Wow what a weekend!

My first born now lives in Bonny Scotland and as it was his 30th birthday yesterday he came down on Friday for a long weekend to celebrate with his partner and this time her two sons accompanied them.

As there is simply no room at Lala's Inn these days an old friend of his put them up for the weekend and on Saturday we had a big family outing to London.  Neither the boys or their mum had ever been to London before so we set off with the intention of seeing as much as we could.  The weather was miserable as we got on the train ..... grey, misty and drizzling with rain but by the time we got off the tube at Knightsbridge there was blue sky and sunshine above us.

First stop was the Science Museum

There was something for everyone to appreciate here .... my son has always been mad about aircraft and it looks like some of has rubbed off on the next generation ..... Jack loved the mini simulator and the grown ups and older children loved the real thing.

There was even something for Lala

When we left the museum we had a long walk through Hyde Park and Green Park towards Buckingham Palace

and from there to Trafalgar Square

We had dinner in Leicester Square then managed to squeeze in Hamleys and Covent Garden before we headed for home.

What a contrast yesterday was .... we woke to torrential rain and then as the morning went on it turned to huge snowflakes which thankfully didn't settle.  In the afternoon we had a family gathering for the birthday boy and there was only one cake for a aircraft fanatic ....

I was not alone ......

Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post .... it would appear I am not alone (so pleased to hear it ladies) ..... wonder if I can talk them into being even more daring next year ;-)

One of my Christmas pressies was a trip to London to see Million Dollar Quartet at the Noel Coward Theatre yesterday afternoon.  It was a girlie day out for me, my mum, my sister and her daughter and my two daughters ..... alas my youngest daughter was struck down with S & D so Ellie came instead .... I am sure that girl put a spell on her mother as she was most disappointed when she learnt we were all going out without her!

We took a lunchtime train to St Pancras and as mum doesn't like going on the underground since the London bombings my daughter pre-booked a private 7 seater car which was waiting for us on arrival.  The car was immaculate and the driver most helpful and he dropped us off right outside the door of the theatre.

The show was fantastic and we were not far from the stage so had a brilliant view ..... the cast all played and sang some rock & roll favourites.

You just can't beat the golden oldies ..... they'll still be around long after Simon Cowell's wannabees are forgotten.  Can you imagine how it would have been if Elvis's twin brother Jesse had survived .... one of him is bliss and two would have been absolute heaven on earth!

After the show our car was waiting to take us back to St Pancras ..... no longer just a railway station this place is now a shopping centre in its own right.  The Champagne Bar just had to receive a visit and then we had dinner in the restaurant before we headed home for bed.  It was a lovely outing for the three generations of my family .... here are some of my own photos of the day

The Lego Christmas Tree at St Pancras station

Inside the theatre ..... Ellie did make us chuckle during the interval when she exclaimed Elvis had just gone into the Gent's loo ..... "he had the shiny suit and hair nanny "she said .... a few moments later the man in the first photo returned to his seat a couple of rows in front of us.  Seems you must never argue with a 7 year old as they are usually right!

Fancy putting a Cath Kidston shop on a railway station!

Appears she is getting a taste for the CK too ... the cocktail I might add was non-alcoholic!  I bought her an I-Pod Nano for Christmas together with some special earphones that she can wear over her hearing aids .... of course she NEEDED a bag to keep them in.

Just sniffing ..... I drank them!

Din Dins ..... Smoked Haddock on a Crushed Potato base with a poached egg topper .... it was delicious!

Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London

Yesterday was the day of our visit to the Country Living Fair at the London Business Centre in Islington ..... number one daughter and grandchild and me set off at 8.00 am with an extremely grey sky looming overhead.  This was Ellie's first visit to London and as you would expect of a 5 year old she was so excited.  We arrived at St Pancras station and I have to say that they have done a magnificent job of upgrading this old station .... I can remember sitting on the old station years ago waiting for the milk train home after an early hours flight into Gatwick  .... it was grotty.

We arrived in Islington just in time for the door opening at 9.30 and she was thrilled to bits to be given her own CL carrier bag with some free samples as we went in.  Inside was an array of loveliness and expensiveness in some cases ...... my only criticism is that it was a little squashed together and as the morning went on and it got busier it was very difficult to browse all the stalls properly.  Last year we went to the Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia which was very similar but much bigger and seemed to be less crowded.

It would be so easy to spend an absolute fortune but I make it a rule that I don't buy anything that I could make myself.  I did treat Ellie to some pretties for her bedroom and bought some Christmas pressies for the littlies too.

By lunchtime we had seen everything and Ellie was getting a little bored so we packed all our goodies into the big Dotcom Shop bag and headed back to the Angel station and to our surprise there was a bit of blue sky and sunshine.  We headed down to Waterloo so that we could take a ride on the London Eye and when we came out of the underground the weather was horrendous but hey ho why let a bit of good old English weather get you down!   As we turned the corner by the I-Max cinema there it was ...

Even on dull wet day it still looked good and we didn't have to wait long in the queue and as a bonus there was a 4-D experience to see before the ride which was amazing .... it brought the whole experience to life and made us jump a few times!

St Paul's Cathedral dwarfed by the buildings surrounding it

I am a hopeless photographer but I love how the rainspots beating down on the pod created this 'snowscene' over the Houses of Parliament and below the red London buses on Westminster Bridge

You can just about make out The Mall and Bucket House as Ellie called it ..... she thought that the queen was probably out visiting friends !

When our ride finished we battled the elements again and headed for Piccadilly for lunch at Planet Hollywood on the Haymarket.  Ellie loved it and entertained the other diners with her moonwalk when a Michael Jackson video came on and then a rendition of Beyonce and All the Single Ladies.  She is such a little poser.  After lunch we headed up Regent Street to that toy shops ..... you know the one ..... the one where you should never really take children ;-)

On the way, whether you love it or hate it, we found a Marmite Shop!  All things Marmitey and even a Marmite Cafe upstairs.

We eventually got to Hamleys and this was one of their window displays ..... I couldn't get to the others it was heaving.

And to meet us on the door was Cooking Mama and a fairy queen

We soon gave up (well I did) it was jam packed and unbearable so we headed on up Regent Street to Oxford Circus taking a detour round Carnaby Street.  The Christmas lights on Regent Street were somewhat pathetic .... just nets strung across the road at intervals and nothing special for the centre of our capital city.  Carnaby Street was something else ....

It was the Lord Mayor's Parade and at 5 o'clock there was to be a firework display on the Thames but time was getting on, it was still piddling down and we were cream crackered so we headed back to St Pancras.  I forgot to mention earlier that there were a few cyber friends from the Shabby Chic Cafe also visiting the Country Living Fair and we had swapped phone numbers and arranged to be wearing a Little Gem brooch hoping to meet at some point during the day.  Sadly our paths didn't cross at the Fair but it's a funny old world. 

We stopped to get a drink at W H Smith at St Pancras and while I was waiting outside I got a tap on the shoulder and there stood a lady wearing a Little Gem brooch .... we were like a daft pair of secret agents ..... it was Ellieweb and The Crafty Trundler was in WHS too.  How spooky was that????  We were just destined to meet yesterday and of all the places in that big city what was it that brought us together at the same place at the same time????  Like I said it's a funny old world.

We had a quick chat on the way to the train and hopefully we will be able to meet again another day.

Hope you've enjoyed my little journey and hope I haven't bored you too much .... early night for me tonight as it's all catching up with me now!