There’s no such thing as an easy 200 mile journey home. 🙁
Today we met up with Babs and co (sounds like a 70s dance troup from TOTP :lol:), Kirsty, Marcus & Alex, Stella, Rich & Pies, Katy, Bob & tribe and Karen, Dom & family at Nottingham Theatre Royal for a Tall Stories production of The Gruffalo.. It was a postponed birthday treat for Ben which originally had been part of an invitation to spend the whole weekend with Babs and Chris which for various reasons (which were categorically NOT the threat of only offering pulses or vegetables for dinner on Saturday night or any aroma of bodily fluids at Babs’ house 😉 ) we didn’t manage so we went up for the show only today.
This probably was a slightly loony idea actually – it’s all but 200 miles door to door from ours to Nottingham, which was a lovely straightforward 3 hours trip on the way but due to road works on pretty much every motorway linking the north and the south managed to be a five hour journey on the way home. We got in at 10pm, the children were asleep but roused enough to change into pjs before snuggling back to sleep, we’ve had a very late dinner of chicken I’d bunged in the slow cooker served with potato gratin I’d prepared and just had to chuck in the oven.
But it was worth it :-). I was up with the children this morning so 6.30am saw us cuddled up on the sofa with our copy of The Gruffalo reading away and looking at the pictures. Davies adores live shows of any description and this was a particularly excellent example of loads of audience participation, just the right length at around an hour and with plenty of opportunity for shouting, wriggling in your seat or waving your hands in the air to relieve any boredom. It was very similar in style to Pumpkin Soup which we went and saw this time last year. If we had the money I’d definitely send Davies along to one of those drama groups with the word ‘stage’ in their name somewhere as I think he’d like the smell of the greasepaint and the performing, judging by his working the audience as warm up boy at Kessingland this year. And of course he projects wonderfully ;-). I think I’ll settle for giving him lots of opportunity to be a luvvie at home for now. 😆
We had a row of four infront of Kirsty’s row of three so we swapped and put the children together and the adults behind. Well we tried to. 🙄 Actually we had most of one half of the left stalls between us I think so there was lots of swapping about but Davies and Marcus sat together for the duration and really enjoyed it. Scarlett and Alex swapped about between laps and seats but also seemed to enjoy participating and both D and S loved being able to join in from memory from this morning’s reading of the story.
I loved all the calling and waving that the group of children were doing to each other and was particularly tickled by Davies and Kit Deep-End finding themselves stood next to each other after the show;
K: Hello Davies
D: Hello. Good show wasn’t it Kit?
Get them with their post theatre chit-chat! 😆
We left fairly speedily hoping to repeat our 3 hour drive home again but it was not to be.
Tomorrow we’ve got MM, Badgers, my new phone is due to arrive and inbetween all that I have plans for barious blogpost and a whole load of sitting around drinking tea.
We went to see that when it was in Eastbourne. I loved it! you can get it on DVD.
Comment by Roslyn — 13 November 2006 @ 9:26 am
Hi there
Missed you at MMs but missing you much more off YIM. Will be in touch about arrangements for Saturday soon, promise. Not liking this non-laptopped life much. Hope you managed to sit around and drink lots of tea today.
Comment by Ali — 13 November 2006 @ 3:50 pm
Nice to see you at the weekend. Pants journey back :(.
Comment by Bob — 13 November 2006 @ 5:03 pm
And is barious a bit like bilious but with added barium?
(you can tell I’m missing you on YIM)
Comment by Ali — 13 November 2006 @ 9:14 pm
Sorry to hear of your journey back, but glad it was worth it anyway. Thank you so much for all the effort. Still can’t believe you drove all that way, just to watch a 1 hour show with us, however good it was!
As it turned out, I had to make two meals on Sat night anyway, the other being (a rather good imho) toad-in-the-hole with all veg on-the-side and very optional. *Even* you could have stomached that, I’m sure 😛 And bodily fluids??? You can’t write that here! I’m never going to have *any* more visitors now! Double :-PPP~~~~~
Comment by Barbara — 13 November 2006 @ 9:47 pm
argh to the long journey. Was lovely to see you all, and slightly weird for it to be so short since when we do see you it’s normally for more substantial time!
All Alex could go on about after the show was the lack of tusks on the Gruffalo – she was most dissapointed and insists if there is ever a film it better have tusks!! *rolls eyes*
Comment by Kirsty — 13 November 2006 @ 9:49 pm
She is dead right, he was supposed to have terrible claws and terrible jaws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws. 😆
Very surreal to see everyone so briefly actually, we need another NicCamp soon! 🙂
Babs, Toad in the hole is one of my fave dinners, I would most certainly have eaten that. And I specifically put about the bodily fluids because I knew it would make you stick your tongue out. 😆
Comment by Nic — 13 November 2006 @ 9:59 pm
😛
Comment by Barbara — 13 November 2006 @ 10:26 pm
I’m so predictable.
Comment by Barbara — 13 November 2006 @ 10:26 pm
consistent 🙂
Comment by Nic — 13 November 2006 @ 10:27 pm