Oh, it’s been a long day!
Started with being fully dressed with coats and shoes on, picnic and three changes of clothing for each child packed and car loaded with all available seats all before 9am. Jenny and crew arrived and off we set.
Don’t like driving the car fulled loaded, it does not have much poke at the best of times so with 7 people it was quite painful trying to build up enough speed to overtake anyone on the motorways. Was also conscious of wiping out two families in one go with a wrong move which never helps to ease and relax one’s driving 🙂 Scarlett had a short lived tantrum about the fact a relative stranger was sat in between her and Davies and promptly fell asleep, Davies had a look of pure joy when he realised said relative stranger was now all his and got her to read every single book in the car to him 🙂 (thanks Emma!)
Midway there Jenny took a call on my phone to say there was some hitch with the tickets and they were not letting people in until the whole group of 51 had arrived. I nearly turned the car round and came home and sent the kids to school – the second time in 24 hours I would have been responsible for people standing around as a result of something I had thought I had organised. I then fumed all the way there about how the total of my booking was nearly £400 and if they wanted to get awkward about me bringing them that sort of business then I would speak to the manager about it. We arrived and I rang Alison to find they had got in just fine, as did we so I had no need to vent to anyone in the end!
Ellen – from our local group rang Jenny to say she had just arrived with her brood so Jenny stayed to wait for her and me and the kids went on ahead to catch up The Portico and Layla. At any one point there seemed to be at least three children not wanting to go in the same direction as the rest of the group (two of these were mine most of the time) and by the time we caught up with June who I was looking forward to meeting for the first time having known her ‘virtually’ for about 4 years both of my two were in tears, straining in opposite directions and refusing to budge. So much for putting my aura of controlled, calm, able mother across eh!? We managed little more than a grimace of general understanding above the wailing, Scarlett who usually loves babies was not even interested in the gorgeous Calixa and on we went.
In the meantime Scarlett had fallen over (I think that was fall over # 2 in a days total of 7) and was crying about that – I asked her if she needed to go to hospital (yes I am that mother who uses sarcasm on her children which is way over and above their heads or understanding but serves to make me feel better!) and that became her chant for the next ten minutes ‘I wannn go ‘ospikal’. Davies refused to go on the driving school with Ernest and C so eventually when the joint wailing and fighting over a packet of Monster Munch became too much to inflict on any one any longer we went off to the boats. Deciding that we were probably better on our own for a bit as I would not get a chance to talk to grown ups and the ages mixes were such that either we would be stood waiting for other children, or they would be stood waiting for us we wandered round for a bit just the three of us. We went on a few rides, watched the excellent show, bought some lego keyrings, ate some popcorn and drank hot chocolate and then I managed to lose both children 🙂
You know I often fantasise about it (and had infact threatened them both earlier that morning with being broken down for parts and sold on ebay) but when you are standing, childless and trying to impart just the right level of ‘get here now if you can hear me you little buggers’ into your tone as you call for them without falling into complete ‘oh my God my babies have been kidnapped from under my very nose and even now have been smuggled out of Legoland wearing disguises and are halfway to a Pedophile hideout in a car boot’ hysteria. I had written my mobile phone number on Davies’ arm in ink earlier with instructions to find a Legoland employee, tell them his name and show them his arm if he got mislaid, but to lose both of them, and not even be sure they were still together (although assuming that worse case scenario they would be worth more as a matching pair!!!) I was a woman on the brink!! I fought through the bloody rope ladders and pull yourself up by a string climbing bits, bashing small children in the head with my loaded up picnic containing bag as I went and finally spotted Davies. I yelled at him to stay where he was and then spotted Tarly somewhere else. I gathered them both together and under the evil stares of all the parents who had seen me shouting for my lost children and now realised just how small and helpless they must have been slunk away to a safe spot to give them tearful cuddles. Neither had realised they were lost (a relief I suppose!) but taking no chances I whizzed them back to where Alison, Chris and Layla were and leaving Tarly in Layla’s capable hands took Davies on the water wheel thing.
I then sat with Chris for a bit while Davies, Ernest and Scarlett did some pre school bonding (which always involves running round, yelling and chasing any available wildlife – in this case pigeons!) which was nice 🙂 Then we left them to watch the show and went back to meet up with Jenny and crew for the homeward journey.
Have to mention to anyone who has not seen her lately how AMAZING Layla is looking – lost loads of weight. Felt very unhealthy next to such low carb detoxing folk such as her and The Portico 😉
The drive home was fine – Emma did amazing work keeping Scarlett awake all the way home (thanks again!), Ady had for once gotten home at a decent time and was waiting having tidied up and got some dinner on for the kids (which they didn’t touch but you can bet if it hadn’t been there they would have wanted it!).
It was a good day really – in retrospect I should have either brought along another adult, left a child behind or at least brought the pushchair as I did spend quite a lot of the day carrying Tarly. The losing the kids bit was a hairy five minutes but meeting up with bloggers, however briefly is always lovely.
May try and do another one either just before school summer holidays or just after Autumn term starts – would probably get Ady to come and stay in Windsor and do something else on the second day too – any suggestions local folk?
The other thing which occured to me yesterday was that having been envious of the amount of MPs in Sheffield we are starting to build up quite crew here in Sussex actually – there is me, Jenny, Ros, Ali from the blogring, and Lisa from MP too – which is reassuring and a nice little community to be a part of 🙂
sounds like a fab day; I’m envious. Always enjoy meeting up with bloggers here too!
Comment by Sarah — 14 April 2005 @ 11:20 pm
Oh Nic, you didn’t mention you’d lost them! Was that it the Rat Trap place? (Ropes etc sounded like it.) If it makes you feel any better (?) I lost Tilda in there when she was about 3 1/2, and *I* was the one who didn’t realise she was lost! She was well ensconced in the ‘Lost Parents’ room before I’d even started looking for her …
It was really good to see you today 🙂 C has some nice photos – there’s a lovely one of you in the album of you and Davies on the Wave Surfer thing, though unfortunately Davies’s head is obscured, lol.
Another visit would be good – and greatly appreciated by my lot!
Comment by Alison — 14 April 2005 @ 11:27 pm
Hmm, I’m envious of the meeting up thing. Must get my bum in gear. Eeeek, at the losing children bit. From experience I know it isn’t at all pleasant, so you have my full sympathies.
Sounds great apart from that though 🙂
Comment by Jules — 15 April 2005 @ 8:49 am
yeah it was Rat Trap and Chris made me feel better by telling me about you losing Tilda 🙂
The photos are really good – me and Ady sat and looked through them last night, not sure whether he is more jealous of Chris’ camera or the fact he got to come to Legoland (camera probably, he kept oohing and ahhing at all the ‘clever’ shots and mumbling about how his camera doesn’t do that and how much he *neeeeeeeds* lenses!)
Def do it again then, but probably will be Sept then Ady can come and we can make an over night stay of it close by and do something else the following day. Ady does Reading and Slough stores every week now so I really should make the effort to come with him and meet up with you and Layla too.
Comment by Nic — 15 April 2005 @ 9:12 am
Thanks Nic! – and thanks for organising it too, and do come & visit us 🙂
Comment by layla — 15 April 2005 @ 4:50 pm
Well done Nic – I will join you one of these times! xx
Comment by Karen b — 18 April 2005 @ 10:06 pm