Memories of the un-Autumn half term

It was my birthday Tuesday 11th and to me, my birthday is insignificant. I no longer consider it an occasion to celebrate with parties, cakes and presents although I wouldn't be partial to a fancy, intimate dinner at a Michelin starred restaurant! The day passed as normally as any other day except for the constant pings on my iPhone throughout the day notifying me that a new message had been posted on my Facebook wall. That was the most eventful day on my Facebook wall and those pings were the most eventful occurance of my birthday that's how it should be. It's my childrens' birthdays that are important milestones to me now, not mine! In any case, I received a perfume from my mum (the new Carolina Herrera), a ceramic and wooden Afghan hand crafted trinket box from my brother, two lovely Phase Eight blouses from my sister, and a delivery of a bouquet of flowers and HOB hair salon treatments from my husband. He also brought home a Peppa Pig cake and birthday cards from the children.

Saturday was the first day of R's first half term and she was very certain about what she wanted to do in  her 9 days off. In the morning she made herself a plan to go to Parent's Paradise, a huge soft play centre with vast climbing frames and slides. We spent a good three hours there. Tomorrow she wants to go swimming.

On Sunday, we decided to make a trip into Central London and spend the day there, and seeing as the weather was superb, we took a London bus tour. This included a Thames boat cruise and we made a round trip totalling almost 6 hours. What I love about these touristy excursions are the Cockney Londoners who earn their living as commentators on the buses and boats, and I ended up learning a vast amount of totally useless trivial facts about London and its landmarks and history.

Monday was such a lovely day. A had a day off work and for once we didn't have errands to run or somewhere to go or a list of things to get through. It was actually such a good feeling to have no plans and no agenda or timetable to run to. We spent the morning lazily pottering around at home and A made us a lovely breakfast of eggs and fava beans in the Arabic way. We went for a walk up to the high street for some groceries. Then we took a drive to the best playground in the area, where we spent a couple of hours on all the playground games. The weather was unbelievably warm for the season, this late October weather is more like early May, and we were taking off layer after layer of warm clothes to enjoy the warmth of the sun. We then spent some time climbing a lovely oak tree with low branches making it easy for the children. We lay on the grass, played rough and tumble, had a snack and searched for acorns.
We had lunch at the local shopping mall and I finally got to buy the potato ricer and professional pepper  mill I've wanted for ages! Isn't it silly how the most mundane things get me excited! Another thing that made my day was our stop for lunch. In the display of the food counter was an amazing Polenta and Orange cake and I just had to have it. I ordered it immediately and my generous wedge of a slice arrived dusted with icing sugar and garnished with a fresh mint and an orange sliver. It was perfect and I have to learn how to make it.

Tuesday was another amazing day for weather. We went to the local playground, again without coats, and this time R and K spent a grand total of 5 minutes in the actual playground and then decided to take a hike through the fields and through the woods. We spent a good 45 minutes strolling along with R as the leader, guiding the way for K and I with a long thin fallen branch of a tree. We stopped to investigate their ''discoveries'' such as a plastic bottle, a plastic lid, some footprints, dog poo, fallen leaves, conkers, a log, acorns, a cricket ball and so on. We covered a long distance, and as we were walking further and further on, I kept reminding R that we would also have to walk back to the car. I was worried about K getting tired as I didn't have the buggy. When we got the the entrance of the wood, the ground got muddy and wet, and the flat field became a hill. This is where R started whispering and tiptoeing saying ''sshh we're going to find the Gruffalo'' This made K get frightened and from this point he would only walk if I held his hand. We decided to turn back and head to the car as a dark cloud was starting to make its way towards us. I wonder how long R would have carried on for if I hadn't made the decision at that point. The two park outings totally convince me that the best things in life are free. The fresh air, the colours of the grass and autumn leaves, the imagination of the children in full gear, and the memories made.

Wednesday was my dad's birthday and HE treated me and the children to lunch along with his next door neighbour of over 30 years! We went to my favourite local Italian restaurant and cafe, Fellini's. Here I ordered the lemon sole with saffon sauce and the children had their usual Margarita pizza with black olives and mushrooms. Dad ordered fried whitebait and R loved them, only she refused to eat the ''face'' and would decapitate the head off each one before eating the rest with the tartare dip. She followed her meal with vanilla and pistachio Italian ice cream.