Saturday was kind of a hodge podge day

We stayed at the Premier Inn in Chippenham on Friday night, close to the concert, so on Saturday had breakfast there and bathed the boys (knowing it's a bit of a battle for hot water at Petes) then set off for Croydon and Petes.

We phoned Pete when we set off to let him know we were on our way. There was no answer so we left a message on his voicemail. As it was going to take us two hours to get there anyway we weren't too bothered that he wasn't home.

When we were almost there and had had no reply from Pete we decided to detour for lunch, called in Tesco's at Caterham and after discovering there was no cafe there, bought lunch and drove to Coulsdon Common for a picnic.

Just as we had finished lunch and were packing up Pete called. He had forgotten we were coming and was helping a friend move house in Bournemouth. It was going to take him at least a couple of hours to get home so he was going to nip to the house and sort some things then set off. Adam and I decided that, as it was 3pm already, by the time Pete got there it would be past the boys bedtime and we had nowhere to go in the meantime so we should just head home. Couldn't really afford another night in a hotel which was basically our only other option.

I left a message on Petes mobile to this effect and we set off round the M25. Just as we reached services at Westerham Pete phoned back saying not to go home, he was on his way and should be back for about 5. We decided to stay as we had plans to see Helen on Tuesday and meet baby Zach and to be honest I was reluctant to drive home, it felt like a waste. So. Heading back to Croydon we were discussing options of where to go to keep the boys entertained for 2 hours until we could go to Petes. We had pretty much decided on Godstone Farm Park when I phone to check opening times. They were open 'til 5 with last admission at 4. It was now 3:40 so, not being entirely sure where it was from where we were and knowing how expensive it was, especially if we were only staying for an hour, we decided against it.

By this time the boys had fallen asleep in the car so we ended up driving to Kenley Aerodrome, which is on the way to Petes. Whilst the boys were asleep we could sit in the car and relax, read, sew or sleep and if they woke up we could go onto the aerodrome and let them have a run around.

Well they woke up after about 10 minutes of being parked so off we went. It was actually the most enjoyable part of the day. The weather was nice, the aerodrome was not busy so there was plenty of room for the boys to run and play. We found a spot on the grass and just camped out, me with camera in hand. Here are a few pictures I took.

Louis

Theo

All pile on Daddy

Wheee

Nooo pictures of Mummy please

Pete phoned at 5 to say he was about 20 minutes away so we headed on to the house via the fish shop.

The boys were in and settled and went to bed just a little late :D

So, lazy day planned for Sunday then hopefully Legoland on Monday. We're hoping schools down here haven't broken up for the holidays yet so it shouldn't be too busy. We'll see

Farm Party

We went to a birthday party today at St Leonards Farm Park today. Twin girls who live near us turn 4 this week and this was their chosen party venue.

As far as kids birthday parties go, this one was very entertaining and the birthday girls and their friends definitely seemed to be enjoying themselves. Theo, however, was not best pleased . Well no, that's not exactly true. He enjoyed playing there but the bits organised to keep the birthday 'party' entertained he wasn't too keen on.

The party started in a barn where a bales of straw have been arranged to provide climbing and tunnelling fun for the children. Theo wouldn't touch it with his hands so the only climbing he did involved being lifted up onto each level of bales. He'd run around a bit and was OK if he could step up or down but if he had to use his hands to climb then he wouldn't do it. He was much happier when he found the tractor around the corner from the barn.

After the barn Farmer James took everyone to the animal sheds where the children got to hold and pet a 2 day old lamb (awww), a young goat and a chick. Theo just shied away from the animals, he didn't want to hold or touch them (apart from stroking the goat at arms length LOL). The same went for the mouse, rat and rabbit that were brought out in the petting area, and mummy very bravely petted all of them just to show Theo there was nothing to be scared of!
He was very happy washing his hands in the outside sink and joining everyone at the table for party food though and he thoroughly enjoyed playing with the toy cars and in the activity garden area with low wooden beams to walk across and sand to play in.

I was really pleased with myself because I offered to take the little boy next door to the party rather than making his parents drive there and back twice as they weren't staying with him. Not pleased with myself because I took him but pleased with myself because it occurred to me to offer. Usually I wouldn't have thought of offering until I was half way there.