Finally! Summer has arrived

It was the longest day of the year this Saturday, marking the start of summer, and finally it WAS summer. The sun was shining brightly and it was warm. Perfect! For the BBQ that we were hosting on Saturday. In fact, perfect for all the activities that we had over the weekend. Indeed it was a very busy weekend. And in anticipation, I had taken two days off from work to prepare for it LOL. Well, it was all work, I had taken a few hours off on Thursday and went to watch a movie with daddy (it's been a long time since we've watched a movie) – we went to see Sex and the City! LOVED it. Even Daddy liked it. Hehehe.

Friday was spent cooking like a manic. I managed to make :

For the BBQ:

• A huge pot of chilli (for chilli dogs)
• A spinach dip (marinated spinach (frozen that had been thawed and squeezed dry of water) with chopped spring onions, crème frache, boursin cream cheese (made of garlic and herbs) and a packet of dried vegetable soup mix (normally I use either mushroom or onion)

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• Marinated lots of chickn wings (marinate made up of garlic, ginger, crushed green peppercorn, chilli padi, turmeric powder, soya sauce and lime)
• Marinated chopped up vegetables such as onions, peppers and aubergine for a vegetable kabab (marinated with melted butter, lots of chopped cilantro, and freshly squeezed lime juice)
• Pavalova

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For meals for the rest of the week

• Lamb tagine

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• Moussaka (a typical Greek meal with eggplant)

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• Small pot of black sauced chicken wings for Bibou (she loves this)

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• Marinated a bag of pork chops for the freezer (so if ever we're stuck, we can always pull it out of the freezer and plonk it on the BBQ / in the oven for a quick meal. (marinate made up of onion, honey, light soya sauce, rice vinegar and rice wine)

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By the end of the afternoon, I got really tired of being in the kitchen, so took a break and went onto ironing instead J. I did continue making more food the next morning – made a batch of onion and brie tart, and my double chocolate chocolate brownies. I also skewered the vegetable kababs and got everything else ready. What a feast! We also had lots of salads (2 of our guests were vegetarians ergo the non-meat dishes for a BBQ). Daddy filled up the wheel barrow with lots of

ice and kept the drinks cool.

The pool actually wasn't out at first, however, when the guests, well, when the

LITTLE guests arrived and were so sad when they didn't see the pool that daddy pulled it out, pumped it up and filled it right out. The kids were all soooooooooo excited and didn't care that the water was cold. They just jumped right in and had a whale of a time, especially since they'd discovered the water pistols and were shooting everything they could find! I was pleased to see that Bibou was no longer scared of the splashing and in fact, jumped right in with everyone, kicking and splashing up a storm. What a difference a year makes! In fact, she loved the pool so much that even w

hen everyone left, she jumped right back into the pool. We had to drag her out of it as her lips were turning BLUE! That night, it was still all very bright at

past 10.30 pm!

The next day, we were off to the Jardin d'Acclimintation for the MESSAGE Father's Day picnic. Yes I know that Father's Day was the week before, however, because of the yucky weather, the event got cancelled. We managed to pack everything (we were bringing the gifts / name tags / guitar and the double stroller to transport everything!) into the car and off we went. The weather was very kind. It had rained and thunderstormed the night before and was slightly cloudy when we started, but it turned lovely for the event. I'd packed us a picnic (mostly left overs from the day b4 hahaha) though I didn't eat much. The event wasn't well organized though, and I stood there distributing the name tags and gifts for most of the time. The clown that had been organized came quite late, so by the time it came for Daddy to sing and play the guitar, most people had left already and Daddy was in a foul mood. But the kids that were there had a great time and sang along with Daddy. After the event, we packed up and went on over to 'the other side' where there were paying rides. Bibou had been waiting for this the whole day. And again, I was amazed at the difference a year makes. She was all so excited on the rides (maybe it is time to get to Disneyland again J). She really couldn't wait. The excitement in her eyes was enough for me … I didn't need to get on the ride to feel her thrills. And then, when N and B wanted to get on the roller coaster ride, Bibou wanted to go too. I thought that she was going to be scared, but nope! She had a great time (as you may be able to tell from the video …. Daddy couldn't get the video on her girls all the time as he was jostled everywhere LOL).

When we got back home though, we were just soo hot that everyone jumped right into the pool, which had warmed up significantly. Even Angel had fun. She totally enjoyed the splashing. What a great weekend!

Enjoy this batch of great photos and vidoes.

First video : Bibou and 'I' on the 'train' ride

Bibou and 'N' and Daddy on the roller coaster ride. She had lots of fun!




The three of them in the pool! Angel was actually quite afraid at first (probably 'coz the water was cold), but quickly warmed up (pun intended!). Same with the spinny thingy. She was whiny at first but soon got used to it and actually liked it!






They sure had LOTS of fun monkeying around....