It’s safe to say the Christmas plans leading up to this weekend haven’t exactly gone to plan, it’s not that we had loads of things planned but so far everything that’s been planned has either not happened, been postponed or not gone quite to plan, but we are still smiling and very much looking forward to the big day next week.

On Saturday we woke up super early and bundled the kids into the car to venture up to London for our first Christmas trip to the capital since before COVID- something we used to do every year. The kids loved watching the sunrise, spotting lots of snow and eating breakfast curtesy of little cereal boxes. We had parking booked next to Richmond station from before the train strikes were announced and thought we would dodge the train chaos- we were very wrong. We knew the tube back would stop early so we’d be riding a bus for some of the journey but unfortunately when we turned up there were no trains running at all. The train staff waved us in the direction of the bus stop the other side and we joined the hordes of other travellers now facing the same dilemma. Luckily an angel came to our rescue and when I asked her if we were waiting at the right stop she instead took us under her wing and became an adopted member of the family for the next hour and a half. After a while our new friend led us to the stop before the station so we could get on an emptier bus instead of fighting all the other masses outside the station- she even held Seb’s hand along the street. Then when we did arrive at a station with functioning trains she carried Seb down the stairs and we only parted company when it was our stop and we waved her on her way with many grateful thanks. I honestly don’t know what we would have done without her help- probably ended up in Southend.

I had a genius thought of using a little hessian bag to put gloves, hats etc in when we were in and out of sauna like shops, sadly the bag found another use on this particular bus journey- the journey of horrors. The bus filled completely at the station with no room to swing a mouse let alone a cat, but luckily the kids and I were squashed up on a double seat together. The next half an hour was quite a test though- with Clara jumping up and down on the seat eating a croissant, Seb using my legs as a slide and then Polly went a very funny colour in the over heated jolty bus so the hessian bag found a new use.

We finally made it to the Science museum in time for lunch and headed straight to the café to regroup and take control back over the day. We had a lot of fun in the museum and the kids ran off a lot of restrained energy. We stayed for a couple of hours then coated back up and headed to Harrods. Polly was feeling a bit sorry for herself so hijacked the pushchair with Clara settling herself in her lap- so settled she fell asleep. We stocked up in the bakery department and oohed and ahhed at the lights before heading towards Leicester Square. We decided to walk as Polly was keen to see Buckingham Palace and some fresh air was very much needed.

We had a voucher for Honest Burger so settled ourselves outside in the short queue to wait for a table. Clara made friends with a young couple sat in the window by pressing her face up against the glass at them then laughing her head off. The food was amazing and we’d definitely eat there again but the highlight has to be Clara standing up in her highchair and dancing her socks off to Dolly Parton’s 9-5. She then carried on dancing the rest of the meal, Britney, the Spice Girls- the girl was in her element.

The lights throughout this part of London are always worth a look at and Seb in particular loved spotting all the Christmas trees. We headed down to Hamley’s quite a bit later than originally planned but by this point we were just winging every element of the day and it turns out hitting a toy shop at 7:30 in the evening means it’s actually a lot quieter than we were prepared for. Just over an hour later, we were still hard at play- we eventually managed to persuade the kids to leave as they (and us!) were starting to flag. Seb also truly outdid himself when he told off a middle aged woman for pressing the lift call button before him- never come between a small person and a button.

We entered a tube station with all our fingers crossed and praise be we managed to get back to Hammersmith fairly easily, Clara also conked out in the pushchair. The bus back to Richmond was just as packed as the first journey but luckily again the kids and I squished into a double seat and instead of vomit I got the never before seen delight of all three kids zonking out asleep in a big heap on me.

We got home a lot lot lot later than we’d originally planned but then we’d lost the whole morning so just made the best of the situation. The Sunday was spent mostly on the sofa until I ventured down to the town’s garden light display up on the cliff. Polly was so exhausted she sat this one out and stayed home with Henry. So, the little two and I donned the wellies and spent half an hour running around the beautifully lit up gardens and jumping in every puddle we could find. Sadly due to the dark I didn’t realise quite how deep one of these puddles was until Clara gave a little shout and I realised she was knee deep in what could only be described as a pond not a puddle. We had the added surprise of meeting the main man himself (I haven’t actually told Polly this detail yet) and Seb told him that he’d like a candy cane and a toy Thomas (not a Gordon like he’s been telling me for the last four months!), Clara even gave him a high five which is considerably better than the screaming tears she gave Santa last year.

By Monday Polly was back to being Polly again so after stopping at Nanny and Pops for some ice cream we headed over to Cotley farm to pay a visit to the reindeer. Clara almost lost a glove to a goat but all in all it was an actual successful Christmas activity, despite the rain. We headed home via a trip to a nearby village famous for it’s Christmas lights.

It’s not been the most straightforward Christmas so far but we are just grateful for the things we have been able to do- and who doesn’t love a rescheduled nativity in January. Anyway, I’ll be back to work with a bump on Wednesday so tomorrow will just be a quiet one with some friends and a Christmas movie or three and we’ll just carry on our countdown to the big day. We do need to fix the remaining cards to be handed out with apologies to the state of some of them- Clara got her hands on the stack and thought it was post to be opened (at least it wasn’t as bad as her finding the teachers presents last week when she busted open all three boxes of chocolates). So, all that’s left to say is- Merry Christmas everyone and thanks as always for reading. See you on the other side!