Three Ps- Paddington, Park and Pugs

I have been trying to get to this outdoor market since we got here. My mom went and had good things to say about it. I was a little apprehensive about taking the boys with me, but today we went anyway.

It was another gorgeous day.  Sunny and in the 70s.  I took the boys to breakfast at a local restaurant where they had pancakes and french toast. It was quite tasty, but the boys were pretty squirmy so it did not last long and it was super sticky!

We took the bus to the market. It is an outdoor market comprised of about 200 stalls selling handmade Australian goods.  They have a little bit of everything- food, clothing, toys and accessories. They boys did really well and lasted probably a good hour. We looked at quite a few different things.  Cooper, of course, wanted all the toys we saw and when I said no to that, he said, "Well, why don't we find a little something, something (yes, he said that) for Tucker."  That is his M.O.-- if he can't get mom to get something for him, then for sure she will fall for the nice, big brother wanting to get something for the little brother that he really wants for himself act. :)  We found the chocolates my mom has been raving about.  We got to taste a few different flavours and finally decided on the dark chocolate covered oranges. I was really surprised that Cooper actually liked them.  In the end, Coop did a little, old fashioned fire engine (yes, call me a sucker) and I was finally able to find the perfect baby gift for a dear friend that I have been looking for.

While on the bus home Coop started talking to an older couple sitting near him. It turns out they were from Wisconsin!  I told them that is where I went to college and we talked for the rest of the ride. It was really nice to hear a good ole Wisconsin accent again. They were very nice and really interesting.  We alighted the bus near our apartment, made a quick stop at Starbucks and spent the rest of the morning playing in Hyde Park.

After Tucker's nap, I decided it was high time to take the Pugs out for walk. They haven't been out in weeks and must be going stir crazy. Tofie was thrilled. Manzie hid under the bed.  When we finally got there, I put Tofie's wheelchair on her and let the dogs do their thing. There was a great deal of sniffing to be done!  Manzie scored big time when she found someone's leftover fruit salad!  It really was so nice have them out with us enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

The boys had a great time too.  Tucker played "Peek-a-boo" from behind a tree while Coop played in the dirt (which he calls sand). Tucker also spent some time blowing on the flowers. I am pretty sure he was trying to smell them, but just has it backwards. It was pretty sweet.  Tucker loves to show his tummy.  He pulls up his shirt and then runs to me with huge smile in anticipation of hugs and kisses and some tummy tickles.

At one point, Tucker took Coop over to the flowers to show him something. I thought this was a cute snapshot of Cooper listening to what Tucker has to say.  He is a really good big brother when he is not torturing Tucker....

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath to hear how my 58,000+ iPhoto disaster turned out, here is the update. It took 4 DAYS for the program to run through all 58,000 pictures. It found over 25,000 duplicates which have not been removed (although I am not sure exactly where they are now) from my computer and I am back to a healthy 7,500+ photos on my computer. Wow, that was quite a process! Now onto backing them all up...