The Last Hurrah!

Last Tuesday was the last day of Sam being at home before he started school. I wanted to make it a special day and thanks to a friend who looked after Ava for the day I was able to take him out and about anywhere I wanted.

We started off getting the underground to North Greenwich, going via Stratford was interesting - I couldn't work out why there were so many people on the train, then I remembered that Westfield was opening that day! At North Greenwich we caught a Thames Clipper boat and headed towards the London Eye. At first Sam said he didn't want to go on a boat but as soon as he saw it he was really excited. It was a great journey and I can highly recommend it. It costs around £5 (depending on if you have an Oyster card or a travelcard or not) and takes you past lots of interesting sights. There is even a Costa Coffee on board!

We got off the boat at the London Eye and walked down to Giraffe which is one of Sam's favourite restaurants just because they give kids little plastic giraffes with their meal. I think the food is nice but is overpriced. When we got their it wasn't very busy but they seated us in a dark corner with no view out of the windows so I moved us to one of the other empty seats (I find the staff can be a bit moody too). Sam had a burger and an apple juice and I had a meze plate and a cranberry juice (another complaint is they don't offer ice in their soft drinks)

After we'd filled our boots we walked down the South Bank and went to Namco which is an indoor arcade and games place in County Hall. I'd seen they had a small bowling alley and Sam loves playing bowling on the Wii so I knew he'd enjoy it. It was £3 per person per game and the best thing is you don't have to wear those horrid bowling shoes! Obviously I won but I cheered Sam up with a few arcade games where you win tickets which we swapped for a bag of sweets.

Next on our journey was the bit I'd been looking forward to - The Ice Cream Parlour at Fortnum and Masons! We took the tube to Green Park and dashed into Fortnums to avoid the rain that had just started. We found the Parlour Restaurant and were presented with a mouthwatering menu of ice creams and desserts. Sam decided to go for a banana split from the childrens menu and I went for a Rota Plaustri which was three scoops of ice cream (chocolate, rocky road style and strawberry cheesecake) it came with a small jug of melted dark chocolate too. The Weightwatchers points for that day were used up in one go! The funniest thing was when Sam turned to me and said "there are a lot of old people in here mummy" :o) After the ice cream we had a look around the food halls and drooled over the vast array of lovely (and very expensive) things.

Our final port of call was Hamleys where Sam got to choose a toy which he had earned from a reward chart we'd been using over the summer. He went for a couple of Cars 2 toys and I avoided the hard sell from one of the staff telling him to put stuff on his christmas list and then saying to me "it's only £50 mummy" - "yeah only......"

We had a fabulous day and it was so nice to spend time with him and not have to worry about travelling about with a pushchair. It was a great end to a great summer and the next day we waved him off to school and managed not to blub....... just

Ee by gum

So last week the children and I travelled "oop north" to visit my family for a few days.

I prefer to go by train as it's faster and cheaper, although it does mean once we get there I regress to a teenager and need my mum and dad to drive me around! Only problem with the train is I pretty much always have some sort of delay on one of the journeys. This time was no different, as we got to Euston to catch the 11:40 to Wilmslow all trains were cancelled due to a broken down train near Milton Keynes (why is it the problem always in the Milton Keynes area?) After waiting for an hour I realised we weren't going anywhere so husband to the rescue and we got on the bus to his work in Soho where we de-camped for a while then went out to Wagamamas for some lunch. By the time we got back the trains were running so we headed back to Euston and managed to get on a train at 3:30. For once the train was empty - it was great! Sam had lots of seats to choose from and I didn't worry about Ava disturbing anyone. The staff were really helpful and one of them even offered to get me something from the on board cafe as I was feeding Ava.

Finally on our way......

We spent 4 days with my mum and dad, as usual rushing around trying to fit everyone in. We had our annual visit to Brookside Garden Centre to ride on the miniature railway and have a nice lunch in the italian cafe on site. The railway has been there since I was a teenager (or maybe younger, I don't ever remember going on it though). Sam loves it - and actually so do I!

The next day I met with an old friend in Manchester and her posse of three children. We had a picnic by the canal in Castlefield and then headed to the Museum of Science and Industry who were holding a Thomas the Tank Engine day. I've been to a few Thomas days in various railways and I have to say this wasn't one of the best (well not for the money £8 for Sam and £10 (!!) for me). Nevertheless it was lovely to catch up with Nicola and the kids had a good time.

On the Friday Mum and Dad took us to the Wirral to a place call Thurstaston. I have never been round there before and thought it was really lovely. We had a walk along the beach and my Dad and Sam built a sandcastle and played football.

Then we came across an unassuming little cafe which we thought would just do the basic sandwich fodder. We were pleasantly surprised when we ordered a mixed meze and a ploughmans to find all sorts of lovely food being served. I had a lovely plate of cheese and meat with nice crusty bread (Weightwatchers went out of the window that day). In the evening my oldest friend Rachel came over with her two girls, her eldest is starting high school today - it doesn't seem like five minutes since she was born!

On our last day before we left my brother, his wife and their 3 month old son came round for breakfast. It was lovely to see them and have all the cousins together. Then it was time to head back to the big smoke. Another quiet train and my lovely husband picked us up from Euston so we didn't have to battle the underground.

I love living in London but I will always be a proud northerner!

I do like to be beside the seaside

We've had a couple of weeks away in opposite sides of the country recently.

Firstly we spent a week in a caravan in Walton on the Naze in Essex. We stayed at the Naze Marine park in a caravan that belongs to friends of ours. I love caravans and infact one night we realised that the caravan we were in was actually better than our house! It had three bedrooms which meant Ava had her own room and the living room was bigger than ours and had more sofa space. I was considering squatters rights and moving in.

Walton on the Naze is just the right amount of tackiness without being too much like Blackpool. It's got a lovely beach with some very cute beach huts and a pier that is great if you have children (not too expensive or busy).

We had some pretty good weather and were joined for a couple of days by my mum and dad and then by my mother in law and her parents.

Sam was in his element and was able to go swimming every day and go to the club at night. We spent most nights being entertained by X Factor rejects dressed as giant rabbits or singing 90's rock tunes. All around you could see harrassed parents with their cheap cocktails and bottles of pinot grigio grinning and bearing it for their kids (obviously the pinot makes things a bit easier).

We were there during the carnival which consisted of a fairground set up on the local green and a rather surreal parade along the main street.

We had a great time, sometimes a good old fashioned british seaside holiday is what you need. No airport stress, no unbearable heat and a good old knees up.