David Currie

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…

908We spent the first half of the Easter weekend at my parents. I’ll admit it’s a couple of months since we’ve last been but in that time Duncan has become a liability. Actually, it was probably the change in the weather that meant we spent more time outside. The problem? The two ponds and a bird bath come fountain. Duncan ending up in one of the ponds was only a minor concern. More of a problem was the fact that he seemed to think everything else should be in the water – sticks, stones, soil, you name it. In the end, my parents managed to distract him with a series of washing up bowls, a watering can, some drain pipe and, eventually, a model water wheel (a relic from the schools’ trips to Carisbrook Castle on the Isle of Wight)!
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