Seven weeks of holiday are slowly drawing to a close. Sadly, the gloriously warm summer days are also drawing to a close and turning cooler. On the bright side the mornings and evenings are a little darker. On day 32 we did head off to the library. While the weather was not fantastic, it wasn't too cold, and it wasn't raining - woot! We had a blast at the library and the boys collected many, many, many books. We also bumped into Alex and Brodie and we had a lovely chat with them. On Friday (day 33) I dropped the boys off at Alex and Brodie's house so that I could catch a train to Manchester, then a bus to London. Aaah Londinium! The bus ride took forever. The bus left nearly 30 minutes late and arrived late as a result. I did see some lovely London Streets including Baker street where some of Sherlock series is filmed. Sadly, I did not see Martin Freeman or Benedict Cumberbatch, more's the pity. Once arrived at London I met up with Mum, Mike and Kirst and we headed off to dinner. It was fabulous! After dinner we walked through Hyde Park, looked at some of the statues and buildings and saw Buckingham Palace. The next day (day 34) Mum and I headed off to London to hop on the London Bus Tour. It was awesome! London is a stunning city, and the details on the building exteriors, and the statues and artworks in the parks are just amazing.We got to see most of the major sights, took some amazing pictures and got to go for a ride on the Thames too. We hopped off the boat when we reached the Tower of London as I have been desperate to see the poppies installation celebrating the WW1 centenary - over 880 000 poppies, for each fallen soldier. We finished the day at Harrods where we strolled around various departments and marvelled at the prices people would pay for some rather unlovely items. Kirst whisked us off for dinner when we got back to the 'statue of Eros', when the rain absolutely bucketed down!! It did clear after 15 minutes or so however, and the rest of the evening was pleasantly mild. Dinner was lovely. After dinner she took us to Panorama in the Centerpoint building where we could see most of London below us as we enjoyed drinks. On Sunday I headed back to Glossop. I can't say the countryside between London and Manchester was especially attractive, but I was a bit distracted by our slug like driver, who arrived late at Birmingham (what a dump!!) due to his practise of going through roundabouts twice before exiting them. The new driver managed to set a cracking pace, once he sorted out some technical issues and got the bus running again. I have never been happier to see Manchester, still awash with good cheer from the Manchester Pride celebration. I scurried off to the train station with my loaded backpack and managed to get the 7:49pm train. The journey to Glossop went well, bar some tweens who got on, as high as kites and puledl the emergency cord when they got off so the train was frozen on the tracks. Despite these minor irritants my heart warmed as I saw the Dark Peak rise before me and I positively pranced home. The boys were delighted to see me, and rejoiced in their gift of London buses. On day 36 it rained. A lot. The boys battled it out on the Kinect and then I took them to the Scout hut to paint the benches. Day 37 was better, and we had a glorious time at the library as Cameron had completed his mythical maze summer reading challenge and so got his stickers and mini maze game. Day 38 we had more Kinect and then I whisked Cameron off to get his last lot off immunisations (until he's 15 at least). He ran in happy and laughing and crept out weeping and sore. But he was such a brave wee boy. A brave, wee, hefty boy who I had to carry until we got to the playground by the stream where some vigour reinvigorated his meager frame. He had a lovely play there with a friend from kindy and perked right up. Once we got home he thrilled his awed brother with the tale of his trials and feasted upon pumpkin pie AND an ice cream cone. On day 39 (today) I took them to Freetown playground where they ran and leaped and cavorted - and generally had a lovely time. We stopped in at home and collected the rugby ball and headed to the fields for a romp and to pick blackberries before toddling home as Cameron told me he needed a nap. A nap was had, and the poor feverish darling has slept most of the late afternoon and sleeps yet. Tomorrow I plan on taking the family to Lymefield in Broadbottom, and Saturday is Legoland.
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