Preparing for Fashionista's Wedding

After months of preparation, Fashionista's wedding has finally arrived.  Today is her henna night insh'Allah and the last few days have seen us all busy preparing with much laughter and bickering.  Lots of preparation of favours, henna trays and displays has been taking place and I think my mum is sick of the sight of baskets and cellophane.

I even finally got round to opening up a Pinterest account to help gather some ideas.  You can see my boards here, including one for henna night.

Last few bits to do today, so will be at my mum's bright and early sitting with a  great big bucket of flowers.  I am very much looking forward to seeing how all the colours and themes come together tonight and have managed to find an outfit (with Kooky's help) that I absolutely love and which sits nicely with my bump.

Visit to Greenwich - National Maritime Museum

Our last stop on the visit to Greenwich wa the National Maritime Museum.  

The first exhibit pleased my mum because it was called Rawalpindi, which is near where my parents are from in Pakistan.

A large pat of the museum was devoted to Britains history of trade and interaction with other countries.

The famous Cutty Sark:

In all, the Greenwich visit turned out to be a great day out.  It's a twenty minute drive from us (and is just across the River Thames from where we live).  We visited Greenwich Park, The Planetarium and the National Maritime and in the whole day all we paid for was ice-cream - for a large-ish and growing family, that makes a lot of difference.

We also wanted to visit the Queens House in Greenwich, but this was being blocked off because it was being used due to the Olympics.  The area hosted a few of the Olympic events, so the park was dressed for the Games and had a great vibe with lots of Games Maker volunteers (including hijabi's) who were really friendly and helpful.  In future will also take the children to the Royal Observatory (to see the meridian line) in the Park and possibly inside the Cutty Sark, both of which are ticketed.

Visit to Greenwich - The Planetarium

In the middle of Greenwich park, we found the Planetarium, which was free and very interactive with lots for the kids to do.

Astrolabes from Morocco (1720) and Persia (1850).

I loved how many things there were for everyone to do and the fact that the kids could touch things without me worrying we would all get told off (which happens often!).

Visit to Greenwich - Greenwich Park Rose Garden

Last week we took the children to Greenwich Park on hubby's suggestion.  The first thing we came across was the beautiful rose garden.  The rose bushes were colour-blocked giving a petty effect.r

A few of the gardeners were tending the roses and I told one that they had done such a beautiful job.  He promptly cut some scented roses.

It was so beautiful, I could have at there for ages.   Mum and mum-in-law sniffed there noses at the dog rose below after seeing the rest of the more glamorous blooms.  But I find something endearing about this wilder cousin.