We're still here!

Wow, 2 weeks.. it's obviously been a busy time. Firstly I was away in Banglasdesh again last week, that was just work, work, work, but we did get chance to test out my new laptop, using Skype to chat with Olga and Lara. Lara's getting good at grasping the concept ("Make Papa big, Mama" meaning show the webam pic full screen, for example) and understands that it's almost as good as me being there, and she can show me her new toys, or a new dance she's learned. Seeing as she knew I'd been away, I did feel I ought to buy her a present when I came back, so I spent most of my 2 hour stop in Dubai on the way back finding her something. She's just started watching the Toy Story films, so I found her a big, cuddly Buzz Lightyear:

She knew straight away who it was when I brought him home, although she called him "Robot" to start with, but now he's "My Buzz". He's big, around 2 feet tall, and she insists on going to bed with him, but we have to move him out of the way before we go to sleep or he'll wake her up anytime she rolls over. 
Then it was Bank Holiday weekend, with LGCC losing their last game of the season, and me finishing the way I started the season, with a duck, but with an overall batting average of 34.5 runs, with a bonus 8 wickets and 10 catches on the side.
On Sunday afternoon we went over to Anton and Becca's house for a party, and Lara had a great time playing with Eve and Tess, and demolishing sweetcorn cobbs.
Yesterday we went to the Sea Life London Aquarium on the South Bank.  Olga and I had been before, but Lara loved seeing the fish, and even touched a starfish (she was allowed to!). She was kind enough to have a 90 minute nap whilst we popped to the pub for a bite to eat and a drink, then as we headed to the tube station, walking past Trafalgar Square, Lara saw the lion statues and waterfalls and we had to go for a closer look.


Sorry the photos are shakey but I wasn't allowed to use the flash in the aquarium

Another Sunday walk

After the heavy rain of yesterday that caused our cricket match to be abandoned without a ball being bowled (lucky for Denham, our opposition!), today the weather has been warm and dry. We went out for a walk at Dorney Lake, the venue for the 2012 Olympic rowing, and I'll be firing up the barbeque in the back garden once I finish this post. Here is an updated webalbum for August:

Ahhh, gay Pahreee!

I put "Paris" into Google tonight and this was the #1 image returned, so I'll use it to represent the wonderful city. Olga is off there tomorrow morning on the first Eurostar of the day to meet a friend of hers from Lesnoy. She's coming back on the last train on Wednesday, so it's only a quick trip, but Olga's very excited about it. Their hotel is close to the Tour Montparnasse, so they'll be going up there to the observation deck, apparently it's better than that fake Blackpool Tower they have. Tonight we've spent 20 minutes going over some essential phrases she might need, such as "I don't speak French", "I'm married", "Leave me alone", "A bottle of house red, please" and "Please stop trying to surrender, I'm not invading".  I've tried getting across to her that now she's British, she should understand that "we hate the French, we fight wars against them. Did all those men die in vain on the fields of Agincourt? Was the man who burnt Joan of Arc simply wasting good matches?" but she still wants to go.
So, we're leaving at 4am to drive to St Pancreas (sic) for her 5.25 train. Bon chance et bon voyage!

A Riverside Walk

On Sunday we decided that no matter what, we would go for a long walk with the boys, we've hardly done this at all since Luda was here, and it seemed time to correct that. We parked up at Bourne End station and walked along the Thames Path to Cookham and then onto Maidenhead. Lara walked (well, trotted) the first mile to Cookham, where the path is through open fields along the riverside where we could keep a close eye on her, and she loved it, always trying to catch whomever (whoever?) was out in front. At Cookham we stopped for a picnic and took some photos, then Lara was happy to climb in the backpack carrier and we walked the next 4.5 miles along the Thames path to Maidenhead, and on to the railway station there. Lara napped for 30 minutes en route, but was really happy to be on the train, whilst the boys were just glad of a lie down. We took a quick detour once back in Bourne End to the Bounty pub, which is right on the river, for a quick refresher before going home for tea. The outing took five and a half hours and everyone really enjoyed it. It made a nice change to do a flat walk, as most of the longer walks near home involve hills. And Lara's not getting any lighter when she's in that carrier! She did make us laugh when we first set off from Bourne End car park, she was in the carrier for the first 5 minutes as it was raining lightly, and we had her waterproof cover over the carrier - she was pretending that she was in her domik and she was looking out of the windows. As soon as we crossed the river the rain stopped and the sun came out and the weather was lovely. Must be a Berkshire (South of the river) thing!
It's a real shame we can't let the boys off the lead on a walk like that, we saw so many other walkers with their dogs off-lead, but it's really not worth the hassle of trying to prevent them from running off and playing with every dog that comes along (or worse if it's a pretty lady-dog!). Mishka on his own might be OK, but Jackson is just too hyper and once he starts with other dogs, it just sets Mishka off too. Oh well, one day, when they're much older, we might be able to let them off....

My Birthday Party

Last week was very busy at work, and I didn't get chance to look at the photos from my party last Saturday. It was a great day, the sun shone most of the time, it certainly didn't rain, and I got our new barbeque assembled in the nick of time. Lara, Eve and Tess seemed to have a great time playing, and I don't recall there being any tantrums either. Lara stayed up long enough to wave off those of us who went down into High Wycombe at 9.30, but this didn't stop her from waking up at her normal 7.30ish the next day :-(

Here are the pick of our photos....