Earlier in the year Robo Boy and I visited our dear friend Abbi who lives in Harrow and I blogged about it here. Ever since Super Kid has been keen to have his turn to take the trip to see Abbi. I decided to take advantage of the bank holiday weekend for us to go. It’s wonderful spending time with each of the children separately, they blossom and glow in my undivided attention. I get to enjoy them without the chaos that comes with three children to care for. Add to that getting to see our lovely friend Abbi, and the weekend was something I really looked forward too.
First thing Saturday morning we popped into a local cafe Papa Gateaux for pancakes. Firstly the cafe was absolutely adorable, full of quirky little decorative ideas which made me smile. Secondly the pancakes, oh the pancakes. I had salmon and cream cheese, and it was literally the most delicious pancake I’ve ever eaten! I did not receive any free food, or incentive to tell you this, so trust me when I say that if you’re ever in Harrow then you need to pop in for a pancake, your tastebuds will love you for ever.
Next a tube to central London as Super Kid’s requests for the day were to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. A blur of tube travel, crowds and sunshine followed. We saw Buckingham Palace, just about, from the other side of the street as police managed the crowds of tourists who filled the surrounding streets. Super Kid was happy to have seen it but a little disappointed in the lack of grandeur. This reminded me of when I first saw it, and was sad that it wasn’t covered in crystals and flanked by unicorns!
The following part of the day is the bit where I turned into an absolute muppet! For some ridiculous reason I had decided that Big Ben is on The Tower of London, which obviously it is not. Upon arriving at The Tower of London I realised my mistake, and we dashed of to catch a tube to our next destination, a show at The Southbank Centre. The nearest tube station was shut, we caught a bus which did not stop where we expected it too. I lost my shit lost my composure briefly (sorry Abbi) as we rushed to reach the venue in time. Luckily we got there and it was well worth the effort as we were treated to a joy of a show from Gandini Juggling.
If you live in London you can see Smashed as part of The Udderbelly Festival at Southbank Centre. I strongly recommend that you do. Nine jugglers on stage with 80 apples and four crockery sets. A fantastically quirky show with humour, humanity, skilful juggling, glorious choreography and some brilliant music choices which I’ve been singing ever since. “I like bananas because they have no bones”. As an ex professional juggler I only wish I’d had the chance to work with these guys because I think they’re the most dedicated, exciting and innovative juggling companies in the UK. I have enormous respect for what they’ve achieved, and I’m proud to call some of them friends.
Then some tube surfing to our next destination. Nancy’s Pantry had tweeted me a while ago inviting me for a meal next time I visited London. Never one to turn down free food (seriously) I took them up on their offer. Nancy’s Pantry is a restaurant where the children’s imaginations are catered for too. For babies and toddlers there are toys, sensory play and astro turf to crawl around on. For older children (three and over) there is an area where play scientists run arts, crafts, science and exploratory activities.
Play Scientist at Nancy’s Pantry.
Throughout the week they run classes and activities.
Obviously though, the important part is the food, and Abbi,Super Kid and I were happy to give it a thorough testing. This is what we ate.
I’m pleased to say that the food was delicious. I had a lentil salad which was flavourful and healthy, and followed it with a slice of chocolate torte and a slice of lemon cake (why have one slice when you can have two, right?) It was all wonderful. Tired, full and happy we all headed back to Abbi’s for a much needed rest.
On Sunday we all needed a slower paced day. Super Kid and Abbi spent the day on Abbi’s sewing machine making the most wonderful toy monsters for all the purple kids. I spent the day watching them from a horizontal position on the sofa.
As you can see they’re absolutely adorable. In fact they are so fabulous that I’ve persuaded Abbi to start making monsters to sell, so if you’d like to order a one of a kind, custom made monster of your own, and help her get to started, please tweet or email me for more details.
Here ends possibly the longest blog post I’ve ever written! It was an epic weekend, and Super Kid and I returned to Bristol tired and happy. Thanks to everyone involved, especially Abbi for making our visit so fabulous.
*Disclosure: Nancy’s Pantry provided us with a meal in order for me to write this review. I also got free tickets to Smashed, because I have friends in the company, and they had absolutely no idea that I was going to write about them.