How we celebrated Søren turning two!

It's now a week since Master Søren turned two - here are some pictures and a little update on his second year! His party is done and dusted (I'm very over icing, cake and all things sea creature at the moment)  and I've finally had time to put together a post about his birthday celebrations. There will be (of course) many pictures to come from the birthday party, but for now here is how we celebrated the big day (on the day).........

Recently, Søren has really gotten into birthdays.  For past couple of weeks we've been asking him whose having a b birthday next and he always answers proudly 'me!' and then pretends to blow out candles!  Despite his excitement level the night before, Søren managed to sleep in until at lest 7.15am and when I went down to fetch him from his cot, he was all smiles and giggles.

As he was born at 8:00am exactly he was technically still one, so when I asked him how old he was he proudly held up his 1 finger! The rest of the day he did tell us he was now two....

Birthday or not, it was very definitely time for milk and cuddles before the large pile of presents was spied.

I had piled the presents from us and Astrid up on the kids chair the night before. Søren figured out pretty quickly that they were for him.  Last Christmas he was still pretty unsure about the present opening thing (he was only 14 months old though!).  This time around though, he was straight into it. After a quick check with Mum and Dad to make sure he really was allowed to rip the paper open, the presents were quickly pounced upon.  Mostly to shouts of 'rip, rip' by Søren. Astrid looked a little disappointed that she was no longer needed to help him open all his presents, as it's pretty much her favourite job!

It was very difficult to get Søren to concentrate on breakfast with all the new things to play with.  Wearing a dinosaur tail and building duplo seemed far more important than breakfast but we did have plans for the morning.

Despite it being cool, Søren insisted on wearing his new fox shorts, and we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa's for a play and more present opening.  I had suggested that Søren might like a balance bike as he is always trying to steal his big sisters (which is way too big).  At first the excitement of a card and a very large box was enough. Unsurprisingly the balance bike became the hit present of the day.  Helping Grandpa put it together kept Søren amused until it was time to head to the adventure playground for morning tea.

Both Astrid and Søren adore the adventure playground, so it seemed like a good location for some birthday fun and some cake.  Granny joined us for the morning and we had a play while Grandma (aka Lorraine) fetched the adults some coffee - it was still cold!, and we waited for Anto to escape work.  Søren, now let loose with his new possession, was keen to give it a spin.  It didn't take him too long to figure it out either!

Astrid was more than happy to slide, flying fox and get pushed on the roundabout, but we weren't getting Søren off that bike for love nor money!

Eventually, Anto turned up (as did our coffees) and we had a picnic morning tea of fruit salad, cheese and birthday cupcakes.  With a tonne of birthday baking for the upcoming party I had let the kids loose on the cupcakes for the morning tea, and they had decorated them with raspberry icing, half a kilo of sprinkles and sugar dinosaurs!  Søren looked slightly perplexed as to why we were all singing to him.........

But he definitely knew what to do with the candles, and the cake!

It was soon time to bid farewell to Dad (who had to get some work done).  First though  Søren had to show Dad his new ride!

Normally cake is Søren's favourite thing. Such was his love of his new bike that it he would do ride by's for the odd bike of cake, not letting the bike out of his sight. We eventually convinced him to have a play on the equipment and slide, but Granny had to dutifully carry his bike around so it was never far from his sight.

Much to his annoyance (and not before a crash that resulted in yet another skinned knee) we had to drag Søren and his bike home for a nap.  I'm somewhat surprised he didn't demand it went in his cot with him!

After his sleep, Søren awoke to another pile of presents (courtesy of Granny, Nan & Pa and Aunts and Uncles).  He was straight into the opening.......  The books and large red puzzle dinosaur were a hit.  Anto got the joy of putting that one together!

The afternoon was spent playing with all his presents from the day.... let loose on duplo and dinosaur tails he even forgot about the bike temporarily.

It wouldn't be a birthday without dinner out. The kids favourite local restaurant is Kusina, a Filipino restaurant that we seem to end up at for pretty much every birthday dinner! The food is great and the kids love it so it's always a winner with us.   Søren was all of a sudden looking so grown up and very cute.....

A feast was had by all..... there is never a shortage of food, and it was tasty as always.  The kids finished their meal off with their kids meal icecream but the adults were too stuffed to even contemplate dessert (one day I'll actually have room to try one of their desserts!).

It was kiddy bedtime, but before the days festivities there was time from one last present from Uncle Mikl.  Master Søren did seem impressed with headphones, hopefully they will keep him entertained on the long flights and train trips over December and January!

A tired but happy two year old did not take long to go to sleep that night.  We were wondering if the next day, being a regular day without presents and cake, would be a let-down. Seemingly a few days of non-stop baking (and taste-testing), bike riding and party preparation made the first week of being two pretty good!

Favourite Photo Friday - 16/1/15

This week it's a few of my favourite photos I took the other day in the paddock near our house. We often take the alpacas for a wander there on our daily walk,  to let them graze, and let the kids have some fun outside.

Astrid has been riding her new bike down to the paddock, most days.  The bike is currently in balance bike mode, and she hasn't been doing too badly with it.  Anto has convinced her that wheelies are a good thing to practice....... I'm not sure that is a good idea!

Meanwhile, Søren loves to sit under the tree and watch the alpacas graze. He is not a huge fan of keeping his hat on, but Astrid was just as bad at the same age!  He is also a fan of eating sticks, dirt and leaves. Luckily a biscuit can be a good distraction.

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 400 focal length 70mm

Exposure: 1/3200 @ f3.5

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 125 focal length 70mm

Exposure: 1/250 @ f3.5

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 125 focal length 70mm

Exposure: 1/250 @ f3.5

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 125 focal length 70mm

Exposure: 1/250 @ f3.5

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 125 focal length 40mm

Exposure: 1/1000 @ f3.2

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 125 focal length 40mm

Exposure: 1/250 @ f2.8

Favourite Photo Friday 26/12/14

It's Friday, it's Boxing day........ thought I'd better post some Christmas photos for this weeks photo Friday.  I might have taken over 400 photos yesterday and I have only just got them off the camera (oh for a camera with wifi). I did quickly pick these cuties out to share.  Astrid and Søren had a pretty good day.......

Søren was pretty happy Christmas morning - 14 months.......

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 400 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/160 @ f1.8

Astrid playing with her Belgian lace parasol (from Granny and Gramps) - 3.5 years

D7000 with Nikon 35-70mm f2.8

ISO 1000 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/500 @ f3.2

Søren thought this Christmas caper was a bit alright!

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 400 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/400 @ f1.8

Astrid got her first bike.........

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 400 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/2000 @ f3.2 

Søren enjoying his breakfast of chocolate panettone french toast.......

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 800 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/125 @ f2.0

Astrid's turkey face (the child is addicted to turkey and we had an 8.5kg one for lunch)......

D7000 with Nikon 35mm f1.8G

ISO 1600 focal length 35mm

Exposure: 1/200 @ f2.5

On our bikes......

Regular blog readers might recall that while in Paris we did a bike tour of Versailles.  It was Astrid's first time on a bike (and my return to a bike after a very long hiatus) and we all had a ball.  It was a full day tour and Astrid had never been in a bike seat before and it was a bit of a risk taking her out all day but she loved it. You can read all about our Versailles bike adventure here.

For Christmas Astrid's Grandparents thought they would get her a seat to go on Anto's mountain bike so she could go for rides with us.  We have only just gotten around to actually getting the seat, however!  Better late than never though. Once the seat had arrived and Anto had installed it, we promised Astrid a ride.

First we had to go out and get her a helmet. We ended up with a Dora the Explorer helmet as that was the only one we could adjust small enough to fit her, but after some initial resistance to the concept she decided she loved it and was happy to walk around the house in it all day.  Then we decided to do a test ride on the bike up and down the street to make sure the seat was adjusted properly and Astrid was happy in it.

Well, it was a hit.  She shouted 'go faster Dad' and tried to push Anto along.  After their 5 mins of practice riding Astrid asked for 'more fun please'.  I think she likes the bike seat!

The next day we took our bikes on the car down to the lake and had a little ride around.  Riding near our house is a bit fraught with danger for me as we live on the top of a big hill, and unlike other members of the family I don't ride often, and I don't do hills (yet)!

Riding with dad seems to be Astrid's new favourite activity and we've been aiming for one ride a weekend together. Of course coffee and/or breakfast are an important part of any riding experience.  I must take the SLR out to get some good photos one morning.  I managed to ride and take photos at the same time when in Paris, but I was also under the influence of French wine and cheese. Back in boring old Canberra it hasn't been quite the same experience!

2 December - Ghent, more snow and London calling

Our ever reliable Astrid alarm clock had us up at not much past 7am. It was still very dark out but we wandered down to breakfast and had our fill of lovely pastries, breads, jams, meats and some hot food. It was our last day of good pastries so we enjoyed them. Astrid has obviously been in Europe for too long because she started breakfast with a pain au chocolate and progressed to baguette slathered in butter, with a touch of yoghurt
for 'healthiness'. She is in for a rude shock when we get back to Australia and she has to go back to weetbix and toast and vegemite!


After breakfast, the sun was almost out and it looked a little wet but we decided to rug up and head out for some sight-seeing. Due to the weather, us feeling awful and the passport dilemma we hadn't seen a great deal of Ghent the day before. We had all morning to do some sight-seeing and we had planned a walking route that took in all the sights we wanted. Unfortunately when we got back downstairs it was now not only raining, it was hailing. Undeterred we headed out. I think we were the only tourists brave (or< stupid) enough to be venturing out early on a Sunday morning in such conditions. With a predicted temperature range of 0-5 degrees and rain forecast we had put on our warm clothes and chucked on Astrid's snowsuit, velcroed her mittens to her hands and grabbed our umbrellas. We quickly realised that the hail was in fact snow. Big chunky, cold and wet snow..... but snow nonetheless. Snow is so much better in theory than in reality it seems!


After a bit of walking around in circles to find our bearings we eventually got on track and started seeing the sights of Ghent. We hadn't had much trouble finding the Belfort tower or the Korenmarkt (main square) as they were pretty much in front of our hotel. Our original plan was to go up the Belfort tower but we ran out of time for that. Nonetheless, we enjoyed seeing it in various weather conditions as we seemed to go from sun to rain to cloud to snow to hail in the time we were walking around.


We eventually located the canals and had a walk around. We walked along the Graslei (waterfront) and looked at the Graburg bridge and past the Gaversteen castle. The bridges are very scenic and pretty and it was certainly an experience negotiating the wooden bridges that were covered in snow and salt and trying not to fall over. Tram tracks also run over them and I was repeatedly running into the middle of roads to take photos, and dodging trams. Luckily the trams are pretty obvious so they aren't hard to miss. In Bruges we found the buses and the bikes were everywhere and there was no differentiation between the footpaths and the roads in most cases. In Ghent there was a similar problem but with trams. We had less issue with bike riders but probably only because the weather was so feral.


After our tour of the famous bridges, canals and churches we had been rained and snowed on repeatedly and started getting a little wet. Astrid had fallen asleep in the pram and only kept awakening when the hail or snow would come in on an angle and hit her in the face. As a result, Anto had to walk with the umbrella angled down over the pram to try and keep her dry while I walked with the other umbrella trying to keep the camera dry. Luckily there were some pretty buildings to take photos of or we would have given up and gone back to the hotel.



During our wanderings we scoped out the chocolate shops and potential food options for lunch. Being a Sunday most of the shops weren't open so I missed out on buying any more cute clothes for Astrid (Anto was most disappointed too, of course). We looked at more chocolate but didn't buy too much as we are pretty well covered in those stakes. That left lunch options and we decided that we all needed to finish out our time in Belgium with some waffles so we located a reasonably priced cafe, full of locals and about a minutes walk from our hotel. After a bit more walking and some sampling of local Flemish sweets being sold in the streets, Miss Astrid had awoken so we wandered back to the hotel to dry off and warm up.


We were all quite wet so a quick change of clothes and some warming up and we re- packed the bags for the umpteeth time and checked out and headed out for lunch. Since we didn't need to order sensible savoury items first today, our waffles arrived promptly. I had hot sour cherries and whipped cream and Anto went for banana, chocolate and icecream. Astrid was unsurprisingly a fan of the chocolate and icecream version but I think the cherries were the winners. Again, good waffles but the ones I had the day before might have been slightly better. We also had some nice hot coffee and hot chocolate and were all warmed up and ready to brave the 2 degrees and rain as we picked up our bags and headed back to the train station on the tram.


Astrid kept some locals entertained on the tram ride back. Everyone is fascinated to know that it's currently in the high 30's in Australia while it's cold and snowing in Europe. We are just thankful we weren't in Sweden this weekend as minus 10 was forecast in Stockholm. Once at the train station we got time to admire the mass of bike parking the train station offers as well as the very creative ceiling art. Quite a pretty station, although cold out on the platforms. We had elected to take the direct train through to Brussels airport, to avoid any changes rather than the more express versions that would get us there quicker but require a change at Bruxelles Midi. Given moving the bags is annoying we went for the slower but less annoying option.

The train was fairly empty as we got on. Astrid was being a bit tired and grumpy but did manage to have a bit of a rest on me and almost go to sleep before she realised what was happening and put a stop to it. The train took us through pretty much every town between Ghent and Brussels but it was interesting to see all the different towns and the countryside in between. By the time we hit Brussels we had a pretty full train so we had to move our bags around that were taking up the equivalent of about 4 seats. We weren't the only ones with masses of luggage but we were doing a mighty good job of taking up lots of room!


We got into Brussels airport a little after 3pm and did another bag reshuffle so we could meet the baggage requirements for the flight. Luggage checked we headed out to get some drinks and managed to find the worst and most expensive hot chocolate ever. Luckily we were trying to use up Euros. Anto then used up the last few Euros on yet more chocolate. Our flight was running on time and we started boarding a bit after 4.20pm. It was a full fight and a poor gentleman had the window seat next to us and got the pleasure of listening to Astrid talk non-stop for the entire 1 hour and 40 minutes we were on the plane. She told him about his bags, that he was a man, and instructed him on the use of his tray table, including helpfully shutting it for him when she deemed he had enough food and drink. We really wish we knew what happened to the shy child, that was cute and polite in public! Luckily the flight was uneventful but with only 50 minutes in the air (it's only roughly 340km from Brussels to London) there wasn't time for a proper meal so we got a snack of chips and bikkies. We were hoping to get the tired Astrid fed on the plane but no such luck.


We only ended up going into one holding pattern coming into Heathrow, but the bonus was it was a totally clear night and you could see all the lights of London spread out below. You could easily see the Thames and the London Eye all lit up and it was a very impressive entrance to London. Apparently it was 3 degrees so no luck with us warming up just yet........


We arrived into London just after 5pm local time (they are an hour behind Western Europe) and we headed through Immigration. Of course there was a huge line up and we were moving fast but it looked like at least 30-40 minutes to get through. Astrid was in the ergo and was intermittently flirting with other passengers and being a bit tired and grumpy. She must have started being loud as she got the attention of an Immigration
official who pulled us out of line and bumped us through the staff Immigration line. Another win for travelling with a baby. After only the 3rd or 4th questioning as to why we were travelling on emergency passports we were allowed into the UK and we headed to pick up our bags. Our stroller had actually arrived this time, although was in the middle of the floor in the baggage collection area. As a bonus our other bags were there too!

Bags collected customs was as usual a total non-event (no wonder people get a rude shock when they come to Australia), and we were on our way to our hotel. Anto had booked a room at the Sofitel which is located inside Terminal 5 (where we landed). It took us awhile to find it and quit a few lifts and a bit of walking but we didn't have to actually go outside. Great when you are tired and it's cold. It is a very posh airport hotel. Pretty new and very high tech. Our room is gorgeous. The bed and pillows are huge and fluffy and we have already enjoyed the large bath and shower and the TV speaker in the bathroom.Here are some piccies of the room, and yes that bed is enormous.....

After perusal of the room service menu and deciding we weren't willing to spend that much money and not in the mood for checking out the restaurant that was open we headed back to the terminal to find some food and milk for Astrid. There were only a few options outside of security and none were that appetizing except the M&S store that did really good salads and sandwiches and other pre-packaged food. We ended up with a variety of yummy salads and sandwiches and some dessert and milk for less than the cost of a hamburger from room service. We had a picnic on the hotel room floor and after baths Astrid didn't put up too much of a fight for bed.

Tonight's blog post is being written inside our very swish hotel room, from the leather chairs (with footrest) while wearing fluffy bathrobes...... Tomorrow we are hoping for decent(ish) weather to do some London sightseeing.