Our Summer in Handstands

Coco spent the summer perfecting her handstands.
Everywhere we went she'd be up-side-down within seconds.
Although at times it drove me mad (she'd say "I can't help myself Mummy" like some kind of addict) I admire her perseverance and she really cracked it over the summer...



Of course it's the way that I don't have many photos of her handstand 'before' - this is maybe the closest - a slightly fast and unstable version at Starry Skies right at the beginning of the holidays...



In the garden



On the beach



At the campsite



Beach again - but this time with a view...



An early morning pj handstand at camp



Trebah gardens



St Ives



Polurrian Bay Hotel; indoor handstands are generally a no-no...



... except when there is a brutalist playground indoors... (at RIBA)



In tandem.



In the fountains at the Southbank



Near perfection at Kings Cross



Although they still go awry sometimes



At the roofgarden on the Southbank



And then at the end of the holidays we were a little bit more house-bound thanks to the gorgeous British weather and the handstands slowed down... until on the very last day of the holiday at Kew Gardens when I had to ASK for her to do one last handstand for me.
She hesitated and resisted a little... but eventually obliged.



One last 'stand.



Now she's moved on to cartwheels...

Mermories of Summer: Swimming at Kings Cross Pond

It's back to school for Coco tomorrow and as summer begins to draw to a close I'm left with a million photos to edit and a lot of happy memories. One of the best days we had in London over the holidays was also one of the hottest. A Saturday of sun in the midst of a couple of dull August weeks. We decided to have a mini holiday day and got up early to go swimming at Kings Cross Pond. The sun was hot, the water was fresh and we lazed on the grass by the man-made pond - our immediate surroundings filled with nature and flowers against the back drop of a building site. We watched another crane being constructed as we swam; Kings Cross is crazy right now.

I took masses of photos. Wanner see? Scroll on down...





You have to have a shower before going in... they were colder than the twenty degree water in the pool.







One end of the pool has all the planting that naturally filters the water. No swimmers allowed here which makes for a nice photo...

















There is something quite special about swimming in fresh water in the middle of a massive construction site. The tickets are limited so even though there were quite a few people there it didn't feel busy (as you can see). If you get the chance then I'd highly recommend it; it's on my next summer list already.



Before heading to Caravan for brunch (so, so good) we had a quick lesson from Coco on how the natural filters work.

Then our mini holiday continued with a sing-along at the Southbank (part of David Byrne's Meltdown), more fountain fun and takeaway in the garden for dinner. It did feel like we packed quite a lot of holidaying into about twelve hours; which was lucky really as it poured with rain again the next day.
Oh London.