Here comes the ... pretty flower girl!

** UPDATE : Opps, Sorry, in my excitment, I forgot to mention that sweet 'aunty' Michelle also presented Bibou a beautiful swarovski necklace for being her flower girl! Bibou, who's wearing the necklace in this first photo, was absolutely delighted with her present and wears it regularly! We have to hide it sometimes, so to ensure that she doesn't loose it! Thanks aunty Michelle!

This is it! Finally the day that we've been waiting for, the day that Bibou has been waiting for so impatiently! She's been waiting excitedly for the longest time for this day, constantly talking about it to anyone and everyone she mets, telling them that she's going to be the 'flower girl' at Michelle's wedding. We've showed her the video from our wedding so that she knew what to expect (the very first time she saw the video, she was so quiet... she was stunned to see so many people she knew on TV!! And she couldn't help yelping out everytime she saw someone she knew.... "Look, it's mahmah!....oooohh, it's Grumps! LOOOOOOOOOK it's Mummy, like a princess" (she loves bridal dresses as they look like princesses to her)). We also found out from Michelle what the song was going to be when Bibou would walk in, and we got her to practice! At first, we were a little worried as Bibou, being so conscious and all, started walking like a duck! She was so anxious about doing such a good job that she ‘plodded’ purposefully, concentrating on each step and they were rather large steps! But it all turned out very well at the church as you can see in the video below. We were also worried (all for nothing of course!) that she would be too tired, or too excited or just won’t go down the aisle. But it went very well. I think that the fact that we’ve been seeing Michelle every day since our arrival helped as she adored being with Michelle (especially since she got to watch Telly all day there LOL). Yes, since we arrived, we were at Michelle’s place every day, to visit and also to help out whenever possible. Me, I cooked almost every day so to feed everyone! Though it was not easy being in someone else’s kitchen (even though it was HUGE and lovely to work in), I managed to churn out edible food hehehehe.


On Friday, which turned out to be nice in the end… no rain and it wasn’t too grey and sometimes we even had a bit of sun! I got myself ready and then Bibou. Lucky Bibou had 2 outfits to wear, the first was the outfit that would match the bride – red and white. Once we got her lovely outfit on, I plonked her on the chair and put some make up on her. She was really very very good! Had some blush and outline her eyebrows. She even stood rather still (as still as a never-can-be-still girl can be) for the mascara part! The only ‘problem’ was that her eyelashes were soooooooooooo long it kept smudging! Me thinks little Missy is gonna have some make-up problems when she grows up! Rub on some red lip gloss and my precious little girl became an even more gorgeous little princess! I didn’t do her hair as we were going to get Michelle’s hairdresser to do something, so I brought her up to the ‘big princess’ room. You should have seen the look on her face, she was first sooo proud to be all dressed up and having make up, and then she was sooo awed at the ‘bigger princess’ getting ready. Unfortunately, the bride and bridesmaid were so not ready so I had to leave Bibou with them, while I went back to Angel and Daddy (who was practicing hard!), got them ready and off we went to church. We didn’t need to rush though, they were soooooooooo late!! More than 45 minutes late. I was getting really impatient to see my little princess, and I was not disappointed. When they arrived, I had tears in my eyes, looking at my little girl. She was all demure, her hair in light curls (though I was a little disappointed with her hair, I think I could have done a better job), walking lightly and holding hands. She did an awesome job coming the aisle, though she’d stopped just a little too early and caused a slight ‘traffic’ jam LOL. During the 45 minutes service, Bibou had to stand with everyone up front. She did get a little restless (to stand still for 45 minutes for a little girl, let alone Bibou???), but Martin and Gina, the best man and bridesmaid did a fabulous job in keeping her entertained and they too told me that she was so good. During the registry, Daddy played “You look wonderful tonight’ wonderfully (sorry for the pun, couldn’t resist).

After the wedding, we all rushed back. We got Bibou changed into her other beautiful gown (we couldn’t use this as the ‘wedding dress’ as it wasn’t the right color). I changed her hair a little too, pining it up and putting in a tiara! Totally loved the look. We got to the ballroom, and realized that we’d missed the photo taking L and as they were running very late for the food, we had to rush into the hall where a light dinner was served. Bibou totally loved the magnificent dress that she had on, especially since it had a lovely ‘spin’ effect. She kept going onto the dance floor and ‘spinning’. After dinner, came the entertainment! Unfortunately, Angel was getting very very tired and cranky (no nap!), so I took her up while Bibou and Daddy continued. Apparently, Bibou danced all through the night with Daddy (I’m really sorry I missed that), she did very well, dancing on her own (many people apparently commented that she danced very well) and then in Daddy’s arms for the later part when she got tired. Daddy brought a very sleepy and tired girl up at around 11.30 pm (who crawled into bed, whimpered that she was tired and fell straight to sleep!). Daddy went down to continue partying, he got to sing a song with the band up stage and continued to jam with them through the night. He crawled into bed at around 3.00 am I’m sure. Everyone woke up late the next day! What a day!

The bridal walk with my precious.

Do the spin! She just loves any dresses that 'spins'!

Daddy's recital!

UK Visit

Finally! Our little vacation away with the kids. To minimize any screaming, moaning from bored, car-sick kids, we decided to travel during the late night so that they'd be sleeping throughout most of the travel. We left our home at 2.00 am, bundling the kids up still in their jammies and a warm blanket. I took the first 'leg', driving on the French side. From Antony to Calais, the journey took less than 3 hours and we arrived a little early at the Eurotunnel. We took our time to have toilet breaks and by then the kids had woken up too, so we got them out to stretch their legs and changed their clothes. There was a little telly tubbies ride and the girls were enjoying themselves while Daddy got some coffee and pain chocolate, when I looked and saw that it was time for us to get on the train!! We scrambled quickly to get into the car, pass customs and got on the train. Bibou was super impressed that our car was going into the train. She awed and wowed that we were going under water too! The tunnel crossing took about 35 minutes, during which Bibou and Daddy took a walk (mainly for bathroom breaks). Soon we’re on the other side already! Moving all our clocks 1 hour behind, we set off, Daddy taking the steering wheel, trying hard to remember to ‘keep to the left’ now… especially at round-abouts!! You KNOW that you’re in UK – the weather was just soooooooooo different! The temperature was a couple of degrees cooler and boy was it ever damp, constantly constantly grey! In fact, the weather throughout our trip was really quite dismal. And the worst part of it all was that I’d brought only light summery clothes for the girls and I. We were all wearing the same sweaters day in and out! And now that we’re back on this side of the channel, it’s been sunny and warm(ish! – we STILL haven’t gotten our heatwave yet this year). The damp weather, however, has taken its toll, and I'm now feeling under the weather again! (pun intended !!)

Anyway, so we set off. The girls, fortunately, went back to sleep! Obviously, we’d arrived in the UK rather early – and couldn’t check into the B&B that I’d booked. So we headed towards Windsor where we’d planned to spend the day visiting. We did arrive at the castle too early; doors only opened at 9.45 am (we arrived in Windsor at around 8.00 am!) so we wandered around and found a little café that served some nice hot tea (hot chocolate for Bibou) and scones and real clotted cream YUMMY! We also found this small little garden which had a hopskcotch game. Finally, we got into Windsor castle for our visit. It is huge and very impressive. I enjoyed the state apartment visit the best, though I couldn’t enjoy as much as I wanted to as Angel was tired and cranky by then (strollers were not allowed and she was all over the place). I had to rush through most of the rooms without listening to the audio guide. What was most interesting though was the St. George’s Hall, which is a huge, long hall (reminds me of the Hall of Mirrors at Chateau de Versailles). The beautifully timber roof ceiling was decorated with the coats of arms of past and present members of the order of the Garter (I had to look this up, but it is the English order of knighthood. On a whim, Daddy asked the custodian of that room if there were any D’Arcys … and there were! Two in fact… one, Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy who was actually beheaded due to high treason in 1538 (read all about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Darcy%2C_1st_Baron_Darcy_de_Darcy#cite_note-tudor-0). His coat of arms was blank as he was ‘fallen’ …as with all the knights that were fallen. The other Darcy was Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Chiche 1551, nothing interesting, just the name, but his coat of arms was on the wall and the background on it was the same as Daddy’s ring. All very interesting indeed! By this time, the kids were tired and hungry so we rushed out, in time to take a picture with the non-moving guard (and also to stare in astonishment at the huge queue to enter the castle) and then off to find some food. We found a pub (funnily enough :)) just across the castle, plonked ourselves down and had ourselves some very lovely fish and chips. Daddy had his very first pint of Guinness which the girls all wanted to try also (Angel liked it!!!)

After lunch, it was finally time for us to check into our B&B, which is a farm. It was a very quaint sweet little place, all full with lovely animals – a horse, a pony (named Woody), 2 dogs, (Bonnie and China), a rabbit, 2 guinea pigs and some cats. The girls totally enjoyed themselves! And Bibou couldn’t wait to ride the pony. When our lovely landlady had some time, she saddled Woody up and let Bibou have a go… She was sooo happy and proud, … she even got to trot!!

I love these photos that I took of the kids in the car. They were really quite good (I guess I was so worried about the traveling that I was expecting the worst). Bibou, as usual, is always 'scared' about being in the car as she gets terribly car sick, so we 'drug' her up - we give her some 'nasuicalm' which is a French travel sickness medication for kids. Works like a charm. In any case, most of our car journeys are long - at least 1/2 hour and because the days were really long and tiring, the kids are often fast asleep once they get into the car.

Videos

Bibou on Woody the pony, with Marian, the owner of the B&B we stayed at.

Bibou trotting for the first time! It was funny... esp when her helmet kept falling down her face ;)

This is the sweetest pony in the world, Woody and he even comes when you call him!

The best thing about the farm were all the animals. Here's Bonnie with the girls. Even Angel was just thrilled about playing with her.

ne more lovely day with the Molas before our vacation

Yup, we had so much fun the day before that we wanted to see the Molas again… so they came over for one last BBQ before we leave. We’d also invited another family whom we’ve just met through my good friend JP! They have the cutest little girl named Lia (I’ve put up a link to her own website in our links section on the right). She’s 22 months old and cute as a button. She talks a mile a minute in a little sweet voice. And even when she was tired (at the end of a very long and exciting day for her), there was no temper tantrums or crying (gosh, can I trade her) and obligingly said ‘au revoir’ to everyone as requested by her papa! She loves to swim and took to the (very cold water) pool like a fish. She dunks her head in the water and splashes around. Apparently her Daddy takes her to the pool every weekend. That’s why! Really put the older kids to shame. Lia and Angel were cute together, as they attempted to jump on the trampoline together. It was the first time jumping… they did really well. There is a video below that I’d taken of them. What stands out in the video is the difference between the two girls. Angel at 15 months looks like a sumo next to petit 22 months Lia.

The Molas’ as usual, helped put up a gorgeous BBQ. We had a delicious meal. After Angel’s nap that afternoon, Daddy put on a fresh diaper and changed her clothes. He pulled out an outfit that was soooooooo sweet! You’ll see it in the photos below; the skirt is actually one of Bibous!! The waist fits Angel perfectly (oh my!! – it IS elastic though and she had a diaper on), and it allowed a lovely long length like it was a full skirt. I liked it… hehehehe.

Well, that was mainly what we were put to before our trip. Next, I’ve gotta organize the pic and videos so that I can blog about our trip next!!

Here's chunky Angel and petite Lia first time on the trampoline. Angel's less than 15 months here in this video whereas Lia is 22 months!

I absoluately love this item that Daddy and Bibou do most perfectly! It's called the Elephant song.

Day trip with Molas to Jardin d'Acclimintation

Friday started out quite well! Bibou woke up in such a good mood. And she decided that she was going to dress herself up before going downstairs. And boy not only did she dress herself up, she did it really well! The outfit you see in the photos were all picked out by her and dressed ‘all by self’ as she proudly claimed! It also turned out to be really lovely day, despite what the weather man had previously forecasted! Wahoo. So we called our dear friends the Molas to see if they would like to do anything. We decided to hook up at the Jardin d’Acclimintation after lunch and boy was Bibou all excited about seeing Emma and Kealan! As it was a public holiday, the queues to get in were rather long and so we started to queue up, though Bibou had to go to the bathroom really baddddddddd. Daddy managed to persuade the ‘guard’ to let him and Bibou in while I continued queuing to get the tickets for all of us, including the Molas. Finally we’re in and great timing, the Molas’ turned up! The kids were just all so excited to see each other and then off we went. The first thing we chanced upon were the trampolines, and the kids all wanted to get on it! So off they went. Bibou jumped and jumped and jumped, and to think that only 2 months ago, at the very same place, she didn’t even want go near it, let alone jump on it. She was too afraid then. Now, she didn’t hesitate at all; she just jumped up and down at the cashier saying she wanted to get on! And when we paid up and she got on (it’s great, every kid gets their own ‘designated trampoline’ for 7 minutes so they could jump at their own pace safely (though I was fuming mad at the end, when Bibou was getting off; the next kid who was a much older boy just jumped right in and started jumping hard before Bibou could get off, she almost fell! And the Mom didn’t do anything about it! Idiots! You can tell from the video below how much fun she had.

As we walked along, we came upon a big playground / climbing structure. This was mostly for the ‘older’ kids, aged above 10 years old, as there was a huge climbing structure in the middle that looked most scary. But you know Bibou, first she just LOVES to climb; she can’t go past any thing without climbing it – a gate, a table, anything! And of course, if her friends were on the structure, by golly she’s certainly going on it. She got on confidentially and was climbing like a monkey. She did got stuck in a few places, but Daddy always managed to instruct and encourage her out of it. Funnily though, she still wouldn’t go down the slides, despite it not being too high nor steep. It was weird….

Anyway, off we went to the next adventure. Well, first we had some ice cream :)…. Then the kids really really wanted to go pony riding (they’ve not stopped asking nor talked about it. Bibou remembered the ride from the last time and was just so excited!). There was, however, a really long queue, but Bibou waited so patiently in line. Not a peep, nor question on why we had to wait nor even complaining about queuing! I was simply globsmacked! Soon it was their turn and the kids got on and off we went on a little tour (it wasn’t really long, but the kids totally enjoyed it!).

After a long walk around, visiting the animals and birds (and having Angel simply amusing everyone around her, she’s just so cute and entertaining), we finally got on the rides part. This was what Bibou’s been waiting for, and off they went. I even joined Bibou on a number of the fast roller coaster rides. Bibou was so not afraid, and just had a ball of a time. She even loved the ‘boat’ ride that went round and round VERY quickly. Hmm, me thinks perhaps it may be time for Disneyland soon.

Quick lunch before our RDV... Angel saying yes to water and drinking it!

Bibou on the trampoline!

Bibou on the big roller coaster.

Here's Bibou on the very fast 'boat' spin that she wasn't scared (or sick!) at all. I was just amazed.

Growl! A roaring trip to the Feline Park (Parc de Felins)

Well, after the rather disappointing trip to the zoo the day before (plus Bibou commented that she didn’t get to feed the animals, which was true of course, since you can’t feed the animals at the zoo), I went on a manic hunt for a good place to visit where you can also feed the animals. So I went onto the MESSAGE website to do a search, and chance upon an old post about the Parc de felins and it sounded really interesting. Plus it was posted by a good friend of ours, Ami, so I called her up to ask about it. Happy chance it was, she too was cranking her head for a good place to visit too with her 3 kids. And it had been a good few years for them since they’d been, and definitely not at this new ‘venue’ (the park has moved). So we quickly made plans, I went off to make a big picnic for us (some pasta, carrot, ham and cheese salad) and we stopped at the bakery to buy some baguettes and pate. It was a good 45 minutes drive and the kids fell asleep for a little nap, which was great as they needed it! We arrived just about the same time as Ami and her three kids arrived. What great timing! Yah. We woke the kids up and set up for the picnic. The 4 kids were just great together; Theo and Loic were quite ‘grown’ up, and did a wonderful job of keeping an eye out for the younger ones, especially Angel. They were just so sweet with her, playing with her, walking with her, holding hands, talking to her etc! I was just so impressed by them. Bibou and her ‘good friend’ Isabelle were just inseparable all day! I loved it when were said that we wanted to take a photo for them together, they’d immediately, without any prompting, put their hands across the other’s shoulders. You KNOW they’ve done this before!! Anyway, after the picnic and pee-pee breaks, we all were ready for our walk! The park is not like a zoo, where you walk past exhibits. The park actually covers an area of about 60 hectares and has different paths with ‘enclosures’. And there are no other animals except cats…different types of cats. It’s actually a breeding center for cats that are close to extinction. The enclosures are closely built to the environmental conditions for each ‘type’ of cat. It’s really like a looooong walk in the woods where you stop and see the animals! There were different ‘paths’ – European, America, Asian and African. We covered all but the America ones as by then, we’d walked like about 3- 4 hours! There were just so many stunningly beautiful and elegant cats, such as the leopards, panthers, lions, tigers, cheetahs, lynxes etc. There was even a white tiger! Unfortunately, most of them were sleeping though, as it was ‘siesta’ time. We did chance upon the enclosure of tigers where the two tigers were pacing. That was intense! After the three circuits, we stopped by a little ‘info booth’ where the kids asked a couple of questions. We found out that for the big(ger) cats, they were thrown freshly dead whole carcass of meat! Sometimes, they were also given whole live chickens and other similar animals so that they were on the ‘hunt’.

After that, the kids were all excited ‘coz it was time to go feed the goats! We’d bought a bag of popcorn (sold at the entrance!) so the kids could feed them. Unfortunately, those goats are really really pushy! They really charge at the kids, and poor Bibou got so scared that she tried to run away and tripped and fell! Ai. That didn’t go down well! But after some comfort, she wanted to go in again, though she was very cautious! She did enjoy feeding and petting the goats in the end, and so did Angel too!

All in all, a really enjoyable, educational and fun day. And tiring too, the kids were all fast asleep as soon as we got in!

Some movies that we'd taken :

Here's Angel watching the tiger with Theo helping her along.

Angel's first time touching a goat!

The girls with the goats!

Finally, just prior to returning, Bibou wasn't too afraid of feeding the goats.