Their coming consecutively meant that the entire second half of the month was filled with visitors, which means that we did a lot of exciting things - worthy of a post all to itself...
American Family
These are the visitors, fresh into good old London:
It was lovely having Finn's Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Casey to stay: lovely to have them around, lovely to see how much Finn enjoyed having them here, lovely to get out and about with Finn with them, and - I know it's been said already, but we mean it - lovely just to have them here.
We are generally quite good about getting out and doing things, but Finn can often be dragged around the shops on our chores or other things like that, so it is really very special when people visit, as it means that we really get out and see things in a way that is incredibly exciting for Finn. The London things included some tried and tested favourites, as well as some new ones: the Southbank, Trafalgar Square, Waterloo Bridge, Borough Market (it took not a small amount of pronunciation-training to get that one right!), Tower of London, Museum of London, V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Green Park, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament etc.
Because we had a full day-bag for Orry (and Finn), we didn't take around the big camera and so there aren't too many pictures. But here is a good taster:
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| Tower of London |
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| Riding a boat on the Thames! (With Casey's boot making sure Finn didn't fall over!) |
As the picture of Finn and his Grandma suggests, one of the lovely things about their visit was, strangely, how full the house was. With Casey in Finn's room and the Grandparents in the living room, Finn joined us in our room with Orry. We made a bed for him on the floor, but that didn't work out - it ended up being four of us in a bed-and-a-cot. It was a bit of a squeeze, but very lovely all the same. And it was wonderful to have everyone around to help out and to entertain all the time. Finn was excited every time he woke up, at the prospect of seeing everyone in the other rooms. It was great!
One of the special things we did with everyone (although mainly for Finn's enjoyment) was to go on the cable car across the Thames out by the Millennium Dome in a Nowhere area of East London. Cori had taken Finn and Orry on a trip over on one of their "Adventure Days" at the very end of April, so Finn was the expert, and he was all the more excited for knowing what was happening:
Since Finn's Grandparents had been over before and been on brief trips into Europe (Paris and Venice, as you do), they wanted to see the Isle of Man this time, since Finn is such a fan! So we all went over for a whistle-stop three-day tour of the Best Of the Isle of Man...
Day 1: Laxey Wheel, Laxey mine, a tram up Snaefell, experiencing Manx wind on "the mountain":
Day 2: A good Manx beach by Port St. Mary, lunch at the Sound (with a view of seals), a trip around Cregneash complete with tailless cats and Loaghtan Sheep (as others split off to go on the steam train), and the Chasms.
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| Fans of Manx literature will appreciate that this is Ned Beg Hom Ruy's house... |
Day 3: Maughold and its Norse/Viking crosses and runes, Peel Castle, Tynwald.
It was lovely trip, made all the more lovely for having the American family there. It was really lovely to see the Island through their eyes and to see even the normal things - hedges, gorse, beaches, sheep etc. - as worthy of appreciation and wonder. It made us all appreciate it the more, and sorry that we didn't have more time to spend there.
If we had more time there, we would probably have spent it in Ramsey, which is, to us, just the home-base from which we investigate the Island, but to the Visitors it was a place crying out for investigation in itself... And, for Finn, if we had more time he would probably have spent it in his car, which was a new addition to the flat when we arrived there, thanks to the very kind Manx granny:
After the Manx episode, there was only another few days in London, and they were all back on the flight home...
Manx Friends
And a couple days later, David and Leanne arrived! They had been to London before as well so we didn't need to repeat anything surprisingly enough. Though we did repeat Borough Market - it's too good not to!
The most notable and entertaining additions to Finn's life while they were here was the trip to the Zoo and a ride on a canal boat.
The whole way to the zoo Finn kept practising his Z sound... he must be working on it at nursery. It was an underbreath zzzzzzzzzoo. zzzzzzzzzoo. zzzzzzzoo. The whole way there! highly entertaining. Needless to say the zoo was a big hit. It was really hot that day but everyone was still in good spirits and we still managed to cover nearly all of it! Here are a few of the highlights...
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| Orry, eating the map - as ever he is OBSESSED with paper |
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| A pretty clear warning sign! |
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| This is what sun cream can do for you! |
The zoo was really excellent fun - but what nearly sent Finn over the edge of joy was when we said we were going on a canal boat trip! We were all really exhausted from all the walking of the day before so wanted a bit of a calm day - but still wanted to do something nice. So an hour long cruise along the canal it was! Finn really really couldn't wait. And he maintained his excitement through it all. So much so that when it came time to stop and get out he burst into tears. It really wasn't that exciting if you ask me - canals are beautiful and all but look very similar after about 20 minutes or so. But Finn could have gone on all day. It was fun watching how much he loved it, that's for sure!
So many exciting things packed into one month! And so many lovely people to share it with. It was sad when it was all finished. All of the sudden our flat felt very very empty. But it was totally worth it as it was an absolute blast while it lasted.
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