A Brisk Morning

We definitely get to experience the seasons here (except for the lack of snow last winter). There is no ignoring that it is autumn.  As Sophie is singing her fall songs on the bike, we ride along some hobby gardens (allotments) to her preschool.

 Today there was frost on the ground.

 All bundled up again (i.e. calculate at least five more minutes to get ready before leaving the house).

Horses right by Sophie's preschool.

A New Pet

By pure chance, we happened to discover these hobby horses for kids in one of the stores in Benrath. It has been on the top of Sophie's wish list for months. We could not pass it up and Sophie was so happy. 

In the evening, she even made a special bed for Sophie the horse. 

Looking for Neverland in London

On the itinerary today: 

Sightseeing (above all show Sophie where Kate and Wills got married), find a pirate ship in the middle of London for Sophie, then a night off for Mama and Daddy.

 First stop: Westminster

 Somebody is pulling faces and it's not Big Ben.

 Open Sesame!

(at Palace of Westminster)

 The Horse Guards in Whitehall

We checked out the Mall being prepared for tonight's concert, Trafalgar Square and had lunch in the Crypt Café under St Martin in-the-Fields.

Then we had to go find that pirate ship playground.

 And here it is: at the Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens (near Kate's future home). It was the most impressive playground I have ever seen. All fenced in and only people with children were allowed in. It was built based on the Peter Pan story with the ship being the absolute highlight of the park. 

 Sophie went wild!

 She found the music court

 Here she is brewing a magic potion in the fairy tale section

 Then it was back to the pirate ship and up the crow's nest. Can you spot her near the top?

 "I am Peter Pan and you are Captain Hook!"

Then she jumped off the ship so many times trying to fly until she banged her chin on her knee and came crying.

 As I mentioned before, tonight was a night off for Andrew and I. - Thank you Sandra! - While Sophie and Auntie Sandra were painting their nails and watching the big concert for the Queen at the hotel, we went back to Saint Martin-in-the-Fields for this concert.

 Andrew found another person's blog on the internet about this concert with some very good pictures:

http://blog.londonconnection.com/2012/06/04/st-martin-in-the-fields-for-mozarts-coronation-mass/

Can you see me on picture 8? That is how good our seats were - we looked the sopranos in the eyes.

 This is us enjoying an intermission drink back in the Crypt.

Our concert was fantastic; the most enjoyable one I have been to.

After singing out loud to Rule Britannia, Andrew felt ready to conquer the world as we stepped out onto Trafalgar Square. Instead we "invaded" the Mall to see the last hour of the big concert there. 

It was a breathtaking atmosphere - so many people and everyone was just enjoying themselves. 

We "saw" Stevie Wonder, Sir Paul McCartney, watched the Queen light the beacon and were amazed by the fireworks display. Truly a once in a lifetime event.

The Beginning of a Fantastic Holiday

Here we are. Finally on our way to see the Queen (and Kate). For the next two weeks we will be touring Britain from the coast of Dorset to the Highlands in Scotland. 

Cute pilot for our Easy Jet flight to Gatwick. 

 It has been a year since Sophie flew with Daddy. The flight was so empty that I had the row to myself in front of them. Although it was sunny in Duesseldorf we had to wait a bit for the fog to lift at Gatwick. That did not bode well. 

 Auntie Sandra fetched us from the airport and here we were in the middle of the New Forest after an al fresco ploughman's lunch and some tea.

 The New Forest is full of wild horses. We spotted some right next to the road.

 Then we walked down a path to look for the wild deer. They were hanging out in the distance.

 We found the truck with the Dorset ice cream. Spicy ice cream (mint chocolate chip) of course for Sophie and rhubarb custard crumble for the rest of us. Yum.

 After a long drive to Auntie Sandra's house in Bournemouth, we quickly stretched our legs at the playground.

- Flashback to March 2010 - 

England in Jubilee fever. Buntings and flags everywhere. All the papers were full of specials on the Queen. We kicked off our Jubilee celebrations in style with this Victoria sponge cake.

 Sophie had the Queen on her piece. 

Renaissance Faire

And now to the occasion for which we gathered in Bad Bentheim this weekend: the renaissance faire with jousting and medieval market.

 Getting ready was half the fun.

 Two beautiful princesses ready to meet their brave knight

 Well, there was a spotting of one at that moment walking through Delhi airport (you pick).

 Having a whirl at the medieval carousel

 Thore and his mother Alexandra

 Enjoying a taste of the mysterious sugar wool ball

 Now to the jousting performance:

 Some highlanders made it all the way to the continent

 Sophie's favorite knight Ullrich of Bentheim 

(he ended up winning)

 All knights with the bad guy on the right

 and one female jouster to round it off

 In the Turkish brew tent

A successful outing: one little prince by the hand and one big prince in tow.

...and one more horse video

One encore with a video.

Horseback Riding!!!

Finally the big horseback riding blog! Be ready for loads of pictures. I told Berit to take many and they were all good. 

So, it is moving day and for me that meant packing up our belongings that had somehow multiplied at my mum's. How did Sophie and I arrive with just three suitcases in September?! Luckily Berit had arranged a horseback riding date for Sophie with her uni friend Birte who has her own horse, Ellis. And while I packed, Sophie went on a true adventure:

 It was a foggy day out in the country. Saying hello and good morning to (Tante/Aunt) Ellis in the mud. 

 Birte is showing Sophie the ropes. 

 Grooming time. Some brushing,

 a quick pedicure,

and a squeaky clean horse.

 Anyone care for some horse apples?

 Down to business: first riding lesson!

 All looking good.

 Somebody is happy!

 Posing for some good shots outside, except that it was so foggy and drizzly.

Sophie did so well that she got to get on Ellis on her own. I think there might be more horseback riding in the future. She enjoyed it so much. 

Special thanks to Birte and Berit for giving Sophie this wonderful experience!