London visit

Mark's sister Katharine having a baby gave us an excellent excuse to visit, as we hadn't seen the family since Christmas. There's nothing like a baby to bring people together. Gabrielle ADORED her older and more sophisticated cousin, Maggie, and wanted to do everything Maggie did. I think Maggie was flattered at first, but was clearly annoyed by the end of our visit. Having admirers isn't all it's cracked up to be, I guess.

One fun thing we did was go to their neighbourhood pool, where there were a billion kids jumping off the diving board. G decided she wanted to get in on the action, so we strapped on a life vest, did a few prayers, and Katharine dropped her off the diving board.

Mark was close at hand for the landing. In truth, I don't think G's head even touched the water, but it all seemed quite dramatic at the time. The best news was when she said "more".

We also took a daytrip to Uncle Ray's cottage on beautiful Lake Huron. The water was like bathwater and I could have birthed the baby right there on the shore, I was so happy to just beach myself in the shallow water. 

Little Trevor was not forgotten.

Gabrielle got the chance to spend some quality time with the grandparents, here playing with a large container of glass beads. Empty them out, fill it back up, empty them out, fill it back up, repeat.

And more Maggie-time, here Gabrielle trying out Maggie's old big wheel tricycle, Mark giving her an extra push to enable her to keep up with her two-wheeler (no fair).

Did I mention they were cute together?

Draper sibs with progeny.

At a kids-size table at the fish 'n chips joint - Gabrielle listening and learning from her cousin's many stories. Of course G could eat Maggie under the table any day, but that's another story...