A little ray of sunshine..

.. gets us out and about and into the mountains for a lovely relaxed day enjoying the summer breeze and fresh air. This is actually my little ray of sunshine.... I don't need the sun to shine with this little one in my life.

Botanical Gardens last week.

Thanks to my friend Kristie for these great shots of the kids at the Botanical Gardens last Wednesday. It was three days of sunny hot weather and I was hoping it would last until the Friday as I had planned Tilly's party to be in the park by our house. Everyone warned me this would be our last day of sun, and I took their advice, fortunately! It really was and it's been raining ever since.....

I don't remember seeing flowers... but we did play with a lot of stones and some squirrels. Can you see it flying here? It went straight for the girls. That was after he'd spent a lot of time harrasing Abram.

I have to say I'm truly blessed to have so many friends here with children that are around the same age as Tilly. There is an endless supply of entertainment to be had, and when you live in apartments in a big city, that is a treasure.

The real birthday ~ and family gathering

Getting ready for church and Sunday school this morning after a birthday breakfast with Mama and Baba. Steve's eldest sister, Auntie Jing Yan - her title in Chinese is Da Gu Gu. She always helps me in the kitchen and is my right hand girl. Steve's second sister, Auntie Pei Qi. Sweet darling and usually very busy so glad to have her with us tonight. Her title is Xiao Gu Gu. Gu Gu means father's older sister. 'Da' is big and 'Xiao' is small. Love these girls... Tilly and her family, plus friend Mia who wanted in on the action. Her cousins, particularly the girls are so great with her.

Birthday shots

Thanks to Kelly for the extra shots.

Birthday party

After a nap, with her spoils. She opened them quietly with just me. We went through each one and I told her who gave them to her. She kept saying, "Wow, that's nice isn't it?" Friends, Kelly & Nik and Karen & Ethan. Perhaps someone will send me some more photos of the other people there. I was a little bit busy to be taking happy snaps. My one attempt at a game. Pin the tail on the elephant. Tilly's party was an Eric Carle theme and this was part of the package. Eric Carle as in 'The Hungry Caterpillar' story book.

The cool crowns came with the package.

Friend Kristie and the calm before the storm!

Paula's amazing cake. I delegated this task to her and I was really proud of her efforts. It looks just like the book.

Mates

My PC has been out of commission for a while but is back on track. I found this photo in my files that I hadn't seen in a while. Tilly and Boyd up to no good at Uncle Ben & Auntie Gwen's. Boydie's wearing his Team Furness shirt. These two are the best of pals and I love this shot of them, so wanted to share it.

Butterfly Encounters

A nice simple visit back to the zoo and straight to the insectarium. The sun was shining in the morning though it didn't last.

Taking a picture of me taking a picture.

Crazy butterflies on Tilly's pram. I had to get a worker to pull them off?!

Abram's delight at the owl.

Cool kids and pink flamingos.

Say and do it like this....

Tilly is in the bath relaxing after a big day out. She sometimes gets her face wet and can't abide by it. At which point I must come dry her face with a towel. For the umpteenth time I was called - "MAMA!! I've got a wet face!!" "Do you love? What do you need me to do about it?" (I was over the whole wet face thing at this point) ... To which she replied, "You can say, 'Oh my goodness you have a wet face' and then you can come in here." So I considered myself told......