Travelog for: Nathalie

Hi mummy!

I ARRIVED TODAY!!! When hostmum put my box down on the floor, I could hear excited voices and I popped out to say hello. NiliHH, The WotWots and Little T.B. greeted me and welcomed me to sneakysnails house. I unpacked the things that I had brought; a chocolate bar, a postcard and my puzzle.

The other TV's were curious about my puzzle and so I suggested that we all build it together. We took it to the table and tipped out the pieces. Then, we begun. It didn't take us long when we all worked together and it was nice to see my puzzle built again.

I think I'm going to enjoy my time here and hostmum said she has something fun planned soon.

Bye for now,
Nathalie.

Hi mum.

We went 10 pin bowling today at the local bowling alley. The floor inside had carpet with bowling patterns on, how odd? Another odd thing about 10 pin bowling, is that you have to wear clown shoes to play it! I did not have to put on the silly shoes because, luckily, they didn't come in my size. Bowling was fun but we all had to work together to push the balls because they were really heavy. Once they got going though, the shiny floor took them down the lane for us!

When bowling was done, we played in the arcade. I helped Little T.B. push NiliHH across the air hockey table. She said it was great fun and she was squealing with joy. Then I played another game, something to do with chickens. I'm not really sure what you had to do but I had fun playing so it doesn't matter if I won or lost at the end. It was fun at the bowling alley, my first adventure with Sneakysnail.

Yours,
Nathalie

Hello mummy.

A new friend has arrived today in the shape of a giraffe called Gigi. She is very sweet and as she hopped out of her envelope we all jumped on her to give her a giant hug! As she is only very small, I think we may have squashed her a little bit, she didn't seem to mind though!

Then she unpacked five lollipops and handed one out to each of us. I got the pretty pink one and I was very pleased. We all sat and crunched our lollies and Gigi told us about all of her adventures. I told her about my adventures too and we got along well together. I think we might become good friends!

Yours
Nathalie

Hi mummy,

I went to London today! We had a murder mystery treasure trail to complete. There were things to find as you were walking around the streets.

We set off and went to the station to catch a train to London. It didn't take us long to get there, even though we had to change trains halfway through the journey. When we arrived we saw an interesting water feature and went over to have a look. I noticed there were some friends swimming on the water and I went over to say hello. They thought we had some food for them but sadly we didn't. I wanted to swim with my new duck friends but hostmum warned me that I'd get very cold so I decided it was best not to get in. We continued the trail and soon we came to a path beside the Thames. I could see The Shard in the distance. It is a very tall and new building. As we walked past the river, some more ducks were bobbing along. They were too far away to photograph though. Next we came across some interesting art works, a big wheel and a chimney. Can you see me hiding in the wheel? I fell out but luckily hostmum caught me! The chimney was mosaic and very pretty.

Soon, I saw another interesting thing, a big water whirlpool in a tube. It was good to stare at for a while, before it made me dizzy! Next we came to another good view point. This time of the O2 building. It has yellow spikes all over it and it's used for music events and stuff like that. Then we came across an unusual flower sculpture which worked well as a slide!. That is where the tour ended and we walked to a train station and hopped aboard another train.

We eventually got off at the Tower of London and had a look at the magnificent building. Unfortunately we couldn't go inside. Then we walked over to Tower Bridge so that NiliHH could complete a life mission. The bridge was rather magnificent too! Soon it was time to go home. Hostmum popped me into her bag and I fell asleep.

Just as I was having a lovely dream, hostmum woke me up and showed me a giant ice cream! I was still sleepy and very confused so I tried to take a bite out of it! It didn't taste good and I realised it was plastic and eating it would be a very bad idea. I liked the giant ice cream but I was still really sleepy. I jumped back into the bag and dreamt about ice cream clouds. At home I awoke on hostmums chair, I guess I must have been really fast asleep.

Yours,
Nathalie

Hi mum.

Today we said goodbye to NiliHH and Mrs Fleece. They are both going off on new adventures. Everyone gathered round together and I wished them both good luck. 

Once they were in their packages, it seemed very quiet and calm even though five of us are still here. I guess everyone is just a bit sad to see them leaving.

I'm sure it will liven up soon.
Bye for now,
Nathalie

Hello mummy,

Another day, another goodbye. This time it was The Wotwots who are leaving sneakysnails house. I said my goodbyes along with the others and wished them well. Then hostmum took them to the post office and sent them off.

Something good is happening here too! The weather has improved over the last few days and it feels like Spring! I will show you photos of some nice 'springy' things soon!

Nathalie

Hi mum,

We went outside and looked for signs of Spring today. There were lots of things to see. First we saw some buds on an acer tree, they will grow to be beautiful leaves soon. Then we noticed a huge plum tree with white blossom on it. When the blossom falls, it looks like a snow flurry. Next to the plum tree is hostmums pond. I saw a funny tall grass with stripes on it and then I checked to see if any ducks were on the pond. Sadly there were no ducks, only lots of pond weed!

Once we were done in hostmums garden, she took us to her friends house. Her friend loves to garden so there were loads of flowers there. Firstly we saw daffodils which are always the first sign of Spring to hostmum. Then I went to investigate a nice red flower on its own. Hostmum couldn't remember its name though! She took us to see a patch of violets and then some pansies. I loved the pansies, they have different colours on the same petal! The last flower we saw was pink and pretty but, again, hostmum forgot its name.

Inside hostmums friends house, I made some friends of my own. A t-shirt wearing meerkat called Mike, a chimp called Chimp and another meerkat called George! I told them about my travels until we had to go home.

It's getting nice here and I hope it doesn't get cold again!
Yours
Nathalie

Hi mummy,

Not much is happening here at the moment, hostmum has been very busy.

Today we helped hostmum to put up her new curtains. She has redecorated her bedroom and the curtains came yesterday! First, we unpacked them from the box and inspected the design. Then, we checked to make sure we had the tools and equipment we needed.

Preparing the curtains was next and I had to hold a string whilst hostmum pleated the curtain.

Then I measured the poles and put on the rings for the hooks to attach to. We all hopped onto the steps and tried to reach the window top. None of us were tall enough and so we made a tower of toys. Still, we couldn't reach.

Hostmum had to put the curtain rail up but I helped her to keep it level. When the curtains were up and finished, I thought it looked very pretty.

As I say, not much happening at the moment but the sun has been out all day! It got quite hot earlier! Hopefully something fun will happen soon.

Yours Nathalie.

Hello mummy,

Last night we went camping in hostmums garden! She said she would give us everything we would need for the night and then set us off into the wilderness. Handing us a tent, a couple of blankets a campfire and matches, and some food, we headed outside to find a good spot.

Then it was time to put the tent up. It was quite simple... if you know what you're doing. We struggled with it for ages, but eventually it was up and I hopped in to test it.

The weather was great and hostmums cat joined us as we were having a picnic. The food was delicious and laid out on a very appropriate plate! Once I'd eaten enough I took a look at our 'furry visitor' who was now snoozing in the midday sun. Much of the afternoon we spent playing, talking and eating. Little.T.B. was in charge of guarding the food from the cat. I think we needed someone to guard the food from Little T.B.! I went to grab a quick snack and found only a tiny portion of food left! Someone... no names mentioned... had been munching on our supplies we'd saved for breakfast.

As it got dark, I carefully lit the campfire and sat with the others. Being outside in the dark with no human was a little scary and we made it worse for ourselves by telling spooky stories! The fire was warm and soon I was getting sleepy. I climbed into the tent and the others soon followed me.

During the night, I did not wake and day light soon broke through the little tent. The others were already awake and looking around. I ate my tiny portion of food and talked with the others. Hostmum had chosen a brilliant day to camp, the sky was so blue, not a cloud in sight! Of course the fire had gone out whilst we slept but it was plenty warm enough. It was around an hour later when hostmum came out and took us inside.

I really loved camping but I am glad it was only in the garden and not further away

Bye for now,
Nathalie

Hi mum,

Today we took a trip to the local library to look at some books. There was a funny dinosaur book stand and I looked through the books for one I wanted to read. Soon I picked out a book about a duck and read it all the way through! I really enjoyed it.

In the library there were lots of chairs, a tiny one and a big round one amongst others. The round one was very odd but comfy. Hostmum struggled to fit into it though! There was also a nice mural of a lake on the wall and we investigated it further. I liked pretending I was swimming.

Once we tested the chairs and found a comfortable seat we again looked through the books for an interesting one. We came to a book about animals and found a page for hostmum to read! I then came across a nice picture of a duck with some funny writing. I laughed as I read it.

When we finished with reading we took a look around the library and came across a section about all the countries. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop and browse.

The library was fun and I found out lots of interesting information.

Yours,
Nathalie

Hi mum.

We said goodbye to Gigi Giraffe today. She is going to a new host in Germany. I gave her a big hug and said goodbye before helping her climb into her envelope. It was sad to see her go... but maybe we'll meet again someday.

The weather here is strange. It was very rainy and cold, then it got hot and sunny, now we're back to cold and frosty mornings. Spring has sprung and the weather should have stayed warm. Hostmum doesn't mind, she likes the cold, but others are complaining. Never mind, it'll sort itself out!

Yours
Nathalie

Happy Mothers Day!

Sadly I am not with you this mothers day and so cannot give you a little card or present. I've made you an e-card thingy instead! Hostmum took a picture of me and I decorated it for you! Hope you like it.

We made a card for hostmum too. I cut out some flowers and glued them onto the card. It was a bit plain so I thought of what else we could add to it. Searching the house, I came across some pens. A bright idea popped into my head. I coloured some bits onto a butterfly and Little. T.B. wrote a greeting.

Then we gave it to hostmum. She was very pleased with it, so pleased that she put it up before I could snap a photo. Well, I'm glad she liked it!

Hope you had a nice mothers day.
Love from Nathalie.

Hello Mummy.

I'm sorry I have not updated in a while, I completely lost track of time!

Today I helped hostmum with some household tasks because she had so much to do in a short space of time. First, I gathered some cleaning equipment and soapy water for hostmum. She said this job was too messy so I went to do some sweeping. Her pet canary, Colin, makes a lot of mess with his seeds and so I swept them up with a dust pan and brush.

Then I did some vacuuming with Little.T.B. He was moving the nozzle around whilst I shifted the main vacuum. We did the whole rug and once we'd finished it looked very neat. Hostmum commented that we did it better than her and that we should do it all the time for her! I'm not too happy about that idea!

Next we cleaned and polished the table. I had to stand on a biscuit tin to reach the spray can. Once the polish was done, it made the table all slippery and shiny. I hopped off of my tin and slid around. It was great fun and we were distracted by playing there for a while.

Eventually I was done and I went to clean some windows with smudges on. The spray I used was blue and looked pretty in the sun. I cleaned away the smudges and looked out at the beautiful forest that is springing into life. Maybe we can visit it soon.

Hostmum thanked us for all our help and said we would have a nice treat in the next week or so.

Yours,
Nathalie

Hi mum.

We welcomed a new guest to Sneakysnail's house yesterday. She is called Freya and is very cute. Once she hopped out of her envelope I introduced myself and helped her to unpack. We were soon friends and the rest of the day was spent talking and telling jokes together.

Yours,
Nathalie

Hi mum,

We took a nice walk in the forest today. It is all green and lovely because of the new spring leaves. There are also some flowers blooming in the forest too. I saw bluebells around the base of a tree. Hostmum said we are lucky to see them here, they are becoming rare in many UK woodlands. There was a large group of white flowers too. Hostmum called them white-bells though she doesn't think that's their real name.

Soon we came to a large tree with a swing hanging from its branch. It was made of a curved branch and some rope. We all had a go on it (including hostmum) and then we walked on towards the lake.

Before we got to the lake, we saw a nice tree with a nook in the trunk. It was large enough for us all to sit in and so we rested there for a moment.

We continued walking until we reached Highams Lake. It has many ducks on it and I was hoping to see some. They were mostly sleeping or caring for their babies but I did see one close to the waters edge.

Next to the lake was a nice round tree. I thought it would make a good viewpoint and so we climbed up top to look out over the lake. Not far away, there was an information sign and we went to read it. I saw there were some pictures of ducks and so I read about them.

On the way back home I noticed a nice looking holly bush and carefully went to sit in it. I had to watch out for the many prickles on the leaves.

During the recent storms, many trees fell in this forest and it was not long before we saw a large one blocking our path. It was massive but we discovered that it was only a branch from a nearby tree. Imagine how big the tree must've been! We sat on the branch to show you how big it was, can you see me?

In the forest are two little house, sort of like the kind you get in fairy tales. I liked them lots and so does hostmum. She said she wishes she could afford to move into one of them!

As we neared home we took a rest on a moss covered log. We were tired and several hills approached ahead. The energy from our rest helped us home and soon we were resting in a cosy armchair.

Yours,
Nathalie