FINALLY, our big UK trip. The girls were told that we were going up to see Aunty Michelle. And Bibou kept asking when we’d be there! Finally the day arrived. That night, the girls went to bed, warmly wrapped in warm pjs and were told that we were going to wake them up in the middle of the night for our car trip. At around 1.30 am, we got up and got the car loaded. As we were doing that, our neighbors came back from their super long vacation trip! What a coincidence! They wished us (longingly) a ‘bon vacance’ and lamented the fact that they had to go back to work the next day! Then we went in and got the girls. Daddy
woke Bibou up first and as I reached down to pick Seraphine up, she woke up herself (she’s a light sleeper as compared to Bibou), got up and said to me ‘car, Mummy?’. I didn’t think she remembered but she did. She loves riding in the car. Once the girls were all bundled up nicely in the car, with blankets and pillows, off we went. The drive went smoothly. Me taking the ‘french’ side – that took 
us less than 3 hours to get to Calais. The train ride was about 30 minutes and then Daddy took over. It was about 2 hours to get to Michelle and Luke, who were nicely waiting for us already. They live in a lovely area, all the houses were new and they have this wonderful park just across the street (which came in handy. The girls loved the park there and one day, Aunty Michelle taught Bibou how to swing on
the swing on her own. She did it and was sooo proud!! ). The girls were so happy to see Michelle and Luke… jumping all over them. Bibou wanted to tell them all about her trip. We got settled in, bringing with us all the gifts for them. Then us girlies went for our girls outing – shopping where else??!! Michelle brought me to Costco… I LOVE Costco. Why can’t we
have it here? Bought TONS, but Saved a lot too. The prices were just incredible. As an example, I came back to check that a pack of 12 Brita water filers cost about €56, I paid like 13 pounds!! Loved it. Then we went to Morrisons and also a Chinese supermarket. Oh I had loads of fun. 
Anyway, we also managed to get some activities done that week. One trip we took with Michelle and Luke was to Beaulieu. Actually, Daddy really wanted to go to the beach, but 
when we got to the highway, it was jammed packed! Looks like EVERYONE had the same idea (it was a really gorgeous hot, bright and clear day). In the end, we agreed to stop off somewhere else. We pulled out at New Forest. Boy was I glad we did. It was gorgeous. And the most wonderful thing about it was that there were loads of wild ponies roaming around. As we drove 
around looking for a place to have lunch, the Bibou woke up and I pointed out the ponies to her. She was all excited. We stopped at a pub/ lunch place and had a quick lunch and then moved on to a near
by town to stop and admire. On our way, we passed by this group of ponies grazing in a quiet spot, and we couldn’t’ resist stopping. So we did. Daddy carried the girls (one at a time) to see the ponies. They weren’t afraid of us at all.. just continued grazing and chewing. Daddy an
d Bibou even managed to touch one of them. I was taking photos and videos with my camera and wasn’t paying much attention to them, until one of them approached me. I was wearing his blue sundress, so he must have thought
that I was this big, fat, juicy blueberry or something, ‘coz he came right up to me and bite me in the tummy! Ouch! It was quite a nip! I wasn’t bleeding or anything, but it did give me a bruise… and gave everyone a big
laugh! Anyway, we first stopped at a place called Beaulieu. And it was true to its name (in French – beautiful place). The site that greeted us was breathtaking as you can see from these photos. Gorgeous picturesque place. It was just amazing to see the wild horses (and cows) roaming everywhere. They weren't afraid of cars, humans etc, though the cars all gave way to the animals. Most of the horses, however,
wouldn't let us near them nor touch them. (so i guess the little nipper was an exception!). 
gular workshops where the children could touch and handle little animals. We got there and bought a bag of feed. There were lots of animals to feed! There were llamas, angora sheeps, goats, cows! The girls totally enjoyed it; reaching out their hands towards them, calling them and having the thrill of them licking the feed off their tiny hands. It was time for the first workshop, t
he little bunnies. They re really well organized. Two rows of benches, and the kids, orderly queued up, sat down. They were given a little carpet to put on their wee laps and were taught how to handle the bunnies. Then excitedly they received the bunnies on their laps. They were so pleased! The sweet little bunnies were so docile, allowing the children to pet and hold them. I have to admit that I w
as surprised to see that our girls were really gentle with the bunnies, not mishandling them at all. Especially Seraphine; she was hold the bunny really tenderly. Another workshop that we went to was for little chicks. Just like the bunnies, the children sat on 2 benches and were given a little basket on their laps (chicks tend to move quickly!). Again, Bibou and Seraphine were super kind with the chicks, handling them tenderly. Bibou said that the chicks were really soft! Really fun day out. They had a huge playground 
with a massive slide, a hay stack area and the girls even learnt how to milk a cow… it wasn't a real cow, but it sure looked like fun! We were also lucky to have spent a day in London with the G
ohs. Oh what a yummy day it was! We met up in their gorgeous, gorgeous townhouse in Kensington and then went for Lunch at Goldmine (the chef had moved there from Four Seasons. Oh mi gosh, the most succulent roasted duck I’ve ever tasted. They also had daily soup and gasp their chilli oil was heaven,heaven, heaven. I must have eaten like 3 bowls of rice with that chilli oil. I admit 
that I overdosed on it. If you were on High Street Kensington that afternoon, you would have noticed a women who kept running back and forth from the WHSmith 
bookstore where she was TRYING to buy some books and the Starbucks next door that had a bathroom. Groan. However, did I learn my lesson? Of course not. Dinner was at Kaisu, again on Bayswater, a Singaporean restaurant. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. I practically ordered almost 
everything on the menu. Laksa, oyster omelets, beef hor fun, satay, curry puff, carrot cake, golly I’m hungry again. It was oh so good, oh so oily and oh so spicy. Yes, needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night. Bad tummy. But have to say, it was all worth it.First glimpse of the ponies from the car:
The friendly pony that came to say hello :
The girls with the rabbit at Finkley Farm:
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