Monster Muncher

We decided to take Tom back to the town of his birth today, mainly because we wanted to treat ourselves to a big lunch and there's nowhere better for that than The Armoury. We arrived too early for lunch, so took Tom for a loon about in the kiddies' playground in the quarry, which he enjoyed very much despite the weather. He still loves the swings but has also become quite accomplished at climbing up steps to get to the top of a slide. We did that several times, even with lots of bigger kids running around. We had a quick look round the shops, including an unsuccessful attempt to buy something with the £50 M&S voucher I won in a photo competition. The shopping centres were surprisingly empty, and His Nibs had a great time walking everywhere. He walks really well now, despite the fact that he still tries to go faster than his legs are capable of, meaning that he does go down front-first from time, but it doesn't seem to phase him.

Anyway, thence to the pub, where he polished off a good-sized pot of tomato pasta and three bread sticks. That in itself would have been OK, but he seemed to take a real fancy to what we ordered (a gourmet burger and some posh fish 'n' chips) and helped himself to a good portion of each, especially the bread and butter that came with the fish 'n' chips. I drew the short straw and lugged him back to the car in his rucksack, a mercifully short journey. Nik sat in the back with him on the way back to try and keep him awake until we got home. This she did by tickling him, but by the end of the journey he appeared to be giggling in his sleep as his armpits were being tickled. Still, he went down for a good kip in his cot.

We had a bit of a play in the garden before tea, although we tried to get him into his wellies again, which he did NOT appreciate.

Anyway, he's now asleep, so it's just me here as Nik's out babysitting.

Oh yes, we forgot to mention that while we were having lunch at The Green Wood Centre in Ironbridge on Friday, one of the big coal trains that serve Buildwas Power Station came rumbling slowly right past our picnic table. Tom was fascinated by the huge diesel engine and gave an enthusiastic wave to the driver, who, to his credit, waved straight back and tooted the horn. I think Tom was very pleased.