York (rain)

The first morning in York it was raining. Bravely we went to Rowntree Park and after lunch, it had cleared up enough to do some playing. Bluet helpfully used her dress to dry the slide for future users. (later on Friday the sun came out, but that is for another post)

Saturday morning it rained again, so off to the railway museum we went, as you do. Bluet was delighted to be allowed to carry an umbrella. At the museum the most fun thing to do seemed to be to go and sit in the seats on a train not dissimilar to the ones you can ride around Britain any day at any time.

After that, Della and Bluet then proceeded to run around holding hands, too fast to be captured in a non-blurry fashion on my camera.

As we waited for the bus home, the rain had stopped

And back home, a tired Bluet and a tired Della crashed on the sofa and watched Frozen.

York by rail

It's a week now since we got on the train and headed up to York. Let's see if a few photos jog the memory of what we got up to.

Well, obviously we started at Cambridge Station

Then we got on the train

And of course Bluet fell asleep literally 2 minutes before we arrived in York.

Then we took the bus to Simon, Angela and Della's house

Cambridge (sun)

It has been hot and sunny here now for several days, blue skies everywhere. This is ideal for Bluet to play outside - Tuesday morning we headed to the paddling pool in Newnham where I used to play as a kid - it has been renovated slightly, but the pool and roundabout in the playground bought back happy childhood memories of playing there back in the day. I remember the paddling pool being very big, and it still is

Meanwhile we have also been several times to an orchard right next to Gran Helen's house, which was not there when I was a kid, so consequently evoked no memories - it is nice, though. Good for ball games (but watch out for the nettles Bluet).

And then, after a hard day of play, back home.

Oh, and Bluet got a haircut, after which we went and ate sandwiches/a sausage roll at a trendy cafe nearby with plants growing in jeans. A great idea for any plant and/or trousers lovers out there

Bluet's Bicycle

One of the big hits of the visit has been Bluet's bike (or more accurately, the helmet that goes with it - it has been very hard to get Bluet to take it off, even inside. Maybe in a couple of years bicycle helmets will be the cool thing to wear at school.

Valid scrabble words

Top left hand corner - 21 points and the best word I could play

Cambridge (rain)

Last Thursday we arrived in Cambridge to introduce Ilona and reintroduce Bluet to the joys of British life. For the first few days as we enjoyed being able to understand all the conversations around us, no matter how banal, it rained. This made Bluet happy as of course there were plenty of muddy puddles to jump into. For the first time Bluet really knows who 'Gran Helen' is, and would much rather that she looks after her than either of her parents.

Eventually there was sun, and shadows

Progress

Ilona is growing up very fast. This involves an increasing interest in whatever we are eating (today she even tried some of Emily's pasta), lots of sitting up (and playing with big lego (or Bluet's big lego, as Bluet would like it known)). She can even almost pull herself up, and from lying on her front she can push herself up into the almost crawling position. She is also very good at grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, as expected from a young person her age.

Bluet and Dora the Explorer balloon

Meanwhile, Bluet has somehow learned to use an old fashioned phone.