Olympic Torch Relay 2012 (very photo heavy)

Today, the Olympic Torch Relay 2012 came through East Grinstead as part of its travels around the country before the Olympic Games start on 27 July.

 I was going to meet friends for a coffee before hand but by the time we got to Caffe Nero the queue was out the door and along the pavement and people were already starting to line the streets. We decided it might be a better idea to book our place on the pavement and have a coffee afterwards.

 We had a few people coming round to entertain the crowds while we waited for the torch to arrive - including this peep show box. I didn't actually see anyone go to look in it though.

 The crowds grew steadily. We got there at 9am and the torch wasn't due to get to the High Street until 10.30am.

 Doing some people watching :o)

 The Mayoress did a little walk about.

 Our little group :o)  Dad was walking past and stopped to join us in the wait.  

 Hugh and Max also walked into town and stood with us.

 The excitement was growing (and I have to say, all the children were so well behaved)

 More entertainment

 This chap on jump stilts was brilliant and bounced all over the road 

 He reminded me of Tigger in Winnie the Pooh

 Police riders came next

 followed by the torch relay bus

 more stilt walkers

 and finally, the torch!!

And, because I couldn't finish without some photos showing Alice and Claire, here are a few I took from Claire's facebook page.  She and Alice watched the relay as it came in to town (round the corner from where we were) with Claire's friend Rachele.

 Love this photo (and Alice xx)

 Look at that little smile!

 With Aunty Rachele

And as she was such a good girl, she got to eat her gold medal ;o)

This was definitely something that had to be done as we'll probably not see anything like it again in our life time.

xx 

Playing house

On Friday it was the Fischer Price house which had a lot of play time :)

 I love how all the people all lined up on the roof in this one :)

 Moving on to the other side of the roof - they then tend to slide down the side of the roof to get back to floor level ;o)

 Seeing her imaginative play develop is wonderful and she's just so much fun to be with.

We've now added a Fischer Price plane to our collection too - I'm sure it will be played with just as much as the other toys.

xx

Wheels on the Bus

Claire's internet wasn't working yesterday and she needed to do her online grocery shop, so she and Alice came round here to use my computer.

One of things Alice enjoys at the moment is children's songs - with Wheels on the Bus being one of her favourites.  

 I bought this Fischer Price bus for her a little while ago and she loves playing with it.  I have to say that Fischer Price are certainly the best toys and get played with over and over again. Alice loves being able to take the little people out and uses them in her imaginative play.

 We have the bus and the house (seen behind her with the lilac roof) at our house and  she plays with them all the time. We gave Alice the farm for her birthday and Claire has that at the flat, as well as the little Fischer Price garage.  Honestly, hours of fun! Can't recommend them enough.

 I just wish we could get more of the little people and some of their other toys here in the UK.

 I'll just have to keep looking :)
xx

Yesterday

This post was supposed to be called "Today" but blogger wouldn't let me write a post last night so it's "Yesterday" ;o)  

So, Yesterday ...

 ... Emily got her National Insurance Number from HM Revenue and Customs.  I have to admit this one knocked me a bit. Emily is my "baby" (as you all know) and will be turning 16 in September but I hadn't got round to thinking of her getting her NI number so this came out of the blue a bit - how did my "baby" get to be old enough to work already!!

Yesterday ...

 ... Alice and I made Chocolate Brownies.  Alice has been a little bit wary of my big Kenwood mixer the last couple of time we've baked so yesterday I made a point of picking her up so we could watch the mixer going round and mixing everything.  She loves "mixing" with a bowl and spoon and she likes watching things going round (eg. the washing machine) so letting her watch it start slowly and build up in speed certainly seemed to help and she was quite happy.  Needless to say, the best part is being able to lick the paddle and spatula afterwards :o)

 Look at that little face <3 

And by the time she'd finished licking them she needed a good wash and a change of clothes (oops, next time Grandma had better remember to put a bib on or buy a little apron for her to wear!)

The end results were quite delicious and have nearly all disappeared already!

Unfortunately the day ended on a not so good note when a tooth (which I've recently had a temporary filling put in) broke.  I will be phoning the dentists as soon as they open this morning to try and get an urgent appointment before the inside of my cheek is shredded!

xx

Still here

I've had a few comments from family members about it being time I updated the blog (if anyone is still looking at it!).  I'm afraid I'm battling to blog at the moment, life is quite busy with everyday goings on and by the time evening comes, I'm ready to sit and read a book or watch a TV programme I may have recorded.  I'll try to post more often but as we wind down towards summer, I'm not promising anything. 

Unfortunately, because I haven't been blogging, I also haven't been taking that many photos (and my Project Life album is suffering as a result). However, here are some photos from the last few weeks.

 Hugh turned 24 in June. I still find it amazing that I have a son that old as I can still remember bringing him home from the hospital!

 Kyle and Emma had a combined Engagement / Birthday party as they both turned 30 within a couple of weeks of each other.  It was a lovely afternoon where we got to meet Emma's side of the family as well.

And, as you many have guessed, this gorgeous little girl keeps me quite busy on the days she's here :)

 She's becoming a dab hand with my iPhone and iPad and has her own folder on each with the games she likes to play. She also knows exactly how to get in to Skype and look for Aunty Norma or Great Grandma to phone.  She loves getting people to answer but once she's seen them, she doesn't want to talk to them.  This also applies when she's at home with Mummy and decides she wants to phone me - once she knows I'm there she doesn't need to talk to me ;o)

 Alice came to sleep over on Saturday and I picked her up around lunch time. We had a dry spell when she and Grandpa could get out in the garden to run around for a while. So cute to watch her running up the garden :)

I haven't been reading or commenting on many blogs recently either but hope to get a chance to catch up with some reading over the next week.

Take care
xx