Happy Campers

So this weekend was the annual "Sunstock" weekend of camping at Suntrap Centre in Epping Forest. Organised by friends of ours it's a family friendly weekend of amazing food, copious amounts of wine, beer and cocktails, sitting round the campfire, rounders, football, face paints, pinata and a bit of sleep at some point (more for some than others)

Having a 5 month old and not being a natural camper i wimped out and only went for one night but my husband and Sam got there Friday afternoon, thus also enabling me to get out of the usual nightmare that is putting up the tent. Instead Ava and I stayed at home with a bottle of wine and a comfy bed! On Saturday said husband came back to get us and drove us to the campsite (along with another car full of paraphanalia). It was a lovely sunny day and we spent the afternoon chilling by the tent (I even had time to read some of my new book whilst drinking Pimms - a treat!) Sam had a ball playing with the other children, the site has a great climbing frame and a zip wire which kept them amused for hours.

In the evening we were treated to an amazing array of food on the barbecue finished off with some marshmallows toasted on the campfire. By 10pm Sam decided he wanted to go to bed and Ava was falling asleep in the carrycot so we took them back to the tent and I decided to go to bed with Ava too. It was cold but not as cold as I had feared and amazingly Ava slept until 5am - I have decided I need to put her in the tent at night from now on.......

Sunday morning started with a nice hot shower, some danish pastries and a lovely cup of tea (thanks Paul!) The weather was great but soon the nice bright sunshine turned to very hot sunshine and at that point i decided it was time to head home with the baby so we packed as much as we could into the car and my husband drove us home (only to have to go back and dismantle the tent and bring everything else back later)

Looking forward to Sunstock 2012 already!

Ahoy there Shipmates

What's a pirates favourite shop?

Arrrrgos

(One of Sam's favourite jokes)

Today we went to see "How to Be a Pirate" at the Museum of London. We nearly didn't make it as there are two Museums of London and I was all ready to set off to the one near St Pauls. Luckily I was looking up the times this morning and realised it was at the one in Docklands. So another trip on the trains of East London for us today.

We took pretty much the same route as we did on Tuesday but went to Canary Wharf on the Jubilee Line from Canning Town. I love Canary Wharf as much as it feels completely alien to me. The whole corporate working thing is not something I've ever done and I always feel a bit overwhelmed in those places, the shopping centres underneath Canary Wharf are like giant anthills with people rushing from here to there collecting food along the way.

After getting lost a couple of times I found the M&S food hall and bought some supplies for a picnic. We happened upon Jubilee Park and eat our lunch in there. It's a real oasis in the middle of all the buildings and hustle and bustle with fountains and trees and lots of grassy areas to sit in.

After our picnic we headed over to the museum which is near West India Quay station. We had 45 minutes to kill before the "show" started so we had a wander round the exhibitions. I was surprised that Sam actually seemed quite interested in a lot of it, he especially liked the part that showed how the DLR was built and hiding in this barrel!

The "show" was due to take place in a bit of a cramped corner in one of the exhibition rooms. We all sat round waiting for it to start when the bloke sat next to me suddenly started talking to everyone in a loud voice. That's when I realised he was an actor (probably cursing the fees he paid to RADA) pretending to be some bloke who wanted to be a pirate. The show itself was OK, the usual thing where he got parents up to make fun of them in front of their children and said "bum" and "poo" a few times for a cheap laugh. But Sam enjoyed it and that's the main thing. A plastic hook and telescope were purchased from the shop and then we headed home. My feet are killing me today!

Tuesday 26th July

Money is tight with me being on Maternity Leave so I am trying to find as many cheap mornings/afternoons/days out as possible. I also need to find ways of getting around easily with the Ava's pushchair.

Today we went on a magical mystery tour of the train lines of East London. I should point out that Sam is a train fanatic so is quite easily pleased with riding on trains.

We started off at Walthamstow Queens Road, one of our local stations. It's a good station as there are no steps to navigate and it's on the London Overground line that goes from West to East London. We travelled to Barking then from there got the District Line to West Ham, where Sam enjoyed a spot of pole dancing - not sure our fellow passenger was impressed.

Then from West Ham we went one stop on the Jubilee Line to Canning Town

Then we joined Sam's beloved DLR train to Pontoon Dock, the stop that takes you to Barrier Park. Barrier Park is one of the less well known parks in London, but I think it's fab. It's got a good playpark, views of the Thames, beautiful gardens and sometimes they have the water fountains on so the kids can splash about in them. It also has a nice cafe (a must for the sleep deprived mum). Oh and it's near City Airport so kids can watch the planes take off quite close up.

After a long play in the park and cappucino and ice lollies in the cafe we made our way home back the way we came.

The journey was so easy as all the stations had lifts and I used my Oyster card to travel with which meant the whole journey only cost £2.60

What struck me about the afternoon is how much you miss when you are a regular commuter, travelling with a young child makes you see things that you would usually ignore. We even took along an old school ISpy book, I am not sure who had more fun filling it in!