Spot the deliberate mistake

Spent a while assembling a table football yesterday...

oops

A light lunch?

A four year old can get pretty hungry these days.

This afternoon, he asked for, and ate:

- 3 fish fingers

- some chips

- a bowl of pasta

- a bagel

- a bowl of pumpkin soup

At what point do you start thinking that he's not just a growing lad and start exercising portion control?

new haircut

Hard as nails?

Certainly quite a lot of hair under the bridge since these days...

Superspy - out soon?

Check out this film trailer we filmed today at the London Children's Film Festival at the Barbican. Any budding talent discernable?

A reminder for those looking at this on facebook check out the blog to view the video (www.fourinkilburn.blogspot.com)

Also some shots of the cast in action, and trying out a few other costumes.

Superman in Suffolk

There were some unexpected sightings of a pint sized superhero this week in various locations in rural Suffolk, including on the lawn in the grounds of a rather nice B&B


with giant Tudor barn attached,

with some hay bales at a farm halloween themed event,

and in the grounds of a Tudor pile, ending up in the stocks.

He also found time to take on a dragon boat

and a mini paddle steamer,

but at all times he was ready for business.

It was a long walk home for a superhero strangely unwilling to use his power of flight.

And yes, he did not take the costume off for a full three days...

How English is this?

beach huts, warm(ish) clothing, bucket and spade, union jack folding chair with cup holder...

...from the beach in West Wittering this afternoon.

oh, and some dune jumping for good measure

First day at school... 1975 version

Only 34 years ago in two different areas of deepest suburban North London...




Check out that skirt:







And the cap!

First Day At School

The obligatory shot outside our house in the new uniform:

and one with his sister:

A short interview in a shady coat before entry:

and skipping straight into class

no looking back... only 14 more years of this to go!

and if you can't see the vids cos you are looking at this on facebook - click here for the blog: http://www.fourinkilburn.blogspot.com/

watch out, businessmen about

We try and make it down to the low key art weekend in Queens Wood in Highgate each year. Local artists hide bits of interesting stuff among the trees.

This year I particularly liked this notice...

Some thoughts on Superhero face painting

I for one have spent quite a while wondering what is the easiest, most effective and most flexible superhero face paint option.


Today, while on a Southwark Bridge closed to traffic and full of mainly food related fun stuff + some face painting, I think we discovered the answer. Mister Incredible...


...who could of course also double as any of the other Incredibles, including the girl's option, Elastagirl.


Less paint involved than the previous favourite Spiderman (modelled here by J's friend Dillon):

And far less tricky than the more subtle superman "S" on the cheek:

Rooshing...

A couple of weeks ago now, but some highlights from Le Grande Roosh, a microfestival with only about 150 people and just one stage, featuring fun local bands, & DJs, and a lot of dressing up.


We were pleased with ourselves, as we managed to spend three nights under canvas with not only J and 9 month old S, but also a bonus, kid, Julia, who as you can see, got on with J rather well!

And our kids, coupled with Nikki and Michael with their mates + kids in a camper van made for a good collection of jolly campers.

Saturday was fancy dress day, and we went for the convict look (one of the themes was "thieves"). Here's us making our getaway in the Kangoo:

In fact, the kids loved playing in the car, especially when it got a bit chilly. S even made a solo attempt at escaping the privations of camp life:

Realistically, that's it for camping this year, as we missed out on most of the 2009 season, but roll on next summer and more camping adventures....

Boogie on kids...

First post from "The Grande Roosh" microfestival last weekend, camping with the kids and also with a guest child in our tent, the lovely Julia, who's parents couldn't make it. J and Julia got on very well (more of that later)...

Meanwhile, check out J's unique dancing style to a Clash number:

and Julia's rather groovier moves on stage in front of the decks:

The Chicken Challenge

A sunny August sunday at Dunc's parents house for Michaela's birthday, climaxed not only with England winning the Ashes, but more importantly with a traditional chicken challenge competition in the local playground.

As I'm sure that all readers will be aware, the chicken challenge involves rocking on the playground equipment so hard that both the beak and then the tail touch the floor. Kind of a Surrey playground rodeo.

There were three falls of various intensity, none of which were caught on camera, but check out Dunc's attempt to ride the chicken one handed:

Playing the building

This is a art/music installation in the Roundhouse in Camden by David Byrne. Basically, he's wired up an old organ to different parts of the building, so that when you press the keys, the building makes different sounds.

Fun for kids of course...

And its a great space, especially when you are there on a random Friday when there are not so many people around:

A week of culture and reclimatising to life in the UK included a lot motorways. The roads seemed so attractive - quiet and luxurious - after two months of crazy Sri Lankan traffic.

And being back in the Kangoo was fun. We drove all over southern England to Chichester, Oxford, Barnet, Hertford on various expeditions to see friends and family.

In London, we took in a bit of culture at the Roundhouse in Camden, where Jacob took part in David Byrne's attempt to turn the building into a musical instrument (more of that later).