"Bibou and Angel through the Years" - 5 new articles
Kongkong and Mahmah's visit
We were most fortunate to have kongkong and mahmah visit us this past October. It had been a while since their last visit, but we managed to do some heavy persuasion. Before they’d arrived, we told the girls about the visit. Of course Bibou remembers them very well, and so was very excited. She kept asking us when they’d be arriving. The last time that Seraphin
 e saw them was when she was 1 year old! I’m sure that she didn’t remember much before the arrival. But she got excited all the same, as she noticed that Bibou was. Once, as we were going up the stairs, she peeped at the wedding collage that I’d made back when. It had been kept hidden during our recent ren ovations so she hadn’t seen it in a while. I pointed to Kongkong’s photo and asked her who that was… she said kongkong!! Clever girl.
The big day finally arrived. Daddy went off to pick them up from the airport while I cooked some comforting rice congee. The girls, though excided, managed to wai  t quietly (well, in front of the telly!), while I worked in the kitchen. Traffic was bad, and once again, the girls (and I!!) had to wait impatiently. Finally, the car pulled in. We all rushed out to greet them. It was a wonderful reunion.
A  s always, we were totally spoilt! The girls received loads of stunning clothes (a pair of red red Chinese cheongsum) and some cute pairs (a pair of green tweety bird sundress the girls look so adorable  in) , and a mountain of toys. Loads of princess stuff no less! Daddy also got some nice batik shirts and some go-go gadgets! – one that he constantly uses now is this no-battery-needed (just wind up like an old car) – clip on the head like an old miners hat, night lamp! He uses it at night when he wants to read in bed without waking me up. Me I got loads of delicious spices and food. Things I truly truly miss. It was heaven.
Though they were here for about 12 days, the time flew by very quickly. Every day was jammed packed. Since kongkong loves fruits and loves picking fruits even more, we decided to visit the Farm de Gally. We got there mid morning,  as we’d previously only gone in the late afternoon and all the pickings were mostly gone already. Apples were in season of course! Kongkong and mahmah were real pleased about that. They love apples. Their (and ours too) favorite were the golden delicious and we found some nice ones. After picking the apples, we went on to pick other fruits and vegetables. Bibou really wanted to pick some b erries, strawberries are her favorite! But daddy wanted to pick fresh corn (yummy!). They were both at very different ends of the farm. So we split up. Bibou and I went with Mahmah and Seraphine had the boys all to herself. We had a wonderful time. We picked strawberries and a cauliflower too. We tried to pick cherry tomatoes, but they were all gone. We met up with the boys just before lunch and they had managed to pick loads and loads of fresh corn on the cob and also a big whole pumpkin for Halloween. It was a fruitful day :)
During the week, while Daddy was at work, we took the girls to the playmobile fun park next to our place. It was a large place! I had thought that the girls will head straight for the pink castle  with the princesses stuff. Boy was I wrong… yes they went for the castle… but it was the ‘boys’ castle…. The medieval one, with dungeons and dragons! Seraphine loved the airplanes and copters one too! Bibou spent lots of time with the pirates. Hmmm.
Kongkong and Mahmah were amazed at how Bibou, at five (and she started this summer!) is able to ride a bike without training wheels! She’s even better than her  own Mummy – I can’t ride a bike! Seraphine is now also able to coast on her scooter too.
The time flew by too quickly. They had to le  ave, we hope we’ll see them soon! Video
Here's a video of Bibou on her bike.  Summer 09 Big UK Trip FINALLY, our big UK trip. The girls were told that we were going up to see Aunty Michelle. And Bibou kept asking when we’d be there! Finally the day arrived. That night, the girls went to bed, warmly wrapped in warm pjs and were told that we were going to wake them up in the middle of the night for our car trip. At around 1.30 am, we got up and got the car loaded. As we were doing that, our neighbors came back from their super long vacation trip! What a coincidence! They wished us (longingly) a ‘bon vacance’ and lamented the fact that they had to go back to work the next day! Then we went in and got the girls. Daddy woke Bibou up first and as I reached down to pick Seraphine up, she woke up herself (she’s a light sleeper as compared to Bibou), got up and said to me ‘car, Mummy?’. I didn’t think she remembered but she did. She loves riding in the car. Once the girls were all bundled up nicely in the car, with blankets and pillows, off we went. The drive went smoothly. Me taking the ‘french’ side – that took  us less than 3 hours to get to Calais. The train ride was about 30 minutes and then Daddy took over. It was about 2 hours to get to Michelle and Luke, who were nicely waiting for us already. They live in a lovely area, all the houses were new and they have this wonderful park just across the street (which came in handy. The girls loved the park there and one day, Aunty Michelle taught Bibou how to swing on the swing on her own. She did it and was sooo proud!! ). The girls were so happy to see Michelle and Luke… jumping all over them. Bibou wanted to tell them all about her trip. We got settled in, bringing with us all the gifts for them. Then us girlies went for our girls outing – shopping where else??!! Michelle brought me to Costco… I LOVE Costco. Why can’t we have it here? Bought TONS, but Saved a lot too. The prices were just incredible. As an example, I came back to check that a pack of 12 Brita water filers cost about €56, I paid like 13 pounds!! Loved it. Then we went to Morrisons and also a Chinese supermarket. Oh I had loads of fun. 
Anyway, we also managed to get some activities done that week. One trip we took with Michelle and Luke was to Beaulieu. Actually, Daddy really wanted to go to the beach, but On another day, we took the girls out to the farm to visit the animals. The Finkley Farm (http://www.finkleydownfarm.co.uk/) is an interactive farm where the children can feed the animals and they also had re  gular workshops where the children could touch and handle little animals. We got there and bought a bag of feed. There were lots of animals to feed! There were llamas, angora sheeps, goats, cows! The girls totally enjoyed it; reaching out their hands towards them, calling them and having the thrill of them licking the feed off their tiny hands. It was time for the first workshop, t he little bunnies. They re really well organized. Two rows of benches, and the kids, orderly queued up, sat down. They were given a little carpet to put on their wee laps and were taught how to handle the bunnies. Then excitedly they received the bunnies on their laps. They were so pleased! The sweet little bunnies were so docile, allowing the children to pet and hold them. I have to admit that I w as surprised to see that our girls were really gentle with the bunnies, not mishandling them at all. Especially Seraphine; she was hold the bunny really tenderly. Another workshop that we went to was for little chicks. Just like the bunnies, the children sat on 2 benches and were given a little basket on their laps (chicks tend to move quickly!). Again, Bibou and Seraphine were super kind with the chicks, handling them tenderly. Bibou said that the chicks were really soft! Really fun day out. They had a huge playground  with a massive slide, a hay stack area and the girls even learnt how to milk a cow… it wasn't a real cow, but it sure looked like fun! We were also lucky to have spent a day in London with the G  ohs. Oh what a yummy day it was! We met up in their gorgeous, gorgeous townhouse in Kensington and then went for Lunch at Goldmine (the chef had moved there from Four Seasons. Oh mi gosh, the most succulent roasted duck I’ve ever tasted. They also had daily soup and gasp their chilli oil was heaven,heaven, heaven. I must have eaten like 3 bowls of rice with that chilli oil. I admit  that I overdosed on it. If you were on High Street Kensington that afternoon, you would have noticed a women who kept running back and forth from the WHSmith  bookstore where she was TRYING to buy some books and the Starbucks next door that had a bathroom. Groan. However, did I learn my lesson? Of course not. Dinner was at Kaisu, again on Bayswater, a Singaporean restaurant. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach. I practically ordered almost  everything on the menu. Laksa, oyster omelets, beef hor fun, satay, curry puff, carrot cake, golly I’m hungry again. It was oh so good, oh so oily and oh so spicy. Yes, needless to say, I didn’t sleep well that night. Bad tummy. But have to say, it was all worth it.All too soon, we had to leave. It was sad saying goodbye, but we’ll be back!
Videos
First glimpse of the ponies from the car:
The friendly pony that came to say hello : The girls with the rabbit at Finkley Farm:  Summer 09, Personalized Aprons Sometime over the summer, I received a parcel from the US! It was from a really sweet friend, an ex-colleague of mine actually. She's always thinking about the girls, and she chanced upon these aprons, and thought about the girls immediately. She knew that I loved to cook and that the girls sometimes help me out in the kitchen, so hey why not! Let's combine them together. She hoped that this will encourage the girls to be a good cook like mummy. Awww. Thank you Aunty Arlene!
As soon as I got back home, I took the gifts out and showed it to  the girls. They were REALLY excited. Though I very seldom use the apron (for some reason, I have never gotten used to the idea of wearing an apron, despite always cooking... maybe I should as I always have very dirty clothes after cooking :)....) Bibou immediately said, APRON! I guess Daddy does wear an apron once in a while. I said yes.... and then " for me? for us??!!" YES... and then when I took out the aprons, I showed it to her without saying anything yet. Just to see if she would noticed it. She did! Immediately. She was like, There's my NAME! Look Mummy, there's my name! She's all excited about it.
To show Aunty Arlene the gifts, we pulled out the camera and the girls gamely posed for us. Then I decided to add some fun and ran into the kitchen to bring out some bowls, and mixer. Bibou immediately asked if we were doing some baking... in the garden Mummy???!!! LOL. Didn't matter that we weren't, that we were only pretending. The girls went at it wholeheartedly... whipping and beating. Seraphine even tasted the spoon :). Tasted r
 eally good too.I do hope the girls will take on my hobby of cooking and baking. The girls, especially bibou love helping me in the kitchen. Often  asking me if she could help. Seraphine has also started, though I suspect it is mostly because the greedy girl just wants to eat first.  Summer 09 Day out with Dan Another hot Summer day. What do we do? OOOO, Dan’s available? Well, that’s it, we’ll spend it with Dan of course!! And where shall we go? Where else, our favorite place, Jardin d’Acclimintation of course! Those two were so excited to see each other. They couldn’t stop laughing and talking. I guess by this time, they’d both not seen each other in over a month! Can you imagine our love birds not seeing each other for a month? How cruel!!
 First we had a little picnic in the park. We managed to snare a table (the area was PACKED – lots of groups). I’d made a few picnic stuff to share, a tuna salad spread, potato salad and some cheeses, yummy b  read. After the yummy lunch, we went off to the play around. Bibou and Dan went immediately to the large climbing pyramid thingy. Last year, Bibou started climbing it though she couldn’t get to the top,… she year, she was most proud to reach the top! Unfortunately, Dan wouldn’t even go past the first level. Hmm, guess Bibou’s had a lot of training from Daddy! The kids kept running up and down, into the playground and learning to share and wait. As it was a(nother) hot summer day, the venue was fully booked! Good thing we arrived early. Oy, it was jammed packed. And soon, it was time for the punch judy show. All the kids in the show loved i t. I guess they would! It’s all about punching each other. The kids were fairly well behaved, though it was really very very crowded. Dan’s Dad managed to get the kids up front on the front seat. Remember, Bibou and Dan have seen these shows many time now, at school and at school outin gs, but this is the first time Seraphine had seen them. I’d thought she wouldn’t like it, or wouldn’t be able to sit still for it. But she got really caught up in the excitement that the others radiated. She clapped when everyone was clapping, screamed when they did, laughed extra hard when other did too. She was, however, a b it too friendly with the girl next to her, touching her hair etc. The poor neighbor couldn’t figure out what to do with her! After the show, we had some gouter and then as promised, we took the kids  on the rides. Apparently, Dan doesn’t quite like the fast roller coaster rides (his Dad called him a scaredy cat), so Bibou had to be content with the tamer ones (she really didn’t mind as long as she was with Dan). Then we had to leave the park and go home! Until the next time then!  Summer 09Babie and Ed’s visit Here we go. I hope I’ll be able to kee  p up with the blogs. There’s just soo much to catch up on. Ok, first… dating back, holly molly, 4 months now, summer this year..We had the great fortu ne to have Babie and Edward visiting us in August. They arrived beginning of August and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. The girls, especially Bibou were so excited. Bibou remembers Babie really fondly and especially can remember that ‘Babie’ took me to the place where I got my nails done with her!! She couldn’t wait for Babie to arrive.
Finally the day arrived and Daddy went to pick them up from Gare du Nord. The girls and I decided to go out onto the streets to play and also so that we can have an early glimpse when they arrived. Unfortunately, Daddy got a bit lost and so was delayed. Bibou was near tears thinking they were not coming…. Waiting quite impatiently. Had to distract them. Finally the car came up the hill and it was a funny sight… Bibou squealing and Babie running to them.
The days passed by quickly. We had loads of fun… Ate really well.. Babie even prepared a gorgeous yummy meal of sweet, salty salmon grilled on the BBQ on a bed of coarse salt. Yummy. We also went and did stuff with them. One place that they’ve never been was  the Chateau de Versailles. We often go there every summer too, so off we went. Upon getting there though, it was obvious that it might not have been a good idea! The queues were HORRENDOUS! Probably 1 hour to get the tickets and then another hour to get out that the parks were free ainto the apartments. It WAS summer, the upmost peak tourist season, and  probably one of the hottest days of the year. Fortunately, we found ccess. So we left Babie and Ed to visit the apartments while we took the girls into the park to roam around. I tell ya, it was HOT HOT HOT. After lunch, Bibou really wanted to get into a row boat in the canal. She didn’t get the chance last year, (and she remembered too!) as they were closing by the time we got there. So into a row boat we w ent. The scene was lovely and it was cooler too, being on the water. Daddy was a wonderful rower, strong, even strokes. The girls and I tried to give it a shot too…err, no go! All we did was go in circles LOL. Daddy took over quickly. 45 mins later, we decided to get out.. just in time too. The crowds, probably after lunch and  hitting the afternoon heatwave had started to pour into the canal. It would have been difficult to navigate around the others, we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the scene and most of all, there were a number of ‘idiots’ on the water! Some were obviously first timers and probably wouldn’t go very far… kept bumping into everyone. Geesh. While waiting for Babie and Ed, we rested along the canal for a while. The girls found the swan and ducks and were so happy talking to them. Then Seraphine wanted to feed them and she remembered that I’d brought cookies, and was happy feeding them! Soon after, we hooked up with Babie and Ed and had a yummy tea – ICE CREAM !! Yum. Needless to say, the girls fell asleep in the car home.
On another day, we went downtown to do our annual trip to the Fete de Tuileries. The gir
 ls as always, got really energized when we got to the fair. They wanted to do everything! We got on to the merry go round though I think the girls found it really tame. They want to get on the more exciting rides now. Onto the cars and rides they went. Last year, I wrote that Bibou started getting onto the roller  coaster rides. So needless to say that this year, she wanted to get on again. However, Seraphine too wanted to get on! We were wondering if she was too young, but she really wanted, so onto the ride she went with me. And this year, Bibou was brave enough to get on a seat all by herself! I was worried about Seraphine, but no, she had a  wonderful time. Next to me, all I could hear was giggles, and ‘wow’s! At one point, she and Bibou even raised their hands in the air (how they know to do that, is beyond me!!), just like adults do in a scary ride. After the ride, Daddy asked her if she liked it and she said a big YES! Next the girls wanted to get on the big long slide. Bibou could do it on her own now, though Seraphine had to be on Daddy’s lap. 5 times the girls went up and down. They LOVED  it. They were howling with laughter each time. Finally, I was looking longingly at the water log…every year, bibou was either too small (young) or too scared (last year) to get on the Water Log. It can be a rather scary ride as the drop is long. After much persuasion, she finally agreed to do it with me. She was scared! And whimpering a little,  especially as we approached the big fall. However, after the big splash, and we got out of the ride, she perked up and said that it was a good ride. Then she said that she wanted to get on again (I guess she didn’t quite enjoyed it the first time as she was too scared)!! I was getting ready to ge t on with her again when Babie and Ed came round to meet us (they’d gone shopping instead). So Ed went with her. Bibou was HILARIOUS. She came down each fall squealing and shrieking.. “this is SUPER COOL”. She loved it. What a big difference between the two rid es.
All too soon, we had to bid Babie and Ed farewell! Byebye. We hope to see you real soon!
Here's a video of Serpahine dancing with Babie.
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