Let's Go To The Zoo

The weather predictions were good, it was a Saturday with no other plans. We decided to take Josiah to the London ZSL Zoo in Regent's Park. We asked Emma and family to join us too. We met up at the zoo in the longest queue I'd ever seen to enter a zoo??!! It was a good 1km long but it was a moving queue so we decided to stick it out. Good move as we had so much fun seeing all the animals in such close proximity.

Josiah was not as interested with the animals as Emma but he had loads of fun running around. I used my "baby leash" for the first time to see if he minded - which he didn't. Problem with the leash is that you would have to keep up with him and is probably more tiring than letting him run around on his own!

We saw a whole range of animals like gorillas (eating), monkeys (scratching each other's backside), donkeys (hee hawing loudly whilst eating), zebra, giraffe, reptiles, fishes, lion (sleeping!), tiger (also sleeping!), vultures (devouring smelly chicken carcass - really nasty!), flamingos (standing around), otters (sunbathing - super cute), meerkats, camels (sitting around), penguins (waddling around looking cute), wild dingo (barking fiercely)...etc

I would say it is a good range of animals but a bit pricey - 17 pounds per person.

We had lunch of fish and chips and pies before the kids went for a nap. Then we walked over to Regent's Park for a quick look before heading for dinner. We went to Phoenix Palace and feasted over some yummy steam fish, pork belly with buns, fried rice and tofu.

All that walking in the zoo went down the drain with that delicious dinner.

Look at the queue...

Josiah and Emma putting on their hats

Daddy with Josiah - my little puppy :)

Posing for a pic in Regent's Park

Two Toddler & One Baby = Fun!

My cousin, D and family came to visit us last week. It was lovely as I have not seen their 2nd baby, Kirsten who was already 8 months old! Kezia is nearly two and is absolutely lovable! Their short holiday was so we could meet up and Sarah could surprise her family by turning up at her uncle's 40th birthday. Of course, their request was to have as much Chinese/Malaysian food as it is easier to get good Chinese food in London compared to Ireland. We started our eating mission an hour after they arrived - polishing off half a duck, "siew yok" and "char siew". Although everyone was full from lunch, we still managed to finished quite a bit of dinner. Takeaway portions of nasi lemak, satay, nasi goreng pedas, curry mee, fried mee hoon and chicken rice!!!! It was a great holiday for me too. No need to cook and lots of yummy food to eat. The next day, S took a day off so we went for "dim sum" at Pearl Liang where we managed to finish 9 egg tarts. Ooohh.....even the picky Josiah managed to eat one by himself. Then we headed out to Harrods by bus but it proved a bit tricky as we had 3 strollers with us and most buses only accept two or one (if another stroller already inside). We had to take separate busses and met up outside Harrods. More Chinese food for dinner as we met with D's other cousins at Four Season Restaurant! We then decided no more Chinese food for dinner the following day.

Josiah and Kezia played all night and when we tried to put Kezia to bed - all she did was climb out of the cot and came out to play again. So set the pattern of sleeping late every night, 11.30pm every night!! All the parents were tired waiting for these two to be tired... :)

After they went to bed, we had to chat in our toilet as Kezia is sleeping in the living room, Josiah in our room and Kirsten in the guest room. Hahaha. Kicked out of our own home.

Their holiday came to an end so quickly and we certainly missed them.

But we have some lovely pics to remind us of the fun we had

Do come again!

Kezia and Josiah having a chat whilst Sarah is stuck to our front door!

One happy family

Malaysian goodies from Kiasu Restaurant

Wind the Bobbin' Up

I started bringing Josiah to playgroups more often after he started walking. Normally, playgroups here are organised by churches or council people. We normally go to 2 different ones depending on my mood. The one that is walkable only holds under 3s sessions once a week. The other one in St Peter's Nottinghill is a bus ride away but holds it 4 times a week. Josiah loves the singing sessions at the playgroups and I am trying to be more hardworking in bringing him there. One of his favourite is this 'Wind The Bobbin' Up' - which I learnt from attending various playgroups here. Everyone always sing the same few favourites which includes:

• Wheels on the Bus
• Old MacDonald
• If You're Happy and You Know It
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat
• Incy Wincy Spider

So now, he will ask for some songs by doing the action for each song. But his all time favourite is Wind The Bobbin Up which is a song about winding a bobbin (some spinning thread thingy). Here are the lyrics;

Wind the bobbin up, wind the bobbin up

Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap

Wind it back again, wind it back again

Pull, pull, clap, clap, clap

Point to the ceiling, point to the floor

Point to the window, point to the door

Clap your hands together now, one two three

Put your hands upon your knees.

I think he only likes it because it involves a lot of clapping. Here's a video of him at the St Peter's playgroup.