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Did your dad ever take you to his workplace when you were small? My dad did, I can’t remember why or even where for that matter but I remember when he took me and my brother into his office and that memory became something more than just spending time with dad, it gave me somewhere to ‘place’ him when he wasn’t at home. I suddenly knew what the ‘office’ and ‘work’ were.

HSBC visitors

I discovered he worked with other people sitting at desks with telephones.There was a friendly secretary who found us paper and coloured pens to keep us still whilst dad ‘worked’. A colleague of dad’s found us some plastic cups with water and we felt very famous for that short period of time basking in the wonderful compliments ‘Oh don’t they look like you Denis?’ ‘What gorgeous well behaved children you have Denis.’

There were no computers in those days. Dad had a briefcase which was very important and although never said we knew it was off bounds. Which of course made it even more desirable to know what was in it, a secret bag with locks on the outside and pockets on the inside.

HSBC wall of history

It was an immediate attention grabber when you heard the click of the locks unfastened.

We drove up to London on Saturday to see the Lion King and Paul had been able to get a pass to park the car at work whilst we were at theatre so using the opportunity daddy showed his girls where he worked too.

I could see they were in awe of the 45 floor building and very excited to be able to see where daddy worked.

HSBC canary wharf london

We took the lift up to floor 34 where the staff canteen is housed and as the building is one big sheet of glass we were able to admire the views of London from all four sides. An amazing view over the Thames with the London Eye and Big Ben in the distance to one side, the Olympic stadium from the next and Barclays bank to the third.

HSBC london views

Last weekend Bessie had brought home Number Puppy 8 and we were so lucky to be able to take him to the bank where numbers are in use all day every day, we found lots of grey (number puppy 8’s colour) as Canada Square is constructed in steele, glass and concrete the materials you associate with power, finance and world economy but we couldn’t find any octagons.

HSBC daddy's office

All in all a very special day, I wonder if the girls will remember it for many years to come just like I do?

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It’s time for a catch up on the twins very nicely prompted by Fiona at Coombe Mill who you must nip over and see as she owns and runs a fabulous farm guest house in North Cornwall, the perfect holiday spot for families who want to get close to the animals. Fiona is holding the next #MultipleMayhem carnival on 3rd December.

twins aged 4 and a bit

We have successfully completed our first half term and enjoyed our first half term break although there was a little confusion as to why we weren’t going to school and misunderstandings about going on a school trip (?)

The girls are really coming into their own now and although Alice remains the shier of the two girls she is getting more and more confident.

twins 4 and a bit

I have the feeling Alice is a bit of a worrier as she doesn’t shout out her answers as loudly and clearly as her sister but mumbles them almost as if she’s afraid she’s getting them wrong at times. If I prompt her too vigorously it makes her even more quieter than she was before so I have to use a gentle coaxing method with her with lots of kind prompting, on the other hand Bessie is the opposite, often interrupting and answering her sister’s questions and upsetting her at the same time!

The girls get on very well together and 99% of the time life is sweet but we do have the odd occasion, sometimes when one of them is just feeling the desire to wind up her sister to see how far she can take it – very annoying. On occasions they will get tearful, moany and irritable, not the best combination to deal with but I find good old CBeebies is marvellous at helping me out and calming them down.

learning to write

We have played games on the laptop which they love, they like playing with their Nintendo DS and are getting the hang of the games slowly and they also adore playing with their fairies or princesses. For Christmas this year Paul and I have bought them a Leappad 2 each. I am hoping this will help them learn to read as I want to add on some books. Count, add up and subtract with a cartridge game and learn their way around using a tablet. I’ve heard different views on this product, some parents wish they’d never bought it as their child hasn’t taken to it at all and others love them saying they are constantly running out of batteries! Luckily for me the Leappad 2 has a battery charger.

Out of school activities include swimming lessons on a Saturday morning and gymnastics on a Tuesday evening. I did take them to street dance lessons last half term on a Monday evening but it was all a bit too much so for the moment we’ve dropped dance.

halloween costumes

I love the way they are learning without realising it, last night as we had bath time they ran me through all the opposites they could think of (the theme for developing their social, emotional and behavioural skills this term ‘ Getting on and falling out.’) Big – small, long – short and so on. We are sent home reading books to read every night, right now they are picture books and I get each one to tell me the story as we turn the pages, all three of us snug on the sofa.

Last term we learnt the letters s,a,t,p,i,n and this term the letters will be m,d,g,o,c,k,ck then I imagine we’ll start to see words cropping up. I find this very exciting and love watching how they absorb everything so easily. Next update due around Christmas time thanks for reading.

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Multiples Mayhem from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

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Mini mode AW 2012The life of a princess is a busy one, there are many chores to do each day and one must always try one’s best to look 100% princess.

Take yesterday for example, whilst we spend another week at home waiting for our ‘Home Visit’ we decided to check out the veggie plot. It needed some water as it hasn’t rained here for a couple of days and that’s when we spotted the caterpillers, lots of them and that makes mummy grumble as they’re eating lots of holes in her brussel sprout leaves. She’s a bit concerned that there won’t be many home grown sprouts on the Christmas table this year.

Bessie had a caterpiller on her foot the other day and it made her laugh as it was really tickly.

Once the watering was finished we decided to collect all the red tomatoes from the patch, this is the third harvest this summer and it was a very good one too, we filled the entire frisbee and started a second layer too, I was very happy as I love tomatoes whereas Bessie doesn’t.

It’s a shame mummy doesn’t know much about vegetable plots as she planted everything in the wrong place this year, the brussels grew so big they took over the whole front side hiding the leeks, spring onions and carrots. We did get a few carrots but they were stumped and curly, Grandad says the brassicas stole all the goodness from the soil.

She’ll learn…

watering the vegetable plot

Once our gardening was done we decided to play with our sandpit, we made tracks in the sand with a spade and then flicked balls around in a race, it was great fun but when we went inside afterwards for a biscuit mummy noticed the sofa was covered in sand, she made us stand up quickly and go to the back door where she brushed our dresses down and then the sofa cushions.

Such a fuss pot!

Mini Mode - Boots clothes

Talking of dresses, do you like them? A kind lady sent them from London. I’m wearing the pink one because it’s my favourite colour and mummy knows I would have kicked a huge fuss if I didn’t get it. Bessie got the green one and even if it’s not my colour I must admit she wears it very well.

caterpiller

Mummy gave Bess the pink hat to keep her happy, I tried three times to swap mine with her because, like I said, pink is MY favourite colour but mummy caught me every time and stopped me *sigh*

mini mode clothes

Not Alice’s best camera smile :)

At least our cardigans were the same so no arguments there, it’s really pretty with pink bows on it and a lovely velvet strip down the front by the buttons. Oh, buttons there are lots of them and I got quite in a muddle with them.

As for shoes for this outfit, mummy started us off with our brand new school shoes but later we changed into our wellies which I’m sure you’ll agree look much better and so practical.

mini mode AW 2012

So there, if you like these beautiful clothes you must go to Boots and look for their Mini Club range, I’m certain Bessie and I will be dragging mummy there in the near future ;)

Love Alice x

Playing in the sandpit

Disclosure: We were set two outfits from the Mini Club range available exclusively at Boots and they are gorgeous, thank you very much! They are machine washable, easy care and stunning colours.

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I didn’t write this list. I found it on a Google search. I was looking for things to do over the summer with the girls and I wanted it age specific. This came up as a Yahoo list and I copied and pasted because I want to see how many things we’ve already done and how many more we can do but most of all which ones I don’t think are necessary.

Have a great summer all and watch us as we go through the list – or not!

1. Go to the zoo – Done! On our Siblu trip to La Palmyre Zoo

2. Visit a farm

3. Go on a hike

girls on bikes

4. Play with kittens or puppies

5. Catch a frog

6. Make a gigantic mess

7. Help clean up a gigantic mess

8. Master the monkey-bars

9. Swing high up into the sky all by themselves

10. Try ice-skating

11. Go sledding – Done!

12. Make a snow-man – Done!

13. Blow bubbles – done…frequently

14. Plant seeds and watch them grow – done

15. Have a pillow fight – Done you should have seen the mess and heard the laughter.

16. Jump on a big bed – done, on our bed more than once until daddy told them off!

17. Jump on a trampoline or in a bounce house – done

18. Hang out in a tent – done

19. Spend days at the beach – Daddy’s favourite pastime our first trip was when the girls were less than 2 weeks old! St Mildred’s

20. Build sandcastles – done and we have some wicked castle buckets to try out thanks to Aunty Hayley and Uncle John

21. Go fishing

22. Go out on a boat

23. Play with blocks and puzzles – done

24. Read the classic picture books – done Three little pigs, Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, Gruffalo

25. Read a classic chapter book

26. Check out library books with their own library card – done but not regular

27. Get a passport – done first journey was to Italy aged 1 to meet Gracey

28. Carve a pumpkin – done

29. Hold a newborn baby (to see how much they’ve grown)

30. Love a special doll or stuffed animal – done

Baby Ted and Big Teddy

31. Bake cookies and cakes – done

32. Help plan their own birthday party

33. Go to the circus

34. Go to a museum on a quiet weekday

35. Play hide-and-seek – done not very well ‘I’m here daddy’ but done

36. Play a board game

37. Do nothing whatsoever all day – done

38. Try a sport – done gymnastics, swimming lessons and pony riding

39. Watch a sporting event

40. Learn to swim – doing

41. Be tickled in hysterics – all the time

42. Paint and draw as much as desired – done at preschool and occasionally at home

43. Have the use of scissors and glue – thanks preschool

44. Display artworks and other creations around the house – all the time

45. Learn to use a camera (and keep an album of the results!)

46. Play with clay

47. Pick flowers – done

48. Climb a tree

49. Gaze at the moon and stars – done

50. Toast marshmallows

51. Learn to eat an ice-cream cone – done

52. Watch a sunset

53. Learn to write their own names

54. Learn their addresses and telephone numbers

55. Learn their parents’ full names

56. Set the table

57. Clear the table

58. Help wash the dishes

59. Learn to say their pleases and thank yous and excuse mes – not finished but mostly done

60. Watch fireworks – done didn’t like them one bit though

61. Go to the ballet or theater or a puppet show – Jack and the Beanstlak Panto at Butlins, Peppa Pig at Dartford and Rory the Racing Car at Dartford

62. Put on a ballet or play or puppet show at home

63. Face paint – done

64. Dress up in costumes at will – All the time princesses or fairies

65. Learn rhymes and poems and songs by heart – done

66. Have a dance party

67. Enjoy friends at preschool and at the park

68. Invite friends over to play

69. Get to know grandparents

70. Play with cousins

71. Become attached to a wonderful preschool teacher and/or babysitter – Anita for Alice no question

72. Learn the name of our queen – done! celebrated her diamond jubilee at preschool this year

73. Know the name of their town, state and country

74. Be familiar with a map of the world

75. Listen to music from many different ages and genres

76. Hear and learn words from a different language have listened to Italian and French too next step spanish with the Spanish cousins

77. Learn the difference between trash and recycling

78. Grow their own vegetables

79. Learn to ride a bike (or try!) – we’re still on stabilisers but getting there

80. Take a road trip Devon 2012

car journey

81. Draw a self-portrait

82. Slurp alphabet soup

83. Learn to twirl spaghetti on a fork

84. Pick apples

85. Star in a home movie – they are minor celebrities now on You Tube

86. Learn a magic trick

87. Try different hair-dos – done

88. Practice writing letters

89. Practice counting to 100

90. Make up stories

91. Send a letter

92. Receive a letter

93. Ride on a merry-go-round – Butlins 2012

94. Give away toys and books to less fortunate children

95. Learn the value of coins and bills

96. Keep a piggy bank – not sure they’ve quite got the concept of saving yet

97. Try a musical instrument – thanks John Crane

98. Have a heartfelt wish granted

99. Have a heartfelt wish denied

100. Receive a million (make that a billion) heartfelt kisses and hugs from their parents! – All the time and no I will never stop giving them