Garden Parties and Cricket

Yet again another week has gone by and the weather has been perfect. April so far has been wall to wall sun shine. Where are the April showers? Not that I'm complaining you understand.

George and Lucy have taken to this "summer" weather with great enthusiam and have refuse to eat inside. I tentatively asked why and was informed that in warm weather all good peopl eat outside. There was not a lot I could say to that one.

My small patio garden Looks like a bedowin tent with rugs and cushions everywhere. Still everyone including the cats seem to be very happy with the current arrangemants. My only slight problem comes when I try to water the garden. I did try to discuss this problem with Lucy but she pointed out that the hose pipe ban was bound to come into force soon enough so why was I trying to water my plants now, when they would die in a few months. Point taken!

There is one other slight problem I have with this unseasonally hot weather: Cricket. Not only is the world cup on but now I have to play it as well. To be honest I am a great fan of watch/listening to the cricket and even know what a Nelson is! (a score of 111, either of a team or an individual batsman, regarded by some as unlucky. Scores of 222 and 333 are called Double and Triple Nelson respectively.)But I am not good at playing the game. In fact hopeless is a fair description of my game.

Visiting Horton Park Children's Farm

What a great place Horton Park Children's Farm! I took children ranging from 8 months to 8 years and everyone had a wonderful time.
We arrived at 11.00 to find the car park almost full. Top tip arrive early, especially during the holidays/weekends. The first thing you see is a huge soft play indoor area (for wet days) and the shop. We went past all of this and headed out to the animals.

Lucy was very concerned she would not be able to "cuddle" all of the animals. Thankfully you are allowed to touch almost all of the animals and in fact when we were there one of the farm workers was helping children to hold little chicks. Lucy's day was made and we had only been there for half an hour.

Having spent two hours touching, holding and feeding animals of all types and ages we decided lunch was needed. The farm has a little tea shop/cafe which provides OK food for children.

Next we headed out to the play zones and spent 4 hours running and playing in the sun. All of the children had a fab day and went home happy and tired.

I would recommend this farm to anyone with children under the age of 10 years.

Easter Hols

I love school holidays. Most of my friends think I'm mad. More children, all day = harder work! It is true that the holiday season is not calm but then my life is never calm.

I have done a little reasearch and have decided to embark upon a few day trip, some art activities and lots of free play (preferably outside)

My children love going to the farm so that will be one of our trips. I know of lots of possible day trips but if any one knows of any good ones in their area please could you add them to my comment box.

90 Little Ballet Dancers

Most weekends I spend Saturday with two children under the age of 10. This weekend I swapped my two little angels for 90 ballet dancing fairies/elves/acrobats...

Why, you may well ask? To be honest I am not at all sure. In fact most people think I'm mad, which seems a fair explanation.

The production was called "The lonely Princess" and was being organised by The South West School of Ballet. Two years of work and many hours of worry ended this weekend with one of the best children's ballets I have ever seen.

My jobs was to organise all the children into hair, make up, costume and then get them to the stage ON TIME! This may seem like a doddle, but trust me it was a nightmare. Even with the dedicated help of many voluntary helpers we still cut it very close to the wind on a number of occasions.

Looking back now we all had a great time and the children's performances were truly amazing, even the most shy children out performed our wildest expectations.

Well done to everyone.

Sick Tummies

I have not written a Blog for the last week or so for a very good reason - Stomach Bugs. Not one but two in very quick succession. How my house and I survived this I am not sure. All of the children I look after have been ill on and off for the last few weeks and wow has it been messy!

On one day I had to do 11 washes and scrubb the floors, rugs, stairs... with Dettol. The house still smells like my local doctors surgery and keeping food inside their tummies is not something I will take for granted for a very long time.

Spring flowers and gardening with small children.

In my infinite wisdom I decided a trip to the local garden centre was needed. Spring has just arrives and my garden looks a little sad and unkempt.

George and Lucy both love garden centres. I am a little surprised by this fact, most other children complain as soon as shopping is mentioned.

I decided we needed to brighten up the house and garden so we picked up a huge trolley and headed off arround the centre in search of some new, exciting plants. Within seconds the trolley was full of beautiful plants all needing varying degrees of delicate care. Lucy, especially, had choosen the biggest, most expensive and hard to maintain plants on the market. Simply announcing I had a sunny, very warm garden in summer and what was I worried about.

Some what sneakerly, I slowly replace most of the plants they had chosen with more practicle options, feeling rather proud I had avoided a crisis. Now was the time to pay and leave before my ruse had been discovered.

As we waited in the queue George played in the water feature and Lucy stood beside me with an angelic expression on her face. I should have known this spelt trouble, but the day was beautiful and I was feeling relaxed and happy. The feeling did not last long.

Suddenly, George started crying and came running over to us, looking very worried. I glanced at the water feature which was no longer trickling pleasantly but squerting water everywhere. Thankfully my bill was ready and we could pay and run. Not a very brave thing to do, I know....

As we drove home my peace was restored. We unloaded all the plants and put them in the garden. It was only then that I realised why Lucy was looking so smug...

As I swapped her choice of plants with my choice of plants she had swapped them back. My garden and home is now full of extremly beautiful needy plants!!!

Happy days

Wow, what a beautiful day London is having. George and I have just spent the last hour hanging the washing on the line. First time this year - how exciting. Am I the only person out there that loves to see clean washing on a line?

George announced summer was here and could we get out the paddling pool. I know exactly how he feels. I would never say that I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) but it is amazing how happy and right the world feels when spring arrives.

If you feel like me, write a comment. It is great to see other people read my thoughts and stories.

Climbing trees and bumped Knees.

Lucy had a very interesting day.

At nearly eight, Lucy feels she has a very clear grasp on reality. As this story will prove, there are times when even perfect Lucy's world view is not quite correct.

Last weekend the sun shone and the birds were very busy singing in the trees. I picked up Lucy and we decided to head off to Cannizaro Park, Wimbledon. As ever George came with us.

Cannizaro Park is beautiful and has lots of great tree climbing opportunities. Lucy being an anti-gravity expert climbs the most difficult and problematic trees to be found in this part of west London. Today was no exception.

Having climbed almost every tree in the park I decided it was a good time to leave. We were all still attached to our limbs and no one had any other serious injuries. At that exact moment Lucy spied the most impossible tree ever!

The base of the tree was about the average width of most peoples homes and the first available branch to climb was well above her head. Being a mug I offered to give her a lift up! Never ever will I offer such a thing again.

Lucy spent the next half an hour climbing arround the tree and then rather loudly and very alarmingly announched she was stuck. Being a brave (some would say mad) kind of soul I climbed the tree to rescue her. I am no tree climber.

Lucy of course, got down with little difficulty but I needed about five different men to assist me. How embarrassing!!

Funny Story

George told me a secret today.

He crept onto my lap for a little chat and whispered...

" My Papa is having a baby, but he is a little embarrased about it."
"Really I said, how do you know?"
"Well, he has a very big tummy doesn't he."
"Yes, I suppose he does." I said.
"Boy's don't have babies but my Papa is very special."

I don't think I have ever laughed so much in my life, even Papa saw the funny side of this little tale.

Another Cold!!!

George has another cold. Which, by definition, means I have another cold coming. Where do little boys pick them up from? George seems to get every bug going. In fact I think it would be fair to say here is the generator of all UK bugs.

All the other children I care for seem to travel through life fairly healthily, George is the exception to the rule. He has the healthiest diet known to man and takes a barrage of multi vits and yet is still a little germ bag.

Anyone got any miracle cures? All suggestions are much appreciated.

Picking up the new car!

Being a nanny means you have good days and bad. Yesterday was most definitely a good one.

George, Lucy, Emily and I went to collect the new car. I arranged for Ed my used car salesman to collect us and take us to the garage. I am not sure Ed has ever travelled in a car with small children. George and Lucy took it in turns to sing to him! George sang the Luna Jim theme tune over and over again whilst Lucy sang sea shanties. Poor Ed, he looked deeply shocked.

We spent 3 hours picking up the car. George, having formed a very close bond with Ed previously, now decided Ed was at the Honda garage purely to entertain him. Ed had to put George on every motor bike in the place and travel up and down the escalator at least 20 times.

By the time we left Ed was exhausted and had most definitely earnt his commission. George on the other hand is still waiting for Ed to come to his house for a play date!

Buying A Car

My car dramatically died yesterday - powder clutch was the issue. George found the whole event very exciting especially choosing a new car. Having trawled through Autotrader and various advice sites (Honest John) we decided upon a Honda Civic. We went to the garage and met Ed, our used car salesman.

George fell in love instantly...was it the oil, the tools, the car...No it was Ed.

We now have a new car and a new friend.

Ed has introduced George to rally car racing in the desert, sadly George is quite convinced my 2001 Honda Civic (family car) is going to miraculously turn into a desert eating racer. He is going to learn disappointment from an early age.

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Happy New Year 2007.

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