David, Grace, Sarah and Emma Bellis

Her photo is at the right end of the second row.

What is that logo on Ming's shirt. Is he an avid golfer?

Or is he really a member of the insidious cult of giant-celery worshipers?

The guidebook with the chapter from Ross & me has finally been published:

We wrote the first chapter - the green pages!

Last week we had lunch with Jeremy & Trish, friends visiting from Sydney. You can see that Sarah took a shine to Trish, impressed by her artistic abilities with the wax crayons and paper tablecloths.

Before lunch, Sarah was excited to hear she was going to meet "Uncle Fox" (Jeremy's surname). As she's a great Beatrix Potter fan, I wonder what she expected?

Here's Uncle Fox again, this time with Emma.

Lovely to see them again, and great to hear that Jeremy has his pilot's licence.

We visited Mark, Jasmine, Lara & Maya today. Maya's a bundle of fun. Here she is in action, then in a quieter moment:

I think the highlight for Emma was the red Emma-sized pony she found in Lara's room. She starts off well, takes a fall, but in best horse-riding tradition heads straight back to the saddle. Sound effects by Lara.

Shortly before the burp you hear Sarah say "I very tall". And it's true she seems to have had a growth spurt in the last month or so. She was the same height as Lara a few months back, but is around two inches taller now.

The Lazy Suzacam whirls into action again, this time at Dim Sum lunch with several of Grace's family. We'd just been up to the graveyard for our Ching Ming duties, and stopped here for lunch before heading home.

Benny & Cindy arranged a lovely party for Victoria's 4th birthday, and kindly invited us along. Aiyaaa, four already - it's hard to pretend the years aren't passing when there are children around.

As far as the 3 and 4-year olds were concerned, this party's theme was balloons. Early on a few escaped up to a high ceiling area near the window:

Then later on the ducks on the end of the balloon strings became mobile phones:

Sarah had a great time, whether stuffing her face (well, smearing it at least) with chocolate,

or running around the lobby with her partners in crime.

We saw all the Webb-Johnsons too, and got a monster-horsey (evil unicorn perhaps?) demonstration from Lara.

And the best bit for me? Dry ice. I like Dry ice. There was a moment's excitement when Sarah picked up the cup and was about to drink it, but otherwise it just hubbled and bubbled in a most delightful way.

We are regular visitors to Hong Kong's parks and playgrounds. It's a good chance to let the girls run around and tire themselves out. (If you're reading this from outside HK, remember that our flat is 772 sq feet - and that's the gross measurement! Staying inside for very long drives us all nuts.) Last weekend was fairly typical...

Saturday morning we usually head down to Belcher's Bay park, which has a good playground. We've been going there since soon after Sarah was born, so we recognise lots of the other children there. On this visit we also saw one of Sarah's classmates Pak Lam (the little boy in red & white shirt and glasses) for the first time.

Then in the afternoon we went out for a walk, and ended up at the grassy area near the Merton. Earlier in the week we'd been saying how Sarah has lost interest in bubbles, after demanding bubbles accompany almost every outdoor trip for the last two years. You'll see Emma managed to blow her first bubbles here, so the next two years begins!

Then on Sunday after Victoria's birthday party we went to Hong Kong Park. We paid a short visit to the fountain:

Notice any family resemblance?

Then on to the big playground near the Kennedy Road edge of the park. Sarah was very energetic - not too surprising given the amount of ice-cream she ate during the party! Here she is on the fast slide:

Then on the balancing steps - Maisy, her gym class teacher at kindergarten, would be proud.

And finally, Bellis airways take to the air with a rousing rendition of the Little Einsteins theme tune (which was played any time we got in the car during our trip to the UK last year. I don't think I can ever forget it).

... are all up on flickr.

We've just got back from holiday. Mum and Dawn joined us, and  friends Stanley & Tammy with their two boys & parents overlapped their visit with ours, so there was quite a crowd.

Here's where we stayed. We'd originally booked two adjoining rooms, but were given an upgrade to this villa when we checked in. There's a living room and basic kitchen on the ground floor, then up a level to the main room (they squeezed a cot & extra mattress in for the girls after this), mum & Dawn stayed on the next level, and there's a balcony on the roof. Apart the risk of Emma taking a nosedive down the staircase, it was great!

As well as climbing up & down stairs, Emma's got plenty of walking practice in during the holiday.

Ernest and Cyrus vie for Emma's attention. Ernest uses the 'sensitive, caring' approach and tries to establish communication, which at this age is raspberry-flavoured. Cyrus takes the Hong Kong approach by trying to impress her with his fancy mobile phone.

Emma does her sealion impression.

Every morning a couple of baby elephants would come and play next to the breakfast area. This one had a good trick where it will take paper money from your hand and put it in the trainer's pocket.

Playing on the beach after dinner.

The Wongs put on a talent show.

More photos on flickr.