She has been ready for ages, talking about the day she would become a big girl and start school. She couldn't wait to wear that little red gingham dress join in the ritual she sees Xander go through each day with his homework, luchbox and tales of playground adventures.

When the day came, she was bursting with excitement got dressed with laughter and squeals of delight, and kept asking when we were going to leave the house for school.

A pic of her in her uniform on her first day. I can't quite believe it myself.

No, not me, unfortunately. Our girls get prettier every day. Some recent pics of them.

As a last minute birthday treat we took a quick trip across to Paris to watch the opening game of the Rugby World Cup 2007. I can never say no to a trip to Paris.

We didn't have the kids with us so we used the opportunity to just take in the wonderful feel of the place and relax. Luckily, we also managed to catch up with some friends and I found the LBD I had been promising myself for some time.

The game was great fun too. A bit of an upset with Argentina beating Les Bleus, but the atmosphere in that amazing stadium was electric.

Probably our last visit there for some time given that it is so far away from Aus. Bye bye, Paris.

Only months to go before before the move so it's time to concentrate on some outings we want to make with the kids before we go.

The kids wanted to see a few more castles so we took them to Colchester Castle and Hampton Court Palace over the last few weekends.

Colchester Castle has always been one of their favourites and they are now getting old enough to appreciate it better. They particularly enjoyed trying on the chain mail and getting into the costumes of the time.







Hampton Court Palace is a particular favourite of mine, so we visited on the August bank holiday weekend. We were blessed with fine weather that weekend, so we were able to spend a bit of time in the beautiful gardens and let the kids explore the maze.

Our princesses felt right at home here!