the easter hunt

This was Anna's first Easter where she got to hunt for some eggs. We weren't prepared enough to do the dip-dyed eggs which all other supermums make, but we're calling it a win because we were able to let Anna have a few chocolate-y snacks that were somehow miraculously gluten-free and dairy-free and put them in some plastic eggs around her playroom.

The hunt was successful, and she even managed to sneak a few chocolate buttons to her dolls before breakfast. Favourite moment is when she said thank you to her dolls, her teddies and her books for hiding the eggs.

Big lovely lamb roast, veg and salad for lunch (note Anna's face in one of the photos when I told her she had to wait until I'd taken a photo before she could start eating...)

HAPPY EASTER!!

With love from,

Alessandra, Luke and Anna xx

the festive season

The British celebrate Christmas and New Year in a pretty impressive way. Lots of table decorations, lights and festivals.

We had no snow this year in Newark, but we tried to get out and visit as many towns and villages as we could during December and early January. There was a lot of hot chocolate consumed, a few truly terrifying Father Christmas experiences and an abundance of Advent calendars for sale (this required a lot of strategic manoeuvring around the grocery stores with Anna in tow).

Present of the Year awards go to Nonnina and Abuelo, who bought Anna a wooden toy kitchen. It was a full hour before she paid attention to the mountain of other presents she had yet to unwrap. AND the complete village train set sent by Tita Cathy and Uncle Steven, which has made a daily appearance ever since (though sometimes overtaken by Luke with his ambitious building and looping).

I actually don't think we ended up getting Anna anything personally. Everyone was too generous.

We missed all our family and even though it was a very quiet Christmas, we know that there are lots of good things to come.

Lots of love to all,

Alessandra and Luke x