Our UK Top Ten & photos by Ebi-kun

Ebi-kun's top 10

1. Tower Of London

2. London Eye

3. Staying with Nana and Papie

4. Going on the steam train and seeing Santa

5. Ice-skating and Santa's Grotto

6. Eating loads of food like...Muller Corner Yoghurts, Christmas dinner, Chinese take-away, Spicy Mexican

7. Meeting Max & Cassie, Declan, Mia and Jasper, Carmen & Frank, George & Iris and RYLAND.

8. Vertical drop slides

9. Pantomime (Cinderella)

10. Saw a badger and fed a squirrel

I would say that my top 10 is very similar but would add in catching up with lots of old friends, rocking it out to The Wonder Stuff and relaxing with relatives is up there too.

If you remember, Ebi-kun got a camera before Christmas, so I thought i would share some of the pictures he took....

I have singled this one out because I love how he has framed the picture, I feel it really captures the moment and could see it in some kind of exhibit on life. Very deep :)

The rest I picked because I find them amusing, it was interesting to see what he was drawn to taking photographs of, I set the camera on auto for the sake of ease but we plan to work through the manual and try out and learn the different functions, I am thinking of setting him a project for each one.

 Probably because he is a lot shorter than me, I really like the angle these are taken at, a little reminder to myself to get down low occasionally. The one of my mom and the clown is fab.

 I think this is a lovely shot of Nana and Papie and the shot below is a of a ghost skateboarder, looks for the skateboard (bottom right) and you can just make out the figure of a ghost. Turns out that this is the exact spot where a teenager was gunned down by a rival gang 20 years ago and on the eve of his death you can see him skateboarding*

*Sorry, I totally made that up :)

Vertical drop slides and go-carts

One of the last places we went to was the National Forest Adventure Farm near Burton-on-Trent, where we met up with Di and Ry. This place is great, well worth the money, considering the local wacky warehouse place costs about 4 quid to get in, this place cost a couple of pound more and you can easily spend all day here without getting bored.

Inside is a big soft play structure which include a place for under 5's, some giant Lego and vertical drop slides and yes, they really do have a vertical drop. Ebi-kun being well, Ebi-kun was straight up there, it didn't cross his mind to try the smaller of the slides first, oh no, straight on the big one! These slides are not for mothers with a weak heart, I can tell you. Apparently adults can go on too but I didn't see any try it out, Di and I did venture onto the bumpy slide but that was about enough excitement for us.

Even the ball pool slide starts with a vertical drop! When we arrived it was virtually empty, it got a bit busier later but not manically so. There is also a big area to eat lunch, the food was homemade and lovely and very reasonably priced.

Outside they have a load of things to do, there are go-carts, free tractor ride, in the summer they have a maize maze, animals to visit, play areas, football shoot-out, little tractors to ride...

It is a perfect place to go, whatever the weather. We also discovered that it is not far from where my cousin lives, if we had known beforehand we could have met up with them too!

They also have a giant bouncy pillow, crazy golf, water gun area (for the warmer months!), beach volleyball and fossil dig plus lots of activities going on throughout the year. We had loads of fun, it would have been better only if it had been a tad warmer, it is definitely somewhere we would like to go back to next time we are over.

Just one UK tour blog post left and that will wrap it all up! Today feels like the first day back at work proper, finally the jet lag has subsided, I am still waking up at at 4am but at least I can make it through the day now without crashing! Ebi-kun is back at school and it is time for me to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in with my work.

Introducing Toby...

Close to moms house is a little farm, it has a few animals to pet and a few small shops so on a day when we had nothing planned we popped by. The farm is onto a good thing, they sell you bags of food so you can feed their animals! 

I grew up next to a farm and feel totally at home surrounded by animals but Ebi-kun gets a bit nervous, it took this poor donkey several attempts to get the carrot.

We dropped lucky, we just happened to be there when they were bringing in Toby the pony, Ebi-kun knows that I have always been able to ride, I had a pony, similar size to this one when I was just 18 months old and I can't actually remember learning to ride, just as I can't remember learning to walk. Anyway, we had hoped to visit a friend who has ponies but it basically rained the whole time we were in the UK but as we were patting Toby the owner asked Ebi-kun if he wanted to ride him into the stable, of course he said yes. 

He had no saddle or bridle, just a head collar and Ebi-kun had no helmet, this didn't even cross my mind as being dangerous, it is how I grew up. The funny bit was when the pony got in the stable he decided to have a roll in his fresh straw, luckily the handler grabbed Ebi-kun before he got squashed! 

It all added to the excitement and Ebi-kun couldn't wait to tell daddy about it all. It was a shame the weather was so crappy, I would have loved to have given him a proper lesson or two.

Manchester, Museums and A Toilet Called Teri

A couple of days into the new year we arranged to meet one of my uni friends, Lesley and her kids in Manchester. There are several museums in Manchester, we opted for the MOSI or Museum Of Science and Industry.

My brother takes his kids here quite often and I am pretty impressed with it, the kids of course loved all the hands on stuff available.

The explanations were well written and simple enough for the kids (and moms!) to understand.

We explored the main building, the transport building, which also has a spot for eating your lunch if you decided to take your own and the train building. The kids have only met once before, I-chan was just a wee babe in arms and G-kun was about 2 so they don't really remember one another. When we first met up, the kids just stared at each other but it didn't take them long to warm up and start chasing each other around.

Ebi-kun asked the following day if we could meet up with them again because he loved playing with G.

By the end of the day, they were best buddies and Lesley and I had chance to catch up and have a good old natter, it was sad to say goodbye but I-chan was tired and we thought it best before meltdowns happened, best leave on a good note!

Ebi-kun had seen a sign for 'underground Manchester' which was another part of the museum, so we went and explored there before heading home. It was rather odd, all about the sewers, pretty revolting really, Teri the Talking Toilet did make us giggle though.

So, if you are in Manchester and looking for something to do, I give the MOSI a big thumbs up, it is free too and if you take your own lunch it amounts to a cheap day out. There is a cafe and a gift shop, the gift shop wasn't anything exciting, the usual museum stuff. There is plenty of space for the kids to run around and lots of hands on equipment. Of course, having great company helps to make a good day  into a great day!

Give, Give, Give me More, More, More...

Bit out of sync, never mind! After London we went back to Di's in Nottingham and then the next day Di had some tickets for a little theatre in the grounds of Nottingham Uni. It was a performance for kids and just 50 minutes long, which was just long enough for the boys to sit through. It was based on the Rolf Harris song Two Little Boys, beautifully done.

Then we dropped the boys off at home and left them with Di's hubby, Rob and off we went to Birmingham, Di's hometown and old stomping ground. And stomping we did as she had snagged tickets for The Wonder Stuff and supporting were Jesus Jones and Pop Will Eat Itself. We booked into a hotel for the night, which out of luck was just round the corner from the venue.

We started off in the pub, (of course) and met up with some of Di's old school mates, it was like being back in 1992, except everyone was a bit wider around the waist and a bit balder - well the blokes anyway! After a couple of beers we grabbed some chips then headed off to the gig.

We didn't really watch much of Jesus Jones, Neds would have been a better choice I feel. The Poppies were disappointing, Clint wasn't on stage which I think made a huge difference and they weren't playing the old classics, which considering the audience, that is what they should have been doing. The Stuffies on the other hand were great, Miles, much to my amazement still had a full head of hair and the new fiddle player was fab too. 

It really was a trip down memory lane, the play list was excellent, the company perfect and due to the expensive bar, we didn't drink ourselves into a stupor - or maybe it's because we are a little older and a little wiser!

A big thank you to Di, definitely a highlight of my trip.

Now your turn, if you could see a band from your youth, who would it be? tell me in the comments!

Christmas Round Up

I am so behind with these posts! Christmas day we spent the morning opening presents with Nana and Papie. I managed to make a Jedi cape before we left Japan and the young Padawan is very happy with it, I'll try and write up how I did at a later date.

Daddy joined in too on the present opening on the Mac, not quite the same as having him with us but it was fun all the same, hurrah for technology!

At lunch time my step brother and his family arrived and we had a great Christmas dinner, my Nana and brother were there too, so it really was a full house.

Boxing day was a quite one, playing with new toys and watching films on the TV. Ebi-kun has got addicted to game shows, Deal or No Deal is his favourite! The 27th my little brother and his family came over, now the kids are a bit older they got on much better. The boys enjoyed building Lego together...

Little J was still a bit poorly, not that you have guessed, he is such a smiler, until you get the camera out, then he refuses to smile, it took some clever trickery to get this shot!

I also managed to get a nice picture of all of them together, usually there is some one missing or a blurred child or one sticking their finger up their nose, we finally have one that is suitable to hang on the wall!

Ebi-kun has really enjoyed catching up with his cousins, we do chat with them on the mac sometimes which I am convinced makes it easier for them to bond when they do get to meet in person. I had forgotten how loud M is, she has a voice like a foghorn! Post Christmas was a bit less hectic...how was yours?

Books for London...

Before we left for the UK I ordered a couple of books for Ebi-kun. The first was Horrible Histories London which is fun, lots of snippets of information and the sort of things that kids will remember such as... There is no tube station at Muswell Hill. There was supposed to be, but when they started digging underground they came across a deep pit - full of skeletons of people buried during the plague!

The second book was The Story Of London, again it is filled with lots of snippets of information. Both books give a brief overview of the history of London, which is really all we needed, I figured if something really inspired Ebi-kun I could get a book specifically about that topic. 

So, I got him Tower Power when we were at the Tower Of London, I was torn between the adults version and the kids but with the drawings and the layout I think were more suited in Tower Power. The Tower was Ebi-kun's favourite part of the trip to London so he was chuffed to get the book about it.

Just when you thought I had finished, I have to mention Pop-Up London, which Ebi-kun received as a Christmas present. It is a lovely book, really well laid out and you have to turn the book round because the back of the pop-up's are just as detailed at the front. It is a bit delicate in places so I would recommend it for kids that a bit heavy handed, it doesn't contain as much information but it is beautifully designed.

Seals, Skates and Santa....

Our original plan was to go to The Winter Wonderland after we had been to the British museum but because of the awful weather we had to scrap that. Luckily Di managed to snag some skating tickets at the Westfield instead. It is years since I last skated and Ebi-kun has never been before, I thought that an hour wouldn't be long enough but after 10 minutes I was ready for a pint! Ebi-kun managed to make Bambi look like an Olympian and spent as much time on his arse as he did on his feet. Luckily They let us have a 'seal' for Ry which seamed to help a bit - at least we didn't have to try and keep a 2 year old on his feet too.

After nearly breaking our necks several time we hung up the skates and went to see Santa, it was all good fun, they take photos of the kids which then get superimposed onto a film, the kids then get to see the film and they all get excited when they see their own face come up.

After Santa we had to go and pick up one of Di's winnings (you know she is comping mad!) then we had a lovely Mexican meal at Las Iguanas, I was very impressed with their selection of kids meals, certainly not the usual fayre of sausage and chips. After lunch we finally headed off to Nottingham to Di's house. We had a nice relaxing evening which was just what we needed after the manic few days that we had had.

Mummies, modern art and kissing cousins

Although we had a great time in London, the weather was pretty miserable, it was a good job we had museums down on our London bucket list! In the morning we headed to the British Museum, the place is massive and we only really saw a fraction of it. Top Tip if you going, if you go to the information desk and ask about the kids trail books, they have a selection, we rather optimistically picked up three; Sailing On The Nile, Hunting For Dragons and Travelling In Time. Ebi-kun really wanted to see the mummies, so we did the Sailing on the Nile book first. 

The book tells you which room to start in and is like a treasure hunt, you have to find specific objects or answer questions about certain artifacts. There are talking points and snippets of information, I was really impressed with these as the museum is a tradition museum format and could be quite boring otherwise. There are 6? Egyptian room so by the time we had done all that we were ready for lunch. I had picked up some sandwiches on the way so we ate at the tables provided. After lunch we decided not to do another trail book but instead do a big treasure hunt for all the famous items such as the Easter island statue, the Sutton Hoo loot and the Lewis Chessmen. We managed to check everything of our list and nip into the shop for more souvenirs before making our way over to the Tate Modern.

My uncle, who is only a couple of years older than me met us at the Tate with his family, it feels quite odd having a baby and a 2 year old as cousins when you are in your forties! We mucked around in the Tate for a bit and had a coffee then headed out for dinner.

We ended up at Nando's which was quite nice except that even the plain chicken was too spicy for the kids (it wasn't plain at all). The kids were really good even though they were all tired.

We got to have cuddles with the newest member of the family... although baby didn't look convinced!

Ebi-kun and C-chan really well, she is such a cutie too, I might have to smuggle her back in my suitcase....

London Day 2 - Buses, boats and Beefeaters

Our second day in London was also a busy one and we managed to pack a lot in again. The boys were really good together, we weren't sure how they would get on since there is a 4 year age gap.

We took a bus tour, the driver was a complete loonie but we also managed to get a front seat and the boys were happy just to watch everything that was going on.

When we went to get off the driver insisted Di and the boys sit in the drivers seat, I'm not sure this is actually allowed! As I said, he was mad!

We hopped off at Buckingham palace just in time for the change of the guard. Ebi-kun decided it wasn't that exciting, he said they were all just faffing around! 

We didn't stay for the whole thing because it was also cold, so we walked down towards the river and found a pub to have lunch in. We made it to Big Ben just as it struck noon, so we got to hear the 12 bongs as it were. Ebi-kun was quite excited to see Big Ben and the houses of parliament.

Of course by the time we came out of the pub it has started to rain, our bus ticket included a free boat ride, so we used that to get from Westminster to Tower Hill. The commentary on the boat was really funny, I'm doubtful that any non native English speakers would have understood him.

Our final destination for the day was The Tower Of London, this is one of the places Ebi-kun had actually asked to go to and apart from the steep ticket price it was excellent. Unfortunately Ry had had enough by the time we got here and needed a nap, Di ended up taking him to the cafe whilst me, Ebi-kun and Broggy did the White Tower. Ebi-kun was very impressed with all the armour and bought himself a nice mug as a souvenir. We had left out luggage at the hotel so we hopped on the tour bus to pick it up then Di and I went our separate ways, we went back with Broggy to stay a couple of nights at here place.

Poor Ebi-kun was shattered but he did really well which was just as well since we had another big day planned for the next day....