Another action packed weekend again. We kicked off early Saturday morning with a trip to Kingston upon Thames to go shoe shopping. We also took Andy, Ben and Rach along. We went all the way to the top of the multi storey car park, so high up we could see the trains in the station below us. Mum taught me that Dad and Andy were going to buy shoes and Ben was going to buy some boats…. When we got to the shop I had to help Andy pick which ones to buy as he was way out of his depth. I thought the shop was rubbish though as they didn’t have any small enough to fit me so I came away empty handed. We got some sandwiches for lunch and sat and ate them by the Thames watching the boats go by, all very civilised indeed.
Later in the afternoon it was time to entertain the oldies (Grandma and Nanny).
I had a great time showing off and even ended up in the paddling pool fully clothed, complete with shoes and socks (Dad was a bit ‘tense’ about this one). Dad cooked us a curry and we sat in the garden to eat it (I had Thomas the tank engine pasta though), the oldies even ate Samosa’s and Bhaji’s!
After all the food was finished we did some drawing:
We also had a few laps round the garden in Grandma’s wheelchair, a game of football and golf with Nanny (she’s still pretty sporty) and I did some top quality scootering.
Then it was Sunday. Off to Grandad and Anne’s for dinner which was nice and then on to the fruit picking farm for Strawberries and steam. Now this was really something…. There were all these low bushes in neat rows, and if you looked under the branches there were strawberries! I know, how mad is that?
Here I am with Anne checking out the fruit on offer, I can’t believe these things actually grow on bushes…where is the plastic container and cling film? I had a few sneaky ones before we paid for them of course.
In the field behind there was a steam fair. There were all these huge contraptions that sort of looked like tractors, but also looked a bit like trains….weird!
They moved quite slowly and puffed steam and smoke out all over the place, I think I quite liked them.
I had a go on my first roundabout:
Here Grandad is giving me a crash course in driving a steam engine. I was okay for a few spins but it started going a bit quick and I got a bit tearful. The man operating the ride (obviously a seasoned professional) tried to reverse the situation by producing a small fluffy dog to play with but in these situations only a cuddle from Mum will do. The ride had to be stopped so I could get off, so apologies to all the other children.
After all this fun and games we headed back to Newbury to watch England play again. I don’t know why they all bother watching it, they don’t really seem to enjoy it at all. Anyway, Katie had some smart fluffy toys that were far more entertaining than the match and I had a great time playing with Linda and throwing gravel over Katies nice lawn.
Sorry, late this week…..World Cup’s fault!
Last Friday we went out for a walk after tea. We walked through the farm over the back (which was good because there were horses and lots of tractors) and ended up at some playing fields with a rather nifty park. I never even knew it existed and I can’t believe it’s taken them this long to take me over there. There was a Fire Engine and a motorbike on a big boingy spring, a swing, a couple of roundabouts and a climbing frame/slide combo. The climbing frame had a really tricky section that I just about got the hang of although I was glad to feel Mum or Dads hand help me along on the odd occasion. As seems to be a bit of a habit the fool forgot the camera so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
Dad was out for ages on his bike on Saturday so mum and I got bust sorting out his fathers day card and present….. Once he got home we had some lunch and went down the town. We saw Aunty Trish and uncle Al in Marks and Spencer which surprised us, stick to Amazingstoke next time! Grandad and Anne came round for tea and we sat out in the garden to eat it, it was really nice. After the food was gone we watered the plants with a watering can. Well, I watered Grandad’s feet most of all, it was really funny.
Sunday was fathers day so we gave him his card and present. The present was just a boring old CD and a DVD with really scary old looking blokes talking about funny little bikes, not my cup of tea at all. Dad and I got the paddling pool out and I helped him fill it up with buckets of water…..it took ages! We then went out to the shops and I got some nice new stuff, best of all was my new Spiderman sandals. We had a roast dinner on the patio again which was nice before getting in the pool!
Then Slim and Trace called round. Result. What you really need when you are out in the garden with a load of cold water and various buckets etc is someone like Slim to egg you on…..It all culminated in Dad sitting in the pool fully clothed and getting a good dousing from me (under Slims careful supervision)
We went round to Nanny's again yesterday to cut her grass. Once it was done Nanny and I had a game of golf on her immaculte lawn before haveing a cuddle and watching the horse racing.
England played again in the evening and it was our turn to provide the venue. Instead of the usual barbecue, it was a takeaway extravaganza and as usual I got fobbed off with a marmite sandwich before the real food arrived. I did alright for prawn crackers though, and thanks to Ben for the offer of sharing your chicken, but I didn’t like it!
In case you hadn’t noticed by now, the world cup has started. It’s my first one! Dad has taught me to say ‘World Cup’ (which I think sounds much better with a long pause between the two words) and mum has taught me ‘Come on England’ So I was ready to watch the opening match with Dad on Friday afternoon and the next one with all the usual suspects later in the evening. I had the honour of picking the names/teams for the sweepstake and between me and mum we made sure dad got Brazil. I’ve heard they’re quite good but mum reckons they won’t win as she fancies Poland!
Saturday we went to Paul’s to watch the first England game and have a barbecue (I can say that now as well, although it sounds more like ‘barcoo’). He had a smart little wooden house at the bottom of the garden that reminded me of the one in Scarborough (although it was bit bigger) so I had an imaginary tea party with mum in it.
In the evening we went to Aunty Tracey’s 40th birthday party, a Barbecue in the garden. It was lovely and I had all my favourites on tap:
I’m lead to believe Trish’s knees are now better after last weekends crawling round the living the room marathon. They were telling me all about the man in the moon, I never knew such a thing existed. I spent a good portion of the night with the birthday girl herself and finally said her name properly…..although dad din’t seem to manage to get a picture of me with her, oops! I had great fun delving in the water butt drink coolers and got completely soaked. Hope you had a happy birthday Tracey!
So after a bit of a late night on Saturday I was awoken early doors on Sunday morning to be told we were off to the beach. Andy came to pick us up, I love going in the back of Andy’s car because I can see much more out of the window than Dad’s.
We set up camp, Chrissy had brought the biggest umbrella in the world and provided shade for the entire beach I think. I had a bit of a grumpy start but soon cheered up once dad took me to the café and we shared a lovely chilled Twix. We dug holes in the sand, ate a picnic and eventually went for a swim. Anday was first in, followed by Dad and then Owen. Chrissy didn’t seem to fancy it much as initial paddling had revealed the water to be freezing cold. Owen however gave him some rather ‘gentle persuasion’ and he also took the plunge. I had my wetsuit on already and was desperate to get out there with them, so Dad came back in and picked me up before going back out into the little waves with me. I didn’t feel the cold like the other woopsies and really enjoyed it.
Here I am doing some digging with mum, notice the responsible parenting on display as I’m in the shade, sometimes they almost seem competent.
Eventually we gave in and had a nice kip in the beach tent before packing up and going home. I must thank Chris and Katie for letting me ruin their picnic and letting me scrounge most of their food off them, I think they’ve realised opening Raspberries around me (or crisps) is probably best avoided.
