2011

Peppa Pig World

Saturday 2nd July 2011Friday 11th May 2012Baggie

I promised you a second update within a week, and here it is. As I mentioned in the previous update, I had worked eleven straight days and so I juggled a couple of extra days around the weekend to recuperate and get back in touch with the family. Fortunately I timed those days off with a mini heatwave (two days of 30°C temperatures (apparently the warmest day in the UK for 5 years) – nothing compared to the heatwaves of old, but a heatwave nonetheless!). The first of those days off was blessed with a visit from my family, as mentioned in the previous update. The next two (the hot days!) were taken up with what we sold to Éowyn as adventures. So with sun block (not sun tan lotion as we are all fair skinned and the idea of a tan is ridiculous we just need to stop our skins from burning!) on and picnic packed we headed out in the trusted Honda Civic!

Sunday saw us in West London, not that far from my place of work, at Kew Gardens. Lucinda’s uncle and aunt are season members of Kew and thus have a number of free tickets for friends and relatives and hence we took them up on their offer of heading to Kew for a family day out. It was my first visit to Kew, even though I lived in Richmond for over 4 years and could see the pagoda from my bedroom window. I hadn’t realised how much ground Kew covered (300 acres!) and how extensive gardens were. Éowyn, however, was more interested in the Climbers and Creepers and Treehouse Towers play areas. Although we did drag her away to visit the Xstrata Treetop Walkway. Unfortunately they are having issues with the lift and so it was a long climb up the stairs carrying Éowyn, although thankfully Lucinda’s mum and dad stayed at the bottom with Amélie and the pushchair which was a bonus. Whether it was the hot weather or the walking but we felt thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day and were quiet relieved when we got back home. Overall the children play areas are excellent but Éowyn is a little too young to appreciate the grandeur of Kew Gardens and so we will probably have to wait until she is a little older before we visit again.

Monday, however, was all about Éowyn. Éowyn’s favourite television programme is currently found on Channel 5 at 0815. For the non-parents (or non-UK) readers of this site, the answer is Peppa Pig. For those of you that are not familiar with Peppa Pig: it is a series (or three series) of five minute cartoons centred around Peppa (an anthropomorphic girl pig) and her family (parents, one set of grandparents and her little brother George). All of her friends have similar family structures and are all mammals with alliterative names (Peppa Pig, Suzy Sheep, Danny Dog, Pedro Pony etc). They all live in houses, have jobs (in the case of Miss Rabbit: many jobs!), drive cars and wear clothes. Éowyn will watch episode after episode of Peppa Pig without getting bored and if I am honest, they can be quite enjoyable from an adult point of view as there is enough in each episode aimed at the parents to keep them interested.

In April (2011) Peppa Pig World opened at Paulton’s Park in Romsey in Hampshire. The journey is only 60 miles or so and is motorway all the way so it took just over a hour for us to get there. Éowyn’s friend Alexander was on holiday in the New Forest with his parents (obviously) Verena and David and baby sister Olivia, so we arranged to meet them at Peppa Pig World and make a day of it.

Peppa Pig World is excellent, there are lots of rides for the young ones to go on and because it is in a corner of Paulton’s Park it means that it is self-contained and you haven’t got miles to walk between rides. Again it was a very hot day (except for the short sharp shower that hit while Lucinda and David were on the tractor ride with Alexander and Éowyn, leaving Verena and me to grab the picnic and the babies and hide under the shelter of a tree!).

Éowyn thoroughly enjoyed herself and I think we will have to go back, as we did not manage to get on all the rides. We also managed to keep her away from the big Peppa Pig gift shop, as I don’t think I have that much limit left on my credit card! Again I think the heat defeated us and by 1500 all four adults we were shattered and in fairness so were the kids, so we decided to call it a day and head back up the M3. Would defiintely recommend Peppa Pig World to all parents out there, and although we didn’t explore it, Paulton’s Park proper also looked quite interesting for older kids. Pity it’s not part of the Merlin Pass family.

The following day the heatwave broke. A heavy thunderstorm hit our part of the world (in fact the business park that my company is situated took a direct hit and it has upset a number of pieces of technical equipment). The weather is now closer to 20°C than 30°C and a lot fresher. Summer is over.

Before I returned to work we had one more place to visit. Amélie had an appointment with the paediatrician at St. Peter’s hospital (the place of her birth). This was a follow appointment regarding her reflux (the milk protein intolerance is being treated by the dietician). It appears that Amélie has grown out of her reflux and thus we have been told to stop the drugs. We expressed our concerns that she does not seem to be developing as quickly as Éowyn did (although she was quite precocious!). The paediatrician gave her a physical examination and is quite happy that there is nothing physically impairing her, it is just that she is taking her time. Apparently taking after her dad, as I only learned to crawl backwards and decided that it was easier to walk on two legs than learn to crawl. Taking to two legs much earlier than my contemporaries. Time will tell.

I will leave you with photos from Kew Garden and Peppa Pig World, enjoy and don’t forget there are plenty of new photos on our Flickr site (link in right hand column).

Peace and love

Baggie

Popstar

It’s you!

Popstar, in waiting…

Ice lolly and Granddad

Nanny and Granddad

Getting ready to crawl

Windy Castle ride

On the Windy castle ride

The Balloon ride

Peep-po!

I haven’t done anything…

This is fun!

Wheee!

Verena and Alexander

Éowyn and Mommy

Meeting Peppa Pig

I’ve a beard like Daddy’s

Éowyn, Alexander and Duck!

All aboard, a tractor?

All aboard, a dinosaur?

All aboard, a train!

Let me tell you a story

Tuesday 28th June 2011Tuesday 28th June 2011Baggie

After a poor showing in May I am determined to keep this website on track and so an update begins, the first of two this week, so pop by later this week for more tales from the Bagnalls!

Our holiday in Kent seems a long distant memory as I write this. Back to work and back into the mælstrom that is Wimbledon. Yes, the Tennis Championship not the place (although it is the place – but I think you know what I mean!). Thus the break away from work has been completely wiped out by the lead up to, and the start of the tournament. This meant 11 days in a row including Father’s Day, and long days too! So I have seen very little of either Éowyn or Amélie during daylight. However, both have had a number of sleepless nights and so a good night’s sleep has become an elusive guest at our house. Éowyn has had a wheezy cough which has prevented her from falling (and staying) asleep, while Amélie has been teething. At least there has been fruit from this and Amélie has her first tooth. One of the bottom front teeth has poked it’s way through the gumline and you can feel a couple of the others are not far behind. It must be incredibly painful but hopefully the others will follow smartly and she (and us) can get back to a proper sleep pattern.

One of the troubles of working so many days in a row is that I only get to see the children early in a morning (if I am lucky) and just before bed. This is usually when they are not at their best (if I am honest after a hard day’s work then neither am I). Éowyn picks up on this and will use this weakness to push the boundaries. It is not fun when you get back home and have to employ the use of the naughty step (although we are renaming it the ‘thinking step’ to avoid negative connotations). It can be quiet amusing sometimes though when she has done something naughty and you are explaining that it is naughty. She will stand there before you crying and you are trying to get her to understand what she did was wrong, or get an apology out of her but stubbornly refusing to admit that she has been naughty. So you ask her if she wants to take time to think about it on the naughty (thinking) step and through the sobs she says, ‘Yes please.‘ A very polite way of accepting punishment.

In fairness to her, she will sit on the step for her two minutes (one minute per year of her age – thanks Super Nanny) and will always apologise and then return to her delightful nature afterwards. It is almost that she needs that time for reflection.

Occasionally she will use her imagination to come up with an excuse for her behaviour. An example happening the other evening. I had just got her out of the bath and was getting her ready for bed. I was trying to put her nappy on and she was not having any of it. ‘I don’t want my nappy on.‘ she said. I explained that it was fine not to have a nappy on to go to bed, but if she wanted a wee in the middle of the night that she would have to get out of bed and use the potty. ‘Let me tell you a story.‘ she begun. ‘One day I went to bed without a nappy,‘ she continued, ‘and I needed a wee in the middle of the night, and I went to use the potty and a big dinosaur came and ate me up.‘ I managed not to laugh, but her story had the effect that she convinced herself that she needed her nappy on. Fantastic imagination though, and we will have to nurture that.

Her imagination is manifesting itself in other ways too. She has, what a lot of people have when they are young, an imaginary (or invisible) friend or what is technically know as a quasi-corporeal companion. His name is Sam and he can manifest himself in a variety of colours (not skin tones – actual colours) and a wide range of sizes (from being able to sit comfortably on her thumb, to bigger than Daddy!). Sam even came with us on holiday to Kent and had a bedroom all to himself. She will go weeks without mentioning him and he hasn’t yet come to dinner and we haven’t had to set out a place for him (indeed he didn’t travel with us in the car to Kent but was there – maybe he turned himself very small and travelled on Éowyn’s thumb!) as some children insist. Being of an inquisitive mind (and a bit of a Fortean and generally interested in Forteana) I am quite interested in this kind of behaviour and try to gently prise information out of Éowyn about Sam. I will share my findings with you.

I am also missing Amélie’s developments in locomotion. She is not exactly crawling but she is moving. In fact I think she may be some form of quantum locked being (like the weeping angels from Doctor Who) for whenever you look at her she stops moving (not quite turns to stone) but blink and she is halfway across the room! This movement is still in reverse though. It is as if she doesn’t have a forward gear, a sort of inverse bubble car or as the old joke goes an Italian tank!

Nanny Fran saw a vast difference in Amélie when she (and Auntie Liz and Auntie Mary) popped over on Saturday. It has been a while since we went to Nanny Fran’s and so Amélie has developed (and put on weight – she is happily following the 50th centile now) so much in that time. In addition to the movement, and tooth she is happily stringing consonants together. She mumbles quite happily to herself and it even sounds like she is saying, ‘dadadadadadadadada‘ sometimes, however more often than not it is closer to ‘bababababababababababa‘. I doubt it will take her too longer to be as talkative as her older sister. She is also taking more weight on her legs and will stand for a little while (with you holding her for balance) so maybe she is going to forego the crawling stage and head straight to bipedal locomotion!

As mentioned there will be another update by the end of the week as we have had a busy few days on my days ‘off‘ and they deserve a write up to themselves.

Peace and Love

Baggie

Just chillin’

Biscuits or fruit…

Cool pose!

Yip, I’m happy!

Baby Gaga?

Cheeky grin

A Nanny Fran cuddle

Auntie Mary?

Can I have a go?

I’m going to catch it

It’s mine!

Did I get it?

Leave me alone!

I’m watching the tennis!

On her backhand!

Amélie’s first holiday

Monday 13th June 2011Sunday 1st January 2017Baggie

I think I have given you a small clue where we have just been. Yes, the Bagnalls have been away from the moor for a week. Éowyn’s first holiday was in Devon (the lovely Noss Mayo); Amélie’s first holiday was the other side of the country in Kingsdown, Kent. We stayed in a triangular (more of that later) lodge in Kingsdown Park. Self-catered as it is so much easier with the little ones and gives you a little more freedom than a B&B or a hotel. We had packed for sunny weather (t-shirts, shorts and sandals) but the good weather, the flaming June, that we had been promised failed to materialise (that will trust me to listen to Lucinda, who had read it in the Daily Mail – need I say any more?). I think we had two days that the sun appeared and one of them was dry. Nevertheless with true British indomitability, steely determination and downright stubbornness we refused to allow the weather to spoil the holiday and donned shorts and headed out to meet the weather full on. It is amazing what you can do with a pac-a-mac.

Kingsdown is on the coast just south of Walmer. If that hasn’t helped you it is South of Deal and North of Dover and if it still hasn’t helped you it is the bit of England that points towards France. We had no reason to chose it over any other town in Kent (and indeed Kent over any other county) we had just decided to go somewhere different and explore a bit more of our wonderful country. The triangular lodges looked a novelty and seemed better that a caravan, posh tent or 1950’s holiday camp. However, after 30 seconds in the lodge you realised why the majority of houses are based on the square (OK. oblong) and hence most rooms are cubes (OK. oblonguloids – not a word? Cuboids then!), because sloping walls greatly reduce the amount of ‘usable‘ floor space and when you are over six feet tall (1.9 metres to be exact) that usable floor space is even less. I lost count on how many times I banged my head, especially when getting out of bed or sitting on the sofa. In fairness to the park though, the layout of the lodges was excellent, and if we had had a sunny week I could have imagined Éowyn would have spent a fair amount of time playing on the green between the lodges and perhaps may have even made friends with some of the other children that were in residence. The staff were excellent and the facilities more than adequate, however both Lucinda and I do not feel that triangular living is for us.

The area of Kent that we stayed has huge historical significance for our country, from Roman invasion sites through to the Second World War; pointing at the Continent as it does it is obviously the first point for entry into our land. Being in the heart of Cinque Port land however was completely lost on Éowyn who preferred the simpler pleasures of the park’s swings and jumping in muddy puddles. (Everybody enjoys jumping up and down in muddy puddles!) Therefore our trip to Walmer Castle, the home (and the place he died) of Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley (The Duke of Wellington) was wasted upon her. I think we will have to postpone that subscription to English Heritage.

Again the trip to Sandwich was equally boring for her, until we can across a little nature reserve and there were bags of seed that you could buy to feed the ducks. All of a sudden this was interesting and she didn’t want to leave.

Meanwhile, Amélie was having a torrid time with her teeth and had hardly slept for two nights. Her crying kept waking Éowyn so by day three of the holiday, it wasn’t looking good. We were knackered, had discovered the triangular living was not for us, the weather was appalling, this part of Kent has no analogue transmission of channel 5 (no Peppa Pig in the morning), the digital transmission was so poor that it couldn’t be watched (no CBeebies), and all Éowyn wanted to do was play on the swings, we only had summery clothes and being on diets we couldn’t even pig out on fish and chips or an ice-cream. It wasn’t looking like the best of holidays.

Then there was a break in the clouds and all seemed well with the world. We headed over to Whitstable to meet up with my friend Andy and his dad George. George took us around Whitstable giving us the guided tour and again Éowyn was getting a little bored and then we saw the beach. The beach at Whitstable is a stony beach that slopes steeply into the sea. Perfect for picking up stones and throwing them into the sea. One of the greatest pleasures in life is standing at the water’s edge and throw stones. Myself, Andy and Éowyn did this for nigh on an hour. I think Andy and I got bored with this long before Éowyn, though we kept her company. This was probably the turning point in the holiday. Amélie slept well that night (therefore so did we) and the sun promised to shine.

The next day we visited more friends of ours that live in Kent. Ed and Marisol and their daughter Frieda who we met at N.C.T. classes when we were expecting Éowyn. They have since moved to Cranbrook in deepest darkest Kent and so we rarely see them. Since we were on holiday in the county it was too good an opportunity to miss. We spent the day at their house and were the first guests to sample a meal cooked in their new kitchen. We were honoured. Considering the girls barely know each other, they, on the whole, played nicely together. Although there was a little bit of possessiveness over toys. All to be expected. We took a short walk from their house (in between torrential downpours) to a nearby field to feed some horses. I was a little amazed well Éowyn took to feeding the huge (to her) beasts. Just living up to her name I suppose.

Our final day in Kent was met with more rain. In fact it didn’t stop all day, oblivious to the fact that the news was about drought in the South East of England and the fact that is had snowed on the tallest mountain in Wales (Snowdon). We were at a loss to think of something to do and had decided to go to Canterbury. However, after chatting to the receptionist at the holiday park we opted to follow her suggestion of Wingham Wildlife Park and despite the horrendous weather it was probably the best day out (for Éowyn at least). More than a petting zoo/ farm but not quite a grown up zoo it is an excellent place to visit and I would recommend it to any one. There are free roaming ducks, chickens, guinea fowl, peacocks and wallabies. Walk-in cages with Ring-Tailed Lemurs and Cotton Eared Marmosets. They even have two baby tiger cubs, very cute as well as being the only place in Kent that has penguins (Humboldt’s to be exact). Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and would consider going again, hopefully with better weather as many of the animals were sheltering from the rain as much as we were.

I will bore you no longer and leave you with a larger than normal selection of photos.

Peace and Love

Baggie