Tom's new playroom

In true toddler style, more space was needed.  So, "we" built Tom a new playroom.  With some small help from the builders.  Tom wanted to show willing and got involved and used his extensive experience as forman.  He was always safe wearing his hard hard and kept his tools in good order.

Once the room was ready, he allowed his Mum in to see how he had set up his train set.

Some perspective on the situation.

The new windowsill needed some accessories and with his new skills of interior design he decided to add multicoloured plastic objects.

His next building project is a patio and decking.  Then Tom the builder will become Tom the BBQ chef.

Tom just looking cool

No real reason for this post except he looks so cool in his new glasses.  And when he decides to ride the bouncy "thing" in the park, he does it with style.  Definately his fathers son!

A weekend with Uncle Paul

Last weekend Uncle Paul visited and given the sunny weather we took a trip out to Hampton Court. Our aim was to take Thomas into the maze....but first of all there were numerous benches that Tom wanted to sit on....

And then lots of Daffodils to ohh and ahh at....

And finally we got to the maze and then there were lots of bushes to poke at...

And then when we (finally) got out of the maze we found the best thing of all - a doggy!

And the abandoned boy....

......did at least get some Yankee clobber as a result of the trip! Here he is strutting his stuff on the Millwood Road catwalk.

New York in February

We escaped. Granny-O was installed and we jumped on a jet plane. We decided to pop to New York for a few days of R and R. We had our walking boots on and decided to see how much of New York we could see in a few days. Here are a few photographs from the trip.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and got straight out there. Our first stop was the Empire State Building. It has got to be said that it was a) Cold and b) Windy ! From the viewing gallery on the 86th floor you can see the whole of Manhattan, New Jersey, Queens and Brooklyn.

As you can see, its pretty high! If you are afraid of heights - DON'T LOOK DOWN!!

After this windswept experience we went on terra firma and saw the bright lights. This photo is one of many from Times Square. It was definately colourful; on many buildings. It did make Picadilly look a bit tame.


On Thursday night we had dinner in a train station! Grand Central Station. This is no ordinary station, it is an impressively large art deco building. On the lower ground there is a restaurant called the Oyster Bar. You should check it out if you are near by - they had a huge menu of fresh seafood.

Saturday AM, we got back out on the streets. We meandered up to Central park and did the tourist thing with a horse drawn cart.


We walked through the park via the Lennon memorial and went to the natural history museum, specifically to see the planetarium. We were very impressed with the Rose Center imax show and would recemmend you take a look.

Saturday night we went to Madison Square Garden to see the New York Knicks take on Toronto. It is amazing how 4, 12 minute quarters takes 2 1/2 hours!! It was a great spectackle and should be done once.


On Saturday we started off early and tackled the metro. Eventually we managed to get across to Booklyn. And after a few wrong twists and turns we found an area called DUMBO, (down under manhattan and brooklyn overpass) with some trendy fooderies and overpriced apartments. The main reason for going was to get the view of Manhatten from Brooklyn. And I ruined the photo!


We crossed the bridge and headed downtown via the WTC site. It is amazing the physical size that the towers occupied. After lunch we jumped on the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and got off on Ellis Island to see the Immigration museum.


The immigration museum was suprising fascinating. We made our way back to the mainland and thought about Saturday night. We booked in to a comedy club in the Chelsea region. The name of the club was "Gotham" with acts we have never heard of. But it turned out to be hilarious.

Sunday, we caught up with the NY public library and a few famous shops.

All in all, we did a lot, saw a lot, walked a lot, ate a lot! and enjoyed it alot.

P.S Tom we did miss you !