David Currie

944Emma’s playgroup has now stopped for the summer and we have taken her out of nursery as well so that she can have a bit of a break before starting school in September (something that she is looking forward to immensely). Consequently, I took Monday off work to do a bit of child minding. The plan was to go to the INTECH Science Center on the outskirts of Winchester in the hope that, out of term time, it would be fairly quiet. It was a sunny start to the day and we almost changed our minds but thankfully didn’t as it soon clouded over.

I think it’s fair to say that Emma enjoyed herself – we certainly had to make sure that we visited all of the exhibits before we were allowed to leave! There was a board by each one which made a good attempt to explain the science behind what was going on but that was all pretty much lost on Emma – they were just some good toys to here.

We had booked in to see ‘Moles’ at the planetarium in which a mole called Plato, along with three earthworms called Alpha, Beta and Gamma, learnt various bits of pseudo-science. To my mind, the science was rather lost in amongst the American accents, special effects on the dome, and the singing and dancing but, once again, Emma seemed to enjoy it. All in all it was a fun day but I think we’ll leave it a couple of years before we come back.

947You can’t beat a good family wedding and that of Christine’s cousin James was always set to be a good one. On the morning of the event we were a bit concerned to discover that an England vs Wales match was due to kick-off at Twickenham just half an hour before the ceremony started and only a couple of miles away. In the end, we needn’t have worried as the journey in to London was very smooth and we probably only lost about 15 minutes in the last section. We certainly fared much better than those stuck in the massive tailback on the M25!

The ceremony itself was at the Orleans House Gallery and passed off very smoothly. Emma got a laugh when she asked rather loudly ‘can you pass me a book please?’ just before the service started. At least she was polite! The gallery has some nice grounds for the kids to burn off some energy in and thankfully the rain didn’t come to anything. Duncan seemed particularly taken with the classic car in which James and Emily departed.

The festivities then moved to a hotel in Richmond. Once again, the children were well catered for in every sense of the word. When I came in from parking the car on the hotel front lawn (!) they were nowhere to be seen. I eventually found them gathered round a bald guitarist playing amusing takes on nursery rhymes! Then, at the meal, the children were given party bags much to our dismay as we had explained to Emma earlier in the day that you only get party bags at children’s birthday parties. Still, they were a welcome diversion during the speeches (for the children that is!). The food wasn’t bad either. Duncan particularly enjoyed the massive bowl of ketchup that came with his fish and chips.

The children then enjoyed racing around outside under the instruction of Granny Sue and Uncle Ian until it was time to come in again for the dancing. We finally left about 10 o’clock and, not surprisingly, it wasn’t long before Emma and Duncan went to sleep in the car. Thankfully they both transferred in to their beds without any fuss when we got home and everyone even had a reasonable lie-in the following morning.

935We had a couple of days to spare before going on holiday, on one of which we decided that the time had finally come to brave Paultons Park – a family theme park that now boasts a world first: Peppa Pig World. On arrival, Emma displayed an uncharacteristic lack of fear as we climbed to the top of a tall flume. It was perhaps just as well that we then spent the rest of the morning in the slightly more sedate aforementioned porcine place. I’m not convinced that the character tie-in really added much to the experience at least for Emma and Duncan.

By afternoon, Emma’s confidence had returned and we embarked on a series of roller coaster rides etc. Christine and I were only glad that she wasn’t allowed on any of the really big rides. She’ll have to find a more adventurous relative when she gets a bit older! Despite still being term time, the park was pretty busy. It was a scorcher of a day which wasn’t entirely conducive to queuing. Duncan had the benefit of an afternoon snooze but, as the day drew on, Emma was suffering a bit from the heat. There was one particularly unpleasant tantrum relating to getting a place in the front carriage of the rabbit train!

We did finally escape about half an hour before closing time. The only question now is how long we can put off a return visit!

929Yesterday afternoon Emma and I went to the May Day Fayre at Cranbury Park Estate. It was billed as the last ever although I never found at why. We had great fun, taking all of the attractions. Emma’s favourite was the Punch and Judy although I suspect this was largely because she’d seen only ever come across it before in a Paddington book! At least Emma wasn’t scared off by the crocodile or the skeleton as were some of the children. I’m not sure any of them really appreciated Mr Punch hanging the hangman though!

Second favourite were the “children’s races”. Emma joined in a race with a random selection of girls and got off to a slow start, not realising when they were meant to go. She later reported to Christine that she had won the race! She then followed this up by saying that all of the children had won, by which she meant that they had all got a lolly at the end! Roll on the competitive sports at school…