Shoes, Strawberries and Steam engines

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.