Sea Life Brighton - by Bex

We had such a wonderful day in Brighton on the twins' first birthday.  We started off in the Sea Life centre and the amazing Laura was there to capture all the fun for us.  I am absolutely delighted with the photos she took, they are exactly what I had in mind when I planned our birthday day out knowing she'd be there to record it.  Despite some difficult, dark lighting in the aquarium, she's managed to get some truly gorgeous portraits of the twins as well as the photos I had hoped for in the tunnel and some brilliant close-ups and family shots.

I can quite easily say that she will always be my first port of call if we ever need a family photographer.  I only wish I'd known her sooner and booked her for our wedding.

Laura has kindly sent me way more photos than usual due to the tricky lighting so I had plenty to choose from.  I think she also knows just how much I love photos of the twins!  And anyone who reads this blog will also know that and the fact that I am useless at narrowing down my favourites.  As a result of my useless ability to edit down beautiful photos, I will write another post featuring the lovely photos she took of us outside the aquarium and on Brighton beach as they have a completely different feel anyway, back in the daylight!

I do have some super-duper absolute favourites which will be the full size single pictures below.  ;)

Anyway, about our day; other than Laura recording the morning so beautifully, we had a lot of fun in the aquarium!  It's the first time we've taken the babies to one and they loved it.  We'd never been to the one in Brighton before, and in fact, it's been years since I've been to one at all.  It was really good and the staff were lovely.

They even had rainbow effect lighting on the ceiling!

We particularly loved the touch and feel areas (I have no idea what they are actually called) where we could get wet and touch sea stars and anemones and a member of staff held up a crab for the babies to touch.  Priya wasn't convinced but Kalyan was very interested and gentle.  I love his face in the first one - like he's saying, "Really? I can touch it??" and in the last one - "what on earth IS that thing you let me touch?!"

They were both more keen on sticking their hands in the water to touch the sea stars and anemones.

There was also a sandpit full of "treasures" to find.

As well as plenty of other fish, terrapins and rays to see.

Priya again was a bit unsure when taken into the dome to see the terrapins.  She didn't mind being in the tunnel though but was happier when her and Daddy came back out.

One of my favourite bits was the underwater tunnel.  One of the main reasons I wanted to go to the sea life centre was because I thought it would be quite photogenic in the tunnel but also I love seeing sharks and rays swimming right above.  They didn't disappoint on any count, despite part of the tunnel being closed while they install a new area, there was even a huge turtle in there too!

All in all, we had an amazing morning exploring the centre.  I will definitely be going back (especially since we got free tickets to return due to part of it being closed on the day we went!).  I think it should be a new birthday tradition.  I can imagine the twins will love it even more when they're two!

Underwater photo shoot with Little Dolphin

by Bex

I mentioned in my post with my underwater snaps of the twins that we had a professional shoot booked at Oaklands pool where we take the babies for swimming lessons.  We had a great time with Zac, the photographer from Little Dolphin Images and the 'baby handler' for the day, Roz from Swim2me.

Obviously the set up was much better than when I hired the pool with Mum & Dad to assist me with the babies and my little G11 compact in it's housing.  Zac had a blue backdrop to hide the tiles on the side of the pool and of course the full underwater set up with an SLR housing and two strobes as well as off camera lighting.  My Dad took some photos of the shoot, (with permission from Zac) since we were the only ones in that time slot, so we got some behind the scenes pictures of us in the pool too.

We saw some of the photos as the shoot progressed and we loved them!  I was so excited to see them all and select the ones we wanted to buy.  They are fantastic and we ended up with a great selection!

It was very relaxed and went so quickly as we had fun trying a few different shots including a surprisingly successful attempt to capture both twins together underwater!

Luckily the babies are quite relaxed underwater (particularly Priya) thanks to our fantastic lessons with Rebecca from Love Baby Swim School.  We've now completed two terms over the last 3 months and the babies have made some great progress.

We also got some with flowing fabric, I think the one of Priya looks like she has wings:

And we got a family shot (where I was more of an issue as I hate opening my eyes underwater and water going up my nose but I managed to suffer for the art and put on a smile!)

As far as professional photography goes, Zac's prices are very reasonable, especially for a specialist shoot like underwater.  The shoot itself was £40 (per child so pricier for us with the twins at £80) and there was a choice afterwards of how many images you want instead of having to buy a package.  For just one image it was £69 but we opted for the package of 10 for £119 and paid an extra £10 for black & white conversions.  I thought about doing that part myself as we get high res digital images but given I am already struggling to find time to edit my own images of the twins and it was only £10 extra, we thought it was worth it, plus Zac does a better job than I could anyway!

In total it cost £210 which is about the same as our other professional shoots of the bump and newborn images we had done by Lauren, Laura and Jude.  Again, this was something I would have regretted if we didn't do it, plus I picked up some tips for having another go myself too ;)  It's just as well we're good at finding bargains for everything else since I keep spending so much on photos!

My waterbabies

by Bex

Half term means no swimming lessons so the private pool, which is hired out to swimming teachers, is available for private hire.  Mum, Dad and I went on Wednesday with the twins.  For the 3 of us plus babies it cost just £20 for an hour (although she said we could take as long as we needed as no one had booked after us so we had a full hour in the pool before getting out to dry and change everyone)!

I've just realised that I haven't actually managed to blog about our swimming lessons yet but I think we started them at around 12 weeks.  We've now done two terms and the twins are very happy in the water and not bothered at all about being splashed or completely dunked under the water.  It's great seeing them progress and actually reach for and hold the floating balls they previously ignored and they always hold on to the edge when we reach the side of the pool now too.  They also close their eyes on hearing the dunking command, ready to hit the water.  They've only cried once or twice the entire time we've been going and we suspect that was more down to tiredness as they've coped even if they've accidentally taken in some water and come up coughing!

We have actually booked a place at the 'official' underwater photo shoot this Sunday but I wanted to have a go myself with my little compact housing set up.  I planned on waiting until after the shoot to get a better idea of what to do (since babies are quite different to the sealife I'm used to photographing!) but we wanted to take advantage of the pool while Grampy is still here (and he goes home on Monday).  We just had some fun doing the usual dunking exercises we do in swimming class.  I showed Mum and Dad (who watched one of the classes too) how to handle the babies safely and this enabled me to get underwater with the camera and grab some snaps.  I'm not bothered about photoshopping out Mum or the edges of the pool (to be honest I'm not sure I'd be that good at it anyway) as I just wanted to record the underwater fun at this stage.  I do hope to try again and get some more professional looking shots after the shoot (I think I already know how to improve them next time), as well as the proper professional ones from the shoot as well!

Anyway, here are my best snaps from our hour in the pool:

And my favourite images of my underwater babies:

I love his hilarious underwater face!

It was a brilliant way to spend an afternoon, followed by a pub lunch in the sunshine!  :)

Off on our holidays!

by Bex

Well, we finally have a holiday booked!  It always seems to be last minute with us!!  Having only just (half) confirmed Nik's annual leave, we've managed to get a holiday for the only time he can go.  There was an option in May but then we'll need to be available for flat viewings, house hunting and the best one of all - a humanist naming ceremony for which we've asked to be Guide Parents (kind of like Godparents without the religion)!  We leave in 2 weeks!  I'm still waiting for confirmation on our first hotel choice (we're staying in two places) and will share more details soon but we're off to Thailand!!

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I have always wanted to go to Thailand but it's either never been the right time for me or for the weather over there!  It just happened to be the best option for this time of year and at short notice for this trip.  I'm glad it's all finally sorted and just at the right time.  As you read this I am probably fasting, sedated or recovering.  Today they are attempting for the second time to gain access through my crazy S shaped cervical canal to implant 2 of our thawed embryos.  This time I will be asleep so they don't have to worry about me but other than that, there's not anything else they can try.  It's kind of a last ditch attempt really.  (If you're new to the blog you can read about our IVF experiences here.)

I am not expecting it to be successful which is a good thing as I'm not sure I could take another crash.  Obviously there is a little hope there (or they wouldn't be trying again) but I am trying not to feel excited this time as I took it so hard to leave without any embryos inside me after the last attempt in September.  After everything we've been through, all the hurdles before even that one, I can't take anything else unexpected so I am expecting it to fail.  Still fingers crossed by some miracle they manage to get round the bends and place our little embryos where they need to be!

In case you didn't see this before - here is our best embryo developing from 1 tiny cell in the very beginning - so amazing to watch!

Anyway, this time I am feeling more prepared for disappointment.  I have the week off work (with the option of going back Friday if I feel up to facing people) and lots to get on with in that time.  I have booked a few estate agents to come and value the flat so I have to get it sorted asap so no moping if it doesn't work, now we know where we're going to live, I can think about the future again, with or without children for now.  I've already been checking out Brighton and Hove adoption services just in case.  (I will share more on our thoughts about adoption soon as there are lots of thoughts!)

I also have our holiday to look forward to.  Just us, 2 weeks in a tropical paradise with the option of diving if I'm not pregnant (a positive of failure I guess!) as I've always wanted to dive here and we'll be near one of the world's most amazing dive locations, the Similan islands.

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And if we can't dive, we're staying in some lovely, yet bargainous, hotels in Phuket and Khao Lak which is also near a National Park (Elephants) and the beach (relaxing) and both have spas and lovely pools!  As you know, we also love food and exploring the nearby towns with various streetfood and other local delicacies to try will also be great fun!  (Although we'll have to be very careful about peanuts over there!)  "Mai sai peanut - mee pare", apparently!

And of course, I will be taking lots of my own photos to share when we return!  

I think it will be a pretty perfect de-stressing therapy whatever happens.  Two weeks of chillaxing in the sun, can't be bad  ;)  Obviously we should really be saving, saving, saving for our new home in Brighton but sometimes you just need a holiday.  I really think this counts as need in our case.  We've had a tough six months (well, 18 months really since finding out about our infertility) and some time away together is just ideal right now.

Dive Downbelow in Borneo

by Bex

Aaaages ago, before my last wee post about Tim Tam Slams, I had been telling you all that we went to Borneo for a few days to see the Orangutans and get in a bit of diving.  I'd been diving in Borneo before but Nik had never been and my Uncle and his family wanted to learn to dive.  When Mum & Dad had their apartment in Kota Kinabalu they became friends with the owners of Downbelow, a diving and excursion company based there.  In fact I think Richard & Joanne may have had an influence on their decision to make Malaysia their permanent home with all of the diving possibilities there.

We'd booked a day with them on Pulau Gaya where their dive centre is based and after the amazing sunset the night before, we got up early to catch the short boat ride across.

Wardrobe info in the outfit post.

The dive centre surrounded by jungle at the end of a very long jetty.

After a quick re-orientation, we were off out on the boat for our first dive of the day (Nik, Dad and I - the others were in the shallows practising their skills and learning about the basics).  As with last time, the visibility wasn't great but there was still plenty to see and it is an absolutely beautiful area within Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park.  The last time I was there I actually booked a day photography course with Richard and bought an external strobe for my underwater kit.  Unfortunately since then I have not been able to practise with it and decided not to bring it on this trip as we were only diving for one day and it takes up a chunk of luggage allowance on a 3 week stay.  I still think I have managed to improve my photography a little though with a few tips from Richard and hopefully I'll get a chance to really get better with my new kit on a proper diving holiday soon.

Underwater selfie!

End of the 1st dive.

 After our first dive, we had a bit of a rest back on the island, a cuppa and we were off out again!

Chilling out in the dive centre :)

I am quite notorious for my love of anemonefish!

And found some cool Nudibranches! (Although I'm not sure the one on the right is one!?)

Patient husband :)

And then back to the island again for lunch!  Lunch at the dive centre is always good and hot!  I think this time we had chicken curry and various vegetable dishes followed by fruit.  Biscuits, tea and water are always available.

Uncle G & co having lunch in the sun

There are often interesting sightings of wildlife and creepy crawlies around the dive centre too!

 Then off we went again, back out for our 3rd and final dive...

This time when I was taking photos I kept getting a fright and jumping every time one of these little cleaner wrasse nibbled at my leg.  I actually think it was a mimic wrasse as it was a bit too aggressive and nippy and seemed to follow me quite a way along our dive!

There were ample abstract photo opportunities on this dive especially and I particularly love the centre of these worms...

And more clownfish of course...

And just some clowns...

;)

Before we left we made sure we got a group shot of us all...

And made our way back down the loooooong jetty to the boat for the trip back.

We had a brilliant day!  Thanks to Dad for organising it all for us and paying for Nik and I!  :D