Trip to Cambridge

Last weekend I took Ilona to Cambridge to visit Gran Helen (Bluet had school and ballet so could not come). We had a very straight forward trip, and Ilona was very proud of her suitcase, as you can see.

At our local bus stop


At Zurich HB


At Basel Airport

Cambridge

After a little more motorway driving from York we parked the car and spent the last few days of our trip in Cambridge with Gran Helen. I think Bluet's favourite activity here was walking by the Cam and feeding the swans, followed by talking on Gran Helen's phone (pictured above) which somehow she knows how to talk into even though she's only ever seen an iPhone before. She definitely enjoyed spending lots of time with Gran Helen, and in the end wanted Gran Helen to do stuff with her more than with either Of us. I enjoyed showing Bluet places I knew from growing up and going to university, and it was very nice to be able to walk around and not have to get into the car for a couple of days. All in all, visiting Gran Helen in Cambridge made the perfect ending to a very pleasurable two weeks.

Bluet eats a 'pernanna'

Bluet tries on rubber gloves (a lot of fun for her)

Out for a walk

 

And we're back

We've just returned, refreshed/exhausted, from a thoroughly splendid 2 weeks in the UK. In our little black VW Golf we covered almost 1600 miles, traversing the whole country - stopping in York, Aberdeen, Glasgow, York and Cambridge. On the way we saw many people, ate some chocolate, saw some more people and ate some delicious food. As I go through the photos and upload them to the internets over the next few days, I will try and recall what we got up to. In the meantime, here is what we saw at Heathrow Airport this morning (spoiler alert - I am the new Doctor Who and Bluet is my companion)

Happy New Year!

Bluet and I just returned to New York whilst Emily drives our new car to Houston. Bluet failed to sleep on the plane but was very well behaves. We are now exhausted; indeed, Bluet is already in bed. Anyway, normal service will resume after I've had a good night's sleep. In the meantime, some of the last pictures of 2012 below, with Bluet learning all about snow and giving a cat (cindy) a kiss.

Advent Day 18

Today Bluet and Emily left to spend Christmas in Missouri whilst I stayed in New York. But, never fear, I am off to Missouri myself on Friday. Also, I saved up enough stuff to keep the advent blog going. So everyone wins

Here is Bluet at the airport this morning, just before I waved them off

Airports

Sorry for the lack of blogs. We've been busy first in Houston and now we are off to Missouri for thanksgiving. Last week's trip was fine except for the very beginning, when the plane bluet and I were traveling on was delayed by three hours. I don't know if you've ever entertained an 18 month old at an airport for three hours, but it is tough, especially if the airport is as rubbish as laguardia. Fortunately bluet is growing up fast and was extremely well behaved. The airport kindly provided racks of application forms for credit cards at bluet height which she was happy to rearrange. She took them out and put them back in a new, abstract order. When we did get on the plane we both fell asleep for the majority of the 4 h flight.

We also discovered Houston has a fine zoo, and located a new house.

Back in New York it is cold, so Bluet wears then quickly removes her winters clothes. Stay tuned for thanksgiving photos.

New state

Yesterday afternoon we crossed state lines (a trip involving two subway trains and a bus, but no passport check, fortunately) and Bluet went to New Jersey for the first time. The destination, Hoboken, a square mile of a town that 'boasts' Frank Sinatra amongst its famous sons. So that is another state crossed off the list for her.

We went to a very child friendly beer garden* where Bluet played around in the dirt, and did her new trick of lying flat on the floor, no matter how filthy. A fun time was had by all.

*we met friends from Hoboken who have a baby boy and had recommend the place

World Tour

Here is a representative sample of the different tickets required by Bluet and ourselves to travel over the last few weeks. You will observe plane tickets (required to get to and from theUK), bus tickets (required to get to and from Newmachar, and from Cambridge station to Bluet's Gran's house) and train tickets (lots, required to get everywhere else).

But I guess that is what you need if you want to embark on a world tour such as Bluet's. Along the way, the tour took her to places such as Aberdeen. Here she met some of her fans, including Martin and Gina, pictured below with Uncle Nick and Bluet. Martin and Gina are old family friends, as well as heroes in the noble fight against the ignoble Donald Trump and his plans to destroy the coast of North East Scotland by building a golf course, just because his mother was Scotch. 

They had a car (no ticket required) and took us on a brief drive from Newmachar to visit Fyvie Castle. It was a gloriously beautiful sunny snowy day. Whilst you cannot tell from the pictures, Bluet was thoroughly nonplussed by the castle. In fact it was probably her least favourite place we have ever taken her*. So sadly we shall not be moving into a Castle in the immediate future.

*either she hates castles or got hungry because we forgot to pack food for her. Difficult to tell.

Emily checks out the feel of entering your own Castle

Then it was back on the bus. Here is Bluet waiting at Newmachar Bus Stop in advance of a long train journey to York. In general, I think a good time was had by all in Aberdeen.

In more recent Bluet news, she has perfected rolling from back to front, and front to back. She rolls with ease, then rolls right back again. In this fashion she can slowly transverse the floor.

When not trying to walk or move in some way, Bluet also likes to practice talking. To my great delight she can say 'Da-Da' and 'Ba-Ba' so her first words (either Dad or Ben) can be only weeks away. She is also perfecting her debating skills - here Emily and Bluet discuss the finer points of Wittgenstein's philosophy of language:

Intense discussion at 225 East 79th Street by Ben Collins