Hello everyone, sorry about the long wait in new info. As usual plans changed - AGAIN! The last time we blogged we were waiting in Porthcawl for the Festival of Wales to take place in the town centre. We arrived in Porthcawl on the Tuesday and the event was due to take place as from the Thursday - well typical Squires, by the Thursday we had had enough of Porthcawl
and the weather so decided to leave on the Thursday. Now about the weather. We were parked next to a beach and an amusement park that while walking around it (left guys in the van), I felt like I was on an abandoned movie set. It was quite eerie.
The only sounds I could hear was of one or two shops that were open with arcade games in them. Okay back to the weather.
For the two nights we "free camped"to save money - ha ha - (we drove around so long looking for a spot to camp I don't think we saved money at all!) the wind was so strong that it literally felt like we were on a boat rocking back and forth. On the first night I actually got up to check that we didn't have water swirling around us, that's how bad it was! Also to put the
cherry on the top, because there was so much wind (and I mean it was hectic!), when we put the boiler on to heat up water for the shower), the wind would constantly blow out the flame which lies in a panel on the outside of the van SOOOOOO no hot water. Do you know, it is possible to shower/bath in 2 kettles of hot water????? Yup, army here I come, I can cope with
anything :)Finding water was also a problem. In S.A. we would simply have just driven up to a garage (here they are called "Services:) and turned on a tap to get water. NOT in Wales, you either pay for water or the taps are all turned off. We drove around for about an hour looking for water, eventually Dean drove to a Garage and asked 2 ladies that worked in the onfectionary in the garage if we could use a tap from behind their serving hatch/pie machine. Yes they said! BUT their eyes just about popped out of their sockets when Dean arrived with 2 x 25 litre containers. Anyway we got our water and off we went.
Within 2 hours we were out of Wales, back in England and made our way to the Somerset District. We thought we'd get Jesse invovled in the decision as to where to sleep for the night. He did his homework and found a place in Polchem (heard of it?????, neither had we!). We even let him set the TomTom (GPS) so that we could be on our way. Now you're thinking!!!! Was
that a good idea!!!! Well we didn't think but trusted our 12 year old whole heartedly!!!! Did you know that England has the most fascinating 2m wide country roads which maze through hundreds of acres of green hedges, all of which lead to tiny stone-henge looking villages, none of which contain a petrol station and all of which are nowhere near Polchem. Well we discovered all these places for you, so don't feel the need to visit them. Seriously, our one hour journey took us 4 hrs and heated tempers along the way. Not all Jesse's fault, we did check the settings but the A359 and A39 roads escaped our careful scrutiny. We found that the difference between these 2 roads is a farmroad through sugarcane compared to the N3 freeway to Joburg! To cut a VERY long story short, by the time we got to our site, we were frazzled. On top of it, we got
to the site in Polchem and there was no place for us to park except snuggling up to a 22ft caravan whose inhabitants immediately tattle taled to the site owner who had to rush out in the middle of night to reshuffle everybody's power cabling so that our kids voices could be positioned at the far end of the camper/caravan line.
After a NOT very good night sleep because DEAN!!!!!! still has not bought the levellers for the van, we decided to visit Glastonbury the next day.Well what an experience which we did not enjoy. Jesse said he did not like this town - let me tell you why! In the city centre, the roads are lined by not only zombies but shops that deal with mystiscm, witchcraft, fortune-telling, crystals, etc.... After explaining to the kids that this town was from the Dark Side we walked up to the front door of the local 16th century Abby which had a plaque on the front door saying "This church is the house of God, enter in reverance and leave it not without prayer for those who minister here, those who worship, and for thyself". It was truly an island of holiness in
the centre of witchcraft. As we walked from the church grounds, a backpacker, came storming through from the street literally spitting and grunting and ran up to the big wooden doors of the church trying to barge his way in. This guy needed help.
We left and drove to a little town called Wells, about 15 minutes away. We found a little village in the town called "Wookey hole". The Wookey Hole has a theme park of Teddy Bears. You can meandre your way through a small forest into a cave area and tour the cave and hear the stories about it.Although the park was all about the Wookey Teddy Bear, it was all defintely very spiritual - not in a good way! The toilets had Witch and Wizzard written above them!
We left and drove to our next site in a place called Street. This is where we are parked right now. It is 9:38am in the morning. We currently don't have an internet connection and will upload this a bit later. Not sure if we are staying here today but are definitely enjoying the lie-in. Boys are watching The Thunderbirds at the moment.
France is coming up sooner and sooner (Devon first) but with a whole lot of unanswered questions. The internet connection is obviously a big concern for us but apart from promising the boys to take them to Eurodisney, I do want to see where my mom grew up so we need to do some planning.
Hope to hear from SOMEONE soon :)
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Tuesday, 18 September 2007
We found life in Wales!!!!
ello ello everyone. Dean here at last. M has been doing most of the blogs lately, but I found a few moments so here I am:) In the previous posts we were saying that we couldnt find any people in Wales...all of the towns seemed deserted...quite odd. Surely we dont smell that bad already??? We had planned to visit Tenby at some stage....read a link somewhere that called it a lively little town...so we thought...."lively"....it's gotta have some people in it? AND IT DID :) It is a small Welsh town perched on a hillside that fades down with a beach on the left, and a beach on the right...and at the point, where the too beached should join, is a gigantic blob of rock, with enermous caverns carved out by the sea....absolutely brilliant.... and the beaches.....100m of clean fine sand....in a bay where the waves crashed every 3 seconds, no larger than 30cm high...idyllic...and then of course the boys arrived and shook the natural cathedral of rock, sand and waves, with.....Dad!!!!!! Its MY turn to fly the kiyyyyyttteeeeeee... I thought...God....beam me up now pleaseeeeeee?????????
We had our first truly local meal in a Tenby resturant....3 bowls of veg soup, cheese and rolls, and a tea and scones.... (can you tell we were counting every pound spent...). (I later found that M had swiped some of the tubes of sauces that were on the table...viva South Africa!)
Temby was yesterday...spent the night in a CL/farm and carried on driving today towards Bridgend...where we hope to see the Festival of Wales on Thurs/Fri/Sat. In the interim though, we decided to wild camp in the van overnight (tues) to save some money, since our budget is looking very tight. We ended up driving miles looking for a place to hide for the night, and found a groovy spot next to a coal museum parking lot. A grey car was parked in the same parking lot when we arrived, but I thought nothing of it, although it was after closing time for the museum...after a while I noticed it moved to the other side of the parking, away from our van...and again I thought nothing of it....one look at our kids and I would have done the same......As darkness began to fall, I noticed the car was still there..a bit odd I thought...and by now all sorts of warning signals were going off in my head.... (Yes, I know...His small voice was by now shouting...this is not the place to spend the night...idiot)..... I carried on cleaning out the camper and noticed a packet on the floor in the middle of the parking lot...thought it was from our van, and promptly went to pick it up to throw away....had a look inside and ...um...it contained a huge box of Duratex...um ...condoms....an empty box....... it only took a minute for my fantastic powers of reason to connect the dots...we were parked in a nightime "entertainment" area.....and unless we wanted "entertaining" we should rather find somewhere else....:)
We fed the kids, put them in their beds, and drive 20mins to Porthcawl....nearer to Bridgend...on the coast....and Woaaahhhhh....brilliantt....we found a whole beachfront of parked camper vans!!!! Safety in numbers :)))) I peaked out into the darkness just now and it should be a beautiful beach in the morning.... on the map it shows blue flags on a few beaches, and they are REALLY stunning....
yes yes, you want pics...I know. Prob is we havent had time to resize them. I will try stick one up now...from an earlier adventure :)
Sunday, 16 September 2007
This is where we are...
If you look at a map of Wales (for those of you who don't know - it's to the left of the U.K.) we are sitting on the very west coast of Wales. This is called the Pembokeshire Coast.
I know I'm speaking for Dean as well, but we would really love for you to take a look at a map and see where we are and enjoy this experience with us.
I know I'm speaking for Dean as well, but we would really love for you to take a look at a map and see where we are and enjoy this experience with us.
Where is everyone???
Well judging by the "Buzz"in Barry, I somehow don't think it's namesake could have been a very interesting person. There was NOTHING going on in Barry. On our way out, we did happen to see a lighthouse that we thought we could walk to. So we all hopped out the van and made our way down the path to a very gorgeous beach BUT unfortunately there was a huge gate that was bolted locked so we couldn't walk to the lighthouse.
We decided to leave Barry and made our way to Swansea - not much happening there either. So on we travelled to Cross Hands where we camped near an absolutely beautiful lake. It's the first time I had ever seen anyone flyfishing and it was so graceful to watch - well that is until the 3 boys ran along the bridge and proceeded to chase the fish away.
The next morning while the guys were still in dreamland, I decided to go onto the internet to see where we were supposed to be going for the day. Dean had seen a poster about a "Roman"Theme day in a little town so I wanted to see how to get there but then I discovered that it was on the Sunday not the Saturday so for the next 45 minutes or so I scoured the internet looking for something to do and I found a goldmine. An airshow in Swansea of all places! So we packed up the van and headed for Swansea Bay and we had an absolutely awesome time. For the first part of the morning the boys played on the beach and rode their bikes on the beach. The tide was far out so Dean and the boys walked way out, got some stunning photos to prove it. The first item in the airshow was a Jet. Well this absolutely blew us away, it was almost majestic to watch (hope that's an okay word to use) and the noise was deafening but we absolutely loved it. Then we took a walk along the beach promenade for quite some time and found our spot on the grass. The next event were the "Red Arrows"- these were not as noisy but they were magnificent to watch as they trailed their coloured smoke behind them. I can only imagine that to fly one of those birds must be an absolutely awesome thing to do.
Later in the afternoon we had to drive to our next stop which took us to Harverfordwest and a place to stay. Got there at about 8:30pm so we were all eager to lock down the hatches and go to sleep. We had no internet and no tv so climbed under the covers and had an early night - well we tried but with Tanner's constant chatting that was a bit difficult. The conversation got a bit tricky when Tanner asked howcome all our surnames are Squire, Dean's response was mom and dad made you so now you're all Squires. Now I'm listening to this thinking, DEAN don't go there!!!!! Tanner is quite for a few seconds and says "but D - a - d.... what did you mean when you said "You and mom made us?"... I was sleeping up in the top bunk and was sniggering to myself. His very adult answer was ...Ï'll tell you when you're 13". Chicken!!!!!!!!
This morning we decided to not go to the Roman Theme day but rather meandered our way further up the west coast of Wales. I am so glad we did this, we stopped in the harbour of Milford Haven and had our breakfast there while the boys did schoolwork, but there was nobody around. What a sleepy little town! I finally discovered where everyone was when we found a good old trusted Tesco (Our equivalent to Pick n Pay) and asked someone where a laundromat was. Now Tesco was buzzing! I was told where to go but that the laundromat would most definitely be closed today. Now I ask myself - don't people who work all week need to do their washing on a Sunday!
Anyway, although we intend on Free Camping tonight at the harbour (i.e. staying somewhere but not paying), we thought there must be something else to see so off we set. We headed towards "Broad Haven"- I must say I wasn't expecting too much but the road to get here was stunning. The roads were VERY narrow and thus VERY scary and were lined with very tall hedges, so it constantly felt like we were driving through a maze. This scenic drive led us to Broad Haven and this is where I sit right now.
We have had a lunch of Fish & Chips (yup, I know, that's not going to help the waistline at all!), and Dean has bought the boys kites. We have been waiting patiently for the rain to let up so the boys have been tackling their maths for a while but Dean has just announced that the rain has stopped and we're going to fly the kites. Unfortunately B.O.J. (Bundle Of Joy) No. 3 has fallen asleep so that leaves Dean to go fly kites and me in the van writing to you.
My blog writing has just been interrupted by Dean who says,"Bring you camera, you have to see this - there is someone riding a horse on the beach". At this moment in time, I don't know if I am more envious of the gorgeous modern camper van that has just driven out this parking lot or the freedom of riding a horse on the beach with no-one around........
Chat soon :)
We decided to leave Barry and made our way to Swansea - not much happening there either. So on we travelled to Cross Hands where we camped near an absolutely beautiful lake. It's the first time I had ever seen anyone flyfishing and it was so graceful to watch - well that is until the 3 boys ran along the bridge and proceeded to chase the fish away.
The next morning while the guys were still in dreamland, I decided to go onto the internet to see where we were supposed to be going for the day. Dean had seen a poster about a "Roman"Theme day in a little town so I wanted to see how to get there but then I discovered that it was on the Sunday not the Saturday so for the next 45 minutes or so I scoured the internet looking for something to do and I found a goldmine. An airshow in Swansea of all places! So we packed up the van and headed for Swansea Bay and we had an absolutely awesome time. For the first part of the morning the boys played on the beach and rode their bikes on the beach. The tide was far out so Dean and the boys walked way out, got some stunning photos to prove it. The first item in the airshow was a Jet. Well this absolutely blew us away, it was almost majestic to watch (hope that's an okay word to use) and the noise was deafening but we absolutely loved it. Then we took a walk along the beach promenade for quite some time and found our spot on the grass. The next event were the "Red Arrows"- these were not as noisy but they were magnificent to watch as they trailed their coloured smoke behind them. I can only imagine that to fly one of those birds must be an absolutely awesome thing to do.
Later in the afternoon we had to drive to our next stop which took us to Harverfordwest and a place to stay. Got there at about 8:30pm so we were all eager to lock down the hatches and go to sleep. We had no internet and no tv so climbed under the covers and had an early night - well we tried but with Tanner's constant chatting that was a bit difficult. The conversation got a bit tricky when Tanner asked howcome all our surnames are Squire, Dean's response was mom and dad made you so now you're all Squires. Now I'm listening to this thinking, DEAN don't go there!!!!! Tanner is quite for a few seconds and says "but D - a - d.... what did you mean when you said "You and mom made us?"... I was sleeping up in the top bunk and was sniggering to myself. His very adult answer was ...Ï'll tell you when you're 13". Chicken!!!!!!!!
This morning we decided to not go to the Roman Theme day but rather meandered our way further up the west coast of Wales. I am so glad we did this, we stopped in the harbour of Milford Haven and had our breakfast there while the boys did schoolwork, but there was nobody around. What a sleepy little town! I finally discovered where everyone was when we found a good old trusted Tesco (Our equivalent to Pick n Pay) and asked someone where a laundromat was. Now Tesco was buzzing! I was told where to go but that the laundromat would most definitely be closed today. Now I ask myself - don't people who work all week need to do their washing on a Sunday!
Anyway, although we intend on Free Camping tonight at the harbour (i.e. staying somewhere but not paying), we thought there must be something else to see so off we set. We headed towards "Broad Haven"- I must say I wasn't expecting too much but the road to get here was stunning. The roads were VERY narrow and thus VERY scary and were lined with very tall hedges, so it constantly felt like we were driving through a maze. This scenic drive led us to Broad Haven and this is where I sit right now.
We have had a lunch of Fish & Chips (yup, I know, that's not going to help the waistline at all!), and Dean has bought the boys kites. We have been waiting patiently for the rain to let up so the boys have been tackling their maths for a while but Dean has just announced that the rain has stopped and we're going to fly the kites. Unfortunately B.O.J. (Bundle Of Joy) No. 3 has fallen asleep so that leaves Dean to go fly kites and me in the van writing to you.
My blog writing has just been interrupted by Dean who says,"Bring you camera, you have to see this - there is someone riding a horse on the beach". At this moment in time, I don't know if I am more envious of the gorgeous modern camper van that has just driven out this parking lot or the freedom of riding a horse on the beach with no-one around........
Chat soon :)
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
Hello again to our family and friends. For those of you who have read the blog before this one, you will know how happy I was to leave London. We are now back to seeing sheep and horses as we travel and we love it but I'm jumping the gun now, so let me rewind a bit.
When we left London, we spent a night who knows where, I can't remember now but then we headed for Bedfordshire to see Gavin and Glenda. We had a lovely relaxing time, did absolutely nothing except eat and chat. Thanks Gavin and Glenda for hosting us, we had a wonderful time and were able to be rejuvinated! The boys of course also had a lovely time.
On Monday morning we left Bedford and for the next 2 nights meandered our way through Faringdon, Aylesbury and a teeny weeny place called Aust. While in Aylesbury we took a walk along one of their canals and took a few peeks into some canal boats - some of them really needed some work done on them but on the whole they look like they could be fun to live in. Much bigger than a motorhome! Aust was a little place just before reaching Wales. To get into Wales we had to cross the Severn Brige - with a toll charge of 5 pounds 10p.
Today, we took a walk around Carphaelly town centre and had our lunch sitting in a park opposite an absolutely beautiful castle. Besides the Cliffs of Dover and The Lake District, this was one of the most beautiful places we have sat and had some lunch. Afterwards we decided to walk around the town a bit and came across a costume shop. WOW! I wish they had one of these in Durban. I would spend hours in it. The owner allowed me to try on two wigs - one a redhead and the other blonde - well I must say that being a brunette definitely suits me better and all the boys agreed. I would have loved to have bought something to bring home but it was rather costly, but as I was leaving the owner did give me a pair of Playboy bunny ears - which Dean was quite chuffed about - ha ha!!!
We have been driving for a while now and have entered an area called Barry but we are a bit lost. We told the farmer we'd be there by 7pm. Well it's 7pm on the dot now so we're late! We are stopping at a Pizza Hut to ask directions (wish we were buying pizza)!
ok...Dean taking over this post. M is in the pizza place asking for directions. Watch this space:)
When we left London, we spent a night who knows where, I can't remember now but then we headed for Bedfordshire to see Gavin and Glenda. We had a lovely relaxing time, did absolutely nothing except eat and chat. Thanks Gavin and Glenda for hosting us, we had a wonderful time and were able to be rejuvinated! The boys of course also had a lovely time.
On Monday morning we left Bedford and for the next 2 nights meandered our way through Faringdon, Aylesbury and a teeny weeny place called Aust. While in Aylesbury we took a walk along one of their canals and took a few peeks into some canal boats - some of them really needed some work done on them but on the whole they look like they could be fun to live in. Much bigger than a motorhome! Aust was a little place just before reaching Wales. To get into Wales we had to cross the Severn Brige - with a toll charge of 5 pounds 10p.
Today, we took a walk around Carphaelly town centre and had our lunch sitting in a park opposite an absolutely beautiful castle. Besides the Cliffs of Dover and The Lake District, this was one of the most beautiful places we have sat and had some lunch. Afterwards we decided to walk around the town a bit and came across a costume shop. WOW! I wish they had one of these in Durban. I would spend hours in it. The owner allowed me to try on two wigs - one a redhead and the other blonde - well I must say that being a brunette definitely suits me better and all the boys agreed. I would have loved to have bought something to bring home but it was rather costly, but as I was leaving the owner did give me a pair of Playboy bunny ears - which Dean was quite chuffed about - ha ha!!!
We have been driving for a while now and have entered an area called Barry but we are a bit lost. We told the farmer we'd be there by 7pm. Well it's 7pm on the dot now so we're late! We are stopping at a Pizza Hut to ask directions (wish we were buying pizza)!
ok...Dean taking over this post. M is in the pizza place asking for directions. Watch this space:)
Thursday, 06 September 2007
London - Love it or Hate it!
Today is Wednesday and we have reached the end of our 3 days pounding the streets of London - Yay!!!! While I was so excited to come here, it has really been exhausting. Anyway back to last weekend.
We visited Adrian and Wanda and spent a lovely weekend with them. Of course Jesse was absolutely thrilled to see Warwick.
Adrian and Wanda took us to a Lebanese Restaurant where we had a stunning lunch. We even took photos of it! On Sunday we visited Knebworth Castle. We never actually went into the castle but the gardens are really stunning. The Castle was hosting a Jousting event which was lots of fun to watch.
At about 3:30pm, we left Knebworth and made our way towards London to an area called Crystal Palace. We had booked in to the campsite for 4 nights eagerly anticipating our London visit.
On Monday morning, the Squire eager beavers got ready with a pram full of Jackets (never really needed them much) and our all day bus/underground train ticket and headed off to Picadilly Circus. We had planned to jump on a tube during the course of the day to visit various places HOWEVER Monday was the first day of tube strikes and it has continued thus far. Very
annoying BUT at least lots of walking was done. In fact I don't know how the boys actually coped cause by the end of each day my legs have been really sore.
To cut a long story short, we have not really visited any place in particular but have rather just walked from one tourist attraction to another. On Monday we took the kids to Hamleys (The huge toy store), they had lots of fun. We walked around Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Squire, The London eye. On Tuesday we went to visit the British Museum - (this had no entry fee
- whoopee!!) this was very interesting and we could have spent the whole day there but I don't think the kids would have been too happy to do that. We also made our way to Buckingham Palace along The Mall. We took a turn around Harrods - Only for the rich and famous I tell yoU!!Today was a bit unorganised. We had planned to go back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard but we didn't make it in time. We decided to head towards Madame Tussauds. We were horrified at the cost but fortunately I had 2 tickets which allowed a free entry for each paying person. So instead of 4 tickets we only paid for 2. BUT it cost enough!!!!So that was basically it besides spending an obscene fortune on food - gulp!!!!!
Monday and Tuesday night we only arrived home at about 10pm or so, the kids were absolutely finished. The bus ride in and out was almost an hour each way so that contributed to the added hours. Of course with barely any tubes running, the buses and traffic was horrendous.
TONIGHT was a bus ride from hell!!! We left London at about 7:30pm, Dean and Tanner headed to the top of the bus while I stayed downstairs with Jesse and Jetan. Jetan was in top form and absolutely refused to sit down. Jesse on the other hand was feeling really nauseous. He first started off sitting behind me, then landed up on the floor in front of me with his
head on my lap, he then moved a bit further back in the bus. It was after about 10 minutes that I discovered to my horror that he had falled asleep lying across 2 chairs - IN A FULL BUS! I had to deposit Jetan on a chair and go and wake him up.
Had I known what was in store for me I would have left him sleeping! I then put him in my chair and stood next to Jetan when he promptly tells me he needs to throw up. I grab the packet out my pocket (for this intended purpose as he hadn't been feeling well before we bordered the bus) and hand it to him. So here we have one three-year old jumping up and down, and one twelve year old crouching down on the floor puking into a packet. A packet that we discover has holes in it!!! From about 3 different directions I get handed tissues and another plastic packet. Like an efficient mom I promptly place the now puke filled bag into the spare plastic packet and proceed to clean up the mess - all the while Jetan is jumping up and down and I have a lady of about 70 years in age seated right next to me. At this moment in time all I could think of was - please let the mental telepathy work and Dean come down - but nope, nothing happens!
After about 20 minutes Dean comes sauntering down the steps with a huge smile on his face, oblivious to the trauma I have just been threw. He heads towards the front of the bus to fetch the pram and sends Tanner to me - now I have 3 boys!!!! One still jumping, the other one still green and Tanner! and of course looks from the passengers. I don't know if they were looks of sympathy for what I had to cope with or thoughts of "hasn't she heard of contraception?".
Well after about 10 minutes, in a chocka block bus, I am finally granted the relief of leaving the bus. So I pick up the 3 year old, usher the 7 year old forward while the 12 year old is hanging on to me. Jesse then stands in front of the double doors and says "Mom, I need to throw up"- and I tell him "No, you don't" but he is going all shades of green as he stares at me.
Well you can guess what happened the moment the doors opened!!!
We got back, boys went to shower and we have just discovered that there is a leak in the water pipe.
All this and only 3 hours of sleep last night - Charming!!!!
We visited Adrian and Wanda and spent a lovely weekend with them. Of course Jesse was absolutely thrilled to see Warwick.
Adrian and Wanda took us to a Lebanese Restaurant where we had a stunning lunch. We even took photos of it! On Sunday we visited Knebworth Castle. We never actually went into the castle but the gardens are really stunning. The Castle was hosting a Jousting event which was lots of fun to watch.
At about 3:30pm, we left Knebworth and made our way towards London to an area called Crystal Palace. We had booked in to the campsite for 4 nights eagerly anticipating our London visit.
On Monday morning, the Squire eager beavers got ready with a pram full of Jackets (never really needed them much) and our all day bus/underground train ticket and headed off to Picadilly Circus. We had planned to jump on a tube during the course of the day to visit various places HOWEVER Monday was the first day of tube strikes and it has continued thus far. Very
annoying BUT at least lots of walking was done. In fact I don't know how the boys actually coped cause by the end of each day my legs have been really sore.
To cut a long story short, we have not really visited any place in particular but have rather just walked from one tourist attraction to another. On Monday we took the kids to Hamleys (The huge toy store), they had lots of fun. We walked around Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Squire, The London eye. On Tuesday we went to visit the British Museum - (this had no entry fee
- whoopee!!) this was very interesting and we could have spent the whole day there but I don't think the kids would have been too happy to do that. We also made our way to Buckingham Palace along The Mall. We took a turn around Harrods - Only for the rich and famous I tell yoU!!Today was a bit unorganised. We had planned to go back to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard but we didn't make it in time. We decided to head towards Madame Tussauds. We were horrified at the cost but fortunately I had 2 tickets which allowed a free entry for each paying person. So instead of 4 tickets we only paid for 2. BUT it cost enough!!!!So that was basically it besides spending an obscene fortune on food - gulp!!!!!
Monday and Tuesday night we only arrived home at about 10pm or so, the kids were absolutely finished. The bus ride in and out was almost an hour each way so that contributed to the added hours. Of course with barely any tubes running, the buses and traffic was horrendous.
TONIGHT was a bus ride from hell!!! We left London at about 7:30pm, Dean and Tanner headed to the top of the bus while I stayed downstairs with Jesse and Jetan. Jetan was in top form and absolutely refused to sit down. Jesse on the other hand was feeling really nauseous. He first started off sitting behind me, then landed up on the floor in front of me with his
head on my lap, he then moved a bit further back in the bus. It was after about 10 minutes that I discovered to my horror that he had falled asleep lying across 2 chairs - IN A FULL BUS! I had to deposit Jetan on a chair and go and wake him up.
Had I known what was in store for me I would have left him sleeping! I then put him in my chair and stood next to Jetan when he promptly tells me he needs to throw up. I grab the packet out my pocket (for this intended purpose as he hadn't been feeling well before we bordered the bus) and hand it to him. So here we have one three-year old jumping up and down, and one twelve year old crouching down on the floor puking into a packet. A packet that we discover has holes in it!!! From about 3 different directions I get handed tissues and another plastic packet. Like an efficient mom I promptly place the now puke filled bag into the spare plastic packet and proceed to clean up the mess - all the while Jetan is jumping up and down and I have a lady of about 70 years in age seated right next to me. At this moment in time all I could think of was - please let the mental telepathy work and Dean come down - but nope, nothing happens!
After about 20 minutes Dean comes sauntering down the steps with a huge smile on his face, oblivious to the trauma I have just been threw. He heads towards the front of the bus to fetch the pram and sends Tanner to me - now I have 3 boys!!!! One still jumping, the other one still green and Tanner! and of course looks from the passengers. I don't know if they were looks of sympathy for what I had to cope with or thoughts of "hasn't she heard of contraception?".
Well after about 10 minutes, in a chocka block bus, I am finally granted the relief of leaving the bus. So I pick up the 3 year old, usher the 7 year old forward while the 12 year old is hanging on to me. Jesse then stands in front of the double doors and says "Mom, I need to throw up"- and I tell him "No, you don't" but he is going all shades of green as he stares at me.
Well you can guess what happened the moment the doors opened!!!
We got back, boys went to shower and we have just discovered that there is a leak in the water pipe.
All this and only 3 hours of sleep last night - Charming!!!!
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