Sometimes amongst all the bad news about recessions, no-one voting for us in Eurovision and the national football teams not doing as well as expected it can be hard to feel proud to be British! This weekend however I was proud. The warmth and strength of feeling for the queen and all the jubilee celebrations despite the cold wind, pouring rain and crowded conditions were overflowing!
On Saturday we all spent the day in Hyde Park for the jubilee family festival, the place was busy and although we did have to wait an absolute age for toasted sandwiches the day was lovely. The children were delighted to see Mike the Knight, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine on stage. I must admit we gave the Disney tent a miss as the queue was snaking around half the children’s area! One of the highlights came at 3pm for Hpops as Strictly hit the main stage. Robbie Savage, Chelsee Healey and her favourite Kara Tointon appeared, we had managed to keep the personnel a secret and it took her a few minutes to realise it was Kara on stage, but once she did there was a lot of bouncing, silly giggling and when she came out in a floor length peach dress for a waltz with Artem an OMG escaped!
By that time the sun had come out so after a few minute queue we all had an ice-cream and the kids enjoyed racing around the park and burning off some of the huge amounts of energy they seem to have the whole time! The finale hit the stage and it was a fabulous Disney concert, Pixies squeals when Belle appeared on stage left my ears ringing for ages! As the pirates and princesses took to the stage accompanied by the west end singers the kids jiggled and sang along. Imp was particularly impressed by the appearance of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Jessie! The Lion King part at the end was great as well and even the tube journey home was pretty much hassle free. Three happy tired kids that day!
Sunday brought us a mini lie in as even our earliest rising child slept until 730am! We made our silly hats for the party we were attending that afternoon! The kids weren’t as interested in the flotilla as I’d hoped and spent most of their time running in and out of the garden even when it was pouring with rain! One of the hits of the day for them was the candy floss maker – they could each have the colour they desired and flavour! The idea of being able to make it for themselves was also appealing to them and as they were tired even the sugar hit didn’t completely hype them up!
Monday brought Imp’s 6th birthday and he was delighted to receive a mini stereo system and some audio books and he declared that now he was 6 he was able to stay up later and listen to them, just like his big sister! He was visited by two sets of grandparents and started his karting career. For a long time Imp has wanted to go racing but due to his age and height he has had to wait until he reached six. He had his very first lesson on his birthday, he was very excited to put on racing overalls but after his initial briefing realisation set in that this could be dangerous so gave him a bit of healthy respect. Helmet and gloves on he tried getting in the kart which can be awkward but he manged very well and then they were off. The lesson involved getting to grips with the accelerator, brake and steering wheel. He was able to navigate around cones and by the end of the lesson he could even weave in and out of them. At the end of the session the three boys were allowed a free drive as it were, even though it was on a limited part of the track it gave them the opportunity to whizz around the smaller part. My only moment of anxiety came when the boy behind Imp managed to clonk him quite hard sending him into the kart in front as well as making his head shoot forward, he didn’t seem to be hurt and carried on, and ever the pro when the instructor asked him if he was OK, nodded he was and asked what he needed to do to make his driving smoother. He is now eagerly awaiting his next lesson tomorrow and as long as he does well there he will then be qualified to drive the Bambino kart!
Tuesday brought another party, more BBQ food and a bouncy castle which we got three hours use from before the rain came down again, once more tired, happy children and we shouldn’t forget of course that this is all because the queen has reached her golden jubilee – congratulations Your Majesty!
In other news Tumbling Through Life has been released on Kindle and I was delighted to discover that it has been downloaded in the UK, USA, France and Spain amongst others! I am now busily working on the follow up although as we are in half term and the month of June and beginning of July are filled with school trips, sports days and various other child related appointments it could take some time!
