Here we are in Hazel Grove! I think I'll be using this blog as a diary, and hope it might be good reading for anyone interested out there... if I don't update it often, I'll forget our whole trip!
Oliver did really well at the airport - we have this cool new gadget called Gogo Kidz, which attaches to your car seat and gives it wheels - since we needed the car seat in England, and I thought it would be helpful on the plane, this was a great option since I couldn't carry bags, Oliver, and the heavy car seat by myself! So when it's all put together, I could put Oliver in it and drag him behind me as if he was a suitcase! He didn't mind a bit, seemed to enjoy the view. We had lots of fun walking back and forth a million times on the people movers before we boarded the plane, and he enjoyed watching the planes outside through the big windows.
We took off around 10:15 pm, and by 10:45 he was asleep. I thought, hooray, maybe he'll sleep the whole way!!! It was nighttime, after all. But no, after 2 hours he woke up, fussing and uncomfortable, wondering "why am I not in my crib??!" So I tried putting him next to me in the empty seat, with his head on my lap, and he slept for maybe another hour that way. But that was IT!! 3 hours sleep. The rest of the time he was pretty fussy, obviously exhausted, but I managed to distract him with bits of food, drink, books, toys, and the people behind us were very helfpul as he spent a lot of time standing in his seat, looking over it at them, playing peekaboo (their idea). I did have trouble with him in the carseat because it was so big that it brought him close to the seat in front of him, and he thought it was great to put his feet up and push the seat away - I felt so bad for the woman in front of him! But at the end of the flight I apologized to them, and they were so nice, saying "oh no, not at all, he was wonderful!" I was pretty surprised about that!
It was so nice to see Carole and Maurice again, and they are sooooo charmed with little Oliver! I don't remember him laughing so much in such a short time, ever! They've got tons of toys here for him, and books, and all sorts, and Steve and Al (uncle and aunt!) have loaned a lot of things as well. C & M are amazingly patient as Oliver sets out to examine and then toss to the floor nearly every object he can get his hands on, and we're all spending all day, every day just playing together. On our first day here (after the 3 hours sleep - well, I personally got about a half hour!) we had a nice lunch, played for a good while, and then Oliver and I had a nap for two hours. He woke up and sat bolt upright and started bawling - I think he was just so confused and probably still so tired. I've never seen him so distraught! I finally calmed him down and he napped a while longer on my lap on the couch. After that he was all right, and he and I and Maurice took a nice walk to the field down the road with the sheep grazing, then to the little local playground for a swing. We came down and had dinner, some more playing, and then Oliver went to sleep at 10pm. He slept till after 7:30 am, not bad!!!
After breakfast (Oliver tried porridge and seemd to like it!) we all walked to the bus stop and took 2 buses (he actually snoozed on one of them) to get to a wonderful indoor fun place called Funizuz, where Oliver ran around and played for well over an hour. Alison met us there and joined the fun - Oliver jumped in and out of the big ball pit, walked through mazes, went down a few slides, and actually walked UP the long slide you see in the photo - something kids are not supposed to do, but I helped him up the first (steepest) part and thought he'd slide back down, and then I couldn't get to him in time to stop him! He was fine though, but he could have had a scary tumble!
Alison drove us all home, and then later she and Steven came by for playing and dinner. After dinner Maurice had to go to a choir rehearsal, and the rest of us set out for a big rally and parade to honor the winners of the football league, Stockport County - Maurice and Steven are big fans, and Al as well! There was just a big final game in London, and they won, and there was lots of happiness all around! So hundreds of people turned out for the parade, and the team came by on the top of an open double decker bus, and then they came out one by one in front of city hall, and everyone was cheering and waving flags and blowing air horns and Oliver thought it was quite something! He didn't love the air horns...! I took loads of pictures, so I'll put them up as soon as I can. When we got back, he fell asleep around 9:20 - I hope tonight goes as well as last night!
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