First Halloween Event!

Well, technically, this was not Evie's first Halloween event because she was around for Halloween last year and played her part, reluctantly, in the family Halloween costume plan as a baby roach. But she couldn't walk yet and also couldn't talk or say things like "Trick or Treat!" and "THANK YOU!!!" This year, she was actively involved in picking out her costumes (sort of) and she is old enough to 'get' Halloween. So, this morning we attended a Halloween parade and movie to kick off this most excellent of October holidays.

One of Evie's several costumes is a ladybug costume, which she was very eager to put on this morning. Here is the ladybug at home:
And admiring herself in the bathroom mirror. Shockingly, she allowed me to put the antenna on her AND she kept them on for the entire event. Plus, she let me put her hair in ponytails, which is also a first.
For weeks, she has been convinced that her trick or treating bucket is for the sandbox. Now she knows what it's REALLY for, although we haven't actually let her have any of the candy she got today due to lingering memories of what happened the one time that we let her have a lollipop.
Making our way to the Halloween Parade (I am 36 weeks pregnant in this picture):
The ladybug from behind.

Eagerly anticipating what is going to happen next!

Scared ladybug with her Daddy. Another dad was wearing a gorilla mask behind us and we also know from experience that Dad's (or Grandpa's)wearing masks fall into the 'very scary' category. So we moved away.

It didn't take long for Evie to figure out the whole Trick or Treat thing. Here she is with the big kids, saying 'Trick or Treat' on her own!

And finally, we went to the movie, which was The Wizard of Oz. We figured that Evie would be scared of a lot of it, but she actually only got anxious during the tornado scene and when the tin man showed up. She is not a fan of robots--they are part of the 'pretty scary' category-- and we had to coax her a little into believing that the tin man was a. not a robot and b.nice. She accepted our explanations and didn't even flinch when the flying monkeys came along, although she did say, "UH OH!" every time the Wicked Witch appeared.

Here, the brave ladybug gets ready for the movie:

It was a great morning out and a fun way to kick off several Halloween celebrations! Tomorrow we head to the LPO's Halloween themed children's concert. Fun!

A trip to Ikea

Today Evie had her first trip to Ikea. Jim expertly maneuvered the streets of London in our City Car and Evie and her bunny bear were VERY excited to load up into the giant shopping cart and hit the overwhelming-ness that is giant mass consumerism on a Saturday morning. Staying in the cart didn't last long, though, because Evie wanted to try out every single chair in the desk chairs section and then felt that it was important to be involved in the selection of a filing cabinet, which we didn't get. She was focused and thorough in her testing of the Ikea goods.
No bed was left untested either and a minor meltdown ensued when I finally insisted that she get back into the cart so that we could actually get to the section we came to visit. As usual, our trip to Ikea was filled with diversions and we ended up with way more stuff than we intended on getting. A bed, though, we made it home without (barely...Evie really wanted a 'big girl' bed, but we are planning to continue to enjoy her being trapped in her crib for as long as possible).
Oh the excitement that is the warehouse! By this point in the trip, I was actually sitting on the floor, but Evie was still full of energy and astonishment. Jim was off gathering all of our purchases. By the time you get to the warehouse part of Ikea, everyone has that 'been in Ikea for three hours and have to get out of here as soon as possible' look in their eyes.
But we all know that you can't just buy your stuff and leave Ikea. Oh no, there is always that ONE item that has to be collected at a different point and on a Saturday morning there are always about six million people ahead of you waiting for their one special collection item, too. So Evie and I ditched Jim and went to the merry-go-round outside. First she drove a pink Barbie car (she takes her driving very seriously):

Then she drove a London bus:

I am not very good with things that go around and around (motion sickness has plagued me late in life), so the merry-go-round only managed to kill about five minutes of the thirty or forty it took to get our special collection. Luckily there was a playground outside of Ikea, too, so we spent the rest of our extra time there. When Jim finally found us with all of our stuff, I didn't think we were going to be able to fit it all into our hatchback, but, using his master packing skills he made it work.

The drive home was a happy one (happy to be out of Ikea, happy to be going home, happy to be all together, happy that Jim can drive in London and we can do things like go to Ikea...but we definitely decided that our next driving outing is going to be OUTSIDE of London into the country or something).

And for Evie, it was nap time:

Jim's birthday (also belatedly)

Last year Jim's 34th birthday surprise party was a raucous affair, ending in major hangovers. This year, still slightly scarred by the experience, Jim requested no surprise parties and I banned all shots. Instead, we decided to go bowling and to dinner...a much more civilized celebration, as evidenced by what Jim was wearing (courtesy of David and Charlie):
Bowling while pregnant is no easy feat! I started out with two near strikes, but quickly descended into my usual bowling style and lost the first round by a pretty large margin. Then I spent our next round mostly gabbing and letting the pros bowl for me. My score improved dramatically! Jim and David, it turns out, were both on bowling teams when they were kids. I think I knew this, but I'm not sure...
The whole birthday bowling crew (plus two opportunity seeking guys in the background).
The beer goggles made the rounds. Jackie still looked pretty wearing them.
David was very excited to wear the birthday bowling outfit:

And Charlie looked very spy-like taking her last bowl in her trench coat. We got kicked out before we were finished because we were taking too long.
We finished the evening off with tasty tapas on Charlotte Street. Yum!
Jim, of course, couldn't resist the opportunity to wear his bouffant on the tube. We still haven't figured out how to deflate it an I'm sure it will end up on Evie's head at some point in the not too distant future. Happy Birthday, Jim!

A final day in Cornwall (belatedly)

On our last full day in Cornwall, Jim and I did a very short hike up the cliffs near our hotel before picking Evie up from Kids' Club. Needless to say, I was huffing and puffing, but it was still nice to get my heart rate up and take in the beautiful scenery.

The best part of the day, though, was definitely taking Evie to the beach. When the tide goes out at Mawgan Porth, it leaves about half a mile of beach and tide pools filled with fish and shells--the perfect place for splashing if you're three feet tall! What a happy girl she was!

Bye bye Cornwall. We'll miss you until we can visit again!

A Week in Cornwall--Part 2

Lucky for us, every evening from six to seven, the hotel had a kids' entertainment session. Sometimes they danced and twice there was a magician with balloons. Usually Evie enjoyed it and it gave us a chance to relax (sort of) before dinner.
Since we had a car, we spent a couple of the days we were there exploring other parts of Cornwall. We had visited St. Ives before, but only when it was cold and only for a few hours.
So we packed our beach gear and headed down the winding Cornwall roads. We were a little concerned when Evie started making noises similar to those she made prior to her bout of car sickness in Scotland, but then, much to our relief, she fell asleep instead of throwing up.

In St. Ives, we parked at the top of a very steep hill and took a shuttle bus down to the beach that we wanted to visit. To get to the beach, we walked through an alleyway filled with small galleries. St Ives is a beautiful town with several beaches and lots of cafes and galleries and boutique style shops. But we weren't there for shopping!
To fully enjoy the beach, we first had to get some food because some of us were getting very grumpy. Evie waited patiently for her chicken sandwich that she hardly touched.
Then she gobbled up her mint chocolate chip ice cream cone with much enthusiasm.
I reluctantly changed into my maternity bathing suit....

And then we finally headed to the beach, where Evie and Jim frolicked down below and I wrapped myself up in my sweater again and enjoyed the sunshine up on the sand.
The beach princess eventually wrapped herself up in her towel and came up to hang out with me for a little while.

After the beach, it was time for cream tea! But first a gaze at one of the many St. Ives harbors.

Scones:

Our next great Cornwall adventure was a visit to the Eden Project which is "an educational charity (charity number 1093070). We use exhibits, events, workshops and educational programmes to remind people of our dependence on, and connection to, the natural world"
If you want to check out their website it's www.edenproject.com.

The main attractions within the Eden Project are their two biodomes--a Mediterranean biodome and a Tropical biodome. They are pretty spectacular looking from the outside and even more impressive on the inside.

Evie checked out the biodomes through the Evie-level peep holes in the fence:
She smelled the flowers...

and observed the very cool sculptures in the Eden Project (but was a little scared of the giant bee sculpture)...

Posing in front of the Biodomes:
Inside the Mediterranean Biodome, there were many puddles in which to splash:

There were also many rocks on which to climb:
And more funky sculptures:

We got to sample some delicious tomatoes that had been grown in the dome. Yum!

The Tropical Biodome was very humid and tropical (obviously). It had a lookout tower high up in the treetops, but we didn't go up because we hadn't pre-booked tickets (and we wouldn't have been able to get up there with Evie in her stroller or been able to climb up all the stairs while hugely pregnant and have a fear of heights, respectively). So, we just stayed on the ground.
Evie enjoys a refreshing baobab fruit smoothie in a tropical bamboo hut:
Outside again, we passed a sculpture made of discarded electronics. This one sculpture represents the electronic waste that the typical person discards in a lifetime. Scary!
The final building we visited at the Eden project was what was known as "The Core." Inside was the ultimate fridge magnet collection!
Very important messages were imparted:

We watched a video about The Seed, a 70 ton sculpture which, after the roof of the building was removed, was lowered into the center of The Core with a giant crane.

Then we visited The Seed!!! It was very cool, actually.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day at the Eden Project and definitely recommend it if you're visiting Cornwall. What an environmental and architectural feat!
Only one day left in Cornwall...to be blogged about tomorrow!