A Sunny Break in London

A lift on Grandpa

It was Grandpa's birthday at the end of March, so we decided to go and visit him and Grannie down in London to celebrate. We did our usual thing of picking Tom up after nursery on Wednesday morning and driving straight to London - roads relatively empty and Tom relatively tired meaning a pleasant trip down - especially as the weather was so good as well.

We got to Mortlake in good time, we even managed to visit Grannie in her shop (Tom on his tiger bike)  before it closed.  He didn't show any signs of shyness or nervousness and threw himself into being a doted on grandson in no time at all.  He even ate well - which was fab.  

Tom has grown quite a lot since we last visited (last July), we were pretty sure he wouldn't fit in their cot again, in preparation for this we converted his cot into a cot bed at the beginning of March to give Tom time to adjust to sleeping in a bed.  This he did with no problems (apart from falling out of it the first night  onto his bean bag we had strategically placed by the side of his bed to cover this eventuality).  We bought a little wedge of foam to put under the covers and stop him falling out and since then he's been fine.  He hasn't worked out yet that he can get out of bed, out of his bedroom and cause havoc if he so wishes, not sure how long it's going to take him to work that out - so far so good, but we are dreading to hear the pitter patter of little feet in our bedroom late at night / early in the morning.  Anyway, this was all done so he could sleep in the single bed at Grannie and Grandpa's.  This he did without any trouble at all, in fact he really liked his bed (duvet cover had diggers / buses / tractors etc on it which kept him entertained very well).  So that's another milestone met!

Mammoth transport

Thursday dawned a beautiful sunny and warm day so we decided to revisit Beale Park - once again he did really well and showed off his new found confidence by walking off to play in the sandpit by himself whilst we sat and had drinks (note to self, next time we go, we must take buckets and spades to play in the sand with).  We had a good look at the animals, a ride on the train, more animals and lunch.  The afternoon was spent in the Little Tykes village where Tom rode bikes / cars, conquered a castle and generally had a lovely time pottering about.  Gave us all a chance to sit down and enjoy ice creams - we had to shelter in the shade as it was getting ridiculously hot!  After a while it was clear that he was flagging so we called it a day and returned home.

Friday we split into girls and boys for the day.  Grandpa, Matt and Tom went riding trains including the  Docklands Light Railway which is unmanned - meaning that Driver Tom could be in charge - I hear he did a good job.  Pat and I went into London for some sightseeing - Borough Market (beautiful food - expensive prices), The Globe Theatre - very interesting and much more ornate than I was expecting, across the wobbly bridge to St Paul's and a new shopping centre next door with a roof top cafe overlooking the cathedral - all very nice but I'm not sure Pat and I were their target market - we brought the place down with our fleeces and jeans and order of coffee and juice - should have been in designer wear and ordered bubbles.  Pat and I then split up and I had 2 hours to amuse myself (not often I get that) before meeting up with Lindsey for dinner at Belgo's on Kingsway - my old stamping ground.  Had a lovely time, lots of gossip - mainly around Lindsey emigrating to Australia (another great excuse to go there next year) but before we knew it we were both yawning and so said our goodbyes and returned to our homes.

The train's coming!

Saturday, the weather had turned - poo!  Thick cloud and quite a bit colder than it has been.  Oh well, we all went to Windsor for the day, to look at castles, explore the train station, discover one of the best toy departments I have ever seen (in Daniels Department store) and take the train to Slough to go and watch the fast trains whizz through the station.  Slough wasn't a huge success, the trains were too fast and too noisy and too windy, but hey unless you try you never know!  We had lunch at Cafe Nero (paninis all round) and then took the train home.  Tom had a nap when he got back - very active days and going to bed late at night taking their toll on him!

Sunday we had sunshine again, but it was cold - boo hoo!  We had been invited to Jake's 4th birthday party in Aylesbury today, so decided to make a day of it and went to the Ashridge Estate in the morning.  Unfortunately we forgot to bring Tom's bike with us as this place would have been perfect for it, but we had a good enough time with the football and climbing on fallen trees, hiding in dens etc.  We had a fabulous lunch there - freshly bbq'd burgers for Matt and I and a huge hot dog for Tom and the best selection of cakes I've seen for a long while.  Before we knew it, it was time to head to Aylesbury and see the cousins.  We got there early so they could have some time with each other before the other guests arrived, once the other guests arrived it was the usual chaos of a party, not helped by the fact it was a gorgeous day and the hall they had it in was set in a sports field with a play ground, meaning that everyone did pretty much their own thing.  Oh well, I got to spend quite a bit of time with Amber which was good.  I've never been 'allowed' to hold her before as she has always demanded Mummy when I've been around, but today she was happy to be held with me which was nice.

Monday came all too quickly, and we went home via Upton House in Warwickshire where we had a picnic and a ramble around the grounds in the sun before coming home.

Anyway, big thanks to Grannie and Grandpa for looking after us all and playing with Tom so nicely - he had a fabulous time and keeps telling us how much he is missing you.