Litte being the operative word here. Just a quick post to wish you all a very happy, relaxing, lovely Christmas and sparkling, fun-filled new year. I’ll be spending the day with my family, including my much doted-on nephews –  this little bundle of cuteness, and his very excited three year old brother who is getting a “very big, red, big bike” from Santa.

Just a couple of days after the present unwrapping and turkey eating I will be boarding a plane with Ben and heading on a 12-day road trip across California’s West Coast. We’ll be taking in San Francisco, the Big Sur, Paso Robles, San Diego and LA. Needless to say, I’m insanely excited, both for the amazing sights and tastes that await us, and for the opportunity to spend time hanging out with one of the funniest, loveliest people I know (who just so happens to be as big a photo nerd as I am). The blog will be quiet for a little while, but expect an explosion of shots when I return in January.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting, and see you in 2012!

I got a really lovely DM on Twitter from someone who has been having a hard time recently, telling me that they’ve enjoyed the blog. So to that lovely person, I really hope these pics cheer you up – they certainly brought a smile to my face.

Hola! My poor camera and blog have been a wee bit abandoned these past few weeks but I’m delighted to be back hanging out with both.

I absolutely love this time of year. The leaves, the gorgeous golden tones, the pretty autumnal bokeh. Drool, the bokeh…

Anyway. Some shots from a recent trip to Phoenix Park with Ben below.

There are still some lovely flowers to be spotted around the park.

Other autumn tones  – my beauts new camera bag from Ona and tan knee boots from Office.

And finally, another seasonal highlight – Oktoberfest! Those giant pretzels were delish.

He weighed in at just over 9lbs and is just over 52cms long. I am, once again, a super proud auntie. Ethan has been very gentle and lovely to his new baby brother so far, offering him his teddy bears and his soother. Cute!

P.S. The title to this post comes from this very brilliant Elbow song.

The very cheery canon man….

The juggler, who juggles in the dark with light-up balls and clubs.

Hand balancer Aaron:

Ben took a cool shot of the tent as we were leaving, looking all mean and moody as a storm rolled in.

Spicy chipotle chicken soup from the Taco Taco stand at the Epicurean Food Hall, and a giant 99, drizzled with either chocolate or raspberry syrup. Yum.

Here are my Sunday companions, sis Kelly (32 weeks preggo now) and Ethan.

You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but my gorgeous little sister Kelly is seven months pregnant with her second babóg.

Genuinely one of the most naturally beautiful people I know, she has remained photogenic as ever throughout her pregnancy. We snapped these pics on Sunday, in between all the chasing after Ethan (her) and riding of waltzers (me).

Ethan is kind of coming around to the idea. We’ve been reading him books, and telling him about the baby in mum’s belly, but I think he now thinks that there’s a baby lurking in everyone’s belly, even his own. Bless. He’s very into hugs, as the below pic shows (although he calls them “loves” which may just be the most adorable thing in world).

And even though the new baby is so going to steal my birthday thunder, I can’t wait to meet him/her and, inevitably, pap ‘em like crazy.

One of the St Patrick’s Festival highlights definitely has to be the fun fair that rolls into Merrion Sq. Kel, Ethan and I headed along on Sunday for the Big Day Out – basically an excuse to eat Nutella and banana crepes for lunch, watch funny caricaturists, see the world’s fastest Rubik’s cube solving robot, meet up with Twitter peeps, Sean, Steph, Darragh, Jules, Christian and Sharon, lounge around on the grass and hit up the amusements.

It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day to start with, and the cherry blossoms (otherwise known as “Evil Exam Blossoms” to former UCD students, as this post can explain) were out in full force.

Next stop: Waltzers. That’s Darragh, Jules, Christian and Sharon in the bottom panel. Not that you can tell from all the fuzzy blur.

Then Ben and I climbed aboard the purdy Ferris Wheel.

I’m pretty sure his drool-some 20mm lens (on which he has shot stuff as awesome as this) got in better cityscapes than these.

We stayed ’til it got all dusky, having to drag Ethan from his little dance in front of the amusement lights.