LolliBop – 18/08/12

Posted on August 20, 2012 by katese11

LolliBop may be your idea of heaven or hell. Or somewhere in between. Or both at once. For Roo, it was heaven. So much to see, so much to do, so much stimulation. Think he’s hyper normally? Let him loose here and he goes to a whole other level.

For people who have no idea what LolliBop is, let me explain. It’s like Glasto for preschoolers. Three days of brightly coloured mayhem, with some top names on the bill (thankfully not Justin). Exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Let me talk you through it, bit by bit.

We went on the Sunday. All three days are the same, so no-one would really go for more than one day. Though there is enough to keep a three-year-old busy for that long. The first thing we saw when we got there were the ZingZillas on the main stage. I don’t know what Roo thought, but by gum was I excited! ZingZillas was really the first program I enjoyed, rather than endured on CBeebies. Nathan and I were quite the music fans in our youth, so a show promoting different types of music can’t be bad. And the defining quality of ZingZillas was that the songs were melodic, well crafted and not instantly irritating. I rarely felt the urge to punch the television, and so put up with the annoying Panzee and the tenuously-linked storylines. There were some subtle rock n roll references, and I always loved the Beach Byrds who only spoke in three-part harmony. Turns out that the musical brains behind it was a gentleman known as Wag – bassist of the Infadels, friend of Danny Wallace and (according to my cousin) quite the hottie. So, me and Roo used to eagerly gather round the TV to watch it. We played the album in the car. We bought him a Drum doll, and even coped with the ZingZilla microphone, which had no off switch.

Then they changed the format and turned it into monkeytrollop. With small children.

But never mind that, because “live” they were still thoroughly enjoyable. Even if all they did was dance around, with Alex and Katy from Beebies. We’ve seen most of the great bands of the 90s and 2000s – Radiohead, Blur, Oasis, Pulp etc etc etc – and it feels somewhat sad that nowadays we get excited about some people dressed up as anthropomorphic primates. But we are parents. Nice to see that Roo barged his way right to the front, just like Mummy and Daddy used to do. And hey, there aren’t many bands I can see where I know all the words….

Then we met Zak and Drum. One to add to the family album, along with Captain Barnacles and Rastamouse. Though ever since viewing the Barnacles shot a few weeks back, Roo has been whinging about “wanna meet Captain Barnacles” and we’ve had to tell him that he’s off on mission at the North Pole. Hopefully some ZingZillas will shut him up for a while.

But LolliBop was not all about those cheeky monkeys. No no. There was a LOT more to it. First off – the other acts. There was the Gruffalo stage show, which Roo enjoyed until the eponymous star came on (“too scary!”) and I was amazed at how much they managed to spin out a short and repetitive story. There was Shrek the Musical, which we annoyingly missed (unlike most things, it was only on once) and there was Dick ‘n’ Dom, who are a bit old for Roo yet. And there was Mister Maker. Oh yes, that was fun.

Reminiscent of the Arctic Monkeys’ planned appearance on the second stage at Reading in 2005, Mister Maker was in a tent that was just disproportionately small compared to his fame. The result was a very crowded and sticky tent (it was 30c by the afternoon). It was too hot for Eva, even just outside (and she was right in the sun there), so we sloped off to a shade spot and left the boys to it. Next thing I saw, Nathan was bobbing around, doing the “I’ve lost Roo” dance. Then I saw Roo nipping out behind his father’s back and darting in the other side ofthe tent. I dropped what I was doing (feeding Eva) and gave chase, losing Eva’s sunhat on the way (sorry if I was rude to the person who gave it back to me) and spotted our boy picking his way through the middle of the crowd. Don’t worry, we got him back eventually. But Reuben+crowds is not a good combination, especially as he can fit through gaps I can’t. He enjoyed the show though. Directly afterwards, he had a mini-breakdown and wailed “I wanna go home!”. When I asked him why, he said “I wanna watch Mister Maker on the telly”. Listen up, kids presenters…. personal appearances work. It’s worth the sweat and toil of entertaining screaming kids.

Luckily, there was lots still to distract him. I’ve taken up a lot of your time already, and Eva is screeching so I’ll be brief. But here’s what I remember: a bike track with balance bikes, swingball, toddler spacehoppers (see above), soft play blocks, wendy houses, slides, fencing and LOTS of craft stalls. All for free! A special mention must go to the lovely folks at the WOW! toy stall, where Roo was busy playing with the table-top figures and cars when the clouds broke for a brief but spectacular thunderstorm. They kindly let all four of us shelter in the tent, while Roo played and we fed him a bacon roll. Then I fed Eva in there as well, relaxing on a bean bag. They did have feeding facilities but they were in the same tent as the changing stations, and the smell of nappies would put even a baby off their food.

So, a day well spent then. Nathan particularly loved the robot dragon which breathed real fire (later accompanied by a robot horse) and there were various other strange and wondrous things around the site. We got in free (long story), but even if we’d paid the exorbitant ticket prices, I would have felt like we’d got our money’s worth. Food was also exorbitant, but hey that’s festivals for you.

VERDICT: A great day out. Wonder if they’ll give me free tickets again next year on the strength of this review?! (nb, we were NOT Press this year…but I can dream!)

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

William Morris Gallery – 17/08/12

Posted on August 18, 2012 by katese11

This post isn’t especially about the William Morris Gallery. It’s more a day out we had in Walthamstow, with a brief visit to the gallery. But I already covered generic Walthamstow stuff, so here it is…

First off, a wee note about the pushchair-on-an-escalator technique I described in my post on Getting Around London…yesterday, I found a flaw. Y’see, this was our first trip to the ‘Stow with the new, extended family and I thought it would be a breeze. Eva’s pretty portable still and  on the Victoria Line she was, as ever, tied to me in a sling while Reuben sat in/climbed out of/balanced on top of his pushchair. Getting on  had been easy and I assumed getting off would be pretty easy too.  Here’s me and Eva in our typical arrangement:

So, I got onto the escalator, leaned the handle of the pushchair as usual onto my chest…and you can see where it went wrong. Some hasty mid-escalator adjustments required, to stop the pushchair decapitating my little girl, and I ended up with the weight of the buggy (including Roo) on my shoulder. Not ideal. On the way back, we stayed on till Brixton (a whole other annoying story), so took the lift up but I *think* my alternate technique would be to step on first and hold the buggy behind me, maybe with me facing sideways. Don’t try this at home kids. Or if you do, don’t sue me.

Anyhoo, vague disclaimer over. What’s new in the ‘Stow? Well, Lloyd Park is still a bit of a construction site. Roo sobbed as we passed the half-built playground cause he wanted to “go to real park” (i.e. something with a slide) and wasn’t easily fobbed off with the big grassy stretches and the logs to play on. In Greenwich Park today, he again sulked and requested a “real park”. Sigh. What’s the world coming too, when a 3-year-old isn’t satisfied with one of the most beautiful parks in London? By contrast, a playground on our estate, known as “Ducky Park” (you’ll see why) kept him occupied for a good twenty minutes:

Yes, it’s a playground with only one working feature – a sinister but cheerful looking duck. Yes, that is a swing-less swing frame in the background. Yes, the Repairs Manager for the estate passed by and expressed his amazement that anyone would choose this playground when there were so many other parks nearby. But Roo wanted Ducky Park and Ducky Park only. I got a little off-topic here, but I guess what I wanted to say is that just because Roo disses something, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. Boy just has no taste.

Which brings us back to Lloyd Park, E17. A (very) random woman told us that the playground will be finished by the end of this month, having taken a year and a half to build. It will have sand and water features. There will be a cafe with grass on the roof. It will be awesome when it’s done. She is currently clearing out her loft. Only my cousin heard this last bit, as the rest of us had politely slunk away. But I have to agree with random woman – it will be lovely when it’s done. Just in time for winter!

One bit that has been finished is the newly refurbished William Morris Gallery, on the edge of the park. (Look, I finally got there, after 550 words…). Bless them, they have tried very hard to make it child-friendly. It’s all accessible, it has baby changing, it has kids’ meals in the cafe and there are lots of hands-on bits. Pity the clientele looked disapproving at the sight (and sound) of a three-year-old in an art gallery. There were a lot of trendy East End types, with skinny jeans and ironic facial hair, and some old posh people and the atmosphere was quite subdued. Roo’s cousin Leo had just been woken up from his nap and so was quiet and grumpy and Roo was manically rushing around from room to room in search of a slide. In a different mood, I think the two of them would have had fun there. But neither were quite in the mood.

So, what was there to entertain a 3-year-old? A surprising amount. Blocks to build your own Cathedral. Brass rubbing. Dressing up (though we never reached that bit cause it was too.darn.hot for dressing up). A puppet theatre, with beanbag chairs! On a rainy day, it would have been great. And for the most part, it’s light and bright and has beautiful huge windows.

I would have liked more time to look round, as ever. I learned very little about William Morris, other than he had a penchant for all things medieval (he liked to go “a-rubbing”, apparently), and I had very little time to take in the HUGE Walthamstow Tapestry by Grayson Perry. But such is life with a crazy preschooler. I did notice the large and graphic representation of childbirth…cousin Leo had already had that one explained to him. Luckily, Roo didn’t notice it as he’s been a little *inquisitive* about all things biological since Eva was born. But no, he ran on by.

VERDICT: Good for a rainy day, as long as the toddlers aren’t too sugar-ed up. Probably not one for an insanely hot day in August.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at culture (museums) | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

A paddling pool special

Posted on August 17, 2012 by katese11

Cynical, moi? That’s what I ask myself as I look at my search engine terms (“paddling pools in London”), then decide to write a post based on that exact thing. I like to think of it as less cynical, more “giving the people what they want.”

So, it’s gonna be a hot weekend and when it’s hot, the people cry out for water play! OK, people….here’s a list of 6 places you can cool down this weekend:

1) Hampstead Heath

Yes, it’s got those wild pools where crazy people like to swim, but it’s also got a very blue and lovely paddling pool. Swimwear only in the pool – no nappies.

2) Coram’s Fields

A LWAT favourite for many reasons, but its fountain is switched on at lunchtime on sunny days, and there’s the infamous sand-and-water play area too. Bring a change of clothes.

3) Causton St Playground

Another LWAT favourite – paddling pool, sandpit, only one exit…what’s not to love?

4) Diana Memorial Fountain

The website says no walking on the fountain, but on a sunny day you’ll find lots of people doing just that. Be sure not to bring a bucket of pimms or a gazebo with you.

5) Myatt’s Fields

Newly renovated water play area, in the middle of a playground. Bring waterproof shoes, as the ground gets boiling and transition from water area to playground can be painful

6) Brockwell Park

Also newly renovated sand and water play area. Playground also newly renovated but a little walk away.

Why not check my Google Map to see where they all are?

Missing from the list cause I just haven’t had enough sunny days to visit them recently (and I would never blog from hazy memory. Noooo………): Clapham Common, Ruskin Park, Diana Memorial Playground, Clissold Park, Somerset House, Southwark Park….all to come soon, honest! Although I did dig out this adorable photo of Roo at a year-ish playing in the water at Southwark Park. I want an “Awwwww…..”

And then a “Doh!” as we all realise that I lost his soggy clothes on the way home. After we’d only gone there to buy some new trainers from Decathlon to replace one I lost. Blast and double blast…..

Update: I’ve made a paddling pool map! Check it out! I’ve also got round to reviewing Ruskin Park and the Diana Memorial Playground…

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged | 2 Comments

Brockwell Park take 2 – 10/08/12

Posted on August 10, 2012 by katese11

It’s always risky to go back to old hurts. You just know you’re opening yourself to being hurt again, just like every time Rachel forgives Ross only to be once again told that they were on a break. Heart-wrenching stuff. And my last trip to Brockwell Park was equally heart-wrenching. So I’ve been putting off going again, just in case.

Just to break the tension, I’ll tell you right now – there was water in the water play area. Yehhh! Which is just as well, given that you have to wait for weeks for a day that’s worthy of water play. Yes, I know we had a few the week before last, but as discussed, I was scared of squandering a day’s sunshine on a risky move. But today we weren’t disappointed.

So, water play at Brockwell Park – it’s cool. There is a large sand pit, with rocks in it, and an adjacent paddling pool, with fountains and sprays. The water and sand sometimes -regrettably- get mixed, which makes for a sludgy sandpit and a murky paddling pool but those are the risks of combined sand/water play. There is also a kind of river area, with a water pump and removable dams and that was verrry sandy today. Two boys were covering what I hoped was their scooter in the sludge and then riding it through the puddles. Mmm, laundry-y goodness. Lucky that Mums are currently being sponsored by a large pharmaceutical company – I assume that means a sachet of Ariel is on it way to all of us.

So, it was fun. We all got hungry by 11, so Roo and I had a picnic (and Eva had a picnic of sorts) in a scrap of shade next to a bush. And that brings me to my major gripe – the lack of shade. There was one decent sized tree, which had a lot of people crowded underneath it and then a whole lot of saplings. Obviously it’s a new play area, so you wouldn’t expect huge trees but they need something there.  By 12, the shade by the bush was non-existent, and Eva just had to lie in my shadow. The heat in the sandpit was pretty unbearable (Roo didn’t mind, but I did) so we sat out and watched Roo play with a random small child, from the other side of the sandpit. Basically, it’s a case of following the shade. There’s not much of it and it moves. As we left I saw a big shady area in the corner next to the paddling pool but you couldn’t see the sandpit from there. There’s also not a lot of seating, and none of it in the shade. It wouldn’t be such a problem with just a toddler but Eva’s a bit too new for a lot of sunshine. She’s barely even seen it before, so it’s a bit of a culture shock.

Other than that, it’s a nice play area. It’s “natural” and doesn’t have that roasting astroturf stuff underneath. The sand is pretty clean and so is the water, until the children get involved. It did get verrry busy . At times trying to spot Roo was like a magic eye picture – you just have to stare at this forest of wet-suited children until yours emerges out of the picture. But that’s to be expected on such a hot day. Roo spent more time in the sand than the water, which slightly defeats the point of trekking to somewhere with water. But I certainly appreciated dipping my feet. At one point, he asked me to cover him with sand and then got slightly affronted when I did as asked and starting saying “it’s sandy! I’m all sandy!” in a panicked way. “You’re sandy?” asked I. “No” said Reuben “I Reuben. Sandy sea turtle”.

It’s the way he tells them.

It’s also an obscure Octonauts reference, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it…

Eventually, it was time to move on. So we wandered towards the new play area. Brockwell Park is undergoing a lot of renovation at the moment, and bits of it do have a building site feel. Because of that, there is no actual path between the two play areas, so you have to follow and informal buggy-trodden path through the long grass. Roo was excited about the “Big Orange Digger”, and you could still see the ducks on the lake, through the fencing. Mental note – next time, bring bread for the ducks. I thought Kettle Chips were probably a bit too good for them.

So, briefly then, the new play area? Also very nice! Last time I went, it was pretty unremarkable, with metal play frames and colour-coded blobs on the floor to signify which age group were allowed to play on which equipment. Try explaining that to a 2-year-old. There was also a sandpit that you could get into easily but not out of. Useful for the parents, but again try explaining that to a toddler…

Anyhoo, it’s changed. Now, it’s all wooden frames and soft, clean sand. Five slides in all, but I kinda lost count. Again not much shade and not much seating. Three sandpits. Several teenagers having a water fight, which swamped the toilets. And a nice natural feel again. It had the same tunnels as Archbishops Park, cut into grassy mounds. It seems like this is the way playgrounds are heading – less of the plastic and metal (which would have been crazily hot on a day like today) and more wood and grass. And random hippyish features like this:

All in all, they’ve done a nice job on it and once the building work’s finished, the rest of the park should match. You would never know you were a supermalt’s throw away from Brixton. After four hours in the park, I called time and we got an ice-cream from the yellow van just outside the playground gates. It was good ice-cream. I’d recommend it. Proper lemonade lollies as well. Mmmmm…..where was I again? Oh yes, onto the…

VERDICT: Lovely water play area and playground. Could do with more seating and shade.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Olympics, the lazy way – 05/08/12

Posted on August 6, 2012 by katese11

You may have noticed *something* going on in London at the moment. I’m not an official sponsor, so I don’t think I’m strictly allowed to use the phrase. In fact, I may get in trouble if I mention the city I live in or the year. Oops, probably done that a few times already.

Anyhoo, I wasn’t exactly being an Olympic (doh! I said it) humbug, but neither was I super-enthused about it. It seemed a bit inconvenient to go to East London and pay lots of money to watch something I wasn’t that bothered about, with a small baby and a small boy who won’t sit still. Nevertheless, it’s a bit once-in-a-lifetimey isn’t it? So, one intermittently rainy Sunday, Nathan and I decided to Get Involved.

But the easy way, naturally. Sod all that paying for stuff or travelling to East London. We decided to go and watch some of the Ladies’ Marathon as it neared the finish line. We watched a bit of it at home on the telly, had lunch, then took a leisurely stroll to Parliament Square for half one. Happily, the rain had stopped and both children fell asleep on the way. We found places in the crowd where it was only one-deep and a minute after we arrived, the leaders came through. I’m pretty sure they were cheating though, as a) they were on a vehicle and b) they were facing the wrong way. Nathan suggested that these might have been the photographers, but what does he know? It’s true that they did all have cameras.

A few seconds after that, some actual runners came through and there you go – we’d had a close-up of some Olympic medallists. They were blurry. But the key thing was, we’d seen them. Unlike the children, who were still asleep. But in 2016, when they ask “Mummy, did I go to the Olympics?” I can say yes. And then show them this blog post as evidence. Then stop Reuben reading the rest of the blog.

We watched the Brit come through – some way behind the leaders  – and then it started to rain, so we walked back home again. How’s that for an easy process?

Amusingly, we discovered an A-Z Wenlock on the way and the name of our road was emblazoned across his crotch. Let’s have a close-up of that:

I’m not entirely sure what kind of statement he’s making, to be honest. I’m also not sure why Vauxhall Walk now backs onto Constitution Hill. But it’s sure to push the house prices up around here.

If anyone fancies replicating our lazy Olympic style, the Men’s Marathon is next Sunday. See you there?

Posted in Just wandering.... | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Myatt’s Fields play area – 23/07/12

Posted on July 24, 2012 by katese11

This blog seems to be a bit fickle of late. Look, it’s raining! Look it’s sunny! Ah crap, it’s rainy again…welcome to the Great British Summer. Well, this week’s weather of choice is “sun”, so we’ve been out and about for a spot of water play. Monday’s venue was Myatt’s Fields, a patch of green in the triangle between Brixton, Kennington and Camberwell. Chances are, wherever you live, it’s further away than you think it is. Wandering down Camberwell New Rd, I kept thinking we were almost there but we didn’t turn off until we’d almost hit Camberwell. Funnily though, I remember it as being quite a trek from where we lived in Camberwell. It’s really only close if you live in that triangle made up of the Roads Camberwell New and Brixton, and the Lane of Coldharbour. Nathan’s work colleague WorkKate lives in just that triangle, so she came along and met us there. With her baby that looked a lot like Eva. Nathan assures me he hasn’t got his Kates confused.

Anyhow, all those geographical reasons mean that we haven’t been there very often. The only time I’ve taken Roo was on a freakily hot spring day last year, when the water wasn’t switched on and they wasn’t much shade. It was all new and shiny but oh, so hot. We visited the one o’clock club with a friend, her friend and her friend’s friend, all with kids attached. Somehow, I ended up looking after a 4-year-old belonging to the friend’s friend’s friend, while his mother had her hair braided in the playground. The climbing frames seemed perilously high and open-sided for my then 20-month-old and I desperately tried to follow him round, while the four-year-old hit other kids and their mothers blamed me. Fun times.

This trip was better. Way better. For starters, the water was on and I do love a water play.  Secondly, I didn’t have to look after any kids that I didn’t know, with a subtle violent streak. In fact, it was my child that went missing and have to be retrieved by a friend. Whoops. It was VERY busy, OK?

So, what was there? Well, there were two climbing frames, including one shaped like a pirate ship. Neither seemed particularly hazardous but I guess that’s just that Roo has changed a lot since our last visit. There was a metal slide (see below) that was roastingly hot and had kids pouring water down it. The ground was also roastingly hot, which is a problem when your child wants to alternate between water play and any other play. Shoes on or off? Roo’s friends J&A had some handy fake crocs (Nathan calls them “focs”, which almost sounds rude but isn’t) which worked for both situations, so definitely something to consider if you visit somewhere with a similar setup. After a trip to Sainsburys this morning, Roo is also kitted out.

There was also an adventure playground corner, with what looked like an aerial runway. I went on one in Norfolk and had forgotten how much fun they are. I couldn’t persuade Roo on it though. The play area is all pretty new, and well designed. There is some shade, but it was crammed with buggies and people picnicking in between them. Better to do what we did, and find a bit of the wider park to sit in.

And there was water play! No paddling pool as such, but fountains , a water bubble (see Roo wrecking it above), arches which you can run through and get sprayed, and lots of other bits. It was a lot of fun but very VERY crowded on the first day of the holidays when the temperature has finally crept above 20c. Be prepared for a bit of splashing and a small freakout if your child is a timid type.

As we left the playground, someone had set up what looked like pirate DVDs along a wall to sell. You can never quite forget that this is Brixton…

VERDICT: A fun, not-quite-local water play area but very crowded. Didn’t check out the rest of the park, but there seemed to be a couple of nice looking cafes.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Mile End Park – 21/07/12

Posted on July 21, 2012 by katese11

“Ooh, it’s a mess alright, yes it’s Mile End”. Typically for me, I couldn’t stop myself singing this as we wandered around Mile End today. And Jarvis, you were right. Mile End Park is a mess alright. Nathan described it as a park that someone had shattered with a hammer. On the map, it looks like a long, thin streak of green but it’s really not one park – it’s lots of bits of park, divided by busy roads, a railway and the occasional canal.  Apparently it’s been created bit by bit, from land that used to be housing or factories. You can tell. Very confusing for us, and equally confusing for Roo, who kept demanding to go to “the park” and complaining when we kept having to leave the park to get to other bits of the park.

That’s not to say we didn’t have an enjoyable day out or that it wasn’t a nice park. It was just bizarre. I’ll start – to quote Fraulein Maria yet again – at the very beginning. Well, not the very beginning but the bit at which we left the predictable confines of the Northern Line for the excitement of the wizard train. The wizard train wasn’t strictly necessary, as we could have got the Central Line to Mile End but who refuses a chance to take the wizard train?!

So, we DLR’ed from Bank to Limehouse and Roo was suitably impressed by the rollercoaster-like feel as you come out into the open. Then we walked from Limehouse to the bottom end of Mile End Park, which Roo wasn’t quite so impressed with. He was imprisoned in buggy, on the charge of “being a bit mad on the platform”, and it was quite a trek. To explain, we were in Mile End to celebrate a friend’s birthday with a BBQ in the far North of the park. The newly renovated children’s playground was in the far South tip. And it is a very long park – as you can guess from our DLR trip, the bottom starts in Docklands and the top almost hits Victoria Park. So, it’s long. But I was reluctant to visit that part of the world without checking ou the play area, so we left the house two hours earlier than needed and started at the bottom, then covered the entire park. You too can do this with an 11-week-old and a 3-year-old. If you’re mad. But really, it wasn’t that bad.

We started in the playground, then. And it was worth the complex planning and the walking around random bits of East London. There was a huge, bumpy slide that I made the mistake of going down with both children in my arms. With our combined weight, it was hella fast. Roo and I whizzed off the end, but I managed to hold onto Eva so she at least had a soft landing. There was a wooden climbing frame (see above), flanked by some totem poles and a spiders-web climbing frame with a trampoline in the middle (luckily I have A&E on speed-dial). There was a small play area for small children, which was a bit tame for Roo’s taste. There was a cafe and picnic tables. There were swings and -according to the signs – some kind of water play on hot days. Though that it obviously restricted by the “drought” we’ve been in. Arf Arf. Anyway, the point is, there was a LOT to do. We could have spent a lot more time there.

The sandpit was pretty spectacular as well. It had the prettiest rainbow coloured bridge, and canoes stuck into the sand. Various sand toys scattered around, which was handy as we’d neglected to bring any for Roo and he was stomping around, declaring “I. Want. A. PADE” for a while. And talking of rainbow coloured things, check out these outdoor instruments:

Aww, pretty! So, the playground was a hit. It had the feel of somewhere new and well-designed. But we couldn’t stay there forever. No no. For we had a Moment to capture. The Olympic torch was passing through Mile End the exact same time we had planned to be there (this was co-incidental), so we set off to find it. Along the way, we encountered some friendly Christians who gave us free coffee and biscuits (hooray!) and then we climbed onto the Green Bridge to try and get a good vantage point.

The Green Bridge – for those of you unfamiliar with East London landmarks – is a bridge over the A11, which is entirely grassy. It’s bizarre – you would barely know you were crossing an A-Road. It’s also accessible by buggy via a set of broad steps on the south side and a slope on the north side. I didn’t fancy standing on the A11 itself, trying to hold Roo back, so we picked a spot just over the bridge where we could still see the relay.

And there it goes! Turns out that at that distance we had a good view but couldn’t see much in detail. And the torch is quite small, as is the person holding it. So it was a bit like watching a traffic jam (buses with adverts on, moving slowly), followed by some men running. A bit underwhelming, and Roo had no clue what was going on. But at least we could say we were there.

So onto the main event (don’t worry, I won’t talk too much about it) –  a BBQ on the lawn in front of the Palm Tree pub. It also seemed to be the venue for a floating market – canal boats moored up against the side of the Regents’ Canal and were selling everything from antique books to Slovakian food. It was all very quirky and East London, but also very charming. In a way, I wished I had more cash on me to buy ice-creams and sweeties. In another way, I’m very glad I didn’t . Atop one boat, there was a mini-gig going on, under a parachute (see above) and -more excitingly – there was a curly-haired and friendly dog tied up opposite. Roo found the boats fascinating, and wandered along the canal with his Daddy, looking at everything. According to Nathan, they spotted some big fish. According to Reuben, they also spotted some eels, sea turtles, anglerfish and sharks. I blame Octonauts.

The market, sadly, is not a permanent fixture and will disappear with the Olympics. The canal boats and fish, I suspect, will still be there. So plenty more opportunities for small boys to waste the last of the grapes by feeding imaginary anglerfish. We also found a little slide in an overgrown bit just next to the pub car park.

And there was a little pond as well, next to the wind turbine. You gotta love a toddler near open, murky water…. Unfortunately we had to drag him away home before any real harm happened to him.

VERDICT: Mile End Park is quirky, unpredictable, scary in parts but kinda fun to be around. Just like the rest of East London.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Taking tea on Vauxhall Walk

Posted on July 20, 2012 by katese11

London is a city of contrasts – you know that already. Beautiful Kensington is right next to the world’s most complicated gyratory TM (aka Hammersmith), the pound shops of Peckham are minutes away from the designer shops of Dulwich. And Strata, an “architectural icon” and high watermark in “contemporary urban living” is on the Elephant & Castle roundabout. Laugh out loud.  This post has been a while in the making, but what neater way to illustrate London’s contrasts than with the tea-taking opportunities afforded to you by Vauxhall Walk, a small backstreet in South London?

First up, we have Mick Darnalds. It’s a builders’ cafe and burger bar in a railway arch, just behind Peddlar’s Park. I’ve only been there once, on a freezing morning, while Roo was playing on the swings. I needed to warm up, and the pound coin in my pocket was more than enough to secure me a plastic cup of builder’s tea. I had to wait for a while for the kettle to boil, and I felt somewhat out of place, but they were friendly enough. The guy even gave me a free chocolate penguin for Roo (I don’t know why I felt the need to point out that it was chocolate – it’s not like he would have given me a real live penguin). Roo didn’t notice, so I seem to remember I ate it in the end. Anyway, there’s your working-class option – honest, earthy and friendly to kids. I liked the name so much that I wrote into Shortlist about it and got featured on Danny Wallace’s page. True story! Here it is:

Whizz a little way down the street and you’ll find the middle-to-upper-class option; the Tea House Theatre. I believe I first visited it the same week as I visited Mick’s, which is why the contrast was so sharp in my mind.

It’s a charmingly eccentric place. Some people would be put off by the sign near the front door – apologising for their lack of speed over lunchtimes and stating that people looking for a quick sandwich would be best to look elsewhere. “We are not a coffee shop”. Indeed. And when I went there this morning, the service was somewhat eccentric – the credit card machine didn’t work, my friend had to ask for her toast twice and we almost ended up paying for our cakes twice. But these are minor considerations. It’s welcoming to toddlers, the cakes are exciting, the decor is kooky and the people are friendly. And that’s what matters.

The first time I went there, I was alone with Roo and he was asleep in the buggy (these were the pre-Eva days). I ordered a pot of apple tea (there is no ordering by the cup) and sat there for half an hour, reading. I could have stayed longer if I wasn’t on my way somewhere and the selection of books and papers certainly suggests you might want to. I definitely got nowhere near the bottom of my teapot, which was a shame as its teacosy had done a great job of keeping it warm for me. I remember thinking at the time that the place was a little too nice to take my unruly toddler, as he was bound to upset the ambience and break the (deliberately) mismatched crockery.

The next time I went there was for a 3-year-old’s birthday parties, so I had no such qualms really. The photo above is from that same party and is illegally filched from the Tea House Theatre’s own facebook page. I had some beautiful ones of my own, to illustrate this post but they disappeared with the death of the laptop. You don’t need to hear about my laptop troubles, but suffice to say I have many troubles. Hence no photos. So, I pinched this one. That’s Roo’s BFF and future wife there on the right.

(Another update – I found them! So I have scattered them through this post. Enjoy 🙂  )

Faced with the challenge of a party-full of sugared up toddlers, the staff coped admirably. I found out today that the owners have a toddler and baby themselves, so it’s no wonder. There is an abundance of high chairs and baby changing facilities in both the disabled and ladies’ loos And the ladies’ loos are lovely….really lovely. No-one seems to mind the mess or the disruption. Even the group having a business meeting there this morning seemed unperturbed by Reuben shrieking “doggy!” and running round in circles. Oh yes, and Reuben found a doggy there. That also helps. There’s an open fire,which is both lovely and troublesome but it isn’t lit at the moment (this should be obvious, given that it’s July…but not obvious to anyone who’s stepped outside lately). And some slightly sharp broken teapots outside. But apart from that, it’s a nice place to enjoy some cake and tea. Oh, and it’s also a theatre. In case you were wondering….

VERDICT: Eccentric, but friendly. Don’t go if you’re in a hurry

More details here (official website)

Posted in Cake and the finest wines known to humanity (eating out) | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The Discover Centre – 13/07/12

Posted on July 13, 2012 by katese11

Right, let’s get this straight before we get carried away – do not go to Stratford over the next month or so. It will be hell. The station was busy enough today and will be worse over The Olympics. You will never get out. Or in. Wherever you’re trying to go, you will not get there. And yes TFL, combining DLR, tube, Overground and bus station into one “hub” may seem like a good idea on paper but good grief, it’s confusing to those of us who just want to exit your station. Please!

Assuming you’ve taken my advice and visited Stratford after All This Nonsense has calmed down, you will eventually exit Stratford station and catch sight of the famous Stratford Rhubarb, just past the not-so-famous Stratford Centre. Walk towards the Rhubarb, for behind it lies a thing of wonder. The Discover Centre. And therein lies the point of this post.And it must be a thing of wonder to lure anyone to Stratford that isn’t in possession of a rare and overpriced piece of paper. I last went to central Stratford on New Year’s Day 2007 – a sorry tale involving having to hand some shop keys over to someone on our way back from Hampshire, with no car. Nathan didn’t thank me, even after I took him to Nandos.  I may have also visited a friend round there later that year, but that was only to move her the hell out of the place.  Tammy – as ever – bested me on this front, but her story of why she hasn’t visited Stratford for 20 years isn’t mine to tell.

So, the Discover Centre! It’s two floors of interactive-y goodness, loosely linked by a “story” theme. Activities for older children involve listening to and making up their own stories (there are booths for both listening and recording), and the whole place is meant to spark their imaginations. There are fake rivers, with crocodiles, there are monsters and dragons and a secret cave. Obviously, Roo isn’t at the story-writing stage yet, so breezed past the writing and the suggested activities. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t appreciate the monsters, crocodiles and secret caves. He played for four hours and still didn’t want to leave at the end. A recommendation if there ever was one.

The first section (after the cafe/foyer) was the Story Trail, home of the aforementioned secret cave. Roo could have spent hours on that alone – a simple mixture of a cave with climbable sides and roof. Scramble up one side, play with the blocks on top, wave to Mummy through the portholes and netting, scramble down the other side. Repeat. It was great fun, except when he had a tussle with a small girl and she gouged a hole in his face. Ah, East London. Roo came out crying that “little girl hurt me” and I did the “there there, not so bad” routine till I saw she’d actually drawn blood. Ouch! To be fair, it was dark in there and I’m sure it was an accident but still, it’s an impressive battlescar for a day out. And will do nothing for his phobia of little girls (thus far, it’s only one specific little girl at playgroup that he’s scared of…and she is a bit spooky looking)

So, what else was there to do on the Story Trail? An indoor slide, overlooked by a dragon, a helicopter with steering wheel, a puppet booth, dressing up clothes, a craft table, floor lights that make noises when you step on them…and a lot more. Everything was so tactile and interactive, and kookily designed. It was great.

I love this photo. Roo and I are wearing “knight hats” (his description..could be “night hats” for all I know), Eva is looking unimpressed and Tammy is just giggling at us in the background. And – like 95% of photos on my phone – it features my new wrap. I dyed and batiked that myself, with only a little help from a friend. I bet you didn’t know I was crunchy, hey? I never used to be…

So, onto the Story Garden. I love an imaginative outdoor space and this was really well designed. There was a huge pirate ship, which always goes down well with Roo (though he was not welcoming to stowaways), a wooden taxi, which Jake drove to “Number One Shop” at Roo’s request, outdoor musical instruments, a treehouse and a monster slide. Too much to take in, just reading that? Try being there. I loved the monster slide especially, though again Roo wasn’t happy about sharing it. The musical instruments were great too, and had their beaters attached to them, unlike at The Horniman Museum, so kids couldn’t run off with them and leave others musically frustrated.

So, the garden was a big hit. Lots of scope for imaginative play or -like Roo and Jake – just running around going “aaahhhhhhh”….like boys do. There’s also a lot of space for picnicking (tables and chairs on the patio and benches under a wooden gazebo), which I would recommend you do. Neither Tammy nor I brought lunch for ourselves and both ended up choosing between the world’s most uninspiring sandwiches in the cafe (cheese salad or ham  salad). The staff there admitted that the cafe is kinda peripheral to the whole operation and you could really tell. It was equipped well for a drink or snack, but not for lunch. Literally two choices of sandwich and that was it – nothing else vaguely lunch-like. A missed opportunity, I think. So…bring a picnic.

Lastly, onto the special exhibit in the basement – “Superheroes”. I didn’t quite follow the plot (something to do with missing vowels), but that’s what happens when you’re chasing a 3-year-old around. I think Jake may have been disappointed that the superheroes weren’t ones he knew (he was wearing his Spiderman t-shirt for the occasion), but Roo seemed to have fun.  It was set up in the form of a town, with different shops to duck into and do activities in.  There were buttons to press, a super car to drive, a supermarket to raid and a pulley with foam bricks that fitted into a wall (similar to the pulley system at The Science Museum). Oh, and a toddler-sized basketball court. Roo, as you can guess, loved it. Eva, as you can guess, was largely oblivious.

I’ll leave you with this image, cause you can really see his face-gash here (and attractive sweaty head). Remember kids, play can be dangerous….

VERDICT: A gem in the heart of Stratford – great for a full day of play. Could do with more of a selection at the cafe and more than one baby-changing point.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Dinosaur Adventure – An LWAT field trip

Posted on June 23, 2012 by katese11

Norfolk. Very flat. But there are dinosaurs there.

We went on holiday! To Norfolk! It wasn’t actually flat at all, especially not the Neanderthal walk at Dinosaur Adventure. But we’ll get there later. Let’s begin at the beginning.

Dinosaur Adventure is – as you’d expect – a theme park based around dinosaurs. What else does Roo need? It was £9.95 per adult to get in, £12.95 for children over 3 and free for under-3s. Being both honest and tight, we took Roo on the day before his third birthday. So, he was 2 years and 365 days old but it’s a leap year so that makes him not yet 3. Talk about cheating the system!

The whole place has a (quite deliberate) Jurassic Park vibe. When we got there, Roo and Nathan ran off to play while Eva and I perused the gift shop and cafe for some breakfast. The lack of any other human beings in the gift shop added to that slightly creepy vibe. Luckily, a school trip showed up and shattered the peace pretty quickly.

Breakfast obtained, we caught up with the boys in the vast and very exciting outdoor play area. There was an under 5s bit, with a trampoline and small climbing frames as well as dinosaur models. Then there was “arachnophobia”, a large rope frame, and a treetop walk to a high slide. But all this paled in comparison with the MASSIVE dinosaur climbing frame. It was the size of a bus! Or a dinosaur! It was entirely enclosed in fibreglass (see top photo), so once Roo disappeared up the ladder in the dino’s leg, he could be missing for ten minutes before whoosing down the slide at either mouth or tail end. Nathan had gone around the frame with him a few times and assured me “he’s fine in there”, so I trusted him. He always made his way out in the end. I’d start to worry and then bleurgh! Dino would vomit or poo out an overexcited toddler


Eventually, we peeled him away to go on the Dinosaur trail through the woods. It’s as it sounds, except I was expecting the dinosaurs to be lame but they were actually pretty cool. The one above is huuuugggge – Nathan is in for scale (by his left leg). See? Huge! The dino trail kept us all entertained for half an hour or so, and there were a couple of abandoned jeeps and “field stations” on the way, to add to that spooky vibe. There was also a T-Rex spotting trail to follow, and stamps to collect around the park.

Emerging from the woods into the sunlight, we found another play area and a petting zoo, which included iguanas and snakes. Roo was a bit freaked out by the snakes, which is a far cry from the days when he thought “snakes on your brain” was a fun game. There was also a litter of tiny piglets, who looked a little like Eva. Sadly, we didn’t join the Deer Safari excursion (via jeep, extra £1.95 for adults), as it was overrun by schoolchildren. Also, after the dinosaurs I thought Roo may be a little underwhelmed by the deer.

So, it was back up to the main bit of the park, via the Neanderthal Walk. The picture above cracks me up, for some reason. Now, they do say in all the promo material that the dino trail and the Neanderthal Walk are unsuitable for wheelchairs, so we were a bit uncertain about taking the buggy. Especially as neither child went in the buggy all day (Eva was in the sling, Roo was walking). But a buggy is ever so handy for carrying all our stuff, so essentially we just pushed a shopping trolley around all day. Like hobos do.

Anyway, the dino trail was fine with the buggy cause it was all downhill (though I did forget the brakes once and nearly lost it to the clutches of an Ankylosaurus) but going back up the Neanderthal Walk was pretty hard work, and would have been even harder with a child in it. Consider yourselves warned.

So, what else was there to do? Well, there was lunch in Dippy’s Diner (pretty standard kinda fare for this sort of place), excavating bones in Xtinction, a sandpit, dino-themed miniature golf and go-karts. But in case this wasn’t enough, there’s also an indoor soft play area with massive slides. Needless to say, Roo fell asleep the minute we got back into the car!

VERDICT: A great day out and good value, especially if you aren’t paying for the toddler.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments