Birthday Time!

Nana Kukhu left one day then Auntie Popeye arrived the next ... she was here for THE birthday weekend of the year in our family ... Friday 10th September, Mark and both Auntie Popeye and Auntie Amy (who hit the big 4-0) celebrated theirs and Monday 13th Abigail turned 2 (with several other very close friends celebrating over the same weekend too!!)

On the Friday evening we went out for dinner to the yummy 'Yard' to celebrate Mark and Popeye's birthday's ...

Above, Abigail and Mark were wasting some time before the food arrived ... below, two sisters digging in when it did!!

On Abigail's birthday we waited for Mark to get home before opening her pressies ... she had a good sized pile ... with different parcels arriving in the post in the few weeks before and Popeye bringing out extra goodies with her when she came!

Of course we got creative with a cake again ... one of Abigail's current favourite characters is Meno (and no, that's not a typing error ... she renamed Nemo from the first time she saw the movie!) ... so that's what we made. In fact, Mark did most of it up to the final decorating as Jenny had been feeling a bit yucky!!!

Abigail loved it and shouted out 'MENO CAKE' when we first showed it to her ... as you can see below, before we even lit the candle she was already sticking her finger in and having a taster!!

She couldn't wait to get it cut so she could eat some (... still now several weeks later she keeps asking for Meno cake even though its long gone!)

To mark another year in her life we measured Abigail once again ... and weren't surprised to find that she was just a little over 3ft tall ... if it's true what they say about your height at the age of 2 being half your full height ... Jenny will definitely be the shortest in the family again in a few years time!!

A fun weekend full of giggles to celebrate special days for special people!!

A very quick trip to Niagara Falls!!

While Nana Kukhu was visiting we took the opportunity to take a 'quick' trip to Niagara Falls ... we travelled up on the Tuesday (it's about 5 1/2 hours drive, across two state lines, if you go non-stop!!), visited the Falls on Wednesday and drove back on the Thursday ... slightly crazy but definitely worth it!! The weather was perfect and the Falls were spectacular ...

We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist ... and got soaked!! ... but had LOADS of fun!

We could have just stood and watched the water gushing over the Falls for hours (except Mark who was still struggling to stand up straight with his dodgy back! ... he was in a lot of pain but did really well over the break so we could make the most of our time up there!)

Below is the Rainbow Bridge ... joining America to Canada just down river of the Falls.

Nana Kukhu treated us to a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls ... it was a belated Birthday pressie for Jenny and an early one for Mark ... while she stayed on terra firma and looked after Abigail! It was definitely a once in the lifetime experience for us ... and the first time Mark had ever been in a helicopter even though he's spent the last 20 years in the aircraft industry!!

We stayed in a B&B a short drive from the Falls with Maynard and Sandy who really made us feel at home in their little log house for our two nights there.

On the way home we chose to break our journey on a little peninsula on Lake Erie ... which had some gorgeous beaches ... Abigail and Nana Kukhu had lots of fun in the water for the whole hour we were stopped there!!

It was a crazy, fun and exhausting ... but definitely worth it few days away!!

Fun in the sun with Nana Kukhu!

Jenny's mum aka 'Nana' came back for a couple of weeks this summer ... we were able to get out and about a lot more than during her last visit (it was February and thick snow last time!!).

Abigail helped Nana in the kitchen when she cooked us dinner ...

We went to swim in the pool at Lake Park one day ... but also had some fun in the paddling pool in the back yard ... (just a few hours before this photo was taken Nana had been laying in the pool sleeping and catching some rays!!)

Mark had made Abigail a little house using packing boxes from when we moved out to the States last year. One afternoon while Abigail was sleeping Nana painted and decorated it for her ... with a little help once Abigail had woken up!!

Although Abigail's 2nd birthday wasn't until after Nana left ... we opened one of her pressies from her Great Grannie ... so Nana could take some photos home with her ... as you can see Abigail was very excited with her tunnel and tents!! (She's still having hours of fun in it several weeks later!)

While Nana was here Mark was laid out flat with a bad back ... so it was great to have an extra pair of hands to help with everything. Every night Abigail enjoys stories just before bedtime after her bath ... here Nana, Abigail and Monkey are enjoying her favourite story of all time ... The Lost Sheep!

We also visited Amish country again ... and Nana was able to meet a load of our other friends going along to some of the MMS ladies things with Jenny and coming to our church fun day. We also had an added bonus ... with a couple of days away all together ... check out our next blog to find out where! ;o)