But I Smile Anyway…

Well, it is nearly 7pm now here, and our Friday is coming to a close…

It’s named Good Friday for the Easter celebrations, but if you’re not Christian, then it’s also a great day, as you get a Bank Holiday! Ok, so I am on school holidays anyway, so I was off, but you know what I mean!

Hubby Dearest was ours for the whole day and he decided it would be a great idea to go shopping in Lakeside, a big shopping mall, and trading estate.

Now, if you know Hubby Dearest at all, you’d know that he is allergic to shopping! So when he suggests it, happily, who am I to say no! He went, armed with a list, (well he made me make the list!) of things, ranging from stuff for him, to a couple of gifts for some friends.  We got there just after mid day, and thought we’d venture into a few shops first before getting lunch. 

After shop number 1 where Lil Princess got thoroughly spoilt, we walked along to the next one, hoping to pick some choice bits for Lil Man, and Hubby Dearest too. Bearing in mind we’ve been here half an hour…

“Muuuuuuum! I need the toilet!”

“Muuuuum, can we go now?”

“Muuuuuum! Toilet NOW!!!!”

Just then at the till of shop 2 I spy a familiar face, A cousin of mine I haven’t seen in donkeys years!  Uh ohm, the family think.. ‘Mummy’s seen someone she knows, we wont be moving for ages now!!!’

And we weren’t that long, just 5 minutes, catching up on, like 10 YEARS of life!

So the toilet dash beckons, but where is the nearest loo??  A kind employee of Boots directed us and we quickly disappeared to relieve Lil Princess, before an accident occurred…serves her right for gulping a bottle of juice down before we left!

Lunch, then a spot more shopping.  Hubby was checking out his stuff, but after half an hour of browsing, and my arms getting laden with stuff… (none for me or him, but the kids, and other peoples!) it started again…

“Muuuum! When are we going?”

“Muuuuum, you promised we could go to Smiths to get my Lego”

“Muuuuum! I don’t want to go Smyths, I want to go to Toys R Us!”

Before you think we were spoiling the kids rotten, they needed new clothes after both experiencing growth spurts, and they had both been saving pocket money which they had proudly brought with them, in order to spend on something of their choice.

Next stop, after me spending nearly £100, we were on our way to toy shop number 1.  but not before we popped into two others on the way…

“Muuuum! That’s not fair! You said we were going to Smyths!”

“Muuuum! But I want Toys ‘R’ Us!”

Finally we land in Smyths, and after a few moments a very happy Lil Man cones out with not 1 but  2 things he really wanted!

Lil Princess’s request requires a trip in the car to the next part of the park, but not before a short walk to another section where we wanted to look at bed linen, and the sports shop.  Thankfully there was no complaints about legs hurting, just

“Muuuuum! How much longer?”

Muuuuuum! I wanna go home… oooh look footballs!”

Again, laden down with more stuff, including a badminton set, tennis balls, a new extra deep fitted sheet for the new bed, as the mattress is so HUGE and a new cover for my v-pillow, we made our way back to the car.

Next stop, Toys’R’Us. Yes she got what she wanted! Then a mooch around PC World because apparently that’s the type of browsing he likes!

Final stop, Costco!! Oh I love Costco! But not with kids present!!! Still we got a few bits n bibs, including The Famous Five book set and the Secret Seven set by Enid Blyton for the kids!

And so to venture home, packing the car boot, as the heavens finally decide to open. We got home past 6, to a very excited Sonu Singh who had been up to mischief, home alone!

Hubby Dearest dashed off to meet his brother, and the kids eagerly ripped into their new purchases…

Peace…! Well, enough peace that I was able to clean the house… With only 3 interruptions due to Lego building difficulty, and 2 regarding Dough Vinci…(or something like that, I forget now, and quite honestly don’t care!)

Just didn’t get the grocery shopping done so that’s a job for tomorrow. And had the happy news that Lil Man has no Footy training tomorrow. So we can all relax!!! Kinda…

Its now 10.30pm. Took me ages to write this post, in between all my rushing around this evening! So I think I deserve a rest now!

It HAS been a Good Friday though… Busy, but GOOD!