My turn to get up early this morning and early indeed it was before 6am! Watched TV cuddled up with both children for a while and then they decided to go into the playroom, Davies to play Zoombinis and Tarly to watch him and do some painting – she produced a very g ood likeness of a cat! 🙂
We had a few things to get done today like a couple of parcels in the post of ebay sales, getting the car taxed as it runs out on Saturday and taking a pair of trousers back I’d bought for Ady which didn’t fit so after a very lengthy defrosting of the car before we could set off we did various bits and pieces on the way to Drusillas. Almost a free day out as we went in Ady’s car with company paid petrol, we have season tickets for Drusillas and Ady packed sandwiches which we ate walking round. 🙂
It was really quiet there, probably the quietest I’ve ever known it and although the sun was weakly shining it was bloody freezing! The children actually enjoyed looking at the animals for a chance without being jostled along by crowds and some of the monkeys were on top form performing for a small audience – one in particular wanted our sandwiches and kept banging on his glass to get our attention, gesturing to the top of the enclosure and then dashing up and reaching his arm out in the hope of being passed a bit. Very responsibly we didn’t give him any food and he then got all cross and was gesturing to us slightly differently which I imagine indicated his disapproval! 🙂 Amusing if a little uncomfortable…
Tarly suddenly decided she was too cold at that point and started to demand all sorts of attention, carrying and so on which as usual when Ady is around she was given! Sher perked up for a short while and then started again just before we reached the playground area, which ironically was what she had been making a fuss about wanting to do, but by then it was too late and she just wanted to go home.
She proceeded to reiterate this in a fairly noisy way for the next hour! Most of it was low level and I was insistant that having been talking about it for two days Davies would not have his time cut short by her making a scene so he had a play on most of the stuff and then Ros arrived. 🙂 Lovely to have a brief, catch what you could over Tarly’s wailing catch up with her and the children and also Loretta and Clint and children who were also there but it became apparant that we were coming to the end of our visit when Davies appeared in tears having been told to leave an area of the park by some idiot there with his daughter because I had told him he didn’t need to take his shoes off on the trampoline at this time of year FFS there was SNOW and FROST on the ground, he is only a little kid and he doesn’t bounce hard, the place was EMPTY anyway and who died and made him trampoline law enforcer?! For a change I was very restrained and managed not to let myself down by shouting or swearing – I was loud enough to attract the attention of all other parents there as I marched Davies back over to establish exactly what had happened and why on earth a grown man thought it OK to reduce a small child to tears and send him our of an area of the park. Given by his fairly shame faced responses and the fact I know that Davies is not a liar and is quite capable of taking a telling off from another adult on the chin if it is deserved (as I am sure anyone who had cause to try and stop the gang of boys running up and down the corridors at Okehampton roaring could confirm! Not once did he come in tears to me about that 🙂 ) I felt very Lioness protecting her cub about the whole episode!
Having spent the last four days playing with the real stuff playdoh they’d got for Christmas Ady has been wanting to buy some more of the trade name stuff and wanted to call into Argos on the way home as they have 24 tubs for a tenner which the children have Christmas money they could spend on. But when I put this to Davies he said that although he likes the readymade stuff he prefers the stuff we make cos he can choose the colours and the scent and also it is softer and squishier! So a tenner saved we came home and made ten different colours of geranium scented stuff, probably costing about 50p in total. 🙂
It actually sat on their tables infront of them pretty much untouched as it happens as they both got caught up in Stuart Little and then their tea and a bath, so that’s ready for playing with again next time. I don’t know, home made playdoh and the cardboard boxes from the presents seem to be more attractive than any mountain of plastic we’ve ‘invested’ money in for previous Christmasses! 🙂
Just had a chat with Davies about time difference around the world and how it is already tomorrow in Australia – we were talking about it being the start of a new year this weekend and he asked how that would work in Australia because it is summer there now and of course I’ve been telling him that it is winter at the beginning of the year, then spring, then summer, then autumn and the year ends with it being winter again! See, it does go in and get processed more than you think! 😉
Wondering about a virtual NYE chat for anyone home and online on NYE actually – just a brief one around 11.55pm, although I won’t promise too much myself incase I end up asleep or too drunk to type or something! 😉
I’m bound to be asleep but if I’m awake I’m up for it 🙂
Comment by Sarah — 29 December 2005 @ 9:24 pm
I’ll be awake and alone so count me in 🙂
Sarah! How can you go to sleep????
Lovely to see you BTW Nic and crew, poor Tarly, we stayed until 3.45pm by which time I was dying of cold so went back to Let’s for lots of coffee 🙂 Will be in touch about popping over to you for proper chat in warmth.
Comment by Roslyn — 29 December 2005 @ 10:08 pm