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Hmm – we all managed quite a good weekend there.

Saturday… Oh, specifics…

There was something from Friday I was going to try to remember as well…
I recall thinking that to myself, but that’s about all; such is elusive memory. We didn’t go out on Saturday… I went? Not sure….
Well – if I had the chance to write on a more day to day basis I’m sure that things would seem to be more cohesive, but …

Anyway

On Sunday Louise’s mum came over to look after Eve, Jude & Esme as we had planned on an excursion out with Jack to get stuff for his new school; there are a few essential bits that need to be gathered & we needed the ability to concentrate on just Jack. If we had the others there they would have been aggrieved at the amount of time spent just on Jack & having demands of their own, whereas with just Jack we could concentrate on the task to hand & worry less of what the others might demand.

It was also just jolly pleasant to be out like this; no stress at all (well the was purchasing stress, but not ‘juggling’ stress). Jack is now just about prepared for school. He’s ready & I think he’s quite excited about oit all. He tried on the ‘full uniform’ later in the evening & looked jolly smart ; paraded over to see Caroline next door (Louise having a chat along the way while I was bath monitor). All in all it was a very good day out; retail therapy (for my part I got a new raincoat & visited Muji) Jack got to feel it was all a bit of a treat (interspersed with dull essential shopping bits) & Louise a relatively easier day (I could never say that Louise has it easy as she bears the bulk of family management; easier rather than easy)

Monday (as this was a Bank Holiday) we were off out again; this time to Huddersfield, this time all of us. A little later in setting out this time, but that’s to be expected. Jack was I bed until 30 minutes before we set off. He’d been up late reading again. At the moment he’s wanting us to wake him earlier every day as he’s trying to get his clock back to a more normal waking time for getting off to school. Actually he’ll be needing to be getting up earlier than he used to do for school as he’s to be getting a bus at.. um… when? I think it’ll be 7:30… which should be …interesting for him. Only a week away now.

So away onto the train (only just caught it again – better than only just missing). Esme was a little over excited & Jude was not feeling his best – so he found her more annoying than usual & I ended up making Esme bawl because she wouldn’t leave Jude & Eve alone – I offended her by making to put her in the pushchair for the offence of ‘not listening’. She recovered after a good few cuddles & was even a little better behaved…. for a bit.

Change at Halifax for Huddersfield & a quieter train. Esme amuse us here & there & the general tone was better, which basically seemed to work for the whole day;the kids were pretty good. We bumped into a school shop that sold the right rugby socks for Jack (sold Crossley Heath stuff in general & was pleasant with it as well). Realised that we needed to get a gum shield & shin pads as well (but they were a tad expensive there) & went on to find shoes! Jude was a little upset that a pair that he really liked (reflective piping & 3 colour flahing lights) were not his size, but he managed to get over it quite well. Esme was a little upset that all the shoes that she tried on & were gorgeous could not be bought for her. She has a red patent brogue ankle boot with laces, & Eve even managed to swing a pair of impractical slip ons because they were cheap. Waterstones for Jack, Esme & myself (Jack wants to keep stocked up on Terry Pratchet) & Clarkes for Jude, Eve & Louise for the school shoes. Tye only blot after that was BHS refusing to make up a cheese sandwich for the kids forcing us to go elsewhere. The kids got some hot chocolate from a cafe. Actually,, I think we decided we were about done then; we’ve done well – we have what we came for – the kids are content – best quit while we’re ahead. I headed for the train station while Louise popped to Sainsburys to pick up some essentials. A little bit of tension at the train station: we were all waiting – the train pulled in – we waited for Louise… We positioned ourselves to get on & looked down the platform. The train is due in 3 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute… I mutter about thinking we’ll just have to wait for the next train & there’s Louise at the other end of the platform! Everyone on – me last with the empty pushchair & the door makes it’s warning beeps & closed behind me. Better than just missing it (it would have been an hour of waiting for the next one – plenty of time for the kids to get grumpy). Louise even managed to (literealy just managed to) grab some schooltrousers for Jude while she was shopping as well (bonus).

Once inside the British Museum Jack was keen that we find the Rosetta Stone. This surprised me a little, but I guess it is the sort of thing he will have read about. It’s the first time I’ve managed to get the the museum since they opened up the central area & it is very impressive – more s than pictures would have you think (because it’s about ‘space’ & such things are hard to convey on still images). Fortunately the Rosetta Stone was just on the right off the main central area, so that was an easy one… Then we did a round through ancient Egypt back down through Babylonian & bumped into the Children’s Museum Shop. After a good deal of flapping in there from the younger ones (which Jack & Louise avoided by departing for the loo & then drifting into the Greeks) it was decided that as time was pressing on (& it was pressing on & there was some squawking) that we’d best be moving on. Again Jack could have quite happily spent a great deal of time in the museum pondering things, but the family currents swept him along. For Louise’s curiosity it was left out of the gates, left a little & again, 1st right & along & there’s Senate House at the junction on Keppel Street. Her old window view of Senate House is a little obscured by building site bits & bobs…. There seems to be a bit going on – not least a great crane sicking out from the centre of the LSHTM, not that the admissions are in the building any more. Mind you – if they are building the place up (using the disused inner courtyard areas) then they might move admissions back into the building…. you never know…

OK – Catch a 29 on Gower down to Trafalgar – it’s a tourist spot – let the kids see. They might only remember the huge TV screen with China vs. USA basketball playing. They stood there a while by the fountains in a light rain… bit the rain became heavier & heavier & we decided it was time to retreat – back on a bus to Paddington. They’ve had a tiny glimpse of London – some museums, some grand streets & some central streets – but only a glimpse really. I wonder what they made of it – how it will figure? Jude might just have found it frustrating (museums & walking) Esme’s ideas would certainly be more abstract but I hope Eve & Jack came away with a little taste of interest (the wider world). Paddington was a food hunt for the tran home. We were evidently early enough to actually get seats (busy train) but not so early that the kids were bored & frustrated. The journey back to Oxford went really well all things considered.

Then next day, (Monday) unfortunately – it was time to prepare for heading home in the afternoon. We popped over to the local playground in the morning, & then (Louise) got most everything packed. Getting them to pay attention to the deadline of leaving was a little headed than we wanted & we missed the bus we planned to get, but we did get a bus in plenty of time & then there was that mammoth journey home (delays leaving us 45 mins late getting in (hey ho). On the Trans Penninnne train Louise noticed the ‘dour northern faces’ – Oxford was actually jolly friendly & cheery – it’s a good spot.

<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/monocat/sets/72157606709144600/”>holiday snaps</a>

Back to the routines of home. Esme is a little more out of sorts than usual – Louise suspects she’s missing the attention of the others as they go off to pay with their friends. When I cam home yesterday afternoon Jude was over at Joe’s (not Jo’s) & Eve was off swimming with Amber & Jack was playing with Ethan & Aiden. Esme had been having a snooze & was a bit groggy & clingy. She remained that way most of the time until bed (distraction being the only thing that kept her happy). Lilly came over to play for a bit, but then Jude back & demanded a game of catch, so Esme wanted to join in, dropping Lily. Tears from Esme until she gets her shoes on & comes out to play & Lily has to go back over to her house.
So… In Oxford… what did we do on our first day there? As usual my memory is all fuzz. We walked into town via the canal & it was lovely. The kids were a little bored fro tie to time, but on the whole they enjoyed it as it was a good walk with plenty to look at. We headed into the Centre & tried navigate to a couple of museums with just a tourist leaflet map. That worked OK in the end & we reached the History of Science Museum – or was it just billed as The Science Museum. It’s at that very decorous part of Oxford with the round building & big wall decorated with busts of greek philosophers (in a pleasantly grotesque exaggerated style). Jut off the side of there. It’s a great place proper museum stuff with display cases full of fascinating stuff, but the kids don’t have the time of attention span for this kind of thing. They whizzed through & were bored. When I say, “The kids” I’m not including Jack – he would have quite happily stayed a lot longer & studies a lot more, but the inertia of the younger ones only allowed for skimming. Jack was not included in “The kids” quite a lot of the time. It’s funny how that is developing.

Then to the Natural History Museum (after a few false starts caused by parents being pulled in so many directions by the young & demanding. The natural History Museum in Oxford is great. There was a lot there & there was enough to keep the younger ones happy – Even Jude & Esme after Jude had managed to indulge in the calming influence of a little retail therapy…. Jude needs to satiate the ‘shop thing’ before he can relax & enjoy his surrounding – such is his need to ‘acquire’.

We spent a good long while there & as it’s not too big we could let Jack go off & explore as he wanted – and he did . In the end, when the others had finally exhausted all that we could initially provide (they were getting hungry & irritable) one of us had to go back inside to locate Jack & bring him out. I failed then Louise succeeded.

Then off down a side street to St Giles & into town but unable to get past a strategically placed kiosk with ice cream for sale.

From that day on Esme wanted ice cream every day . There came a point during the day when she would start whingeing for ice cream & carry on until properly distracted (difficult when she’s been placed in the pushchair) or satiated.

One of the tasks on the holiday for us was to not spend too much money as, (to be quite frank) we don’t have a lot of it. This meant some limitations & it meant some occasional frustration for the kids when they could not exceed the agreed budget. Jack was very moderate in his spending as he recognised he could accumulate some money & get something ‘larger’.

Well – we didn’t seemingly get that much done… Mind you where does this pressure to ‘get things done’ come from? I’ve no aspiration to have a list of jobs to complete, but I guess a sense of achievement does give a more tangible form of satisfaction – so that might be what I’m hankering after? It’s be a false illusion anyway – but still even a mirage of achievement might be good – perhaps I should make one up? (or would that be cheating?)

One thing I did manage late last night was to dig out some old cartooning work I’d promised myself to finish off. A little disappointed in the paucity of notes, but that’s not so surprising. Slightly more surprising (& delightful) were the doodlings & messing about that rakes the place of notes. Hm – perhaps less surprising that that’s what we did, but pleasantly surprising to find. Also disappointing was that I interrupted the chess game that Louise & Jack were playing (45 mins of play in). Louise was annoyed that Jack was paying more attention to the bits of paper I was rifling through that the game, but calling it a day at 23:00 hrs is probably a good thing anyway.

I’m hoping that I can piece things together & compete what was meant to have been a London Cartoon Centre fold out about drawing figures – I doubt myself as usual but really – it should be something I can manage.

Took the kids to see the new Narnian Film Prince Caspian yesterday (what happened to ‘A boy and His Horse?) & it was good. Quite a few battles in it – not too pleasant, some of them – which is a good thing because that sort of thing was never ‘pleasant’. Quite exciting & the kids enjoyed it a lot. Louise & Esme visited the rebuilt playground in Hebden Bridge while we watched the film, & then after wards we all went back again – Esme keen to show the way). Some misgivings still about it all, but the kids enjoyed it, so that’s the proper judgement.

More Yo-yo’s purchased today & more have died.

and Esme now has a bike!