Fire Brigade Museum – 05/08/11

Posted on August 5, 2011 by katese11

He’s always on the scene and his fire engine’s red and clean….it’s Fireman Roo. Today, the Fire Brigade Museum were having an Open Day and Reuben is in a particularly NEE-NAWy phase, so we went along (see, I promised you this morning that I’d get off my arse!). It was billed as a family fun day, so I was a bit disappointed in the lack of things for kids to actually do. Roo was perfectly happy just being in the vicinity of a fire engine and joyously calling out “nee naw nee naw” but imagine how excited he’d have been if he’d been allowed on one?! There was some kinda H&S reason why not apparantly.

There was also a very lovely FireDog, that Roo stroked in a suprisingly gentle way. And kept running back to see, even after FireDoggy had been allowed to retreat to his cage in the FireDoggyWagon (I think that’s the technical term). I would go as far as to say that FireDog was Roo’s personal highlight so maybe we should have just gone to see a dog (I believe there are Men you can see about these things). Or got him his own dog….

Sorry, I drifted off there. I was thinking about dogs. So, to the museum itself. It looked very interesting but I got no time whatsoever to read or look anything as Roo rushed through the whole place in two minutes flat. It was all a bit “look, don’t touch” which my hands-y toddler struggled with but I think it’d be great for older kids. The collection of vintage fire engines was similarly interesting but hands-off. As with the tanks at the Imperial War Museum, they could really do with something that kids can just clamber over. It doesn’t need to be a genuine relic. There were also some firefighter uniforms to try on,which were fun but chained to a wall so Roo discarded them as soon as he discovered he couldn’t move. He’s not one for standing still and/or being chained to walls (not that we chain him to walls, no no).

VERDICT: Interesting for older kids but not ideal for toddlers. Worth checking out if they have another Open Day, purely for the being-in-the-vicinity-of-a-nee-naw excitement but if they’re that crazy about fire engines, take them to the one in Battersea Park Children’s Zoo

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at culture (museums) | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

All these things that I’ve done – a cheeky piece of cross-posting/plugging

Posted on August 5, 2011 by katese11

You likey this blog, hey? You wanna hear more about the best slides and paddling pools within easy reach of the SE11 area? Well, why not check out this article I’ve written on the links between a dodgy Nigerian pastor and the Evangelical Church of the mid-90s? here

It’s easily the most serious thing I’ve written on the interweb for a long time. And curiously specific. If that’s not your cup of tea (and Christians do love their tea), then maybe you’d fancy some of my spoof articles on thespoof.com. Some child-related, some not…
Google named as third party in divorce settlement
Service sector workers to be given new performance targets
British Government Running Out of Things to Declare War On
 Cameron admits advisor appointment was a “disastrous decision”
Milkoholism “on rise” among young people

and !TOO HOT FOR TV! the one that didn’t make it onto thespoof for being too controversial – CBeebies Presenter in sweary tirade shocker

Phew! That feels better….glad to have got it out of my system. Promise I won’t do that again anytime soon….

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Kennington Park

Posted on August 5, 2011 by katese11

Another local-y one. I will get off my arse and go somewhere more exciting soon, promise. We darn near went to the Natural History Museum the other day but the queues were horrendous, so it was the Science Museum instead. And turns out, you CAN blog too much about one place…!

I’ve realised that, with all these local tips, and the handy map it would be very easy to work out where we lived and stalk us. Well, all I’ll say to that is that I’ve only been cyber-stalked once (my Friends Reunited page was used to find out where I worked, so that tells you how long ago this was) and if you’re that person, then it’s easier all round if you don’t even try to find me. Anyone else, well you’re welcome to my hood any time 🙂

So, Kennington Park – another mainstay for us. And for a South London park, just off the A3 it’s really not bad. A decent amount of green space (from my house and back plus a couple of laps =5k. Not that I’ve counted or anything) and a nice play area with a sandpit, see-saws and a couple of slides. And the bus! (see above). Toppest of top tips – don’t go to this park when the bus is being repainted. Sure, it looks all nice and shiny now (better than it does in the photo above) but whoever put up the fence around it when it was closed didn’t quite think it through. If I was the fence-building type, I’d imagine I’d try not to leave a gap at the bottom that a toddler could fit through. I’m not the fence building type so I can’t judge but needless to say, Roo spotted the weak spot instantly and was under the fence in a jiffy. After being hauled out by the nappy (always dignified), he returned with a friend and was back under. The friend got shouted at by his mother, there were many tears and I wondered why it was always my boy leading the others astray.

Moving swiftly on, what else is there? Well, a nice cafe with space for buggies where I used to go after baby group (y’know, the days when he would just sit in my arms quietly…). They do both fruit tea and soya milk, for my virtuous days . And ice cream too, for my less virtuous days. There’s a nature walk too, although when me and Nathan visited a few years back the only nature we spotted was a rough-looking dog and a pair of pants. Reports have suggested that other, rarer, types of nature have been spotted there too, including “wino”, “pigeon” and “drug dealer”. Worth a look, I reckon.

Ah, but I can’t slag it off too much. We had Roo’s first birthday party there and many other social occasions. There’s a big portuguese barbeque once a year and various other festivals. Just probably best avoided after dark….

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Splish splash! Swimming with a toddler in South London

Posted on August 3, 2011 by katese11

Another generic post but a nice one for a hot day, no? We’ve done a fair bit of swimming around the South London area (not literally swimming around South London…unless you believe that made-for -TV movie “Flood”. “Sir, if we don’t act fast, the people of Lewisham will perish”. Cue guffaws), so here’s a round up. The leisure centres mentioned are mostly the same as the ones in the soft play post but I am in no way recycing material. No no.

So, Camberwell to start with. This is a pool I have fond memories of, from the time when we lived down the road and proximity was a more important factor in choosing a pool than, say, basic hygiene. Back then it was a crumbling Victorian relic – full of character but also full of bits of plaster that have fallen off the walls. Not to mention the plasters that have fallen off people’s feet….Now, it’s been refurbished. It’s pretty (see above), they’ve kept the Victorian features and they’ve added a new cafe with Starbucks coffee (in Camberwell! I know!!) as well as flashy new changing rooms. Everything was well designed for ease of toddler handling and the showers were a reasonable temperature (i.e. not scalding hot a la Brixton). We went there for “Jelly Babies” which involved a lot of duckies and floats in the baby pool and which Reuben loved. Obviously, he tried to gather all the duckies up for himself by dint of snatching them from smaller children but that’s a toddler’s perogative, right? Definitely one to re-visit.

More details here (official website)

Next up, the old faithful Brixton. Not as bad as it sounds, honestly! Yes, you have to disappear up a less than salubrious alleyway in order to get a pushchair up there. Yes, the receptionists will ignore you until they feel like selling you a ticket. And yes, the view from the pool is directly on to the train line (great for a toddler boy, less great for people who don’t like commuters waving at them as they swim). But it’s not bad. The changing rooms are relatively new, there are big family changing rooms and a buggy park. And MASSIVE lockers, which is always nice. The family shower is scalding hot (as discussed) and the changing rooms are a touch on the cold side but fine other than that. The pool itself is pretty clean  and the adult lane swimming is separate from a shallower bit and a separate baby pool. Fine as a regular local haunt.

More details here (official website)

So, to Peckham? Have only been there once with Roo so can’t remember much about it. Pretty clean and modern, pretty sure I used the wrong changing room (disabled rather than family…hey, it just said “accessible”. Don’t be so politically correct if you don’t wanna confuse people). Some kind of complicated system with bands where you had to choose between main pool and baby pool when you paid. In general, too much thinking…

More details here (official website)

Battersea next…They say when you’ve had a traumatic experience somewhere, it can lie in your subconcious until you return to the scene of the incident. Is that why Roo insisted on screaming constantly when we took him back to Battersea, scene of Waterbabygate? Roo never got on with Water Babies. As lovely and baby-led as their philosophy was, there was just something about the classes that made Reuben very upset. Maybe it was the dunking under the water. Maybe it was the fact that we went in winter and it ws snowing almost every week. Out of his 10 weeks as a Water Baby (well, the 7 weeks we made it to. Look, it was snowing A LOT! And I started work again around week 8…), he earned a single commendation and that was for the “clinging to the side exercise”. The instructor made all the other Water Babies look at just how well Reuben did it…

Anyhoo, there’s nothing at all wrong with the place itself. The changing rooms are warm, even when there’s snow outside, and were refurbished around the time of Roo’s Water Babies career (that was another super-fun factor). The baby pool seems to be out of bounds for general public use but there’s a graduated beach-type entry to the main pool as well as an elephant water slide and a wave machine. It really is nice, it’s just gonna take a while for Roo to make his peace with it…

More details here (official website)

And that’s it for the ones I’ve tried with Reuben. There’s Seven Islands as well but based on a single experience in 2006 ish, I wouldn’t reommend it (flaking decor, blood on the changing room floor) and Elephant & Castle leisure centre definitely does NOT have a pool. If you turn up there with your towel as I did, they will laugh at you. And they would be within their rights…

Posted in Token attempts at exercise (leisure centres) | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The rest of Battersea Park

Posted on July 31, 2011 by katese11

There’s nothing like a bit of controversy and Battersea Park is nothing if not controversial. It’s home to the Adventure Playground that made it into the national news for charging ÂŁ2.50 per person. Britain truly was Disgusted of SW11. But guess what? We went there and used the playground right next to the adventure playground and didn’t have to pay. Now, there’s sticking it to the man.

Calling this post “The rest of Battersea Park” is a tad optimistic, seeing as the place is huuuuge and I can’t claim to have conquered even half of it. But here’s what I’ve gleaned from various trips.  First of all, it has ducks. Loads of them. And a lake that you could *lose a toddler in* if you were careless. Cough. Listen, it was only the once and only the soles of his shoes got wet. Pretty good going, considering. Walk past the lake – keep going, going some more, that’s it, ooh duckies! What noise does a duckie make? No, it’s cows that go moo, you’re getting confused, keep walking – and you get to a rather nice sub-tropical garden. It’s a bit too nice if your toddler is prone to flower picking but never mind…

Keep going a little further, through some woodland, and there it is! The controversial adventure playground. But wait, you only have to pay for the older kids bit? Well, that’s fine then. Their parents don’t have to pay for childcare or nappies. And if you live in Battersea, surely you earn the same as a small Eastern European nation anyway? I know, slippery slope etc – Tory government, charging for kids’ facilities, soon we’ll be taxed to leave our own front doors…but let’s get this in perspective. It’s an adventure playground. If they stuck it indoors and called it a soft play, no-one would flinch at paying for it.

Anyways, back to the matter in hand – the free playground. And very good it was too. A number of different areas for different age groups (mainly sign posted), lots of slides and frames to climb on. In the toddler area, there’s a play train and a play car. Of course, Reuben ignored these things and went straight for the big boys’ frame but what else would you expect?
Next to the park, there’s also a very good (also free) one o clock club, which has an awesome Austin Powers style bachelor pad stimulation room., complete with water bed and lava lamps.We’ve been there a lot of times and would recommend it, unlike the boating lake which we’ve never tried but hey, I’ll recommend it anyway!

VERDICT: One of the best parks in London- lots to do and lots of open space.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

An updated map

Posted on July 25, 2011 by katese11

Who doesn’t love a Google map?


View Larger Map
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Ben & Jerry’s Festival – 24/07/11

Posted on July 25, 2011 by katese11

So, it turns out that Ben & Jerry’s Festival is another one of those things which is actually less fun with a toddler. Another shocker! The lazing around on picnic blankets becomes charging around other people’s picnic blankets. The 8 scoops of ice-cream, enjoyed at leisure become the 5 you can sneak while he’s not looking. And the pogoing to your favourite early 90s band becomes Gary Numan, somewhere over there, singing “Cars”. I think. I can’t quite hear it over the sound of sugar-induced tantruming.

But, for all that, we had fun.

Ben and Jerry’s really is the best festival ever. We went to the very first one, in 2005ish, and every subsequent one except for a blip in 2009 (why were we so busy that summer? I don’t quite remember). Over the years, it has got busier and more expensive and the queues have got longer but still, it’s an absolute bargain. This year was ÂŁ17.00 for a couple of decent bands, some free fairground rides and all the ice-cream you can eat. Festivalkate was slightly mourning not going on the Saturday (Ash, Ocean Colour Scene, Fun Loving Criminals) rather than Sunday (Maximo Park, Gary Numan) but honestly, Roo kept me busy enough on the day that it didn’t really matter who was playing. The bands are a kinda added extra at B&Js. It’s all about the ice-cream.

Incidentally, we only stubbornly go on the Sunday because – back in the day – there was no Saturday. It was Sundae on the Common  – get it? – and now it’s a matter of principle. Yes, we choose a fairly lame pun over some decent bands. But it’s our pun. Anyway, both mine and Nathan’s bosses were going on the Saturday, so it may have been for the best (one sticky toddler encounter later, you suddenly find your bosses turning against you….)

So, what was for toddlers who are only mildly bothered by ice-cream? Well, funnily enough, the biggest draw for Roo was the animal corner with animals from Vauxhall City Farm. Yes, that’s right. Vauxhall City Farm. The one that is five minutes from our house, with the animals he could see Every.Fricking.Day if he wanted to. For free. Still, it was a great distraction from the carousel, which inspired both awe and distress in him every time he saw it. Awe because he realllly wanted to go on it. Distress because he didn’t understand that to get on it, he had to join that realllly long queue. Climbing through the railings was not an option. Even if you fit through (he did). We ended up taking him on it twice. He screamed and kicked whilst queuing both times and screamed straight through the ride once (I think he’d got a bit confused by that point and didn’t know what he wanted)

In conclusion – free carousel= good. Long queue = bad. Distracting animals = good. Oh look, Moo-Cow!

What else? There was also the reggae tent, with a sand pit (well, coconut boules pitch but who were they fooling? Not the toddlers building sandcastles) and a steel band that Roo liked to dance to. The helter skelter and swing boats, both of which I was too wussy to take him on (he is probably a touch little still). Various craft-sy stalls, which we didn’t even get round to looking at. The air guitar stage – ditto. Although Nathan may have been avoiding it, following his great Air Guitar Injury of 2008 (Sweet Child of Mine – Kate doing “the windmill” – Failing to notice Nathan behind her – A neat smack to the jaw – A bitten tongue and blood everywhere). Basically, lots to do and see that we just didn’t get to. I didn’t even take a photo of Roo with one of the many people dressed as cows…but here’s a photo of him with a real cow to compensate.

VERDICT: It actually is a fun day out for all the family. Just expect your toddler to be well over-stimulated by the noise, crowds, bright colours and..well, sugar. They will run around like a mad thing then at some point dissolve into a tantrummy, ice-creamy mess with the overwhelmingness of it all. So, just the same as any other day really.

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Walthamstow 22/07/11

Posted on July 24, 2011 by katese11

Ode to the new Victoria Line trains

Feel like I’m in space

Every time I look at you

I think you’re really ace

There’s room inside for me and Roo

You take me to a place

In fact you go to quite a few

Save me from the race

I didn’t have to guess – I knew

Announcing stops with grace

You’re better than the Bakerloo

You put the smile back on my face

And I love that shade of blue

Walthamstow is a suprisingly frequent destination for us. My cousin and her son live up there and we’ve just made a new imaginary friend in the same area. It’s an easy hop up the Victoria Line from Vauxhall and – as you may have gleaned by the above poem – there have these great new trains that look space age, have level access, a buggy space and (gasp!) announce which side the doors are opening, so you can move the buggy if it does end up against the doors. Super-ness! Why they have such wheelchair-friendly trains when there are only three accessible stations, no-one knows. But little by little…!

So, it was a gloriously sunny day – the sun does always shine in E17. We first went to Roo’s friend Jake’s house (I’d recommend the blueberry muffins) and then out to Coppermill Playground  (More details here). Two slides, a toddler size maze and a tunnel made Roo happy indeed. Apparantly, it also served as a tube station on the Piccadilly Line but that might just be when Jake’s there… Definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in the area (near Blackhorse Rd). Co-incidentally, if you live in the Blackhorse Rd area and spotted a bright yellow envelope on the floor, that was Jake’s birthday card. Leave it on the roundabout and he’ll pick it up…

We had lunch at my cousin’s house (these recommendations are getting ever more useful) and then went out to Lloyd Park (More details here). It’s being quite heavily redeveloped at the moment, but there’s a nice natural play area where they can climb on frames fashioned out of tree stumps  .

Did the boys show much interest? Nooooo! Not when there are diggers doing the redevelopment! They stood by the fence, in their matching hardhats, enchanted and occasionally whispering “Bob!” in awed tones. So, that’s my official Walthamstow top tip – take them to a building site.

Posted in Token attempts at fresh air (parks) | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Where not to take a toddler in London

Posted on July 23, 2011 by katese11

(or…what I’ve learnt today)

#1 Pret a Manger picnic in “Euston Plaza”. Your toddler will chase the pigeons. The pigeons will eat your lunch. The old guy next to you will shake his head despairingly. There are a lot of bloody pigeons.

#2 Euston tube on a Saturday, when you don’t realllllly know where you’re going. Apparantly the northbound Northern Line isn’t in the same place as the southbound. Who knew?!

#3 The V&A. This isn’t from today, it just fits this list. I may have missed something but isn’t it all priceless ming vases and glass stuff?! I went there in desperation at 6PM on a Friday after Roo had been (unexpectedly) good all through an afternoon tea in South Kensington but needed a runaround before the long bus trip home. It was dark, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum were both closed. What would you do?! Spend half an hour ducking under roped off bits to haul him back out is what I did….

Places to take a toddler in London:

To a gallery to play with dirt. Who woulda thought it?! Ok, this is only one for the day when the gallery happens to be running a toddler-friendly “play in the dirt” session. It was ace, it really was. I am planning to get some poster tubes and make my own giant sand pens and let Roo trail sand round the house. Err….on second thoughts no. And neither am I going to let him try another cat litter-based “lucky dip”. One day only, son. Hypocritical? Sending mixed messages? Letting him throw dirt about the place when he got into trouble for doing that very thing at a friend’s house on Wednesday? Why yes, I am confusing this way. But such is the way of mothers…

Certainly one I’d recommend if it wasn’t a one-off. Next, we went to East Finchley, which would be another pin in the map if we’d gone anywhere but my Uncle’s house (he does have an enormous, enclosed garden though. You should go there). Some fun was to be had sitting in the waiting room, watching the choo-choo-choobs going in and out but that’s really only applicable if you’re specifically sitting on the platform at East Finchley, waiting for your husband to turn up because he left you in Euston to go back to Camberwell to pick  up the car after its MOT to drive back to Kennington then come up to East Finchley. This was a sudden change of plans that you hadn’t accounted for (who would have thought the old girl would even pass her MOT?!) and that is why you found yourself a) having your lunch eaten by pigeons b) getting lost in Euston c) feeding your toddler a packet of Quavers for his lunch and d) stuck on the platform at East Finchley cause you couldn’t get all your stuff down the stairs on your own.

In hindsight, there are things I would have changed about today. Hindsight is a great thing.

And here endeth the lesson.

Posted in Rants | Tagged , | 6 Comments

London Wetlands Centre – 05/03/11

Posted on July 18, 2011 by katese11

OK, this is one for a nice sunny day…Not a slightly cloudy, very cold Saturday in March. But maybe that’s just me.

London Wetlands Centre – feels like the countryside, despite being just south of Hammersmith (and “rural” is not a term anyone has ever used about the flyover and gyratory…). This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how much you like the countryside. You know my opinion…but I was there with a Yorkshire girl and a Slough boy (as rural as Hammersmith but never mind) and they wanted to do something outdoorsy, so we did!

First off, it is a touch expensive, especially when you forget to print off the discount voucher you found. And they won’t accept the super-zoomed in version on Nathan’s phone. Doh! So, I started out a little grumpy and very cold, having just paid twenty quid to look at some ducks. But it charmed me eventually.

(neither of these people are me)

There are a lot of different types of ducks! And the whole place (which really does feel miles away from anywhere) has been divided into carefully controlled habitats, depending on the specific type of duck  animal that lives there. It really is well done, it’s just that a lot of the nature was hiding on the morning we were there. Talking of hides, there are a couple of birdwatching places at the end of the walks, which provide great views of the whole centre, but are also places to be very quiet in. You can imagine how good we were at that!

Lunchtime. Stung by spending all that money to get in, I skimped on lunch and made me, Nathan and Reuben share a bowl of chips. Much to the envy of the baby at the next table and the pity of her parents. Ah yes, Reuben. Haven’t mentioned him much yet in this post. Mainly cause he was sulking in his buggy for most of the morning, refusing to talk about ducks or even point at them. He mainly wanted to get into the duck ponds but I think even he realised it was a little cold for that kind of malarkey.

After lunch, things brightened up a lot. We discovered the Discovery Centre, which was warm – hurrah! – and sponsored by…ooh, is that Mummy’s work again?! I wouldn’t mention it, except that I just have. It had lots of fun, interactive things for Roo to do, including an underwater zone and a game involving water pistols. Yes, after keeping him dry all morning, he gets soaked in the indoors bit. While wearing his coat. Sigh.

When we got back out, the sun was shining and we headed out to the other side of the Centre. Roo (now minus coat, plus some extra layers) was let out to walk on the strict condition that he didn’t throw himself into any large bodies of water and had a lovely time, crossing the bridges, ducking in and out of the quirky huts and things that were dotted around and just generally stretching his tiny legs. The sun really did make the difference. Have I made this point already?! Then we found a lovely little playground, which was aimed at older children (flying fox etc) but Roo enjoyed running through the tunnels and playing on the giant dragonfly-shaped bouncy thing. We had to rush a bit at that point cause we had a 2-year-old’s birthday to get to but could have spent longer there.

VERDICT: Maybe one for slightly older children (who y’know, have an active interest in nature and all that) but Roo still enjoyed himself. Claims to be “A great day out, whatever the weather” but really, really better in the sun!

More details here (official website)

Posted in Creating precious childhood memories or something (days out) | Tagged , , | 1 Comment