, and another Sesame Street character I’d never heard of, but whom Evie immediately identified as Zoe. After a long happy day of playing with them, Evie carefully tucked them in for a good night’s sleep. She told us “Shhh, Elmo’s sleeping” and then made “zzzzzz” sounds every time she walked by them.

For anyone who is 2, Peppa Pig Live is what dreams are made of … and today, for two little girls, dreams came true.  Chloe and Jessica had a day out to the theatre to see Peppa Pig Live.  Lunch first was full of lots of snorting noises and a tally up of who was wearing the most Peppa Pig gear… I think Chloe just won by flashing her Peppa Pig knickers at the end!

By the end of lunch two little girls were about to go pop with excitement!

Here is the most beautiful Jessica

And here is our gorgeous smiley Chloe

Not allowed to take photos in the theatre so could not capture their faces when the show started - totally captivated.  Jessica literally shook with excitment and I am not kidding you Chloe wept tears of pure happiness and laughed out loud all at the same time (this of course set Tash and I off who filled up just watching them!!) They loved every minute of the show - they clapped, sung along and joined in with the dances, just precious.

Just snuck a quick shot of them joinining in the dance at the end

A wonderful day full of happy memories that will be talked about for a long time.  Two very tired little girls left the theatre draped in merchandise and balloons, and smiles (that was after Chloe’s initial meltdown when she realised the show had finished and she despaired that Peppa hadn’t seen her wave and hadn’t noticed her T-Shirt!!!)

Just to prove that she won’t be outdone by Lucy and Joe, Evie decided to “help” me clean the patio door windows. Here’s Evie on one side of the window and me on the other… impressively clean, don’t you think? Though Evie seems to have spied a smudge up high that displeases her…And so she sets to some manic cleaning…At one point she paused, blew her nose on the paper towel, and kept going. Fortunately her nose-blowing skills are not advanced enough yet that anything actually comes out when she blows. Cheeky monkey!Here she pauses to admire her hard work…And while she was in the cleaning mood, she decided to give our patio table a bit of a wipe-down, too. Anyone want to hire her out…? Potential employers must be comfortable with partial nudity as this little merry maid refuses to wear clothes when she’s cleaning. Why ruin a perfectly good outfit, I suppose…

This Wednesday was Suzanne’s 1st official day as captain of Bushey Ladies Golf Club.  It was her “drive-in” …… Drinks all round served by her consort (Dr John!)Good luck from last years captain Suzanne leading everyone down to the 1st teeThe drive-in …. looks a pretty good swing to me! a very relieved Captain having got it down the fairway!!… and Dianne surprised her by turning up to witness the drive-in!No news on how far the drive went but understand Suzanne was quite pleased!! Good luck with your year Suzanne, and good luck with your consort duties John!!

Becky’s 1st Mothers Day with her little man!Dianne and Alex in their outdoor gear after a bit of gardening. (Rob - when do we get replacement T-shirts from the new business?!)I think this was watching the Grand Prix - or was it Man Utd vs Fulham?Getting ready for a walk to the shopsanother change of outfit!Twinnies getting in on the act

and a final change …PS Bex apologises that there were so few of anyone else and so many of her Alexander, but she did think he looked particularly gorgeous on the day, and she did want to show off the range of outfits he gets through in the course of one day!!

Moo was delighted to discover she had been given a bike to match Chloe’s for her birthday - as it was a little cold and late to go out on them, they settled for a quick birthday spin around the kitchen!

On your marks, get set ….

Go!

Chloe pretty chuffed that her feet finally reach the pedals, but actually working them out was another issue!

Evie was very excited to discover a Peppa Pig magazine and piggy bank in the mail the other day, and she very quickly got the hang of filling it with pennies. When Rob got in from work, the first thing she said to him was “More money!” Fortunately she hasn’t yet figured out that I just keep emptying the Peppa piggy bank so she can repost the same set of pennies…The next day a belated birthday present arrived — a ride-on ladybug! (Or ladybird, as her English cousins would call it.)Like any good 2-year-old, Evie was much more excited about the box it came in, of course…Also, a brand new Peppa Pig t-shirt had also just arrived in the mail, as you can see… thanks Muzzy!Evie decides that Lenny needs to try it out.A kiss for Lenny, just because:

Apologies in advance for the lack of baby or toddler photos in this series — we haven’t had Bring Your Daughter to Work Day yet! Here is Rob at work — in a suit!! — at his new office, with his company’s first employee Dennis (an old friend — and Baci-sitter — from Red Hook):They’re a bit worried that they might get booted from this room at any moment, as they seem to have accidentally been given the best office in the building, but in the meantime, they’re enjoying the view:If you look closely in the photo below (a view from Rob’s desk), you can see the white Hollywood sign in the hills at the back right!