You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely - Ogden Nash

When I was looking back through my recent blog posts, I realised that I had forgotten to mention an interesting little incident that happened while we were in Earls Barton on Saturday. While we were in Jeyes shop I was busy looking at recipe books and other bits and bobs when I noticed that Robbie was missing. I thought it was a bit odd because it is quite hard to lose him - I know because I've tried! I called his name and at first there was no reply, then a rather distant and reluctant voice announced that he was 'here'. Guided by his voice I headed in the direction of 'here' and found him in a quiet corner of the toy department. He was kneeling down at a little wooden table with a wooden railway track layout on it. He was guiding a wooden Thomas the Tank Engine around the track with his hand while making a selection of engine noises! I asked him if was about to be 4 or 40 and I was answered with a shrug, he told me that it was just too tempting.

Robbie continued to play trains while I loitered in the toy department grateful that this part of the store was relatively quiet. Then after what seemed like hours Robbie stood up, he had spotted some diecast versions of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. At first Robbie seemed preoccupied by changes in the design of the packaging, but then he spotted one called Spencer that he would quite like to buy. Thankfully it didn't come to that, we couldn't possibly accommodate another collection of engines, the house is bursting at the seams as it is. He left the shop with a big smile and big plans to build a new layout for his model trains - that should keep him out of trouble for a while!

The more things change the more they stay the same

Thursday afternoon seemed fairly ordinary when I went to work, but then at about 7pm it started to snow. At first I thought it wouldn't come to much, but it did, it settled very quickly and when I left work soon after 8pm the roads were horrible and once I got of the main roads it was a rather scary journey home. 

Robbie was not happy because the snow had ruined his plans to go to Carlisle by train on Friday. My son was not happy because according to him he had no suitable footwear to walk in ice and snow. I questioned him closely about this because I distinctly remember buying him waterproof walking boots. Apparently his not inconsiderable collection of footwear is designed to be fashionable rather than functional and with the exception of the walking boots (which are allegedly are just a figment of my imagination) none of them have sufficient grip for walking on snow and ice. I threatened to search his room for the 'imaginary' walking boots, but it was clear that he urgently needed a pair of wellies.

So today Robbie and I set out in search of black wellies for my son. He was very specific about having to have black boots so that they would match whatever he was wearing. We found boots in his size at a fairly reasonable price and we bought him thick socks as well. I felt quite pleased with myself until we got home and we realised that one boot was all rough inside. So I went out again, this time accompanied by my son, to get the boots changed. That was when the problems started, all the black boots in his size had the same problem, so my son agreed to have green ones instead. He was dressed in his 'smart casual' attire ready to go out to a sixth form party at a venue in town, so I was rather surprised when he took off his fashionable boots in the car and put on his new wellies. We went home for a while as it wasn't quite time for him to go out. He walked around in his wellies, they looked a bit odd with his smart clothes, but he kept glancing down at them and admiring them. Suddenly I was reminded of when he was a very little boy and he was so proud of his shiny new wellies that he refused to take them off! Today he kept his inner child under control, when it was time for him to go out he took a last look at his wellies and then changed into more suitable footwear.   

The Oldest Swinger in Town

It was a lovely day for the beach today and it was extra special because Sam was able to spend the day with his cousins Charlotte and Jack. Sam enjoyed being the oldest for once and he was able to show Charlotte how to fish in the rock pools, the had a surprisingly good catch, 5 crabs and 8 fish. Jack is only 2 so he wasn't able to help with the fishing but he was fascinated by all the fish in the bucket. Sam loves skimming pebbles and the beach was fairly quiet so he was able to teach Charlotte how to do it. Robbie spent his time on the beach dozing in the sunshine he had obviously decided to conserve his energy for later in the day because when we took the children to the play area Robbie's inner child went wild. Have a look at the pictures and judge for yourself!