Boys' Weekend

He's in there somewhere

Saturday Grannie and I went to London together, leaving the boys to their own devices.  I went to London to see Lindsey and Stuart as they are emigrating to Australia at the end of the month and were having a leaving do.  I had a lovely time - London was a good 10 degrees hotter than Cumbria so I was a little over dressed.  I was sad to say goodbye to Lindsey, but am so happy for her new adventure and hopefully we will see her next year if we go over there.

One thing to note, there was a very different atmosphere in London - people were happy???!!!  The Paralympic games definitely had had an affect on the place, I even got given a sweet on the train back to Pat and Bob's by one of the games makers.  Feel sorry now that we didn't make the effort to go down there - although with the move it would have been quite difficult.

Anyway - over to Matt:

Well, Tom & I dropped off Mummy and Grannie at Oxenholme station and then dashed in the car down to the level crossing at Hest Bank so that we could wave at them as they sped past on their Pendolino. Nice idea, but as we were waiting by the gates, another train went north at great speed, which scared Tom. He burst into tears and refused to stand there any longer, so we had to go and hide next to the beach cafe. Ho hum. He also insisted that we used the bridge rather than the level crossing all afternoon.

England's next superstar?

Still, the weather got out really nice, and we had a good time digging shells (and dumping them in rock pools), playing velcro tennis and cricket, with his new cricket set. Given that he wasn't at all well, he played very nicely and showed himself to be a pretty decent cricketer. When he did hit the ball, it fairly flew. We stayed a couple of hours, had tea and a bun at the cafe and then headed home. He watched a bit of TV and then had a small dinner (a fish finger and a few spuds). The lovely weather meant that we could eat outside, and the sight of the chickens, rabbits and funny sheep doing their stuff in the field really cheered him up, and he ate more than I thought he would. More importantly, it all stayed down. We had a quick bath and Tom then headed off to bed for a much needed sleep.

Fortunately, he slept right through and woke up in good spirits. He ate a decent breakfast and said he'd like to throw stones on the beach on the Lune next to Devil's Bridge. It was a nice morning, so that's what we did. It all started very well - hardly anyone about - but he then slipped into the river, filling one welly with water. I changed his trousers, but he didn't really get over it. We then had one of those ridiculous displays where he becomes petrified of dogs - in this case a shaggy dog about 30 yards away who was enjoying chasing sticks into the river. We had complete hysterics, so bad that the the dog's owners tied him (the dog) up. This wasn't on, so I apologised to them and brought my silly son home. He spent about 15 minutes in his room, contemplating his behaviour, before he calmed down enough for us to go out again. We've been meaning to go to Kitridding farm shop and cafe since we moved here, so that's what we did. Good choice. We each had a cheese scone and I had an outstanding cup of coffee, the owner was extremely friendly and chatty, there was a lovely farm cat who enjoyed a good stroke, and we also managed to walk round the lake and shout at the ducks. I think it was exactly what he needed to get himself back on track.

Throwing stones

Before long, though, it was time to head to Oxenholme to meet Mummy from the train, although we had to wait on the southbound platform, as his tummy was still quite not right and there's no loo on the northbound platform. Anyway, Nik's train arrived on time, so we collected her and headed to nearby Sizergh Castle for the afternoon. We played a bit more cricket on the lawn (Nik did her best to lose the ball by whacking it over a fuchsia hedge), and then we actually did the tour inside the castle, mainly because they provide a kids' activity sheet whereby they have to look for a specific object in every room. He did very well and managed to tick off all the items. Then tea and a bun and back home to rescue the washing - the sky was starting to look very threatening.

Kitridding pork cops for dinner (very nice), then off to bed ready for the working week.