Cliona is 4

It was a fun-filled weekend for Cliona. I took friday off and took Cliona and my parents upto the Getty Villa - a museum dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. The building is beautiful and is a re-creation of the Villa of the Papyri in Italy. The location is even better - just off Pacific coast highway with great ocean views. We had a great day exploring the gardens and museum.

Then on Saturday, Gk,Kerry, Avery and Kat came to stay. Clio had been looking forward to Avery's arrival all week. She'd been waking up asking 'is this the day Avery is coming?'. A fair was in town so we had to go to that! Cliona and Avery had the best time going on all the rides together. Even Kat got to ride the merry-go-round and a bumble-bee ride. She loved it - kept saying 'bumble bee' after the ride was over. She is talking up a storm now - seems like she learns a new word every minute. I even heard her say 'Orla'.

Cliona's party was on Sunday morning - Dora returned for another year. We had a Dora jumpee and this year we had a little scavenger hunt around the garden to find the pinata. It worked really well and all the children really liked crossing snake lake and scrambling through rainbow tunnel to get to the pinata. Then we did musical chairs - I think they may be still a little young for that. Some of the children just weren't interested and at one point the music stopped, all the seats were taken except one, Jack and Polina both stood by it for a second until Jack offered it to Polina. What a little sweetheart!

This year, Stephen and Gk had their own little bit of fun! They went off to pick up the cake, came back and Stephen called me into the living room to see it. He was just about to lift the lid of the box when it tipped and fell upside down, onto the floor. I tried to grab it but the couch was in my way. It didn't have a chance - especially as the box was empty and the real cake was sitting out in his car! Yes - Gk got the whole thing on video! It's a classic alright! Funny stuff! We were all fooled for a second - Kerry, Mam and I!

PICTURES HERE