Part 2 of a holiday in London!
Mayfield Lavender Farm
This lovely farm is about 20 min drive from home and is overflowing with the most beautiful lavender! It is such a welcome oasis in the midst of the city.
The lavender was just past its best and harvesting had begun but it was still well worth the effort. Highly recommended if you are in town at the right time of year .
Some quality time in the lavender fields with Joshua while Danelly was napping in the car.
We both loved walking between the long rows of lavender enjoying the heady fragrance.
Both the kids loved playing on this tractor!
Where are you driving us to Josh and Dani?
Lavender selfie!
The farm also has a lavender themed shop and cafe where we enjoyed a lavender inspired cream tea. Highly recommend the lavender scones and lavender tea!
Pho date!
Thank you F4 for joining me to try out Pho and other Vietnamese delights!
Well done Josh and Dani for trying something new =)
Rainy day banana bread baking!
Nesting!
A favourite activity that takes place all over the house with the stairs and couch the most popular locations. ALL the pillows and many buddies make the best nests.
Nesting is suitable for all activities including reading, snacking, drinking milo, watching a movie, listening to music. The list is endless!!
Thank you for letting me join your nests sometimes =)
Windsor!
Shell and I snuck away one Sunday and enjoyed a full day out exploring Windsor.
Thanks Graham for holding the fort at home so we could have a Twinnie date!
I've wanted to go to Windsor for the longest time so it was great to be able to go this trip and with Shell. It was a bit fresh in the morning but turned into the perfect day.
The Long Walk
This beautiful and peaceful walk is 4.26 km (one way, lol) from Windsor Castle to the Copper Horse through Windsor Great Park. Shell has wanted to do it for the longest time, so glad we were able to walk the whole way. This is the view from the horse looking back toward the castle.
Lunch at Wagamama!
Windsor sights we saw included the market, the Wonky House, the clock in the sidewalk, the shortest street in England, the blue postbox (originally for airmail), Windsor Castle (from the outside), Windsor Great Park, the Copper Horse, the house where Sir Sydney Camm was born and the replica model of the Hawker Hurricane aeroplane he designed, and this statue of the Queen in celebration of the Jubilee. It was a jam packed day!
Perfect end to a great day out =)
Car nap with faithful friend Georgie.
Graham had two weeks of leave over the last 2 weeks of my holiday there. One day he took Josh to the SA embassy to renew both of their passports while Shell, Dani and I enjoyed a lovely morning in Bushy Park. It had clearly been a busy few days as this nap was around 10:00 in the morning (naps are normally from 12:00 onwards).
Feeding the ducks and pigeons
Enjoying a long walk all around the park. Notice how dry it still was.
Enjoying the deer from a distance this time, haha.
Bushy Park selfie!
The day ended with a spontaneous bike ride and picnic in the park near home =)
Movies!
We discovered kids movies at Odeon cinemas, from £2.50 pp for the morning show! Was a great find. We enjoyed Coco and this was Peter Rabbit. Booster seats and snacks were a winner!
Josh and Dani both made it through both movies without being wriggly or wanting to run about, must have been good movie choices!
Family day out!
We had spoken all summer break about taking the kids to the Diana, Princess of Wales' Memorial Playground in Kensington and were super happy to make a family day out of it.
The playground is exceptionally well designed and definitely with kids and families in mind.
The centre piece is a huge pirate ship surrounded by a large sandpit beach which kept Josh and Dani entertained for ages. We also loved the fairy tree at the entrance, teepees, wooden houses and sculptures to climb in, on and around, and this sensory garden with all kinds of musical pieces.
And we loved the layout, if you feel the need for a quieter space, these other play areas wind around the main pirate ship in lovely secluded coves within a garden setting.
Kudos to the designers of this playground!!
Admission is free and this playground is definitely worth the effort of getting into central London with small kids.
Josh enjoying watching a very tame squirrel at the playground
'What did you have for dinner Dani?' 'Snooshy!'
After the playground the girls went for an Itsu date while the boys grabbed a burger.
Rainy Sunday softplay!
Followed by a chino date and sharing Mom's foam!
Bank Holiday Monday long walk along the Thames River from Kingston to Hampton Court.
That's Graham pushing both the kids in the pram on the way back. Thanks G ;)
They walked most of the way there tho, so was fair to grab a ride back.
Was a really lovely walk (about 10 km return) and another great family day out.
Pub lunch!
Found a really lovely pub in Hampton that had a great outdoor garden area. Was the perfect place to enjoy a pint (beer or cider, your choice), rest and refuel for the way back.
It's burger time!
Danelly fell asleep just before we got to the pub and had a good nap over lunch and was very happy to wake up to food waiting for her. The hungry caterpillar of the family, lol.
A cooler day cycling and exploring at Hatchlands Park, part of the National Trust group.
Hatchlands is an old country house with a super cool garden and huge woods behind. One can take bicycles and dogs into the woods and there are lots of places to explore and picnic on the way.
It's the perfect summer and winter (take wellies!) outing and green escape from the city.
Knock knock, anybody home?
Loving all the fairy doors.
Balancing with Mom.
Hatchlands Twins!
Cuddles for Dad!
Both kids are doing so well and so confident on their bikes! Well done Graham (and your back, lol) for having a hold on Danelly's bike for most of the day.
Hiya Mr Hedgehog!
Ringing the fairy bells.
Pub lunch round 2!
Empanadas!
And then it was my last full day =(
I blazed through the packing in the morning while Graham took Dani to her swimming lesson and Shell did a quick shop (last kids free one for a while, lol).
Then Shell and I went for a last date in Wimbledon at a great little Argentinian spot that serves empanadas and for a last cream tea.
And tried but failed to hold back the tears.
Some of our favourite things:
Bike riding.
Playing in the park.
Messy Play! Before,
and after!
Actually, that is during, after is quite a bit more messy!
Danelly just loves it tho! So much fun watching her and playing with.
Lego!
Josh is getting so creative with Lego and can tell you whole stories about what he's built.
Nesting!
Reading!
Drawing and writing on paper/white boards.
Chino dates!
And colouring in parties!
Usually with a gin and tonic and/or chocolate.
Shell was teaching me to blend with this pic.
'It's a space octopus spider'
Finishing off some art pictures on the last morning.
And then before I knew it we were at the airport saying goodbye.
6 weeks sure went by super fast.
My heart aches for you and your family Twinny.
Hope to see you again soon soon.
Until next time.
xxx
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