Another long overdue post I’m afraid.  We’ve had another completely manic couple of weeks with work for both Matt and I a little out of control.  Plus, our weekends have been packed – and so my poor blog is suffering!

I had a particularly busy weekend a couple of weeks ago as Matt was away for most of it enjoying our friend Tim’s stag do!  So it was solo parenting for me – and I think I went a bit overboard ensuring we didn’t get bored! I arranged two playdates for the Saturday, with Nici and her boys Harry and Joe joining us for lunch and Caroline with Sam and Una our guests for dinner!  I had a lot of washing up to do!

We met Sam and Una in our local Sunray Gardens for some sunny playtime before dinner.  Alex and Sam are such firm friends, it’s hilarious watching them together.  Sam had brought Alex a lolly which made his entire day I think!  Sophie and Una are still a bit small to play together, and to be honest, Sophie looked horrified when we put the two girls on a rocker together!

The afternoon threatened to go terribly wrong when Sophie fell over on the pavement and split her lip horribly – so much blood!  But thankfully she perked up at dinner time!

On Sunday morning, since Matt had only arrived home at 4am, I let him sleep while I took the children down to Brockwell Park for some playtime.  Sophie is getting so confident on the climbing frames, and I regularly had my heart in my mouth as she ran around raised bridges getting terrifyingly close to the edgy.  Thankfully we didn’t have any more accidents!

After a quick stop at the Herne Hill Farmers Market for bread and cakes, we headed home to wake up daddy and prepare for more guests – this time some work friends of mine who were joining us for lunch.  We had a lovely lunch, and even managed some decent grown up conversation as Sophie napped and Alex watched a movie – but we enjoyed some comedy interruptions as Alex joined us to show everyone his brilliant dinosaur pants (!).

Soon after they headed home, my parents arrived – our final visitors of the weekend!  I gave up cooking and washing up, so we ordered takeaway and had a lovely evening catching up.  Alex again decided trousers aren’t his thing!

Last weekend saw the first proper sunny, warm weather of 2014 – and a very happy and busy Agar family.  With brilliant timing, we had arranged to head out to the Surrey Hills to visit Matt’s brother and his family, and to meet their new addition – baby William.  It was a stunning day to get out of town – and we spent almost our entire visit enjoying the garden with Alex’s cousins Thomas and Edward (and Monty the dog!).

Matt attempted to lead a game of football with all the children – but Thomas, the football expert, took control and tried to show Alex what to do.  Best moment of the day was seeing Alex spitting on the football when Thomas told him to dribble the ball!  Oh dear!

Even Sophie got involved – although we need to talk to her about the rules of football!

I’m shocked to discover we didn’t actually take any pictures of our newest nephew – very bad form.  But both Matt and enjoyed lovely cuddles with him!

On Sunday, with the weather forecast to be even better, we decided we wouldn’t waste the day with our usual local swimming/playground trips.  So we grabbed our “family walks in London” Christmas present book, and got the train to London Bridge.  From there, we enjoyed a glorious couple of hours slowly meandering our way to the Columbia Road Flower Market near Bethnell Green.

There’s nothing like the city at the weekend – super quiet streets and time to stop and admire the brilliant architecture.  Alex loved getting close up to the Gherkin.

Along the way, we found fun spots to stop and play.  At the foot of the Gherkin were some funky dinosaur sculptures which, of course, the children thought were brilliant!

We could barely drag them away from running around, chasing each other.

But, luckily for them, it wasn’t long before we found more excellent sculptures to explore, walls to climb and architecture to investigate…

We made our way through the city, had a wander around the renovated Spitalfields Market (I am now detemined to return on my own to do some proper shopping!) and braved the chaotic crowds of Brick Lane.  A tiny bit overwhelmed by the bustle and noise, and getting increasingly hungry, we picked up the pace and reached our final destination – the Columbia Road Flower Market.

Of course, half of London had had the same idea, so the market was completely packed and impossbile to pass through with a buggy!  So we had a good look at all the flowers from one end of the road, and then dived down a side street to grab some delicious lunch in a little bakery.

Then we settled into a great little playground near by, grabbed some ice creams and enjoyed the sunshine!  Thoroughly exhausted after our expedition, we took the easy route home – jumping on the overground train at Hoxton and heading straight back to Denmark Hill.  Brilliant!

We wandered home from there slowly, via the Ruskin Park playground, arriving home just before 4pm.  We were just settling down to put our feet up, when Alex remembered that he’d missed his weekly swimming trip.  So we piled in the car, popped into Brixton and had a quick evening splash and swim!  The children were thoroughly exhausted by bedtime – but what a brilliant day.  Looking forward to more weekend trips exploring bits of London we’re less familiar with.

It’s now Friday night, so I’m busy planning this weekend’s adventure!  Tell you about it soon.