London Aquarium

Olive was in luck today as we decide to scoot her (and Barny bear) off to go visit the fishes! What a treat! After some initial apprehension of course she loved it and how could it fail? I think I quite enjoyed myself also!!! An absolutely fascinating experience and naturally pretty hard to capture on film considering the light conditions but there you are...






Bar the Sharks being the obvious main attraction the two huge sea Turtles where one of the most majestic and graceful reptiles I have ever witnessed with such a prehistoric type of beauty.




The Smols had a lovely old time and it makes you wonder how such an experience might influence her imagination or whether she will remember it at such a young age -probably not! -but at least she can see these images down the road which is allot more than I had!




After leaving the dark sanctuary of the aquarium, outside was a shocker of a blustery gray day in London but with the Smolive happy and parents very happy that we did something more interesting and educational than take her down the pub!

Pooh

Olive got a new best friend for Chritsmas.

Pooh Bear!

Like many others before her she adores the old Disney classic and as a parent the old cartoons feel so much more gentile and educational in -dare i say it at 35 -a more "traditional" way -ergh! Olive definitely engages more with the older cartoons and their characters and will physically/verbally interact as opposed to just zoning out which she often does with the newer ones and in particularly she really responds to the Pooh -ay?

So, at Christmas it only seemed right to get our little Monkey her very own Pooh bear and since Christmas day she has been grappling him, cuddling him or giving him a good kick!




But most of all she asks Pooh to do "circles" which generally means; I want to do "ring-a-ring of roses, a pocketful of posies...." you get the idea....

Christmas Cousins!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS
from Charlotte & Olive Pilgrim!

I think these pictures capture the spirit of our Christmas; two little cousins sharing a seat transfixed to the the TV! We hope this is the start of a lovely friendship and not a foreshadowing of their future. The TV in many ways both good and bad in equal measure! Either way I look forward to showing them these pictures when they are older!

North Bovey

With a November visit on the horizon, we thought it was high-time we took the Chauvin's to experience the great English countryside and decided upon a small old village in Devon bang in the heart of Dartmoor National Park and oh, my word was it something!

And so here we arrived in the pastoral village of North Bovey which consists of a handful of lovely thatched roof cottages a small village green dotted with old oak trees and a 15th Century parish church...

...with some wonky ancient tombstones and an old coaching inn the "Ring of Bells" where you have to duck your head to get through the door and discover the delicious Otter Ale!



...stepping stones over a babbling stream...



...and our cottage the lovely 'Moorland Views',
no numbers, just names and how nice is that!





The countryside in Devon is quite simply breathtaking and on one particular and memorable day we drove onto the moor plateau to take a bracing walk and find a mysterious and legendary place called 'Whistmans Wood'. The word is that it looks like a scene straight out of Lord of the Rings (and it sort of does) but in reality it is of course much more than that. Whistmans Wood is a 6,000 year old isolated copse of stunted -and very gnarled -oak trees covered in primal mosses and lichen. Apparently the Pagan's used the mysterious wood to hold their ancient rituals!

Getting there was a little bit testing for the Smalls who was struggling to stay warm. But when we arrived at the sheltered wood it was all alright!

The wood is so scraggly you could easily lose a Honey or two!

And so the walk back may never be filled with the same anticipation...


...at least you can get the grandparents to help carry the baggage!



So, how do you summarize such a great trip when you do so much and the above notwithstanding? Well, Olive spent plenty of time organizing the fridge:


Dad and daughter took their first (cold) walk on a beach:


Olive monopolised the umbrella and let Pepe get wet on his brief stroll to the pub:


Visit a local castle or two:

(Castle Drogo)

And as always, the cheeky Smolive's endearing ability to applaud herself whenever possible!



Perfect!

Trolley!

Olive's new best thing is her "Trolley" a nice pink mini-buggy that she likes to take out for a stroll around the park whilst we push her big buggy about. Nothing is allowed in the trolley mind!




Get her outside and she's off! And when she's not off with the trolley it's off where your not supposed to go...

Ahem, Excuse me!