Winter is here

The temperature has dropped like a stone the last few days (though no snow yet), and our local lake is frozen. Luckily when we went out today I could make use of my new 'Djurgarden FC' woolly hat from my friend Erik in Sweden.

Kezia is 3!

Last Monday was Kezia's 3rd birthday. How time flies! The 3 of us had a wonderful day out in London - it was brilliant!

Let's pull silly faces

Kezia & Daddy, reflected in a curved mirror on the wall of the waiting room at Reading station.

With Paddington at Paddington

At 'Giraffe'

We went for a birthday lunch at 'Giraffe' in Spitalfields. It was warm, cosy and friendly - just the place to get in out of the cold.

Yummy lunch

Ice cream!

Baby needs a change

While we were at the restaurant, Kezia decided her baby needed a change of clothes. Good job that she had got these wonderful dolly's clothes from Gran for her birthday.

Strolling along to the tube station after a lovely lunch

Love this photo.

The Toy Museum

After lunch we went to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green ("The Toy Museum") - there were loads and loads of toys from every era to look at, as well as plenty of hands-on stuff for Kezia to do (rocking horses, building blocks, puppets, magnets and iron filings, wind-up robots, a sandpit etc etc) - it was great.

Puppet show

Mummy & Kezia could put on a show with this puppet theatre; Kezia's puppet is on the left!

Looking across the inside of the museum from the gallery balcony

Ride 'em, cowgirls!

Kezia (and Mummy) loved having a go on these rocking horses. They were made by the very same company, Haddon Rockers, that Grandad used to run.

Team Browning outside the museum

All smiles on the journey home - it had been a BRILLIANT day!

Birthday tea

After a wild time playing at the garden centre play area at lunchtime, it was back home for birthday tea with Grandma, Grandad and the cousins. There's no rest for these 3-year-olds, you know!

The wonderful cake!

Kezia had been saying for months that she would like a butterfly cake for her birthday, and Mummy came up with this absolute masterpiece. Kezzie was delighted.

What a lucky girl!

Kezia was so lucky to get so many lovely presents for her birthday; this doll's bed was from the Peacocks, and is now right next to her own bed in her room!

Finishing off party tea with Auntie Caroline & Uncle Adrian

Move over, David Bailey

Kezia's cousin James is keen on taking pictures himself, so Kezia wanted to have a go too. This is her photo of Bekah and Uncle Dan. Not bad at all!

Kezzie was delighted with the dolly from Auntie Caroline and Uncle Adrian

The glamourous assistant

Sarah roped me into helping make the icing for Kezia's birthday cake - I'm not sure it is one of my talents!

Kezia's party

We had planned to go to the playground at Dinton on Sunday, so that Kezia could celebrate with all her friends. The weather was really cold though, so we went to Wyevale garden centre instead - they have a great indoor soft play area (and an outdoor one for the hardier souls) and the kids all thought it was great fun. The grown-ups could have a good old natter over coffee too, so it was a win-win!

The Three Musketeers!

Kezia had a whale of a time playing with all her friends - here she is deciding what mischief to get up to next with Katie & Lily.

A big welcome to Master Jacob Creech!

Kezia's party was the first chance for lots of people to meet Katie's new baby brother Jacob. He slept through most of it without a care!

Two cheeky chappies - Leo & Ava (Sefton)

Ava is looking so grown up all of a sudden!

Di & Sarah after Kezia's birthday do at the garden centre

He's behind you......!

Lots (and lots) more photos of Kezia's birthday celebrations to come, but here's one to start with. We love this photo of our gorgeous (almost) 3-year-old with Grandad at the garden centre today. We met up with all Kezzie's friends so they could go wild at the soft play area there. (Not sure who the guy in the red suit is.......)

Two happy girls off out partying!

Kezia & Katie.

Let's party!

All the little ones are well into party season now. On Saturday, Lucas, Daniel & Thomas had a joint party. As ever, Kezia loved the bouncy castle.

Pass the parcel was a big hit!

Here are Ellie, Kezia, Katie and Lily all enjoying the fun.

New camera - yippee!

We have been really frustrated at not being able to add to the blog lately, since our camera broke a few weeks ago. We were thrilled yesterday when our new camera arrived as an early Christmas present. Thank you so much, Gran & Opa! Today we had our first chance to try it out when we went to visit Joe and the kids.

Kezia at the computer

Kezia is getting more and more into letters and numbers at the moment. While we were at the cousins' today, she was very keen to have a go at typing the letters she knows on the computer.

Concentrating hard.....

Relaxed James!

Smiley Bekah!

Sarah's birthday tea

All the ladies had great fun at Joe's recently, celebrating Sarah's birthday.

The trouble is, of course......

....that with such a small cup you need lots of refills!

"My cup and plate are TINY!" says Kezia

They had cool fun.

Afternoon tea for Sarah's birthday

Auntie Joe had an afternoon tea (just for the girls) to celebrate Sarah's birthday. The little ones had their own dinky cups, saucers and plates.

All smiles on Sarah's birthday (well, sort of...!)

Well, 3 of the group seem happy enough to be celebrating Sarah's birthday at Dinton a few weeks back. Not sure why James and Kezia aren't joining in with the smiles.

The Blog is Back

Our blog is back - we still haven't managed to fix our own camera, so we are unscrupulously nicking other peoples' pictures instead. We have 5 or 6 to upload at least, but to start with here is Kezia with cousin James a few weeks ago, helping him to open a present he had got through the post.